Style combination · Contrasts

Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript × Minimalist Graphic Design

Its restrained page of black, red and one headpiece already reads as minimal; set it against true minimalism to see how much rhythm red punctuation adds.

From the research on Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination

Mix them and make something Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript Minimalist Graphic Design

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript, their arrangement from Minimalist Graphic Design, the finish from Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript. 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.

Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination Minimalist Graphic Design

Type from Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript: Brush & pen calligraphy
Colour from Minimalist Graphic Design: Monochrome
Flat fields
Form from Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript: Stylised figuration
Borders & frames

Minimalist Graphic Design avoids borders & frames: this is where the two pull against each other, which is the point of the contrast.
Composition from Minimalist Graphic Design: Isolated object
Generous white space
Surface from Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript: Flat

The type

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

Display · Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript

Quiet

Reem Kufi; Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript used Ge'ez (Ethiopic) fidel syllabary written with a reed pen and Rubricated Ethiopic punctuation

Text · Minimalist Graphic Design

Modernism reduced to its barest means, informed by 1960s Minimal art and Japanese emptiness: one image or line of type, vast white or neutral space, a monochrome or near-monochrome palette and meticulous typographic detail. From ECM record sleeves to Muji and Apple packaging, it signals quality, calm and confidence by withholding rather than adding.

Inter; Minimalist Graphic Design used Helvetica Neue and Akzidenz-Grotesk

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Minimalist Graphic Design, with a counter-accent from Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination Minimalist Graphic Design

#ffffff ground · 36%
#1a1a1a ink · 14%
#d9d6d0 accent · 18%
#e07a1f accent · 14%
#8c8a86 accent · 10%
#b3261e accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #ffffff;
  --ink: #1a1a1a;
  --accent-1: #d9d6d0;
  --accent-2: #e07a1f;
  --accent-3: #8c8a86;
  --accent-4: #b3261e;
  --font-display: "Reem Kufi", cursive;
  --font-text: "Inter", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination: These are liturgical and devotional books and protective objects still in use: rubricated holy names, prayers, icons of Christ, Mary and the saints, the protective eyes of haräg bands and the guardian figures of talismanic scrolls (made by dabtara clergy for a named owner) carry religious and apotropaic meaning. Do not use them as texture, logos or decoration on trivial products; have any Ge'ez text read by a fluent reader; and commission or collaborate with Ethiopian and Eritrean scribes, painters and designers rather than copying motifs. Many manuscripts in Western collections were looted (notably from Maqdala in 1868) and are subject to restitution claims.

The two styles

c. 500–present · Sub-Saharan Africa Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination The manuscript art of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, written in the Ge'ez syllabary on parchment from the Garima Gospels (radiocarbon-dated to roughly the 4th–7th centuries) to the present. Carbon-black text is punctuated by red headings, names and dotted word-dividers, haräg bands of interlace, chequers and protective eyes mark the main divisions, and miniatures show flat, frontal figures with large almond eyes in hot mineral colours.

A minimalist white poster has the widely spaced black words “STILL FARTHER” near the upper left and a large black circle in the lower-right area. Most of the surface is empty white space.

1965–present · Global / networked Minimalist Graphic Design Modernism reduced to its barest means, informed by 1960s Minimal art and Japanese emptiness: one image or line of type, vast white or neutral space, a monochrome or near-monochrome palette and meticulous typographic detail. From ECM record sleeves to Muji and Apple packaging, it signals quality, calm and confidence by withholding rather than adding.