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 Droog: One idea per object. Add nothing, and let the salvaged parts keep their mismatched dimensions
- Type
- Set in Droog's manner (Keep lettering off the object. Where an explanation is needed, give it one short title and set it in a single plain sans serif), and let Memphis's lettering (A chunky geometric sans) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Droog's material (Combine materials of different origins: discarded drawers, cord and strapping, fibre soaked in resin. Leave the traces of making unpolished and let the fixings serve as the finish); bring in exactly one thing from Memphis (Pink, yellow, teal, black speckles).
- Colour
- Build on #141414, #D9C39B, #8C8B86 and admit one accent from #f5cfda, #f4c62f, #2a9e9a.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Droog Reproduce only the look of salvage in new material and the origin, which is the point, drops out, leaving a weathered decorative finish.
- Memphis Don't stop at background pattern. Map the figures to navigation and units of meaning.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Droog (style, 1990s–) and their accent from Memphis (style, 1980s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Droog exists for: when found parts or salvage should be shown as the structure rather than covered up, or when one object needs exactly one idea that has to be explained, and nothing decorative anywhere else. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Droog - Ready made parts of different origins are bound into one piece without matching their colour or wear - Straps and cords that look like temporary fixings stay on as the final structure - The making process remains on the finished surface, with knots and joints left unsanded - Because the parts differ every time, no two objects from one design are alike Composition: One idea per object. Add nothing, and let the salvaged parts keep their mismatched dimensions. Type and lettering: Keep lettering off the object. Where an explanation is needed, give it one short title and set it in a single plain sans serif. ## Accent comes from Memphis, used sparingly - Zigzags - Small figures - Pastel plus primary - Speckles Let one material quality come from it: Pink, yellow, teal, black speckles. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #D9C39B, carry the structure in #8C8B86 and #141414, and let a single accent come from #f4c62f. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: rebellion, play, exhilaration. ## What goes wrong - Droog: Reproduce only the look of salvage in new material and the origin, which is the point, drops out, leaving a weathered decorative finish. - Memphis: Don't stop at background pattern. Map the figures to navigation and units of meaning. ## 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
- Droog 1990s– / Style / Furniture and Interiors
Droog is the shared manner of a Dutch designers' cooperative that formed in the 1990s, and droog is the Dutch word for dry. Familiar things, a salvaged drawer or a knot, are kept as the structure of the object instead of being hidden by finishing. The group made simplicity and wit into a common type, which set it against the slicker industrial design of the same years.
- Memphis 1980s / Style / Pop
Laughs off functionalism and enjoys the dissonance of shape and color.
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