I think stuff like stretched default fonts also speaks to people being more willing to capture the youthful energy of just...messing around on a computer. When you don't have any regard for visual clarity or style and your only tool is MS Paint, you make a lot of bold decisions. I think a lot of that is being reflected nowadays by people who've grown up goofin' around in computer programs.
Interesting observation! Sounds plausible. But I consider myself one of those kids who did a lot of messing around with MS paint (or Paintshop Pro in my case) - and I spent a lot of time experimenting in software - though I think the fact I had no internet, and then when it arrived, it was slow dialup, made it a more compelling option. I reckon the kids who grew up with broadband might have spent less time on that stuff because, well, you have the whole internet to distract you. But, maybe it's not a completely zoomer aesthetic after all? Food for thought!
@@LinusBoman haha, sounds like it was fun! I know even people as young as me still used to goof off in MS Paint and Word when they had free time in school. As cool as the entire internet is, just messing around in those programs still had it's allure. I guess that type of graphic design reminds me most of cruddy Word art and PowerPoint presentations for school, where the objective was more focused on getting info out there rather than looking good. Still, plenty of time to ponder it!
As someone in Gen Z I think it's worth noting that stretched out Arial isn't just "rediscovering something that is no longer overused", but that my immediate reaction was that it's absolutely hilarious. Irony is very strong with this generation, as is a low tolerance for corporate standards, which you definitely touched on, and I know in my experience every time I've employed brutalist or purposely-"bad" graphic design (note: I'm not a graphic designer, just in a general context), it's universally been motivated by humor. "I think it's funny" is all the justification I want, and I would definitely say I connect to designs that know something looks "bad" and does it anyway because that's what they want to do.
It's the Playboi Carti Whole Lotta Red effect. It's one of those albums that we all know is not Playboi Carti's best work at all but has gone through the stage of being hated with passion, to being loved in niche groups ironically, to becoming a genuinely beloved album throughout the past year.
I was in a very boring corporate chain coffee shop a few years ago, and they were clearly trying very hard to capture a vintage or even rural vibe with their interiors, corrugated metal and wood, kind of going for a Latin coffee farm look. On the wall, they had stretched a sack of coffee beans and put it in a frame, with a bunch of information on it printed in very stretched Arial. I remember finding such a very "digital" font out of place in the vintage, tactile aesthetic they were going for. But then again, the kind of type you'll find at a rural farm in the 21st century is PROBABLY Arial. Every operation has computers now. There's something to be said for digital type being a signifier not of hyper-modernity anymore, but now of affordability and accessibility.
I'm a zoomer and you've hit the nail on the head with me viewing that 'Juno scribbly era' as kitsch. BIZARRELY I have seen much younger zoomers, around 14-16 with no memory of this era, bringing the fashion and music back. On tiktok, they're calling the rebrand "indie twee" and often slightly merging it with 2014 tumblr style. They appear to have scrubbed all mainstream 'hipster' aesthetics from it though, as I assume they remember that being parodied. Florals, short straight skirts, Zoeey Deschanel fringes, pale filters, earth-tone illustrations. The shortening trend cycle is freaking me out, never thought I'd see it back so soon.
This is super interesting to me as a millennial that was Juno's age when Juno came out, thank you! From my memory, that whole aesthetic was also kind of a response to digitization and computer-tech culture-- going 'lo-fi' with notepaper and pencil textures as opposed to the high-shine, loud and sleek minimalist look (like the ipod silhouettes). I think the neo-brutalist designs are doing the same thing, but from the perspective of a generation that has primarily and basically only used digital tools-- how do we make this look "homebrew" and counterculture when we MUST rely on perfect calculations done by a machine to determine alignment and kerning? By simulating a failure of those calculations (glitches) and breaking established rules. Almost an evolved form of the digital zine mentality of geocities and angelfire websites, but with, like, hopefully more self awareness, lol.
