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 Ghost Signs: Do not dodge joints or openings, aligning letters to the brick coursing
- Type
- Set in Ghost Signs's manner (Redraw period shop lettering by hand, with shadowed letters and ornament rules), and let Neon Signage's lettering (Letterforms drawn in one continuous tube, complex characters kept from thickening) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Ghost Signs's material (Brushed straight onto brick, assuming the least stable colors fade first); bring in exactly one thing from Neon Signage (Gas and coating chosen per color, blinking chased in one direction).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Signage and Display, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Ghost Signs Applying an even wash of distress falsifies the direction of fading and the order of overpainting, and the intended age reads as fake.
- Neon Signage Substituting neon look LED tape loses the depth and bloom of glass tube, and the imitation gives itself away the moment you stand close.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Ghost Signs (Style, 1880s–1950s / rediscovery) and its accent from Neon Signage (Style, 1912–1990s / revival). Structural cues: Paint applied straight to brick; Fading and peeling; Craftsman lettering; Layers of overpainting. Accent cues, used sparingly: Lines of bent glass tube; Glowing letters on the night sky; Signs projecting over the road; Blinking and chasing motion. Composition: Do not dodge joints or openings, aligning letters to the brick coursing. Type and lettering: Redraw period shop lettering by hand, with shadowed letters and ornament rules. Let one material quality come from the second style: Gas and coating chosen per color, blinking chased in one direction. Mood: Nostalgia, Intimacy, Calm, Exhilaration, Play. 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
- Ghost Signs 1880s–1950s / rediscovery / Style / Signage and Display
Hand-painted brick-wall advertisements faded by weather. The lettering of the craftsmen called wall dogs, through peeling and fading, is being rediscovered as a stratum of urban memory.
- Neon Signage 1912–1990s / revival / Style / Signage and Display
The commercial sign style of bent glass tubes glowing as letters and pictures. Hong Kong's street-spanning character signs and Las Vegas's escalating light wars built each city's nighttime visual language.
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