Stylogeny combining Art Nouveau × Skønvirke

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Style combination · Contrasts

Art Nouveau × Skønvirke

Shares the hand-lettering and abundance but swaps the whiplash line and the female figure for blunt abstract masses; set side by side they show the heavy Danish variant.

From the research on Skønvirke (Danish Art Nouveau, Bindesbøll)

Mix them and make something Art Nouveau Skønvirke

An ornate poster shows a red-haired woman looking to the right and holding a scallop-shaped fan against her chest. Cream bell-shaped flowers, curling green foliage, paired fish and shell motifs surround her beneath large gold lettering reading “HAVBLOMST.”
AI-generated by Stylogeny from the recipe below, and checked against it: the type from Art Nouveau, the form from Art Nouveau, the composition from Skønvirke. Not a real or historical work.

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What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Art Nouveau Skønvirke (Danish Art Nouveau, Bindesbøll)

Type from Art Nouveau
Colour from Skønvirke
Form from Art Nouveau
Composition from Skønvirke
Surface from Skønvirke

02

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Art Nouveau

Amour

Federant, standing in for Arnold Böcklin (Otto Weisert, 1904)

Text · Skønvirke

The Danish answer to Art Nouveau, around 1890–1920, seen in print above all in Thorvald Bindesbøll's work: heavy, roughly drawn hand lettering locked into dense ornament of swelling tendrils, cloud and wave forms. Labels, logos, covers and vignettes are framed and centred, in black with one or two flat colours. Bindesbøll kept his ornament abstract; the wider movement added stylised wild flowers, insects and sea life. Both trade Art Nouveau's thin whiplash line and female figures for blunt, swelling masses. The 1904 Carlsberg label is still in use in adapted form.

Libre Caslon Text; Skønvirke used Thorvald Bindesbøll's hand-drawn label lettering, the 'roughly sketched letters' of the Carlsberg Pilsner label (1904), which Carlsberg has carried over in adapted form to other beers and The Carlsberg wordmark (Bindesbøll, 1904), hand-drawn and still in use

03

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Skønvirke, with a counter-accent from Art Nouveau. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Art Nouveau Skønvirke (Danish Art Nouveau, Bindesbøll)

  • #efe7d3 ground · 36%
  • #1b1a17 ink · 14%
  • #d4a32c accent · 18%
  • #a8322a accent · 14%
  • #3f7a75 accent · 10%
  • #2c4f80 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #efe7d3;
  --ink: #1b1a17;
  --accent-1: #d4a32c;
  --accent-2: #a8322a;
  --accent-3: #3f7a75;
  --accent-4: #2c4f80;
  --font-display: "Federant", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Libre Caslon Text", serif;
}

04

The two styles

An illustrated poster headed “RIVERBLOOM” shows a woman in a flowing green dress with long auburn hair entwined with pink flowers, reaching down to touch rippling water. Water lilies, curling foliage and an ornate botanical border surround her, with a river, distant trees and a golden sun behind her. 1890–1910 · Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, North America Art Nouveau An international 'new art' that sought a modern style free of historical revival, drawing its forms from plant growth and the female figure. Graphic work flows with whiplash curves and stylised flowers, frames idealised women in arches, halos and mosaic borders, and draws custom lettering that bends to fill the space, fusing image, ornament and type into one decorative surface. An ornate, vertically symmetrical poster surrounds the large blue word “NORDLYS” with curling green leaves, rust-red flowers, blue flourishes and golden dots on a cream background. A narrow botanical border encloses the composition, with circular floral motifs in the corners. 1890–1920 · Northern Europe Skønvirke (Danish Art Nouveau, Bindesbøll) The Danish answer to Art Nouveau, around 1890–1920, seen in print above all in Thorvald Bindesbøll's work: heavy, roughly drawn hand lettering locked into dense ornament of swelling tendrils, cloud and wave forms. Labels, logos, covers and vignettes are framed and centred, in black with one or two flat colours. Bindesbøll kept his ornament abstract; the wider movement added stylised wild flowers, insects and sea life. Both trade Art Nouveau's thin whiplash line and female figures for blunt, swelling masses. The 1904 Carlsberg label is still in use in adapted form.

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More combinations

With Art Nouveau

All 28 combinations with Art Nouveau

With Skønvirke

Every style combination