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 East German Design: One image held large, a single line of text below
- Type
- Set in East German Design's manner (Plain medium-weight sans, small, gathered in one place), 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 East German Design's material (Molded plastic in primary hues, few inks on rough paper); bring in exactly one thing from Ulm School (HfG Ulm) (Neutral surfaces with one or two colors allowed to mark function).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 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
- East German Design Using a simplicity born of shortage as a nostalgia sign drops the constraint that made it, leaving a souvenir that copies only the colors.
- 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
An original image that takes its structure from East German Design (Style, 1949–1990) and its accent from Ulm School (HfG Ulm) (Style, 1953–1968). Structural cues: Simplicity bred by constraint; Artless state advertising; Plastic color; Lyrical film posters. Accent cues, used sparingly: Method and system; Grids and modules; Ornament excluded; Design as science. Composition: One image held large, a single line of text below. Type and lettering: Plain medium-weight sans, small, gathered in one place. Let one material quality come from the second style: Neutral surfaces with one or two colors allowed to mark function. Mood: Nostalgia, Trust, Calm, Technology. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 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
- East German Design 1949–1990 / Style / Regional Graphics
The everyday design of the GDR under a planned economy. Plain plastic goods born of shortage, the artless graphics of state advertising and the lyricism of DEFA film posters are now being reappraised as the style of a vanished state.
- 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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