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 Swiss: 12-column grid, left-aligned, asymmetric
- Type
- Set in Swiss's manner (Neutral sans-serif; be bold with size contrast), and let Swiss Punk Typography's lettering (Letterspacing opened in steps, one word repeated at several sizes) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Swiss's material (White space and objective photographs; almost no ornament); bring in exactly one thing from Swiss Punk Typography (Layered exposures building halftone and reversal through the film).
- Colour
- Build on #f1efe8, #ed3b22, #121210 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Swiss and Swiss Punk Typography share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
Caution
- Swiss Too much tidiness turns anonymous. Keep one strong jump in scale.
- Swiss Punk Typography Breaking a grid you never built leaves the offsets nothing to measure against, so the rebellion within discipline never happens and only mess remains.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Swiss (Style, 1950s–) and its accent from Swiss Punk Typography (Style, 1970s–1980s). Structural cues: Strict grid; Sans-serif type; Asymmetry; Objective photography. Accent cues, used sparingly: The grid dismantled; Exploding letterspacing; Stepped compositions; Layered-film textures. Composition: 12-column grid, left-aligned, asymmetric. Type and lettering: Neutral sans-serif; be bold with size contrast. Let one material quality come from the second style: Layered exposures building halftone and reversal through the film. Mood: Trust, Calm, Rebellion, Technology, Exhilaration. Color: build on #f1efe8, #ed3b22, #121210 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
- Swiss 1950s– / Style / Functionalism
Puts order front and center and makes the information itself the protagonist.
- Swiss Punk Typography 1970s–1980s / Style / Experimental Typography
In Basel, the home of Swiss style, Weingart took the grid apart from the inside. Exploded letterspacing, stepped settings and layered film exposures turned rebellion within discipline into New Wave typography.
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