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 Soviet Picture Book's lettering (Type placed as a compositional element, lines running along the shapes) 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 Soviet Picture Book (Two or three lithographic colors, overlaps making the intermediate tones).
- Colour
- Build on #e8ddc7, #d8251d, #11100e and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Constructivism and Soviet Picture Book share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
Caution
- Constructivism Carries strong propaganda associations. Check the ethics of context and message.
- Soviet Picture Book Arranging flat shapes without designing the order of the story kills the movement of turning the page, and a child cannot follow it.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Constructivism (Style, 1910s–1930s) and its accent from Soviet Picture Book (Style, 1920s–1930s). Structural cues: Red, black and white; Diagonal axis; Photomontage; Imperative lettering. Accent cues, used sparingly: Constructivist flatness; Machines and labor simplified; Text and image designed as one; Limited lithographic color. 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: Two or three lithographic colors, overlaps making the intermediate tones. Mood: Rebellion, Exhilaration, Play, Technology, Nostalgia. 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.
- Soviet Picture Book 1920s–1930s / Style / Publishing and Editing
The children's books of the revolutionary avant-garde: Lebedev and others brought constructivist flatness and simple shapes to storytelling, making cheap lithographed picture books a laboratory of 20th-century book design.
Share this pairing:https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=constructivism+soviet-childrens-book