@@GodheadNee this is so interesting, thank you so much for sharing!! by coincidence, im writing a piece for my uni magazine on the accelerating trend cycle and retrofuturism at the moment and this was genuinely very helpful!
Im like punching the air as an autistic graphic designer this shit gets me so hyped i literally cant even articulate it im just like freaking it in my living room at 3:40 am i love yall so much
as a confused millennial graphic designer myself - I do sometimes fear the "loud and stretched", but I really love seeing a new generation setting trends, breaking rules, and - most importantly - re-inspiring me to think out of the box again 😌
Hate to speak in generational terms but it’s not that we as zoomers see things as not-as-hideous-as-they-used-to-seem-like, it’s more that we are finding some post-ironic enjoyment in plenty of things that we do recognize as culturally perceived as hideous and/or outdated and reframe it more in the perspectives that actually work. Hideous clipart memes, music genres like hyperpop and digicore, we just kinda feel nostalgic for things that made people cringe 10 years ago now that their just as loud and obnoxious opinion no longer matters. I think the influence of internet cringe culture is also at play here as ppl either grow tired of it or find some joy in things that are supposed to be “cringe” or “embarrassing”.
Excellent way to put it. I read an article about "digital brutalism" and nothing there really caught my eye and mostly just looked ugly, but at the same time I love stuff like the foreverbox style and weirdcore (the visual style not music genre) because it has a lot of nostalgia attached to it and brings me feelings of familiarity and being safe, as well as it just looking fun. Also worth mentioning I ironically liked hyperpop for like, a week and from then on I just listened to it unironically.
That's honestly the most exciting thing to me. Nothing's frustrated me more in the 25 years I've been around than "that's so cringe, tho". I've always wanted "cringe culture" to die off and it seems like it's finally happening as this big cultural dare.
Part of it is also, I think, that we've seen what gets lauded by older generations, and it just doesn't appeal to us, or otherwise revolts us. Like, working hard your entire life for a pitiful shitty retirement? Being patriotic for a country that hates you? Consumerism in the face of climate catastrophe? Fuck that shit, and fuck the aesthetics that go with it.
I find the emerging "zoomer" humour and design really fascinating. It's interesting how I recognize a lot of it from the 90s/ early 2000s digital world. It looks like stuff crudely made in paint, or those user made websites when people were writing HTML badly, with garish clashing colours. But that seems like it would be something millennial like me were exposed to, and zoomers would be too young. Very interesting.
Maybe that is precisely *why* it is so new and interesting. I only really have a memory of web 2.0, I can imagine that anyone who first witnessed the emergence of private html homepages cannot stand these colors now, but for me this is a blast from the very recent past, something that feels like it lies beneath everything I look at all day
@@QuinnArgo Yes I completely agree. The reaction against Web 2.0 style feels like it's coming from the growing anti-Big Tech sentiment, with the pandemic increasing our awareness of all its harmful aspects. Web 1.0 seems like an optimistic Wild West and this design is like an ode to what the internet could've been before Zuckerberg and Co. got involved. When Big Tech get hold of this aesthetic, as they inevitably will, it's gonna feel weird.
@@seallofapproval yeah, old internet was harder to use but it was infinitely more interesting that this corporate hellscape dominated by the 5 biggest websites with nothing else coming even close in functionality
As a zoomer, I only caught the last few breaths of the old web, mostly 2006-2010, before facebook took over, but at the start of "decent" design on the web. It's extremely nostalgic to me.
gotta say i love the reintroduction of early 2000s high detail skeuomorphism and all the tribals and flames etc. it really caters to my attention deficiency
"Ancient Millennials" doing graphic design, haha. I was thinking of starting up a club of people who worked in graphic design in the 70s and 80s...you know, where we can all compare our worst #11 X-ACTO injuries (btw, I would win that one) And actually, many of those agencies have stables of young people but they are run by oldsters...the high end ones anyway. They make the final call on designs. It was that way at the high end agency I worked at in the 80s too...
