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 New Wave: Shift the grid; hold several angles at once
- Type
- Set in New Wave's manner (Mix condensed, geometric and vertical setting), and let The Face's lettering (Draw the headline weight from geometry as extra bold, and hold the text in a small sans) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in New Wave's material (Yellow, red, blue, dots, thin rules); bring in exactly one thing from The Face (Keep a set of section marks that change shape each issue, working in black areas and reversed white).
- Colour
- Build on #f1dfca, #f03d51, #3156af and admit one accent from #f2eee5, #b9a58f, #161513.
Where they fight
- New Wave and The Face share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
Caution
- New Wave Don't multiply small decorations. Choose one starring deviation.
- The Face When redrawing the letterforms every issue becomes the aim in itself, the marks stop working as signposts for the reader and every issue looks equally loud.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from New Wave (style, 1970s–1980s) and their accent from The Face (style, 1980s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing New Wave exists for: editorial heat for culture media, or adding surprise to serious content. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from New Wave - Irregular grid - Dots - High chroma - Rotated type Composition: Shift the grid; hold several angles at once. Type and lettering: Mix condensed, geometric and vertical setting. ## Accent comes from The Face, used sparingly - Extra bold headline letters drawn on geometry - Heavy rules and black bars dividing the page - Section marks that change shape issue by issue - Large type laid over the photograph Let one material quality come from it: Keep a set of section marks that change shape each issue, working in black areas and reversed white. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #f1dfca, carry the structure in #f03d51 and #3156af, and let a single accent come from #b9a58f. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: play, rebellion, exhilaration, luxury, calm. ## Where they fight - New Wave and The Face share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over. ## What goes wrong - New Wave: Don't multiply small decorations. Choose one starring deviation. - The Face: When redrawing the letterforms every issue becomes the aim in itself, the marks stop working as signposts for the reader and every issue looks equally loud. ## 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
- New Wave 1970s–1980s / Style / Counterculture
Keeps punk's freedom while re-editing color and grid with urban polish.
- The Face 1980s / Style / Publishing and Editing
Redraws its headline letters and section marks issue by issue, then sets them into a page of heavy rules and black bars with the same weight as the photographs.
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