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 Skeuomorphism's lettering (A humanist face suited to the purpose) 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 Skeuomorphism (Precision texture only where it serves function).
- Colour
- Build on #e9f1e4, #ef6651, #3a68a8 and admit one accent from #d6b47b, #7a4d2c, #39342e.
Where they fight
- Flat Design / Vector Minimalism and Skeuomorphism both belong to UI Expression, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Flat Design / Vector Minimalism Figures easily become generic. Define your own ratios, lines and color rules.
- Skeuomorphism Ornament must not bury the interaction. Expect generations who don't share the metaphor.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Flat Design / Vector Minimalism (style, 2010s–) and their accent from Skeuomorphism (style, 2000s–2010s). ## 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 Skeuomorphism, used sparingly - Leather, metal, paper - Dimensional shadows - Real-world metaphors - Fine textures Let one material quality come from it: Precision texture only where it serves function. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #e9f1e4, carry the structure in #ef6651 and #3a68a8, and let a single accent come from #7a4d2c. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: trust, intimacy, play, nostalgia. ## Where they fight - Flat Design / Vector Minimalism and Skeuomorphism both belong to UI Expression, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - Flat Design / Vector Minimalism: Figures easily become generic. Define your own ratios, lines and color rules. - Skeuomorphism: Ornament must not bury the interaction. Expect generations who don't share the metaphor. ## 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.
- Skeuomorphism 2000s–2010s / Style / UI Expression
Borrows cues from real materials and tools to make unknown interactions understandable. It names the principle, so Aqua and Brushed Metal are what the principle looked like when one company shipped it.
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