Style combination · Contrasts

Corporate Identity Modernism × Extinction Rebellion Graphics

XR borrows a corporate identity's tools (one symbol, a fixed logotype, a colour palette, a design guide) and turns them into a free, hand-printed kit that bans commercial use.

From the research on Extinction Rebellion Graphics

Mix them and make something Corporate Identity Modernism Extinction Rebellion Graphics

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Corporate Identity Modernism, their arrangement from Corporate Identity Modernism, the finish from Extinction Rebellion Graphics. 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.

Corporate Identity Modernism Extinction Rebellion Graphics

Type from Extinction Rebellion Graphics: All caps
Type as image
Colour from Extinction Rebellion Graphics: Flat fields
Limited spot colours
Form from Corporate Identity Modernism: Geometric primitives
Non-representational
Composition from Corporate Identity Modernism: Isolated object
Single focal point
Surface from Extinction Rebellion Graphics: Carved line
Paper & letterpress bite

The type

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

Display · Extinction Rebellion Graphics

Public

Alfa Slab One, standing in for FUCXED Caps (drawn by Clive Russell of This Ain't Rock'n'Roll from an old woodcut-style wood type he found on eBay, deliberately slightly wonky; XR's headline print face, download file FUCXED v4; FUCXED Latin is recommended for online graphics)

Text · Corporate Identity Modernism

Modernist reduction applied to corporate communication. A company's whole public face (trademark, logotype, stationery, packaging, vehicles and signage) was unified by an abstract symbol, a single typeface and one colour, all policed by a graphic standards manual. Pioneered by Paul Rand, Chermayeff & Geismar, Unimark and Lippincott & Margulies, it made the reductive mark and the grid the visual language of multinational business and government.

Inter; Corporate Identity Modernism used Helvetica and Univers

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Extinction Rebellion Graphics, with a counter-accent from Corporate Identity Modernism. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Corporate Identity Modernism Extinction Rebellion Graphics

#f7ee6a ground · 36%
#000000 ink · 14%
#c80082 accent · 18%
#d7261e accent · 14%
#14aa37 accent · 10%
#0a4fa0 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f7ee6a;
  --ink: #000000;
  --accent-1: #c80082;
  --accent-2: #d7261e;
  --accent-3: #14aa37;
  --accent-4: #0a4fa0;
  --font-display: "Alfa Slab One", serif;
  --font-text: "Inter", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Extinction Rebellion Graphics: Extinction Rebellion is a living movement and the Extinction Symbol is credited to the artist ESP, who lends it to XR only for non-commercial use; XR says it will pursue anyone selling merchandise with it. Do not put the symbol, the XR logotype or a close imitation of the kit on products, fundraising, advertising or brand campaigns, and do not dress a company's climate message in XR's look to borrow its credibility.

The two styles

A blue circle sits above two mirrored red tapered shapes separated by a widening white gap. Large, bold black lettering reading “Apex” appears underneath on a white background.

1955–1990 · North America, Western Europe, Global / networked Corporate Identity Modernism Modernist reduction applied to corporate communication. A company's whole public face (trademark, logotype, stationery, packaging, vehicles and signage) was unified by an abstract symbol, a single typeface and one colour, all policed by a graphic standards manual. Pioneered by Paul Rand, Chermayeff & Geismar, Unimark and Lippincott & Margulies, it made the reductive mark and the grid the visual language of multinational business and government.

Huge distressed black letters reading “MORE TREES” fill the top of a bright green poster, above a large yellow-and-black bee with spread wings and radiating black lines. A small sprout emblem and the words “common ground” sit at the bottom.

2018–present · Western Europe, Global / networked Extinction Rebellion Graphics The visual identity of Extinction Rebellion, the climate movement founded in Stroud in 2018, built by its volunteer Art Group as a free kit anyone may print. Heavy, slightly wonky capitals based on old wood type (FUCXED) sit on flat grounds from a twelve-colour palette of brights and light tints, beside woodcut skulls, bees, butterflies, birds and flowers, signed with the XR logotype and often the circled-hourglass Extinction Symbol, attributed to the street artist ESP, who dates it to 2011. Blocks, screens and free downloads let crowds print their own flags, banners, placards and patches.

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