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 Ex Libris (Bookplate): One scene in a small upright field, lettering pushed to top or foot
- Type
- Set in Ex Libris (Bookplate)'s manner (The formula and name in fixed places, weight matched to the image), and let Private Press's lettering (One type throughout, with the fewest possible changes of size) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Ex Libris (Bookplate)'s material (Fine intaglio or wood engraving, printed in a single color); bring in exactly one thing from Private Press (Letterpress impression on handmade paper, red headings printed as a second pass).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Publishing and Editing, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
- Roughly 1876 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle.
Caution
- Ex Libris (Bookplate) Packing in favorite imagery leaves the lines clogged and unreadable once the plate is seen at the size it is actually pasted.
- Private Press Borrowing only the decorated initials and the handmade paper leaves the text setting loose and yields an expensive antique looking pamphlet. Read it as a publishing movement about production, labor and quality.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Ex Libris (Bookplate) (Style, 15th century–) and its accent from Private Press (Style, 1891–1930s). Structural cues: The EX LIBRIS formula; Heraldry and allegory; Precise miniature engraving; The owner's self-image. Accent cues, used sparingly: House-designed type; Handmade paper, hand presses; Margins designed by the spread; Illustration united with text. Composition: One scene in a small upright field, lettering pushed to top or foot. Type and lettering: The formula and name in fixed places, weight matched to the image. Let one material quality come from the second style: Letterpress impression on handmade paper, red headings printed as a second pass. Mood: Luxury, Intimacy, Nostalgia. 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
- Ex Libris (Bookplate) 15th century– / Style / Publishing and Editing
A small print of ownership pasted to a book's endpaper. Since Dürer, engravers have cut heraldry, allegory and the collector's own exact self-image into a few centimeters, making a private graphic where book culture meets printmaking.
- Private Press 1891–1930s / Style / Publishing and Editing
A movement answering industrialized printing: type, paper, composition and binding unified under one ideal, remaking the book as a total work of art.
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