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 Holo: A full width action bar is fixed at the top and a single column list fills the space under it. Sections are separated by hairlines rather than white space, and a strip is reserved at the bottom for the navigation keys
- Type
- Set in Holo's manner (One geometric leaning sans across the whole interface, in two weights only. Tabs and section headers go uppercase with the tracking opened slightly), and let Palm OS Interface's lettering (Use a sturdy bitmap face that separates letters at small sizes and reduce labels to one word) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Holo's material (Ground is black or a pale #F3F3F3, text is white or dark gray, and rules are one pixel of white at reduced opacity. Restrict the accent to #33B5E5 alone and let it glow only on press, selection and progress); bring in exactly one thing from Palm OS Interface (Work in one-bit black and white, using thin rules, reversed selection and roughly 16-pixel icons for state).
- Colour
- Build on #000000, #33B5E5, #F3F3F3 and admit one accent from #E8E6D8, #7D8277, #161916.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Holo Redrawing the widgets so they no longer inherit from the theme throws away the one thing this style buys you, which is looking identical across devices, and leaves your app the odd one out on a skinned phone.
- Palm OS Interface Monochrome pixel UI alone is not Palm OS. Preserve the division of work among stylus, hardware keys, Graffiti and on-screen commands.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Holo (style, 2011–2014) and their accent from Palm OS Interface (style, 1996–2009). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Holo exists for: recreating an Android app screen from roughly 2011 to 2013 with the period's actual widgets and theme names, or building hierarchy in a dark admin screen from hairlines and one accent color, without adding panels or shadows. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Holo - White text on black, with sections divided by one pixel hairlines instead of filled panels - A single cyan blue at #33B5E5 lighting only selection, the underline of a text field, and progress - A full width action bar pinned to the top, and a strip of Back, Home and Recents keys at the bottom - Tab labels and list section headers set in bold, all uppercase Composition: A full width action bar is fixed at the top and a single column list fills the space under it. Sections are separated by hairlines rather than white space, and a strip is reserved at the bottom for the navigation keys. Type and lettering: One geometric leaning sans across the whole interface, in two weights only. Tabs and section headers go uppercase with the tracking opened slightly. ## Accent comes from Palm OS Interface, used sparingly - A roughly 160 by 160 low-resolution monochrome screen - Title at upper left and Category pop-up at upper right - A Command Bar rising from the lower edge and four application buttons - Thin one-bit icons, rules and the Graffiti input area Let one material quality come from it: Work in one-bit black and white, using thin rules, reversed selection and roughly 16-pixel icons for state. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #F3F3F3, carry the structure in #33B5E5 and #000000, and let a single accent come from #7D8277. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: technique, futurity, calm, trust, nostalgia. ## What goes wrong - Holo: Redrawing the widgets so they no longer inherit from the theme throws away the one thing this style buys you, which is looking identical across devices, and leaves your app the odd one out on a skinned phone. - Palm OS Interface: Monochrome pixel UI alone is not Palm OS. Preserve the division of work among stylus, hardware keys, Graffiti and on-screen commands. ## 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
- Holo 2011–2014 / Style / Google UI
Google's design language for Android, introduced with 3.0 and pushed so hard that carrying it unmodified became a compatibility requirement for every 4.0 device. It rules a black ground with hairlines and lets a single cyan blue carry selection, focus and progress. It arrived as a guarantee as much as a look, since an app that asked for the theme by name would be drawn the same way even on a phone wearing a manufacturer's skin.
- Palm OS Interface 1996–2009 / Style / Platform Screen Languages
Palm OS turned a tiny monochrome screen, stylus and strict memory limits into a consistent pocket work tool through the Title, Category menu, Command Bar, hardware buttons and Graffiti writing area.
Share this composition:https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=holo+palm-os