Compose styles
Rather than blending styles toward a middle, this gives them roles. The first one carries the structure, the next comes in as the accent, and anything after that shows up in a single detail. Where they fight each other, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Constructivism: Collide photography and type along a diagonal spine
- Type
- Set in Constructivism's manner (Heavy condensed type in capitals), and let Cubism's lettering (Echo the Synthetic phase, cutting compact grotesques and stencil capitals as pasted paper) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Constructivism's material (Coarse halftones, cut-out photos, three colors only); bring in exactly one thing from Cubism (A narrow range of ochre, umber and grey with newsprint and woodgrain paper).
- Colour
- Build on #e8ddc7, #d8251d, #11100e and admit one accent from #cbc7b3, #a76519, #151616.
Where they fight
- Constructivism and Cubism both belong to Avant-garde, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Constructivism Carries strong propaganda associations. Check the ethics of context and message.
- Cubism Avoid fragmenting for decoration alone—if the planes no longer describe the subject from real viewpoints, the result reads as random shattering, not Cubism.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Constructivism (style, 1910s–1930s) and their accent from Cubism (style, 1907–1925). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Constructivism exists for: campaigns that demand action, or delivering a strong statement in an instant. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Constructivism - Red, black and white - Diagonal axis - Photomontage - Imperative lettering Composition: Collide photography and type along a diagonal spine. Type and lettering: Heavy condensed type in capitals. ## Accent comes from Cubism, used sparingly - Multiple viewpoints presented at once - Subjects broken down into facets - Muted earth tones and grey gradations - Collage of newsprint and lettering Let one material quality come from it: A narrow range of ochre, umber and grey with newsprint and woodgrain paper. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #e8ddc7, carry the structure in #d8251d and #11100e, and let a single accent come from #a76519. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: rebellion, exhilaration, technique, trust. ## Where they fight - Constructivism and Cubism both belong to Avant-garde, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - Constructivism: Carries strong propaganda associations. Check the ethics of context and message. - Cubism: Avoid fragmenting for decoration alone—if the planes no longer describe the subject from real viewpoints, the result reads as random shattering, not Cubism. ## Across the four Keep the roles fixed in all four. Vary the framing, the scale and the arrangement so the set shows what this pairing can do rather than four versions of one picture. ## Constraints - Do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. - Do not reproduce the composition of an existing work. - Produce original compositions in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Constructivism 1910s–1930s / Style / Avant-garde
Turns a message into motion with diagonals and hard contrast.
- Cubism 1907–1925 / Style / Avant-garde
A pictorial revolution that freed the subject from a single viewpoint, reassembling facets seen from multiple angles on one flat plane. The fractured planes and muted palette of the Analytic phase, then the newspaper collage and lettering of the Synthetic phase, gave twentieth-century graphic design its founding premise: the picture is not a window onto reality but a field of construction.
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