Style combination · Pairs well

Batik Pattern Tradition × African Wax

Set hand-drawn Javanese batik beside its industrial descendant to show resist turning into mass repeat, crackle and giant scale.

From the research on African Wax & Fancy Print

Mix them and make something Batik Pattern Tradition African Wax

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Batik Pattern Tradition, their arrangement from Batik Pattern Tradition, the finish from African Wax. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

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.

Batik Pattern Tradition African Wax & Fancy Print

Type from African Wax
Colour from Batik Pattern Tradition: Earth & mineral
Analogous harmony
Form from Batik Pattern Tradition: Abundant decoration
Biomorphic curves
Composition from Batik Pattern Tradition: All-over field
Horror vacui
Surface from African Wax: Misregistration & overprint
Flat

The type

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

Display · African Wax

Together

Agbalumo; African Wax used Selvedge captions and Bold capitals in ribbon banners for slogans and dates on commemorative fancy cloth

Text · Batik Pattern Tradition

The Javanese wax-resist textile tradition in which hot wax is drawn with a canting or stamped with a copper cap, then dyed in successive baths to build layered all-over patterns. Court batik of Yogyakarta and Surakarta keeps to indigo, soga brown and cream with diagonal parang and four-lobed kawung repeats; north-coast batik absorbs Chinese, Dutch and Arab motifs in brighter colour.

EB Garamond; Batik Pattern Tradition used Arabic calligraphy of batik besurek (Bengkulu) and Cirebon and Signed Latin script of batik Belanda workshops

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Batik Pattern Tradition, with a counter-accent from African Wax. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Batik Pattern Tradition African Wax & Fancy Print

#2a1c14 ground · 36%
#ecdcbc ink · 14%
#a6322b accent · 18%
#f2b705 accent · 14%
#2c6aa0 accent · 10%
#6b3e1e accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #2a1c14;
  --ink: #ecdcbc;
  --accent-1: #a6322b;
  --accent-2: #f2b705;
  --accent-3: #2c6aa0;
  --accent-4: #6b3e1e;
  --font-display: "Agbalumo", cursive;
  --font-text: "EB Garamond", serif;
}

Use it with care

Batik Pattern Tradition: Batik is inscribed by UNESCO as Indonesian intangible cultural heritage (2009), and some court motifs such as parang rusak were historically reserved for royalty and carry philosophical meanings. Learn a motif's meaning before using it, credit the region and makers, and do not market printed batik-look fabric as hand-drawn or stamped batik.

African Wax & Fancy Print: Wax print is shared popular culture, but its designs carry names and messages given by African traders and wearers, and commemorative cloths carry political and religious portraits. Learn a design's name and meaning before reusing it, do not use commemorative portraits or party emblems out of context, and credit African designers, mills and traders rather than presenting a European brand or a generic 'African print' as the source.

The two styles

A dense repeating botanical pattern features rust-red flowers, indigo leaves, brown curling fronds, and cream leafy stems arranged in flowing diagonal bands. Fine dotted details and branching crackle lines give the flat design a batik-like appearance.

1600–present · Southeast Asia Batik Pattern Tradition The Javanese wax-resist textile tradition in which hot wax is drawn with a canting or stamped with a copper cap, then dyed in successive baths to build layered all-over patterns. Court batik of Yogyakarta and Surakarta keeps to indigo, soga brown and cream with diagonal parang and four-lobed kawung repeats; north-coast batik absorbs Chinese, Dutch and Arab motifs in brighter colour. 1880–present · Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe African Wax & Fancy Print Industrially printed cotton made for West and Central African markets, first by Dutch and British mills that imitated Javanese batik with resin resist, and later by African mills. Giant emblematic motifs, an indigo key with offset colours and crackle veining repeat across the cloth, and traders name designs after proverbs and events. Cheaper one-sided fancy prints turn the cloth into commemorative media with portraits, emblems and slogans.