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 Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor): Hold the same map as three layers: ground, lines, labels. Drop layers as the data on top gets denser, so the map itself carries less
- Type
- Set in Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor)'s manner (Keep labels out of the basemap and add them back as a separate layer only when needed. Use one typeface and change its size by one step per zoom level), and let Schematic Transit Diagram's lettering (Set station names at one constant angle in a single face and size) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor)'s material (Draw Toner as two values with no midtone. For Watercolor, scan washes painted on real paper and map them onto tiles through a scripted process, keeping the soft edges and the grain); bring in exactly one thing from Schematic Transit Diagram (One color per line, white circles for interchanges, plain background behind).
- Colour
- Build on #111111, #7FB0C2, #E5C49F and admit one accent from #fbf5dd, #e52d3f, #245196.
Where they fight
- Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor) and Schematic Transit Diagram both belong to Information Design, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor) Lay thin lines and small type over Watercolor and they lose to the soft edges and the paper grain, so nothing stays readable.
- Schematic Transit Diagram Trying to keep a little geographic accuracy breaks the angle rule, and the diagram ends up neither accurate nor easy to read.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor) (style, 2010s–) and their accent from Schematic Transit Diagram (layout, 1933–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor) exists for: when the basemap has to drop to black and white so strong colour can be layered on top of it, or when a location map on an invitation or a guide should read as a painting on paper rather than a data panel. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor) - Toner is drawn in black and white with no grey midtones at all - In Watercolor the shore reads as the soft edge of a brush stroke, and the paper texture stays visible as you zoom - Watercolor renders water as blues mixed with turquoise and violet, and roads swing from orange to red brown - Labels, lines and ground are separate layers, so a tile set ships with any of them left off Composition: Hold the same map as three layers: ground, lines, labels. Drop layers as the data on top gets denser, so the map itself carries less. Type and lettering: Keep labels out of the basemap and add them back as a separate layer only when needed. Use one typeface and change its size by one step per zoom level. ## Accent comes from Schematic Transit Diagram, used sparingly - Lines limited to 45 degrees - Evenly spaced stations - Color-coded lines - Independence from geography Let one material quality come from it: One color per line, white circles for interchanges, plain background behind. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #E5C49F, carry the structure in #7FB0C2 and #111111, and let a single accent come from #e52d3f. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: technique, play, nostalgia, trust, calm. ## Where they fight - Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor) and Schematic Transit Diagram both belong to Information Design, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor): Lay thin lines and small type over Watercolor and they lose to the soft edges and the paper grain, so nothing stays readable. - Schematic Transit Diagram: Trying to keep a little geographic accuracy breaks the angle rule, and the diagram ends up neither accurate nor easy to read. ## 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
- Stamen Map Styles (Toner, Terrain, Watercolor) 2010s– / Style / Information Design
Stamen Design published three named basemap styles: Toner in high contrast black and white, Terrain built from hill shading and vegetation colour, and Watercolor made of washes with soft edges over paper texture. What changed with them is that the look of a basemap became a style you pick, not a set of colour settings you adjust. Cooper Hewitt acquired Watercolor, which was launched in 2012 and released under a Creative Commons Attribution licence.
- Schematic Transit Diagram 1933– / Layout / Information Design
Discards geographic accuracy for horizontal, vertical and 45-degree lines with evenly spaced stations. Beck's 1933 London Underground diagram established it as the common language of transit maps worldwide.
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