Stylogeny combining Streamline Moderne × Ma

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Style combination · Contrasts

Streamline Moderne × Ma

Weathered imperfection against polished chrome: use the foil to question a shiny narrative of progress.

From the research on Streamline Moderne

Mix them and make something Streamline Moderne Ma

CIRCUITStreamline Moderne × Ma1930 · 1500
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Streamline Moderne, their arrangement from Ma, the finish from Streamline Moderne. 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.

Streamline Moderne Ma & Wabi-sabi Aesthetics

Type from Streamline Moderne
Colour from Ma
Form from Streamline Moderne
Composition from Ma
Surface from Streamline Moderne

Ma avoids gloss & highlights and chrome & 3d render: this is where the two pull against each other, which is the point of the contrast.

02

The type

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

Display · Streamline Moderne

Circuit

Josefin Sans; Streamline Moderne used Huxley Vertical and Agency Gothic

Text · Ma

A Japanese aesthetic rooted in Zen and the wabi tea ceremony that prizes austerity, imperfection, impermanence and the charged interval (ma) between things. In graphic design it appears as vast empty grounds, a single off-centre element, muted natural colours, visible material texture and the unrepeatable brush mark, from ink painting to Muji's 'emptiness'.

Shippori Mincho; Ma used Bokuseki and Sōsho cursive kana and kanji

03

The colours

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

Streamline Moderne Ma & Wabi-sabi Aesthetics

  • #e9e4d8 ground · 36%
  • #2b2a28 ink · 14%
  • #7d4e3a accent · 18%
  • #d9822b accent · 14%
  • #b9a88a accent · 10%
  • #1f3a5f accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #e9e4d8;
  --ink: #2b2a28;
  --accent-1: #7d4e3a;
  --accent-2: #d9822b;
  --accent-3: #b9a88a;
  --accent-4: #1f3a5f;
  --font-display: "Josefin Sans", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Shippori Mincho", serif;
}

04

The two styles

A streamlined silver-and-orange passenger train races along converging tracks beneath the large word “SKYLINE.” Rounded futuristic towers rise against a large pale sun in a deep blue sky. 1930–1945 · North America Streamline Moderne The late, chiefly American phase of Art Deco, in which aerodynamic science became a visual language for a Depression-era culture hungry for progress. Industrial designers and illustrators wrapped trains, radios, diners and posters in teardrop curves, horizontal speed lines, rounded corners and airbrushed chrome, selling the 'World of Tomorrow' at the 1939 New York World's Fair. A cream, fibrous-paper background holds the brush-written character 間 with “M a” below it. A large, rough circular brushstroke in olive, brown and ochre is cropped along the right edge, with scattered paint droplets and a small horizontal bar near the bottom. 1500–present · East Asia Ma & Wabi-sabi Aesthetics A Japanese aesthetic rooted in Zen and the wabi tea ceremony that prizes austerity, imperfection, impermanence and the charged interval (ma) between things. In graphic design it appears as vast empty grounds, a single off-centre element, muted natural colours, visible material texture and the unrepeatable brush mark, from ink painting to Muji's 'emptiness'.

05

More combinations

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