Corporate Memphis - Aesthetic Highlight #20

[Math Equal Angelic Mantra]

Since my first post in this thread, I've been trying to put to word exactly why this style is so awful and after 3 failed starts, I think I can adequately explain it now.
It has to do with the combination of massively warped proportions, flat shading, lack of detail, and how these elements interact with each other. It makes it very difficult to convey motion in any way, prevents distinguishing subsets of design within the style, and tend to cause background objects/environments to clash with the characters that inhabit it.

Using this as an example, due to the characters already warped proportions you can't further warp them to help convey how they are moving as the tenants of the design combined with the lack of detail would cause further warping to just look like a part of the character design rather than an attempt at motion. The flat plane and shading further restricts this, forcing the artist to exaggerate the poses quite a bit to convey dancing which is ultimately what breaks it because it just doesn't look like dancing at that point. Leaving the unsettling feeling of knowing what is meant to be conveyed, even if it doesn't seems to represent it properly.

Do also note.... the heavily contrasting note, which has no warping on its proportions and rounded shading, where as the humans only have flat shading to convey parts of themselves being in front or behind

In contrast, this pic I stole from the neo-liberal corporate surrealism thread shows a mighty step forward, using warping and perspective to help emphasize the step, with the buildings and clouds seemingly in sync with it.

Further expanding on the contrasting backgrounds, take a look at this

Note that the backgrounds and objects that inhabit them are never warped like the humans are, once you notice this it makes the humans feel like they don't actually belong in the picture.

I found this while looking for images, it seems such an unintentional perfect description for the people who see humanism in this sort of art.

Don't know why but I felt like making this meme.

 

[Some_porcupine]

and how nice it started as...
(no... always was... "alien is critique of [such] practices"...)

 

[GENOSAD]

Don't know why but I felt like making this meme.

My honest reaction to this image:

 

[RojoUsagi122]

I'm quietly hoping that this art style gets replaced by a much nicer looking one, but it's made by corpos so who knows.
(funnily enough, I'm working on a video about this art style and my distaste towards it.)

 

[splashy]

I'm quietly hoping that this art style gets replaced by a much nicer looking one, but it's made by corpos so who knows.
(funnily enough, I'm working on a video about this art style and my distaste towards it.)

currently it's between neobrutalism and neomorphism. idk why they both have to start with neo but whatever. i vastly prefer neomorphism. if executed right it's basically a middle ground between skuomorphism and minimalism which achieves high readability and pleasant shading with more dreamy colours while still being pretty easy to design in pure css. skuomorphism (especially dark aero and aurora) still looks better imo but is much more difficult to make vector graphics or css of and is very easy to make incredibly cheesy. (but that's fine if you're going for an unapologetically aero aestetic)

 

[brentw]

currently it's between neobrutalism and neomorphism. idk why they both have to start with neo but whatever. i vastly prefer neomorphism. if executed right it's basically a middle ground between skuomorphism and minimalism which achieves high readability and pleasant shading with more dreamy colours while still being pretty easy to design in pure css. skuomorphism (especially dark aero and aurora) still looks better imo but is much more difficult to make vector graphics or css of and is very easy to make incredibly cheesy. (but that's fine if you're going for an unapologetically aero aestetic)

Checking out "neobrutalism" there are definitely aspects to it I rather like, but I can just tell it's favored among people I wouldn't care for.

Meanwhile, although I can appriciate neomorphism I find it a bit boring.
But I can also just tell I'd like the people who use it more than those who use neobrutalism.

 

[wearyinternettraveler]

Has anyone else been seeing corporate memphis with gradient shading? It looks like neo-liberal corporate surrealism mixed with CM.

Checking out "neobrutalism" there are definitely aspects to it I rather like, but I can just tell it's favored among people I wouldn't care for.

I like the audacious use of eye-rape colors and how it uses basic shapes/squiggles in the field a-la "Saved by the Bell" Memphis Milano. I don't like how I already associate it with spacehey et al. which are the people I assume you're referencing.

