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 Deconstructivism: Collide multiple grids
Type
Set in Deconstructivism's manner (Sever, duplicate and rotate the letters), and let Emigre's lettering (Pixel stepping enlarged, not smoothed, several unlike faces on a page) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
Material
Ground in Deconstructivism's material (Translucent layers, cut surfaces, noise); bring in exactly one thing from Emigre (Screen coarseness carried into print, paper white treated as glow).
Colour
Build on #dedbd3, #ff4e28, #29273e 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

  • Deconstructivism Too heavy a cognitive load for interfaces. Keep experiments to heroes and set pieces.
  • Emigre Making difficulty the goal drains away the argument that once made it an experiment, leaving only a page where information fails to arrive.

Image prompt

An original image that takes its structure from Deconstructivism (Style, 1980s–) and its accent from Emigre (Style, 1984–2005). Structural cues: Fragmentation; Tilt; Colliding layers; Unstable contours. Accent cues, used sparingly: Bitmap typefaces; Colliding layers; An experiment per issue; Challenges to readability. Composition: Collide multiple grids. Type and lettering: Sever, duplicate and rotate the letters. Let one material quality come from the second style: Screen coarseness carried into print, paper white treated as glow. Mood: Rebellion, Futurism, Technology, Play. Color: build on #dedbd3, #ff4e28, #29273e 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

  • Deconstructivism 1980s– / Style / Avant-garde

    Dismantles an achieved order and makes tension and instability the new structure.

  • Emigre 1984–2005 / Style / Type Classification

    The magazine and foundry that turned digital coarseness into an aesthetic the moment the Mac appeared: bitmap faces, colliding layers and a defense of difficulty at the center of the 1990s design debates.

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