Stylogeny combining Gabber and Hardcore Graphics × Rave

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Style combination · Pairs well

Gabber and Hardcore Graphics × Rave

Shares the flyer's info-heavy format and logotype culture, but hardens psychedelia into horror and menace and avoids the gradient and iridescence.

From the research on Gabber and Hardcore Graphics (Rotterdam and Thunderdome)

Mix them and make something Gabber and Hardcore Graphics Rave

LOUDGabber and × Rave1992 · 1988
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Gabber and Hardcore Graphics, their arrangement from Gabber and Hardcore Graphics, the finish from Rave. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

01

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.

Gabber and Hardcore Graphics (Rotterdam and Thunderdome) Rave & Acid House Graphics

Type from Gabber and Hardcore Graphics
Colour from Rave

Gabber and Hardcore Graphics avoids gradients: this is where the two pull against each other.

Form from Gabber and Hardcore Graphics
Composition from Gabber and Hardcore Graphics
Surface from Rave

02

The type

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

Display · Gabber and Hardcore Graphics

Loud

Anton, standing in for Heavy condensed all-caps display lettering

Text · Rave

The pocket-sized promotional art of acid house, rave and early techno, handed out in record shops and car parks to advertise all-night parties. Fronts revived psychedelia through smileys, trippy eyes, fractals and airbrushed fantasy landscapes; backs crammed DJ line-ups, sound-system credits and info-line numbers. Early desktop software, chrome 3D logotypes and fluorescent or metallic inks gave it a synthetic, hedonistic glow.

IBM Plex Mono; Rave used Eurostile Extended and OCR-A

03

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Rave, with a counter-accent from Gabber and Hardcore Graphics. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Gabber and Hardcore Graphics (Rotterdam and Thunderdome) Rave & Acid House Graphics

  • #0a0a0a ground · 36%
  • #ffe600 ink · 14%
  • #ff00b4 accent · 18%
  • #39ff14 accent · 14%
  • #00e5ff accent · 10%
  • #e8142c accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #0a0a0a;
  --ink: #ffe600;
  --accent-1: #ff00b4;
  --accent-2: #39ff14;
  --accent-3: #00e5ff;
  --accent-4: #e8142c;
  --font-display: "Anton", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "IBM Plex Mono", monospace;
}

Use it with care

Gabber and Hardcore Graphics (Rotterdam and Thunderdome): Early gabber had a small racist minority: some wore Lonsdale clothing tied to right-wing extremism, and the German neo-Nazi fringe followed the scene, while Dutch neo-Nazis tried to exploit the 2000s revival without lasting. Labels and artists answered with anti-fascist statements. Shaved heads, bomber jackets and tracksuits are scene dress, not a political sign, so do not pair them with far-right or Nazi symbols. Rotterdam and Amsterdam both shaped the style (the word comes from Amsterdam slang), so credit both.

04

The two styles

Huge jagged red lettering reading “RAVAGECORE” sits above a mechanical skull with glowing green eyes and attached hoses. Chains, lightning bolts, circular cityscape emblems and speaker towers frame the skull, with an industrial skyline, green laser beams and a concert crowd below. 1992–present · Western Europe, Global / networked Gabber and Hardcore Graphics (Rotterdam and Thunderdome) The visual language of Dutch gabber and hardcore techno, from the Rotterdam Records and Mokum labels and ID&T's Thunderdome parties: hard capitals, graffiti-derived logos and emblems such as the Thunderdome wizard, airbrushed horror and fantasy illustration on flyers and CD covers, and loud tracksuit colour in the crowd. It narrows the rave flyer's psychedelia into aggression and menace. A neon psychedelic poster reads “SOLAR RITUAL” above a large reflective golden sun with a smiling human face, surrounded by warped black-and-white patterns, planets, stars, and glowing orbital rings. Globe and smiley-face badges, small flying saucers, and a silhouetted crowd beneath multicoloured laser beams fill the lower portion. 1988–2000 · Western Europe Rave & Acid House Graphics The pocket-sized promotional art of acid house, rave and early techno, handed out in record shops and car parks to advertise all-night parties. Fronts revived psychedelia through smileys, trippy eyes, fractals and airbrushed fantasy landscapes; backs crammed DJ line-ups, sound-system credits and info-line numbers. Early desktop software, chrome 3D logotypes and fluorescent or metallic inks gave it a synthetic, hedonistic glow.

05

More combinations

With Gabber and Hardcore Graphics

With Rave

Every style combination