Glad to have you tuned in! Wow, the days when paste ups were literal - I only got war stories from my lecturers at art school on those. Yes, the Executive Creative Directors and such do usually tend to be the old guard, but I think there's definitely some new energy from the young bloods these days. Happy New Year.
I have removed significant amounts of meat off my left index finger. Twice. Although the second one was with an axe so might not count strictly based on your criteria.
@@duckrutt I was slicing several layers of Mylar for colored view graphs that fit in a frame (you might have to look that up) and they needed them ASAP. I inadvertently had the index finger on my left hand, holding the metal straight edge, hanging off just a tad. I sliced the side of that finger clean off... I mean there was a piece of it lying on the art table. It bled and bled. Fortunately this was at General Atomic (Torrey Pines, CA) and they had a medical facility there on the property. It hurt so bad but also, I was rather embarrassed... I'd only been working there a few months.
I LOVE the zoomer brutalist aesthetic, especially for book covers, where this kind of thing has been slightly niche for a while. I'm willing to buy any book that looks like that, big letters repeated over and over, simple patterns, bright colors
i love how you discuss trends :D although even as a gen z cusp whatever, im a bit annoyed by the 'digital brutalism' trend bc 1. it's lack of regard for function positions it so far away from the founding principles of brutalism (architecture anyways) and 2. it is the anti accessibility trend. it's like design for design's sake which im very meh about, even if i can appreciate it aesthetically. idk maybe i'm wrong about that! would love it if you had any resources that discuss it more in depth :^)
I feel it obscures the line between 'art' and 'design'. From an aesthetic point of view, I even applaud it. But it loses functionality, a lot. I hope it turns out to be a quickly fading trend. Mostly because I am not comfortable designing within it, myself.
@@royvandermarel3953 Feeling the same way. It feels more like an art style ( I mean yeah graphic design always took inspiration from modern art ) though it lost the technical fidelity sometimes. Accessibility and readible designs won't die. You can adjust the style towards the trend though in my mind it should always function as well. In case of a poster it might not be that clear as it sometimes is just an attention grabber.
i never knew i was interested in design until i found your channel. you've got me fangirling over the olympic pictograms (which were fantastic) and reading Never Use Futura - this is a whole new avenue i'm so excited to explore. huge congrats on your new baby, and i hope 2022 is excellent for you!!
You should do a video on the 50 year cycle! Hadn't thought about it like that but it makes absolute sense. Don't know if there's a video past the clip you made here but worth looking into it imo!
from the perspective of a 16 year old gen-z, there's a strange phenomenon that took place in about 2019 that i call the nostalgia rush. since the early 2000s, eighties nostalgia was lingering in the air in the same way that 1950s nostalgia does, in faint tacky "retro-wave" nuggets that would come and go. it experienced a massive boost as we got into the mid 2010s, and it all really kicked off with stranger things. however, post-stranger things, i began to notice that what was considered nostalgic was slowly starting to spread out and consume all separate eras of design and fashion in the mainstream and then it all happened quickly over lockdown- all different kinds of aesthetics that were only still appreciated in niche circles now became widely popular in general alternative culture again. think the revival of emo, y2k's further empowerment, 70s style's total resurgence with the browns, yellows and greens synonymous with that era going from considered gross to totally cool, late 2000s/early 2010s fashion being revived in their own unique groups (i.e "bella swan-core") a lot of this stuff was still considered tacky and unfashionable just a few years ago but the popularity of nostalgia has empowered the return of so many unique styles, stuff even from MY lifetime is considered nostalgic and cool in a "retro" way. i for one welcome this, it gives me a chance to dress in familiar, loved styles and not stand out in an awkward way, and for me to even introduce myself to loads of styles which i wouldn't have even considered before. after writing this i realize i totally ended up writing about fashion instead, but i think pretty much most fashions have their own design languages that go hand in hand so that kinda still works??? anyways, great video! very interesting perspective on this challenging aesthetic movement
