Style combination · Contrasts

Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay × International Typographic Style

Swiss hierarchy gives one message priority; danmaku gives every voice the same size and lets the crowd bury the image. Pin one strict Swiss title in the top lane to stage order against the swarm.

From the research on Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay

Mix them and make something Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay International Typographic Style

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from International Typographic Style, their arrangement from Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay, the finish from Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay. 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.

Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay International Typographic Style

Type from International Typographic Style: Grotesque & neo-grotesque
Type as image
Colour from International Typographic Style: Limited spot colours
Flat fields
Form from International Typographic Style: Geometric primitives
Rectilinear
Composition from Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay: Layered information
Repetition & rhythm
Surface from Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay: Hard offset shadow
Flat

The type

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

Display · International Typographic Style

Grid

Inter Tight, standing in for Akzidenz-Grotesk

Text · Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay

The bullet-comment layer of Japanese and Chinese video sites, begun on Niconico in December 2006 and taken up by AcFun and Bilibili in 2008–2009. Viewers' one-line comments fly across the playing video from right to left, or sit centred at the top or bottom, each timed to the moment it answers. By default every line is the same white, black-outlined sans at one size; commands add saturated RGB colours and sizes, and viewers set opacity and speed. At climaxes identical lines pile into a 'bullet curtain' over the picture: anonymous crowd writing laid over someone else's image.

Zen Kaku Gothic New; Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay used Arial for Latin letters and digits, then MS PGothic (ＭＳＰゴシック) for Japanese, at weight 600 and The 'gothic' and 'mincho' font commands of Niconico's later player

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from International Typographic Style, with a counter-accent from Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay International Typographic Style

#f2f0e9 ground · 36%
#111111 ink · 14%
#e1251b accent · 18%
#ff0000 accent · 14%
#1f4e9c accent · 10%
#ff8080 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f2f0e9;
  --ink: #111111;
  --accent-1: #e1251b;
  --accent-2: #ff0000;
  --accent-3: #1f4e9c;
  --accent-4: #ff8080;
  --font-display: "Inter Tight", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Zen Kaku Gothic New", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay: Danmaku is moving text that starts on its own, runs longer than five seconds and sits on top of other content, so any design that uses it needs a way to pause, hide or thin it (WCAG 2.2.2, which is why platforms build an off switch) and must keep it clear of faces and captions. Real comments are other people's words over footage someone else owns: write your own lines rather than lifting screenshots, and do not fake an audience's enthusiasm in advertising. A live comment layer can also be used to pile abuse on people, and in mainland China the China Netcasting Services Association's rules for short-video platforms of 9 January 2019 require danmaku to be reviewed before it is shown, so moderate any live use.

The two styles

2006–present · East Asia Danmaku Bullet-Comment Overlay The bullet-comment layer of Japanese and Chinese video sites, begun on Niconico in December 2006 and taken up by AcFun and Bilibili in 2008–2009. Viewers' one-line comments fly across the playing video from right to left, or sit centred at the top or bottom, each timed to the moment it answers. By default every line is the same white, black-outlined sans at one size; commands add saturated RGB colours and sizes, and viewers set opacity and speed. At climaxes identical lines pile into a 'bullet curtain' over the picture: anonymous crowd writing laid over someone else's image.

The words “Urban Systems” appear in large black and red lettering at the upper left of an off-white cover. Tall blue, black and grey rectangular blocks rise from the bottom, with fine vertical dividing lines and a red circle at the upper right.

1950–1975 · Central Europe International Typographic Style A post-war refinement of the New Typography in which the mathematical grid, objective photography and neo-grotesque sans-serifs were used to communicate with clarity and neutrality. Taught at the Basel and Zurich schools, it became the default language of international corporate and institutional communication.