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 Linocut: Repeat forms with aligned motion; change the current in one place
- Type
- Set in Linocut's manner (Letters sturdy enough to hold against the shapes; one color per block), and let WPA Poster's lettering (Heavy geometric sans in short imperatives) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Linocut's material (Two to five color blocks, broad cut planes, the paper's ground); bring in exactly one thing from WPA Poster (Three to five flat colors, the paper's own tone, simple shading).
- Colour
- Build on #d9d0ae, #4b6f70, #a64d3a and admit one accent from #e2cf9e, #c65a34, #254d52.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Linocut The difference from woodcut is not mere roughness. Use linoleum's smooth curves and planes.
- WPA Poster Don't borrow only the nostalgia. Be clear about who is being asked to do what, publicly.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Linocut (technique, 1890s–) and their accent from WPA Poster (style, 1935–1943). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Linocut exists for: showing crowds and daily motion as rhythm, or A friendly hand-printed feel in few colors. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Linocut - Large cut planes - Overlapping color blocks - Simplified figures - Repeating movement Composition: Repeat forms with aligned motion; change the current in one place. Type and lettering: Letters sturdy enough to hold against the shapes; one color per block. ## Accent comes from WPA Poster, used sparingly - Simplified landscapes - Bold sans-serifs - Screenprint color - A clear call to action Let one material quality come from it: Three to five flat colors, the paper's own tone, simple shading. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #d9d0ae, carry the structure in #4b6f70 and #a64d3a, and let a single accent come from #c65a34. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: intimacy, exhilaration, nostalgia, trust. ## What goes wrong - Linocut: The difference from woodcut is not mere roughness. Use linoleum's smooth curves and planes. - WPA Poster: Don't borrow only the nostalgia. Be clear about who is being asked to do what, publicly. ## 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
- Linocut 1890s– / Technique / Relief Printing
Cuts the smooth block boldly, giving few colors and repeated figures a driving rhythm.
- WPA Poster 1935–1943 / Style / Public Design
Carries a public purpose broadly and forcefully through simple imagery and few printed colors.
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