its been two years and its 3:44 am but i need to nerd out because im autistic about this EVERYTHING IS DESIGN!!! nature is coded with the golden ratio, everything can be understood as big medium and small if you zoom out far enough, fashion is like the thing that is the most design after design itself, and the nostalgia explosion, youre so right while the 20yr cycle continues mostly in stuff like silouette, waist height (high waist vs low rise, imperial cut vs hourglass etc etc) and most sadly the literal flesh on ones body (mostly women and people who are associated to womanhood by society), it feels truly like theres a million paths, and i see that reflected on myself a lot. The closest description i formed in my head is that winter is the distant past, and summer is the more recent past and present. I go heavily faux-historical in the winter, very 20s and 50s. In transitional seasons i get a little 60s does medieval, very barbarella, which is slightly less distant but like. Im 20. Its as much as ancient for me (even though it truly feels still alive). In summer i range from y2k does disco, and 2020 does y2k. And i say y2k does disco because i could never wear high rise. That shit cuts you in half once you sit down. Im rambling im so sorry. But it truly feels like everything is going so fucking fast, before you had the mainstream and the underground, and its like they fused into this fucking explosion, and im a little afraid of what will be left once the dust settles. if anything i just hope its not twee Gd please not twee again
It's so strange to me that right now I'm not really seeing much design that particularly meets my aesthetic desire. Whilst I enjoy this nu-brutalist design I am frustrated by its illegible nature and not just in the typography but as a whole. I believe this is intentional as well in a way that i kind of find a little manipulative. Last year (2021) year moreso than any previous year my response to design has been "what is this even trying to advertise?" Some of this has been in response to minimalism to the point where purpose is lost but most of it has been to busy collages of seemingly unrelated themes and styles. If I'm being generous I would say it reminds me of old school comic book stands where each zine on the stand is bursting with colour, dynamic poses and trying to grab your attention with enticing text... I'm not feeling that generous and instead it's looking more and more like a page of clickbait CZcams thumbnails from 2009. Your Instagram point kind of supports this. Why make your design make sense if people are more likely to click when they don't understand what it is. That is after all the task that these designers are frequently being assigned instead of reaching a specific target audience. I think that this style will soften out a bit to become more fit for purpose and I can only hope that with that it drops the exploitation of mindless internet traffic. That might seem like a strong critique but I genuinely love the concept of going against the minimalist approach and creating a busy and brutal design. I just think a lot of it could be achieving those goals without being so hostile to the audience who has to engage with them.
That's a fascinating thought, and it resonates with me. I have to wonder, when ads and algorithms objectively favor that which grabs attention, will we ever see a mellowing down? Or will we just see bolder, brasher, and more illegible designs, until suddenly you need to be soft to stand out against the noise... I suppose I'm trying to say that I think it will get much worse before it gets any better, and that gives me a headache. 😅
Regarding the 50 year cycle, it very much reminds me of Laver's law, which is a prediction/description of attitudes towards fashion, based upon how many years ahead/behind it is. It follows a trend of negative to positive in the few years ahead of the curve, then a strong negative to positive as something gets older by the decade. It was proposed a very long time ago, if I recall, so I couldn't say if it still holds up, or if it did when proposed, but I think it's interesting to see similar ideas being brought up in other fields.
