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 Poetism's lettering (Constructivist grotesques mixed across playful sizes, letters allowed to behave as images) 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 Poetism (Two vivid inks, typically red with black or blue, on warm book paper).
- Colour
- Build on #e8ddc7, #d8251d, #11100e and admit one accent from #c4b6a3, #98493f, #000007.
Where they fight
- Constructivism and Poetism share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
- Constructivism and Poetism 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.
- Poetism Building the page with pure constructivist severity drops the lyric play between word and image, leaving engineering rather than a poem.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Constructivism (style, 1910s–1930s) and their accent from Poetism (style, 1923–1934). ## 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 Poetism, used sparingly - Photomontage juxtaposed with type - Compositions of circles and diagonals - Two vivid, restricted colours - Typography as poetry Let one material quality come from it: Two vivid inks, typically red with black or blue, on warm book paper. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #e8ddc7, carry the structure in #d8251d and #11100e, and let a single accent come from #98493f. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: rebellion, exhilaration, intimacy, technique. ## Where they fight - Constructivism and Poetism share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over. - Constructivism and Poetism 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. - Poetism: Building the page with pure constructivist severity drops the lyric play between word and image, leaving engineering rather than a poem. ## 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.
- Poetism 1923–1934 / Style / Avant-garde
The programme of the Czech avant-garde group Devětsil, extending poetry onto the page and into life itself. Its 'picture poems' combining photomontage with type, its compositions of circles and diagonals, and its vivid two-colour printing turned poetry books, magazines and posters into one continuous field of experiment.
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