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 Web 1.0: Left-aligned, borders, table-like division
- Type
- Set in Web 1.0's manner (System sans and monospace), and let Web 2.0 Gloss's lettering (A rounded sans-serif) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Web 1.0's material (White background, blue links, dithered images); bring in exactly one thing from Web 2.0 Gloss (Blue gradients, white highlights).
- Colour
- Build on #c9c9c9, #0000ee, #111111 and admit one accent from #e7f5ff, #2b93de, #174d82.
Where they fight
- Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 Gloss both belong to Digital Retro, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Web 1.0 Don't regress actual accessibility. Separate the look from interaction quality.
- Web 2.0 Gloss In real UI, restrain shadows and reflections so state differences stay legible.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Web 1.0 (style, 1990s) and their accent from Web 2.0 Gloss (style, 2000s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Web 1.0 exists for: showing affection for internet culture, or an unpolished, approachable feel. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Web 1.0 - Blue links - Low-res GIFs - System fonts - Plain buttons Composition: Left-aligned, borders, table-like division. Type and lettering: System sans and monospace. ## Accent comes from Web 2.0 Gloss, used sparingly - Glossy buttons - Strong gradients - Reflections - Rounded corners Let one material quality come from it: Blue gradients, white highlights. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #c9c9c9, carry the structure in #0000ee and #111111, and let a single accent come from #2b93de. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: nostalgia, play, rebellion, intimacy. ## Where they fight - Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 Gloss both belong to Digital Retro, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - Web 1.0: Don't regress actual accessibility. Separate the look from interaction quality. - Web 2.0 Gloss: In real UI, restrain shadows and reflections so state differences stay legible. ## 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
- Web 1.0 1990s / Style / Digital Retro
Reuses the naivety of the constrained early web as directness and charm. In the 2020s it came back as a movement to take the personal site back, gathering under names like Neocities and Yesterweb.
- Web 2.0 Gloss 2000s / Style / Digital Retro
Explains digital interaction as something touchable through gloss, roundness and reflection. It names what the web made when it tried to reproduce the texture of Aqua with images and CSS.
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