In movies and TV there's often talk about the 30 Year Cycle. Like how filmmakers and TV producers of the 80s rediscovered the 50s, 90s did the 60s, 2000 did the 70s, and 2010s reached the 80s. It's about time 2020s get on to the 90s... the theory being grounded in the assumption that the trendsetters often are about 30 years old and the period they feel nostalgia for is the time they were born in and had the least amount of responsibilities and rules during. You can even go even further back. As in the 1950s they rediscovered and remade tons of properties from the 20's. And the earliest movies were about westerns and the civil war. Recent memory for those filmmakers. As someone born in 1985 I am in the age group that will probably cling on to the 80s for a good while forwards. I find the 90s esthetic a bit too loose and busy. Maybe the 40 year thing in architecture is because architects tend to get to positions of decisionmaking when they are in their 40s? Although seeing the design of Burger King using designs that are straight out of an UPA cartoon does mess with my assumptions a bit. Maybe the cucles work with multiples of 30? As UPA was more 60s than 90s? But UPA was actually more like 50s... Dangit...
Wow digital brutalism, didn’t know the name to that. Honestly when I see it and I just think “this is what generic graphic design looks like”. Can’t believe it’s only been around for 2 years? It feels like it’s always been everywhere 😅
I think it's important to mention that zoomers ( I am on the cusp of millennial and gen z) have the easiest access to media and knowledge than ever before therefore we can see the designs and aesthetics of the past and are able to cherry-pick elements and bring them back. This accessibility also means the trend turn over speed is ridiculously fast
Speaking as another zoomer, I think the attitude (at least for me) is simply that it's funny to do stuff intentionally in a stupid and ugly way. I definitely feel like I know what the "traditional" rules and sensibilities of graphic design try to tell us, but I also see that it's just plain fun to do stuff that you're not "supposed to" do. Like walking in the middle of the street when it's the middle of the night and no cars are around, it's pretty harmless but you know it's still "forbidden". Or, say, constructing intentionally gross, creepy, or scary environments in Animal Crossing, which is supposed to be the video game embodiment of the concept of "cute" (se /r/crappyanimalcrossing). It's like yeah, I know the "rules" and what they're there for, but hey! There's nobody around to stop me, so I can decide for myself when I want to and don't want to follow them!
Great video! And thanks for touching on this brutalism trend. I follow a popular designer who does a lot of work like that. I'll be honestly, not the biggest fan of it cause it more amateur hands it just looks...well, like amateur work. But I dig the kinda "punk" DIY vibe that some well put together pieces have. I'm a BIG fan, however, of the "retro" designs. I follow a few people who do it SUPER well. Like it's the perfect blend of that 60/70's aesthetics with modern sensibilities.
There's definitely a spectrum in terms of quality, regardless of aesthetic style and tropes, for sure. I've definitely seen some examples that I genuinely like a lot.
@@LinusBoman CS Lewis, whom I like when he's writing as an essayist and critic, not as an author of fiction, once wrote that it is difficult, if not impossible, to properly critique something if you don't like what it's trying to be. If you hate murder mystery novels, you will not have any insight into whether any particular such novel is a good or bad example of its genre. Do you agree? Do you find the same when critiquing or analysing design? If you dislike the style of a logo, is it more difficult to analyse that particular logo as the individual logo it is, as opposed to analysing it as an example of its genre?
Trig - that's a great quote, and a good question. I don't know if I agree with Lewis on that. I think if you're a decent writer and are well read across genres, even if you're not into murder mysteries, you could tell a well crafted one from one written by a hack. I certainly feel that way about stand up, which I did for a few years. After being immersed in comedy, there are a lot of styles that aren't my cup of tea, but I know who is a good vs a hack, even if neither make me laugh because of their style. I think It's similar with graphic design to some degree. It becomes muddy when there are "naive" styling elements, but generally you can tell if the designer has a good eye and has attention to detail. But I might not be as unbiased as I might like to believe! Haha.
@@LinusBoman I think that Lewis was a bit cheesed off at the literary critics' response to what we would now call "genre fiction", which he, of course, wrote, so it's likely that he himself wasn't actually as unbiased as he should have been when he wrote it! I've not yet tracked down the original quote, but it's somewhere in "Of This and Other Worlds" if you want to look it up.
