Mechano-Faktura × Suprematism

Borrow its flat geometric primitives, then fill them with Berlewi's mechanical line rhythm.

From the research on Mechano-Faktura & Polish Constructivist Advertising

Mix them and make something Mechano-Faktura Suprematism

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Mechano-Faktura, their arrangement from Suprematism, the finish from Suprematism. 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.

Mechano-Faktura & Polish Constructivist Advertising Suprematism

Type from Suprematism: Grotesque & neo-grotesque
Colour from Mechano-Faktura: Limited spot colours
Flat fields
Form from Mechano-Faktura: Optical pattern
Geometric primitives
Composition from Suprematism: Diagonal axis
Generous white space
Surface from Suprematism: Flat

The type

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

Display · Suprematism

Circuit

Six Caps, standing in for Russian grotesques (rubleny shrift) as set by Lissitzky

Text · Mechano-Faktura

Henryk Berlewi's system of two-dimensional pictures built mechanically from rhythmic parallel lines, circles and squares in black, white and red. It rejected the illusion of space and was promptly applied to commercial advertising, brochures and packaging by the agency Reklama-Mechano. Unlike Russian Constructivism, it was a theory of mechanical surface texture sold to business, with no photomontage, diagonals or agitprop. Berlewi quit the research in 1926 and returned to figurative art.

Jost; Mechano-Faktura used Lettering not verified; no typeface attribution confirmed and Geometric sans-serif display lettering is an unconfirmed assumption

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Mechano-Faktura, with a counter-accent from Suprematism. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Mechano-Faktura & Polish Constructivist Advertising Suprematism

#ffffff ground · 36%
#111111 ink · 14%
#d62718 accent · 18%
#e9b824 accent · 14%
#2a4d8f accent · 10%
#3f7d4e accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #ffffff;
  --ink: #111111;
  --accent-1: #d62718;
  --accent-2: #e9b824;
  --accent-3: #2a4d8f;
  --accent-4: #3f7d4e;
  --font-display: "Six Caps", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Jost", sans-serif;
}

The two styles

An abstract poster on a white background features the geometric word “RITMO” across the top, beside a large red circle. Black vertical stripes and stepped rows of black rectangles contrast with diagonal rows of red circles that shrink toward the right.

1923–1926 · Eastern Europe, Central Europe Mechano-Faktura & Polish Constructivist Advertising Henryk Berlewi's system of two-dimensional pictures built mechanically from rhythmic parallel lines, circles and squares in black, white and red. It rejected the illusion of space and was promptly applied to commercial advertising, brochures and packaging by the agency Reklama-Mechano. Unlike Russian Constructivism, it was a theory of mechanical surface texture sold to business, with no photomontage, diagonals or agitprop. Berlewi quit the research in 1926 and returned to figurative art.

An off-white cover features a large red circle crossed by a thick diagonal black bar, with a red square, blue triangle, yellow bar, and small green circle. The black uppercase word “DRIFT” angles upward across the upper portion.

1915–1925 · Eastern Europe Suprematism Kazimir Malevich's non-objective art, unveiled with the Black Square at the 0.10 exhibition in Petrograd in 1915, reduced painting to pure geometric planes floating in white, infinite space. Through the UNOVIS collective in Vitebsk and El Lissitzky's books it became a graphic language of squares, bars and circles tilted on dynamic diagonals, the seedbed of Constructivist layout.

More combinations

With Mechano-Faktura

With Suprematism

Every style combination