22 style families

Styles

Learn to name what you are looking at. Each family lists the markers that give it away.

Few elements, precise measure, whitespace doing the structural work.

Wide marginsOne focal elementRestrained palette
10 works →
02

Photographic

All periods

A single photograph carries the argument; type serves it.

Full-bleed imageSubordinate typeTonal control
8 works →
03

Hand rendered

All periods

Drawn, painted or written by hand, including lettering.

Hand letteringBrush or penIrregular rhythm
8 works →
06

Illustration led

All periods

Drawn imagery sets the register before any word is read.

Drawn imageCharacter or motifMark-making
5 works →
07

Maximalism

2000 onward

Abundance held together by an underlying order.

High element countMultiple type familiesControlled chaos
2 works →
08

Mixed writing systems, extreme precision, vertical and horizontal setting.

Mixed scriptsMicro spacing controlVertical axis
1 works →
09

Type only

All periods

No imagery at all — composition, scale and spacing do everything.

No imageScale contrastSpatial rhythm
1 works →
11

Brutalist

1960s onward

Raw structure left exposed: default type, unrefined spacing, no decoration.

Exposed structureDefault typefacesBlunt contrast
12

Neo Brutalist

2015 onward

Deliberate crudeness as style: hard borders, flat blocks, oversized labels.

Hard rulesFlat colour blocksOversized labels
13

Postmodern

1980s onward

Layering, quotation and grid subversion in place of neutrality.

Layered planesHistorical quotationGrid subversion
14

Anti Design

1970s onward

Rejection of good-taste conventions; friction is the point.

Deliberate awkwardnessClashing scaleRefused polish
15

Y2K

1997 to 2004, revived 2019 onward

Chrome, bevels, lens flare and techno-optimism.

Chrome typeGlossTechno motifs
16

Acid Graphics

2018 onward

Warped type, metallic surfaces and high-saturation digital residue.

Warped typeMetallic surfacesSaturated glow
17

Rave / Club

1988 onward

Flyer economy: urgent information, photocopy texture, night-legible contrast.

Information urgencyCopier textureNight contrast
18

Constructivist influenced

1920s, referenced onward

Diagonal axes, geometric blocks, limited ink, agitational address.

DiagonalsGeometric blocksRed and black
19

Polish Poster School influenced

1950s onward

Painterly metaphor and authorial image making over commercial legibility.

Painterly surfaceVisual metaphorHandwritten titling
20

Latin American Poster Design

1960s onward

Political directness, vivid palettes and vernacular reference.

Political addressVivid paletteVernacular reference
21

Collage

1920s onward

Assembled fragments, visible seams, found material.

Cut edgesFound materialVisible seams
22

3D / CGI

2010 onward

Rendered objects, simulated light and material as the image.

Rendered lightMaterial studySimulated depth