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 Corporate Modernism: Grid and margins given as numbers, clear space around the mark written down
- Type
- Set in Corporate Modernism's manner (One type family fixed, the name locked as artwork down to its letterspacing), and let Ulm School (HfG Ulm)'s lettering (One sans face, three sizes at most, everything ranged left) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Corporate Modernism's material (Single color as the default, hues assigned by use rather than by business unit); bring in exactly one thing from Ulm School (HfG Ulm) (Neutral surfaces with one or two colors allowed to mark function).
- Colour
- Build on #fbfaf4, #1f72c4, #061524 and admit one accent from #f6f2da, #969a9a, #121110.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Corporate Modernism A manual with no one checking application lets exceptions pile up in the field and the force of unity goes first.
- Ulm School (HfG Ulm) Borrowing the grey and the grid without deciding the reasoning leaves nobody able to justify a rule, and the system collapses as elements are added.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Corporate Modernism (style, 1950s–1970s) and their accent from Ulm School (HfG Ulm) (style, 1953–1968). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Corporate Modernism exists for: rebinding a company of many businesses under one identifying mark, or organizations with many branches where application drift must be held down by rules. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Corporate Modernism - Abstract geometric marks - Standards manuals - Gridded application discipline - Single-color strength Composition: Grid and margins given as numbers, clear space around the mark written down. Type and lettering: One type family fixed, the name locked as artwork down to its letterspacing. ## Accent comes from Ulm School (HfG Ulm), used sparingly - Method and system - Grids and modules - Ornament excluded - Design as science Let one material quality come from it: Neutral surfaces with one or two colors allowed to mark function. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #fbfaf4, carry the structure in #1f72c4 and #061524, and let a single accent come from #969a9a. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: trust, technique, luxury, calm. ## What goes wrong - Corporate Modernism: A manual with no one checking application lets exceptions pile up in the field and the force of unity goes first. - Ulm School (HfG Ulm): Borrowing the grey and the grid without deciding the reasoning leaves nobody able to justify a rule, and the system collapses as elements are added. ## 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
- Corporate Modernism 1950s–1970s / Style / Contemporary Branding
The golden age of corporate identity established by Rand, Chermayeff and their peers: geometric marks, gridded standards manuals and disciplined application speaking for corporations in modernism's abstract language.
- Ulm School (HfG Ulm) 1953–1968 / Style / Postwar Industrial Design
Founded by Max Bill as the Bauhaus's successor, the school redefined design as science, method and system. Its collaboration with Braun made the functionalist face a world standard.
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