Was wondering if you've noticed something or am I going crazy. I just finished a web/app dev course and when we all showed our projects I couldnt help but notice that around 70% of them used teal as the main color (mine included). I'm wondering do different levels of designers (I'm assuming we were all amateurs/non-designers) tend to stick with particular colours... is teal just "in" lately and we've just picked it up subconsciously?
Great video! Digital brutalism is not a term I’ve heard before but I think it fits perfectly. I’ve certainly noticed it before, particularly in album covers, and some independent fashion. Also, the style of typeface you used for your section intros seems to be becoming more popular, I like it a lot.
I really enjoyed this video. I find it so satisfying when something you notice happening in the world of visual culture is crystalised into a nameable idea or style. Congratulations on becoming a father!
Před 2 lety+8
As a millennial, this got me thinking and left me calm and with less anxiety about what's to come. At least, design wise lol. Great video!
I was always loosely interested in design and your channel really focussed that! (Sorry for the bad expression I'm German). In your videos i particularly enjoy the influence of design on everyday-life which you might not even notice. Also, I find the challenges for brands these days very interesting (as you mentioned the does-it-instagram question or how car brands want to appear modern and green) All in all, I love your general view on society and generations. It gives you a new perspective, which is always nice. Happy new year to you!
Really learned a lot! I feel like my design professors at school refrain from being super honest about trends and sometimes student works following the trends. Learned a lot from your video and instantly subbed!
I fill that this year has had a little bit of a renasiance to the Y2K style, with designers like Kyoto, or Detectiive (check their twitters). Also, i really love how Graphic Brutalisim looks, i just discovered what its called watching this video, ive always called it the "Designers Republic Signature Style" and ive used it a lot in school projects since 2019. Really good vid
So happy I discovered your channel! I've recently started getting interested in the world of design in it's many forms and aspects and your channel explains things to people like me with no actual background in a very engaging manner. Looking forward to more!
Old retired guy here. I noticed that you used one of my favorite fonts here. Windsor!!!!! Another QUALITY font that was probably overused back in the GOOD old days was ATF Bookman with Swash. Now Mark Simonson has brought this back with his EPIC Bookmania. SMASH minimalism!!!!!
Please do more of this. Analyzing design in particular years or spans of time or change points. Also, cutting edge new things happening in design that are interesting and not pretentious
So you are telling me that those ultra squished letters on the top genres of Spotify 2021 weren't an error? That was an actual design decision? Daaang boy. Great video. Cheers from Argentina.
my uni's year end show branding looked SO similar to some of the photos you showed at the beginning! Great video- your analysis and reflections on whats going on right now were really nice to hear
im a graphic design student at portland state and can confirm that nearly everything coming out of our program looks like your thumbnail... as a transfer student into the program it drives me crazy but confident to keep doing my own thing
Ef'ing minimal UI has been a complete pain professionally. I work in IT and nearly all of my users have been universally confused by minimal UI we had to use. No matter how long they were forced to use the same, unchanging interfaces, they never got used to them and would constantly make tickets when they needed to do anything beyond the most basic task as even known exactly what you were looking for did not help in actually finding it. This became even more obvious over the past couple weeks when we upgraded every use from the old minimalist UI office had to the current less minimalist UI in O365. We were bracing for constant support calls from the UI change, but shockingly there was almost none. Many users even remarked how much better the new version was. The only major difference between the two is that there is actual color in the UI graphics again and they almost kind of look less abstract.
super interesting break down Linus. Couldn't agree more that the design world has such a narrow understanding of what's good and bad. The overwhelming majority of design simply conforms to current trends, ensuring that all of it looks dated in less than a decade (loved the architectural analogy). I'm always thrilled when I see a brand update on Brand New that is simply good on its own terms, not because it ticks all of the "cool" boxes. One that comes to mind is the new Seat Geek logo, where so much personality was created by arcing the base and cap lines.
