Style combination · Contrasts

Memphis Design × Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions

Memphis colour, pattern and squiggles are everything the booklet refuses; one patterned part on a grey outline page makes a pointed contrast.

From the research on Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions

Mix them and make something Memphis Design Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Memphis Design, their arrangement from Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions, the finish from Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions. 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.

Memphis Design Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions

Type from Memphis Design: Geometric sans
Colour from Memphis Design: Complementary clash
Full polychrome

Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions avoids full polychrome: this is where the two pull against each other, which is the point of the contrast.
Form from Memphis Design: Geometric primitives
Squiggles & confetti
Composition from Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions: Isolated object
Sequential narrative
Surface from Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions: Flat

The type

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

Display · Memphis Design

Pop

Jost, standing in for Futura

Text · Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions

The wordless flat-pack booklet as IKEA drew it up after 1999, which replaced the exploded view of older instruction manuals with step-by-step pictures: the product is drawn in black outline on white as it looks at each stage of building, with grey only to pick out the part being fitted. The work is broken into many simple steps with few points of focus each, hardware and tools carry their article numbers, and a cartoon 'assembly figure', now drawn without gender, gives tips. With no words, one booklet serves every market.

Space Mono; Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions used Almost no type and On covers and brand material only

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Memphis Design, with a counter-accent from Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Memphis Design Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions

#ffd23f ground · 36%
#111111 ink · 14%
#ff5a36 accent · 18%
#6e6e6e accent · 14%
#2ec4b6 accent · 10%
#a8a8a8 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #ffd23f;
  --ink: #111111;
  --accent-1: #ff5a36;
  --accent-2: #6e6e6e;
  --accent-3: #2ec4b6;
  --accent-4: #a8a8a8;
  --font-display: "Jost", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Space Mono", monospace;
}

Use it with care

Wordless Flat-Pack Assembly Instructions: IKEA’s name, logo and assembly figure belong to IKEA: work in the manner (black line on white, one simple step per picture, no words) without using them, without copying a real IKEA booklet or product, and without presenting the result as IKEA’s or implying a link with IKEA.