Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Slab Serif: Combine with rules and boxes, aligning elements to a visible grid
- Type
- Set in Slab Serif's manner (Choose a family with even weight steps and mix caps with lowercase), 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 Slab Serif's material (It survives ink spread on paper and stamping into metal or cloth); bring in exactly one thing from Wood Type (Firm impression showing grain, few colors, chips and wear left in).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Slab Serif and Wood Type share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
- Both belong to Type Classification, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Slab Serif A heavy slab used for long text packs the lines black and stops reading, so sturdiness turns into sheer heaviness.
- 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
An original image that takes its structure from Slab Serif (Style, 1815–) and its accent from Wood Type (Technique, 1827–). Structural cues: Slab serifs; Even strokes; Sturdy letterforms; Mechanical repetition. Accent cues, used sparingly: Gigantic sizes; Extreme condensing and extending; Carved ornament; Ink scuff and material grain. Composition: Combine with rules and boxes, aligning elements to a visible grid. Type and lettering: Choose a family with even weight steps and mix caps with lowercase. Let one material quality come from the second style: Firm impression showing grain, few colors, chips and wear left in. Mood: Trust, Technology, Exhilaration, Nostalgia. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Slab Serif 1815– / Style / Type Classification
Square serifs as thick as the strokes turned letters into machine structures. Industrial society's advertising and notices found their sturdy voice.
- 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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