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 DIN 1451: Information stacked flush left, arrows aligned to cap height
- Type
- Set in DIN 1451's manner (Condensed or standard width chosen by panel, spacing kept tight), and let GOV.UK Design System's lettering (One sans serif only, in five fixed sizes with nothing in between. Headings are bold and body text sits at 19px.) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in DIN 1451's material (White and black knocked out of reflective sheet or enamel); bring in exactly one thing from GOV.UK Design System (Colour is tied to meaning and never used decoratively. Buttons keep a corner radius of zero and gain their thickness from a band of their own darker shade along the bottom edge. The focus state is always yellow ground with a black underline.).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #0B0C0C, #FFDD00, #0F7A52.
Where they fight
- Roughly 81 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle.
Caution
- DIN 1451 Borrowing it for long body copy because the impersonality appeals gives the text a hard even texture that resists being read through.
- GOV.UK Design System Tidying the look by rounding button corners or thinning the borders on form inputs deletes the two signals this style relies on entirely, the pressable thickness and the position of focus.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from DIN 1451 (Style, 1931–) and its accent from GOV.UK Design System (Style, 2012–). Structural cues: An engineered skeleton; Unity as standard; The language of road signs; Trust in impersonality. Accent cues, used sparingly: One undecorated left aligned column, with almost no boxes and no shadows; A green button with square corners and a darker green band along its bottom edge, which drops by that exact depth when pressed; Whatever holds keyboard focus turns yellow with a black rule drawn beneath it; Type sizes step coarsely through 48, 36, 24, 19 and 16px with nothing in between. Composition: Information stacked flush left, arrows aligned to cap height. Type and lettering: Condensed or standard width chosen by panel, spacing kept tight. Let one material quality come from the second style: Colour is tied to meaning and never used decoratively. Buttons keep a corner radius of zero and gain their thickness from a band of their own darker shade along the bottom edge. The focus state is always yellow ground with a black underline.. Mood: Trust, Technology, Calm. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #0B0C0C, #FFDD00, #0F7A52. 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
- DIN 1451 1931– / Style / Public Design
Engineering lettering laid down as a German industrial standard. Its skeleton can be redrawn with ruler and compass, which unified road signs and factory markings, and the trust that came from having no personality is what designers later came to love.
- GOV.UK Design System 2012– / Style / Design Systems
The design language the UK government's Government Digital Service publishes and maintains for public services. Everything runs in one undecorated left aligned column set in GDS Transport, and the green button keeps square corners while carrying a darker green band along its bottom edge, dropping by exactly that depth when pressed. Whatever holds keyboard focus turns yellow with a black rule under it.
Share this pairing:https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=din-1451+govuk-design-system