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 Metro: Headings running off the edge, tiles in two rectangle sizes
- Type
- Set in Metro's manner (Headings five times body size, kept in a light weight), and let Swiss's lettering (Neutral sans-serif; be bold with size contrast) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Metro's material (No shadows or borders, black or white ground, saturated flat panels); bring in exactly one thing from Swiss (White space and objective photographs; almost no ornament).
- Colour
- Build on #ffffff, #ffc211, #131314 and admit one accent from #f1efe8, #ed3b22, #121210.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Metro Stripping every border and shadow erases the difference between a tappable tile and a plain heading, leaving people guessing where to touch.
- Swiss Too much tidiness turns anonymous. Keep one strong jump in scale.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Metro (style, 2010–2015) and their accent from Swiss (style, 1950s–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Metro exists for: dashboards listing news or weather where borders would only add noise, or indoor wayfinding and signage read from a distance in one word. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Metro - Type as the hero - Flat-color tiles - Compositions running off-screen - Chrome eliminated Composition: Headings running off the edge, tiles in two rectangle sizes. Type and lettering: Headings five times body size, kept in a light weight. ## Accent comes from Swiss, used sparingly - Strict grid - Sans-serif type - Asymmetry - Objective photography Let one material quality come from it: White space and objective photographs; almost no ornament. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #ffffff, carry the structure in #ffc211 and #131314, and let a single accent come from #ed3b22. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: technique, trust, rebellion, calm. ## What goes wrong - Metro: Stripping every border and shadow erases the difference between a tappable tile and a plain heading, leaving people guessing where to touch. - Swiss: Too much tidiness turns anonymous. Keep one strong jump in scale. ## 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
- Metro 2010–2015 / Style / Microsoft UI
Windows Phone's flat language, which cast type rather than icons in the lead role. Large typography, flat-color live tiles and layouts that run off the edge of the screen transplanted the clarity of transit signage into UI, opening the flat era ahead of iOS 7.
- Swiss 1950s– / Style / Functionalism
Puts order front and center and makes the information itself the protagonist.
Share this composition:https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=metro+swiss