# mid-century-modern — Mid-Century Modern (Paul Rand / Saul Bass)

- **School**: Specialty / Genre (also touches Information Architecture)
- **Vibe**: 1950s–60s American graphic modernism — geometric shapes, considered hand-feel, jazz-album confidence
- **Best for**: Cultural / film / publishing identity, premium consumer brands with heritage claim, "tasteful sophistication"
- **Touchstone**: IBM logo (Paul Rand), Saul Bass Vertigo / Anatomy of a Murder posters, Alvin Lustig book covers, mid-century jazz album sleeves (Reid Miles / Blue Note)

**Palette**
- Ground: warm cream `#EBE3D2` or mustard `#D9A441` or muted teal `#3D6E70`
- Ink: `#1A1A18`
- Limited palette per piece — 3 colors max, one bold, two muted
- Common mid-century pairings: mustard + brick + cream; teal + cream + black; sienna + ink + bone

**Typography**
- Display: a geometric grotesque (Futura, Avenir, ITC Avant Garde) at large scale, often condensed weight
- Or a slab serif (Egyptian / Memphis) for editorial moments
- Body: humanist serif (Sabon, Garamond) at 16–17px
- Numerals often set in figures-as-image (a single big numeral as a graphic element)

**Spacing**: structured grid; 4 / 8 / 16 / 24 / 32 / 48

**Radius**: 0 throughout. Mid-century is geometric, not soft.

**Shadow**: none — flat color shapes only

**Motion**: minimal. Shapes slide into place on a single beat, like a Saul Bass title sequence.

**Signature moves**
- Geometric shape compositions — a single big circle, a triangle, a half-moon — as the primary visual
- Hand-cut paper feel (shapes have slightly imperfect edges, suggesting they were cut and pasted)
- Type integrated with the shapes (a headline curving around a circle, or sitting *inside* a colored block)
- A single illustrative motif repeated (a stylized bird, an abstract figure) tying the piece together
- Print-feel grain or paper texture at low opacity

**Avoid**
- Gradients — mid-century is flat color
- Photography as the lead visual (illustration leads; photography supports)
- More than 3 colors per piece
- Rounded / soft-corner UI

**AI prompt seed**
> Mid-century modern poster composition in the style of Saul Bass, single bold geometric shape (large circle in mustard #D9A441) on warm cream #EBE3D2 paper background, flat color shapes, slight paper texture, hand-cut edges, no gradient, no shadow, 3:4.

**Don't use when**
- The product is feature-dense / utility-focused (mid-century is editorial / poster thinking)
- The brand has no heritage / cultural / craft claim
- Realistic photography is essential to the message

---

> **Same school — Specialty / Genre**: [`y2k-retrofuturism`](./y2k-retrofuturism.md)  
> **Browse all 25 recipes**: [INDEX.md](./INDEX.md)