Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, 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 Devětsil's lettering (Geometric sans broken like verse lines, numerals and signs read as words) 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 Devětsil (Primary flats with thin black rules, collage edges left showing).
- Colour
- Build on #e8ddc7, #d8251d, #11100e and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
These two are already listed as related, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Constructivism Carries strong propaganda associations. Check the ethics of context and message.
- Devětsil Borrowing only the constructivist signs loses the poem and leaves a book decorated with geometry that means nothing.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Constructivism (Style, 1910s–1930s) and its accent from Devětsil (Style, 1920–1931). Structural cues: Red, black and white; Diagonal axis; Photomontage; Imperative lettering. Accent cues, used sparingly: Picture poems; Photographs fused with type; Geometry used lyrically; Constructivist bookbinding. Composition: Collide photography and type along a diagonal spine. Type and lettering: Heavy condensed type in capitals. Let one material quality come from the second style: Primary flats with thin black rules, collage edges left showing. Mood: Rebellion, Exhilaration, Play, Calm. Color: build on #e8ddc7, #d8251d, #11100e with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition 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.
- Devětsil 1920–1931 / Style / Publishing and Editing
Teige gave the Czech avant-garde group its picture poem. Setting photograph, type and sign together as verse, the group's lyrical strain of constructivism turned interwar Prague into a laboratory of book design.
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