International Typographic Style × Zenitism

Its grid and neutral voice are the opposite of Zenit's mixed, combative page.

From the research on Zenitism (Zenit Magazine Typography)

Mix them and make something International Typographic Style Zenitism

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Zenitism, their arrangement from International Typographic Style, the finish from Zenitism. 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.

International Typographic Style Zenitism (Zenit Magazine Typography)

Type from International Typographic Style: Grotesque & neo-grotesque
Type as image
Colour from International Typographic Style: Limited spot colours
Flat fields
Form from Zenitism: Non-representational
Rules & bars
Composition from International Typographic Style: Modular grid
Dynamic asymmetry

Zenitism avoids modular grid: this is where the two pull against each other, which is the point of the contrast.
Surface from Zenitism

The type

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

Display · International Typographic Style

Dawn

Inter Tight, standing in for Akzidenz-Grotesk

Text · Zenitism

Ljubomir Micić's Yugoslav avant-garde: the monthly Zenit (43 issues, 1921-1926) and its 'abstract metacosmic expressionism' and Balkan 'barbarogenius', a 'modern primitive'. Unlike Mavo or Constructivism it has expressionist roots, Balkan-primitivist doctrine and a multilingual review; it was twice banned. Page design is thinly sourced, so design traits are tentative. Micić later turned to Serbian nationalism; the 'barbarogenius' rhetoric is ethnonational. Wikipedia says Zenitism distanced itself from Dada.

Jost; Zenitism used Mixed printers' display capitals set at contrasting sizes and Passages printed in several languages, untranslated

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from International Typographic Style, with a counter-accent from Zenitism. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

International Typographic Style Zenitism (Zenit Magazine Typography)

#f2f0e9 ground · 39%
#111111 ink · 15%
#e1251b accent · 20%
#1f4e9c accent · 15%
#7a7a7a accent · 11%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f2f0e9;
  --ink: #111111;
  --accent-1: #e1251b;
  --accent-2: #1f4e9c;
  --accent-3: #7a7a7a;
  --font-display: "Inter Tight", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Jost", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Zenitism (Zenit Magazine Typography): Micić later moved toward Serbian nationalism, and the 'barbarogenius' Balkan rhetoric is ethnonational. Treat Zenit as a historical avant-garde periodical, not a neutral look, and do not use its Balkan-primitivist framing as decorative exoticism.