Observatory: an eleven-lobed spirograph orbit on a star atlas plate
Observatory reads like a plate from an old star atlas, printed on teal-black. The Swiss layout centres an eleven-lobed spirograph on its crossing axes, drawn in 56 cream hairlines at Line width 0.45 with a gold strand tracing the orbit, so the loops overlap like the plotted paths of moons. Outer Moons runs full width in condensed cream type along the foot, and mono coordinates fill the footer.
Make it yours
Keep the lines etched
Line width 0.45 is close to the finest weight that still reads on dark paper. Go down to 0.25 and the cream strands fade into haze; raise it to 0.8 and the orbit turns denser and brighter but loses its etched feel.
Write your own coordinates
The Footer prints in mono capitals at the bottom left, which suits right ascension, declination and scale. The bottom right fills itself with K, Φ, the ratio and N, read from Coupling, Phase, Symmetry, Resonance and Copies.
FAQ
Why is the centre of the spirograph left empty?
With Coupling at 38 the first circle dominates, so the line never reaches the middle and wraps a dark hole around the crossing of the axes. Raise Coupling past 50 and the second circle starts pulling the loops through the centre, filling it with tighter crossings.
How it works
Choose a layout and a line system
Combine one of 5 layouts, Swiss, Split, Cover, Caption or Oversized, with one of 5 equations, or start from one of 17 looks such as Kunsthalle, Riso Duo or Night Conference.
Write and set your copy
Edit the Eyebrow, Headline, Body and Footer, choose a Grotesk, Condensed, Wide or Serif Typeface, and wrap one word of the headline in asterisks to set it in serif italic.
Tune the drawing and use it
Adjust Symmetry, Resonance, Coupling, Phase, Warp, Copies, Line width and Shape scale, choose a Clean, Riso, Grid or Overprint finish and the colors, then sign in with a free UX Pilot account to use it on the canvas or export it.