Thank you for your awesome content this year Linus! I found your channel about two months ago and you've helped me fall in love with design again! (Your work on the evil mega-corporation branding should win you an Emmy😂). Have an awesome 2022.
EPIC VIDEO, LINUS! I'd like to see more casual / freeform shorts and content from you. Congrats on making it through another challenging year. Congrats on the new baby human. So glad to see more successful 80s Linus's come to the spotlight. Looking forward to more of your content this year 🥳🥳🥳
Great work on the thumbnail of this video! I was immediately drawn to the design - then I realized it's a parody of 2021 design trends and I feel like a sucker.
I'm a millennial designer who saw the brutalist style kind of emerging back in 2016 or so . Some of the blogs I was following were showcasing such designs and at the time I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. I understand it better now and utilize it sometimes for work now lol.
Love this video! I have used stretching font and other anti-design elements on my project but my professors treat them as they are just false and need to be correct. They love everything present in a minimalistic aesthetic. It makes me question myself and this video explained everything.
I don’t know if this is an example of digital brutalism but it reminds me of the album covers for Life of Pablo which came out in 2016. I wonder if that was very early sign of its emergence
Thanks for doing what you do here, Linus. Speaking as a designer that didn't follow a traditional route for design education, following your channel has felt like the best way to stay in tune with the industry and reminds me of what its like to have knowledgable colleagues around you to learn from. Please keep sharing! Good luck with the year ahead!
I'm glad, I'm so sick of minimalism 😔 As a young designer, I've always felt so tied down by the crispness that is demanded by the old guard: let me go eild!
This is a masterclass in design! I'm watching slowly and researching at every point to make sure I understand what is being discussed to implement it in my projects.
Ah I really love this video! I've definitely been seeing a lot of those post-ironic brutalist designs lately, it's so cool to look back on these trends ^__^ I would love to see a video looking at graphic design within pieces of media, like the logos within animal crossing or fonts within films.
i found your channel earlier this year. i don't agree with everything you say, probably cause i'm maybe ten years younger than you, but your observations are still very interesting and informative to hear.
I just wanna say that this is the exact kind of design channel I’ve been looking for! Graphic design in popular culture and history are what interested me in it in the first place.
I'm in a similar boat, I use the Gruvbox colours everywhere I can because its low contrast and easy on my eyes when processing lots of text. Normally people take higher contrast to be better, but I just find it dazzles me and causes the whitespace in between the lines to flicker.
I'm pretty sure this video just gave me a nice dopamin boost. I haven't seen your content before, but your thoughtful and pleasent way of sharing your thoughts on this subject just feels uplifting. Super imprest :)
Minimalism dislikes on computers, to do with usability, not just visual impact: - computer windows or dialog boxes with such a minimal edge that if two are overlapping that the edge of the front one is difficult to see, - grey fonts on a slightly different grey background, - with web browsers in particular, and some other apps, being difficult to check at a glance which one I am actually using. I like the old days when the convention was that the name of the application was always at top-left of the window.
As a software engineer, I'd be curious about how advances in digital technologies have affected and continue to direct and/or inspire design, like drop-shadows and droplet effects of MacOS X etc.
It's interesting to see what you consider godawful ugly. While choices in type and palette are bolder than was the norm for the last decade or so, they're still operating with a cohesive aesthetic. I'm at the tail end of the Millennial group (1993) but I find these brutalist / psychedelic trends really refreshing and compelling after the deluge of Corporate Memphis and safe bet design we got for a few years there. I get the feeling this is the same reason that David Carson felt so dynamic for previous generations.
I find it interesting how you describe it as digital brutalism, while Satori Grahpics spoke about the same topic but rather used the descriptor of 'anti-design' which I find is super interesting considering the Memphis group origins that the anti design movement has.
i just do graphic design for fun, used to think thin fonts and lines were cool, now i much prefer bold chunky characterful fonts, dunno if it generally draws from nostalgia of some specific time but it’s at least kinda the antithesis of some 2010s minimalism
I'm glad to see corners are making a comeback in Tech design. Love having clearly defined lines and sharp angles. I never ever want to see the 'fisher price' wavy blue plastic computer rise from the grave.
