Factory Pomo - Aesthetic Highlight #2

[Emmy Fitz]

I think I'm going to do these aesthetic highlights sometime every weekend from here on out.

Factory Pomo (c. early-mid 1990s)

​

Factory Pomo is an aesthetic that grew out of the computer craze of the early 1990s. While the aesthetic is harder to define than Global Village Coffeehouse, you know it when you see it. It is characterized by a mechanical look, a varied color pallette, and influences of Bauhaus and Russia Constructivism from the early 20th century. It was often seen in company logos, albums, bumpers, and architecture in tourist destinations.​

​

While admittedly a bit before my time, this aesthetic reminds me of old computer games from my elementary school's lab, as well as the now-"outdated" theming of Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland.

 

[naa]

This reminds me of videos we used to watch in science class when I was in middle school, we had a lot of outdated educational content and a lot of it looked like this. The textbooks had similar graphics, too, wish I could find images of them. The Seattle Science Center used to have sections reminiscent of this too, they might still honestly, haven't been there in a while.
I really like how this has kind of ended up being like, a retro-futuristic aesthetic aimed mostly at kids. There's something really pleasant about the mixing of silver with all these super saturated colors, I like how the pastel accents look with all of it also.

I think doing this every weekend would be cool, I really like these threads, plus there's a mountain of aesthetics to pick from, especially from the Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute and the Y2K Aesthetic Institute. It's a great idea, thanks for compiling this info and making these threads.

 

[IlluminatiPirate]

That Sega one is the reminds me of fuddruckers over here but it might have a slightly differents tyle. Good post @Emmy Fitz

 

[vaporwavemaster1]

うわー、それはどこにでもある美学です。今まで考えたことはなかったと思いますが、昔はいたるところにありました。これが入った水筒を持っていたと思います。どういうわけかこれを私の曲に取り入れるべきです。

 

[Shu]

I remember this well, felt like every computer program and text book and pamphlet had something akin to this implemented into the artwork. Oddly it also makes me think of fast food places from that era as well.

 

[vaporwavemaster1]

私は以前にこの美学をどこで見たのかを考え、それがフレンドリーなジャガイモの男とのこれらの部分の間に曲のフリーズフレームのミュージックビデオにあることに気づきました

これは非常に初期の例かもしれないと思います

 

[Emmy Fitz]

 

[vaporwavemaster1]

私の記憶が正しければ、この美学は当時のコンピューターアニメーションでも人気がありました。幾何学的形状と滑らかでカラフルな表面は、初期のコンピューターソフトウェアで簡単にレンダリングできました。

 

[naa]

私の記憶が正しければ、この美学は当時のコンピューターアニメーションでも人気がありました。幾何学的形状と滑らかでカラフルな表面は、初期のコンピューターソフトウェアで簡単にレンダリングできました。

I remember that! I think the popularity in computer animation is part of why this aesthetic is so popular in educational media aimed at kids' of the 80s/90s.

At least in America it's common for older textbooks to be part of a larger "learning package" that includes videos, a lot of which feature this style in animated segments. There was more of a push to make learning fun and use new assets to do that, so people were trying to make textbooks futuristic and interesting, then using more early 3D in the videos that accompanied them. It makes sense that they latched on to a style that allows for cohesion in 2D and 3D media.

I'm not sure how kids at the time liked it, but in my school we used a lot of older materials with this style, including video that featured early 3D animation segments. I remember it being pretty cool looking.

 

[Emmy Fitz]

​

 

[brentw]

This is the style I most associate with the 90's. I find it extremely nostalgic.