 

[GENOSAD]

currently it's between neobrutalism and neomorphism.

...and they both suck. Neobrutalism is just Corporate Memphis with thicker lines, and Neomorphism is like what a Corporate Memphis artist would come up with if they had just learned about skeumorphism.

But, of course, Neomorphism is a huge improvement from Corporate Memphis. I mean, you might as well be saying "this dish tastes much better than the one with the log of shit on it," but we should still commend this restaurant for trying to not have shit in their food.

 

[Some_porcupine]

Has anyone else been seeing corporate memphis with gradient shading? It looks like neo-liberal corporate surrealism mixed with CM.

What M3, M4 (Google material design Page) does?

 

[Nyx9572]

the real name of this aesthetic is Bauhaus and it started in the Weimar Republic. This shit is ugly ON PURPOSE to demoralize and destroy the West.

 

[Waninem]

the real name of this aesthetic is Bauhaus and it started in the Weimar Republic. This shit is ugly ON PURPOSE to demoralize and destroy the West.

First, citations please, and second, please don't insult 1920s modernist art by comparing it to this swill. Some of it is actually pretty cool:

Spoiler: Cool Art

See? Not much of a comparison.

 

[elia925-6]

the real name of this aesthetic is Bauhaus and it started in the Weimar Republic. This shit is ugly ON PURPOSE to demoralize and destroy the West.

Most buildings in Athens Greece are. They are UGLY and don't fit the aesthetic, vibe and climate of the city. It was a crime on purpose that 'urban planners' turned it into a wasteland. Most people visit it for you know the food, the sites but they don't see the ugliness.

 

[PizzaW0lf]

My hope for 2025 is for the OFFICIAL END and DEATH of this art style! I want it GONE! GOODBYE!

I want to show 2 examples of logos that give me some hope. I think some progress is finally being made. These are SPECIFIC to my niche though FYI. (also don't know where to post this tbh)

Monster Hunter wilds

So there's a new MH game coming out for next year. I already love the title logo so much more than the flat design. There's several elements that stand out to me. The reflections are interesting and add more to the design. The reflections to me also represent potential new lighting systems. There's also some shading and the logo looks more bold. I also like the texturing and gives the title some character and represents the gameplay and tone pretty well. I think I like this direction overall. I should mention that rises logo was also pretty soulful but this is comparison to MH Worlds which was pretty flat looking.

Metroid prime 4

MP4B has a lot going on with it's title logo. But what's super refreshing is how 3D it looks. You have a weird looking nova in the background, the Metroid part looks bold, 3D, and industrial with the etchings. And I really like the beyond part and how it looks glassy. Even though it looks glassy, I wouldn't say that makes it "Frutiger aero" but it something original. Because of the glass look, there might be some lighting showcases and reflections. The only thing that looks weird so far is the prime 4 part and how it looks.....soft?? Hard to explain.

In conclusion, I want FLAT TO END!!! IT'S OVER! Hopefully soon enough we can FINALLY make some progress with design and not get so stuck for a DECADE of it.

 

[Late Night Logposter]

I can't soyface to this.

 

[polar_coyote]

If it was never corporate, but just the style of either a single artist, or like some "art movement", I wouldn't really think much of it. It's not for me, but I'd just be like OK some people think its charming I guess.
But because it's so damn corporate and hell-ish, it just sucks so bad. I get heated every time I see it because it feels like "oh its the artwork of a company that doesnt see its customers as human" or something. I dont know how to explain it really, but it's always the suckiest sucky shit corps that use it.

 

[RojoUsagi122]

I'm also hoping that in 2025, a nicer and more very cool aesthetic overcomes this flat, blobby, childish corporate style I see everywhere in the present.
(I frankly want Aero to become a reality as well, alongside other new aesthetics as well.)
Also, here's a website I found with a bunch of archived aesthetics I found while web surfing.
Cari_Aesthetics