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 Letterpress: Respect physical leading and margins; restrict alignments
- Type
- Set in Letterpress's manner (One type family in limited sizes for the hierarchy), and let Wood Type's lettering (Change face and width by line, choosing widths to fit each word) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Letterpress's material (One or two colors, thick paper, a slight bite and ink variance); bring in exactly one thing from Wood Type (Firm impression showing grain, few colors, chips and wear left in).
- Colour
- Build on #eee4cf, #27231d, #8f2e2a and admit one accent from #cfc5ab, #8b6c50, #1f171b.
Where they fight
- Letterpress and Wood Type are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show.
- Letterpress and Wood Type stand roughly 377 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle.
Caution
- Letterpress Don't over-perform deep impression and dry ink. Let type, paper, pressure and ink set the form.
- Wood Type Multiplying faces line by line without ranking them flattens the order of emphasis, and no one can tell what to read first.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Letterpress (technique, 15th century–) and their accent from Wood Type (technique, 1827–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Letterpress exists for: tactile weight for books, cards and invitations, or making the choice and setting of type the subject itself. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Letterpress - The regularity of type - Impression into paper - Limited widths - Ink variation Composition: Respect physical leading and margins; restrict alignments. Type and lettering: One type family in limited sizes for the hierarchy. ## Accent comes from Wood Type, used sparingly - Gigantic sizes - Extreme condensing and extending - Carved ornament - Ink scuff and material grain Let one material quality come from it: Firm impression showing grain, few colors, chips and wear left in. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #eee4cf, carry the structure in #8f2e2a and #27231d, and let a single accent come from #8b6c50. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: trust, luxury, nostalgia, exhilaration. ## Where they fight - Letterpress and Wood Type are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show. - Letterpress and Wood Type stand roughly 377 years apart. Keep one of them recognisably period rather than letting both drift into the middle. ## What goes wrong - Letterpress: Don't over-perform deep impression and dry ink. Let type, paper, pressure and ink set the form. - Wood Type: Multiplying faces line by line without ranking them flattens the order of emphasis, and no one can tell what to read first. ## 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
- Letterpress 15th century– / Technique / Relief Printing
Sets physical type, joining the repeatable order of text with the touch of impression on paper.
- Wood Type 1827– / Technique / Type Classification
Gigantic letters cut from wood for broadside posters created the display vocabulary of extreme condensation, extension and ornament.
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