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 Flat Design / Vector Minimalism: Simple silhouettes and clear hierarchy
- Type
- Set in Flat Design / Vector Minimalism's manner (A rounded sans-serif), and let Material Design's lettering (Build the hierarchy from one type family and separate levels by weight and size) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Flat Design / Vector Minimalism's material (Three to five colors; shadows only when they mean something); bring in exactly one thing from Material Design (Give surfaces elevation and show front and back by the density of the shadow).
- Colour
- Build on #e9f1e4, #ef6651, #3a68a8 and admit one accent from #dfd5ec, #6a5996, #020202.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Flat Design / Vector Minimalism Figures easily become generic. Define your own ratios, lines and color rules.
- Material Design Do not add shadow as decoration. The moment the elevation rules break, the hierarchy is telling a lie.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Flat Design / Vector Minimalism (style, 2010s–) and their accent from Material Design (style, 2014–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Flat Design / Vector Minimalism exists for: light, understandable explanation, or large sets of consistent figures. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Flat Design / Vector Minimalism - Uniform planes - Simple shapes - Few shadows - Clear color Composition: Simple silhouettes and clear hierarchy. Type and lettering: A rounded sans-serif. ## Accent comes from Material Design, used sparingly - Hierarchy and shadow expressed by elevation - Surfaces overlapping like sheets of paper - Motion that shows cause and effect - A standardized unit of spacing Let one material quality come from it: Give surfaces elevation and show front and back by the density of the shadow. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #e9f1e4, carry the structure in #ef6651 and #3a68a8, and let a single accent come from #6a5996. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: trust, intimacy, play, technique. ## What goes wrong - Flat Design / Vector Minimalism: Figures easily become generic. Define your own ratios, lines and color rules. - Material Design: Do not add shadow as decoration. The moment the elevation rules break, the hierarchy is telling a lie. ## 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
- Flat Design / Vector Minimalism 2010s– / Style / UI Expression
Reduces information to plain planes and color, portable across screens and media.
- Material Design 2014– / Style / Google UI
A design system that reduces the physical metaphor of paper and ink to rules of shadow and overlap. Elements are given elevation, shadow states the hierarchy, and motion carries physical cause and effect. It became the model for UI design being distributed as a system. The 2021 revision added colour derived from the device wallpaper, so the palette differs from one user to the next.
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