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 XrossMediaBar (XMB)'s lettering (A light sans at a size readable from across a room; only the selected item carries a name, the rest stay as icons) 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 XrossMediaBar (XMB) (Thin pale blue outline icons on a near black ground; emphasis comes only from lighting the one item at the crossing in gold, never from filling an area).
- Colour
- Build on #ffffff, #ffc211, #131314 and admit one accent from #223442, #BEE3F5, #E0BA73.
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.
- XrossMediaBar (XMB) Move a highlight instead of holding the crossing still and the viewer loses their place the moment a row grows long.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Metro (style, 2010–2015) and their accent from XrossMediaBar (XMB) (layout, 2003–2013). ## 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 XrossMediaBar (XMB), used sparingly - A horizontal row and a vertical column cross slightly left of center, and only the item at that crossing glows gold - Text labels appear for the selected item alone; the rest of the rows are icons only - The ground is one near black navy and the icons are thin pale blue outlines rather than filled shapes - Left and right move through categories, up and down through items, but it is the rows that slide while the crossing stays put Let one material quality come from it: Thin pale blue outline icons on a near black ground; emphasis comes only from lighting the one item at the crossing in gold, never from filling an area. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #ffffff, carry the structure in #ffc211 and #131314, and let a single accent come from #E0BA73. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: technique, trust, rebellion, calm, luxury. ## 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. - XrossMediaBar (XMB): Move a highlight instead of holding the crossing still and the viewer loses their place the moment a row grows long. ## 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.
- XrossMediaBar (XMB) 2003–2013 / Layout / Platform Screen Languages
Sony's trademarked interface language for its consoles and televisions. As the official manual puts it, the horizontal row shows system features in categories and the vertical column shows the items available under each category, and the single point where the two cross lights up gold to say where you are. Everything else stays pale blue on a dark field.
Share this composition:https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=metro+xmb