Style combination · Contrasts

Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics × Solarpunk

Both paint pale, luminous futures full of biomorphic forms, and solarpunk counts Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind among its models, a film Miyazaki said he directed under Mœbius's influence; solarpunk is utopian, verdant and floral, while Métal hurlant sets lone figures in empty alien deserts and colossal architecture, tells adult stories with sex and violence, and breaks comic pages into tableaux.

From the research on Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics (Mœbius, Druillet & Les Humanoïdes Associés)

Mix them and make something Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics Solarpunk

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Solarpunk, their arrangement from Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics, the finish from Solarpunk. 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.

Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics (Mœbius, Druillet & Les Humanoïdes Associés) Solarpunk

Type from Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics: Hand-lettering
Ornamented display
Colour from Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics: Pastel
Gradients
Form from Solarpunk: Biomorphic curves
Floral & vegetal
Composition from Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics: Broken grid
Framed panels
Surface from Solarpunk: Painterly brushwork

The type

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

Display · Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics

Future

Bangers; Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics used Pen-lettered balloon capitals and Monumental drawn title lettering

Text · Solarpunk

Hopeful eco-futurist imagery born online. The word dates from a 2008 blog post; the look from an August 2014 Tumblr post by the artist Olivia Louise asking for renewable technology with 'an Art Nouveau veneer'. Sunlit painted vistas, or flat, textured cover illustrations thick with foliage, show cities grown over with gardens, stained-glass solar panels, airships, wind power and shared streets full of people, in natural greens and sky blues warmed by gold. It fills book and magazine covers, concept art and animation as the daylit, communal opposite of cyberpunk's neon night.

Newsreader; Solarpunk used Swash, Art Nouveau-flavoured upper- and lowercase display lettering, as in Solarpunk Magazine's orange masthead and Wide, flared capitals with sun-wheel O's on a translucent title panel over the painting, as on the Sunvault cover

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics, with a counter-accent from Solarpunk. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics (Mœbius, Druillet & Les Humanoïdes Associés) Solarpunk

#151312 ground · 36%
#ecdcb9 ink · 14%
#a3243f accent · 18%
#e8b445 accent · 14%
#e7a487 accent · 10%
#b8652f accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #151312;
  --ink: #ecdcb9;
  --accent-1: #a3243f;
  --accent-2: #e8b445;
  --accent-3: #e7a487;
  --accent-4: #b8652f;
  --font-display: "Bangers", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Newsreader", serif;
}

Use it with care

Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics (Mœbius, Druillet & Les Humanoïdes Associés): The stories, characters and drawings of Mœbius, Druillet, Bilal and the other contributors remain in copyright with their authors, estates and publishers: build your own worlds, creatures and title lettering in the shared idiom, do not ask an image model to imitate a named artist, and never present a generated picture as a page from the magazine. The magazine's adult register also ran to sexualised depictions of women; keep that choice deliberate and give women the same agency and drawing care as the heroes.

Solarpunk: Draw original worlds rather than pastiches of Studio Ghibli films or of living illustrators such as Likhain, Fei Fei Ruan or Stephen Lillie, and do not prompt an image model with their names. Do not use the look to greenwash: Adam Flynn calls luxury condos with a green roof that price out existing communities 'fake Solarpunk urbanism', so show shared, affordable infrastructure and ordinary people. When a scene borrows architecture, dress or symbols from a specific culture (Afrofuturist, Indigenous or other), keep their meanings and credit their makers.