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 i-mode Emoji: The coarse grid fixed first, every figure told apart inside that one cell
- Type
- Set in i-mode Emoji's manner (Built from masses of dots rather than lines, sized to sit inline at the height of the text), and let Kawaii's lettering (Rounded gothic, wide letterforms, even stroke weight) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in i-mode Emoji's material (Faces, weather and things held at one coarseness, dots reduced to the limit where they still read apart); bring in exactly one thing from Kawaii (Desaturated pastel and white, matte rather than glossy).
- Colour
- Build on #fcfdfc, #ffdd67, #4c3526 and admit one accent from #f4e5f3, #e24aa1, #3f2d2a.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- i-mode Emoji Chasing fine detail inside the grid clogs the dots, and at the size of the text the figure no longer says what it is.
- Kawaii Assuming that bigger eyes and paler color make something cute loses the tension in the contour and leaves only a slack face.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from i-mode Emoji (style, 1998-1999) and their accent from Kawaii (aesthetic, 1970s–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing i-mode Emoji exists for: designing signs that must read at the size of a letter as one set on a coarse grid, or telling state by a figure instead of a word where only a few dots can be lit. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from i-mode Emoji - Figures fitted to a twelve by twelve grid - Shapes made of mass rather than of line - Set inline at the size of a letter - Faces, weather and symbols at one coarseness Composition: The coarse grid fixed first, every figure told apart inside that one cell. Type and lettering: Built from masses of dots rather than lines, sized to sit inline at the height of the text. ## Accent comes from Kawaii, used sparingly - Faces of circles and empty space - Big eyes, elided mouths - Pastel softness - Looseness and defenselessness Let one material quality come from it: Desaturated pastel and white, matte rather than glossy. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #fcfdfc, carry the structure in #ffdd67 and #4c3526, and let a single accent come from #e24aa1. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: intimacy, play, technique, nostalgia. ## What goes wrong - i-mode Emoji: Chasing fine detail inside the grid clogs the dots, and at the size of the text the figure no longer says what it is. - Kawaii: Assuming that bigger eyes and paler color make something cute loses the tension in the contour and leaves only a slack face. ## 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
- i-mode Emoji 1998-1999 / Style / Symbol Systems
One hundred and seventy six pictographs that tell faces, weather and things apart using only the placement of dots on a twelve by twelve grid. Shigetaka Kurita drew them for NTT DOCOMO's i-mode, and MoMA holds the original set.
- Kawaii 1970s– / Aesthetic / Pop
Japan's aesthetic of round contours, big eyes, pastel and looseness that summons the urge to protect. From girls' handwriting and fancy goods it softened the surface of an entire society, from public signage to corporate mascots.
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