Love your videos and this is no exception! Thanks for the shoutout. Looking forward to your 2022 videos and congrats on the baby!!
Cheers mate, the feeling's mutual. Have a great 2022!
The moustache must give even more impact. OUCHIE!
Stewart Hicks?!?! Was not expecting you to be here
@@LinusBoman I don't know why, but I read this as "the feeling's brutal", maybe it's the architecture messing with my head
I think stuff like stretched default fonts also speaks to people being more willing to capture the youthful energy of just...messing around on a computer. When you don't have any regard for visual clarity or style and your only tool is MS Paint, you make a lot of bold decisions. I think a lot of that is being reflected nowadays by people who've grown up goofin' around in computer programs.
Interesting observation! Sounds plausible. But I consider myself one of those kids who did a lot of messing around with MS paint (or Paintshop Pro in my case) - and I spent a lot of time experimenting in software - though I think the fact I had no internet, and then when it arrived, it was slow dialup, made it a more compelling option. I reckon the kids who grew up with broadband might have spent less time on that stuff because, well, you have the whole internet to distract you. But, maybe it's not a completely zoomer aesthetic after all? Food for thought!
@@LinusBoman haha, sounds like it was fun! I know even people as young as me still used to goof off in MS Paint and Word when they had free time in school. As cool as the entire internet is, just messing around in those programs still had it's allure. I guess that type of graphic design reminds me most of cruddy Word art and PowerPoint presentations for school, where the objective was more focused on getting info out there rather than looking good. Still, plenty of time to ponder it!
WordArt-core coming soon.
Those examples (sans emojis) reminds me of german techno album covers from the 90s early 00s
@@thrownstair Yes! give me 3d slanted rainbow Times New Roman with sparkles in the background
As someone in Gen Z I think it's worth noting that stretched out Arial isn't just "rediscovering something that is no longer overused", but that my immediate reaction was that it's absolutely hilarious. Irony is very strong with this generation, as is a low tolerance for corporate standards, which you definitely touched on, and I know in my experience every time I've employed brutalist or purposely-"bad" graphic design (note: I'm not a graphic designer, just in a general context), it's universally been motivated by humor. "I think it's funny" is all the justification I want, and I would definitely say I connect to designs that know something looks "bad" and does it anyway because that's what they want to do.
i disagree, i think most consider it genuinely visually appealing
I find gen z humour trends fascinating
It's the Playboi Carti Whole Lotta Red effect. It's one of those albums that we all know is not Playboi Carti's best work at all but has gone through the stage of being hated with passion, to being loved in niche groups ironically, to becoming a genuinely beloved album throughout the past year.
Interesting insight
@@mutantaxolotl I did not expect to see a Carti analogy but I 100% agree. WLR is a classic btw
I was in a very boring corporate chain coffee shop a few years ago, and they were clearly trying very hard to capture a vintage or even rural vibe with their interiors, corrugated metal and wood, kind of going for a Latin coffee farm look. On the wall, they had stretched a sack of coffee beans and put it in a frame, with a bunch of information on it printed in very stretched Arial. I remember finding such a very "digital" font out of place in the vintage, tactile aesthetic they were going for. But then again, the kind of type you'll find at a rural farm in the 21st century is PROBABLY Arial. Every operation has computers now.
There's something to be said for digital type being a signifier not of hyper-modernity anymore, but now of affordability and accessibility.
what a great story.
@@Vex2not no, Espresso House, Swedish coffee chain
I'm a zoomer and you've hit the nail on the head with me viewing that 'Juno scribbly era' as kitsch. BIZARRELY I have seen much younger zoomers, around 14-16 with no memory of this era, bringing the fashion and music back. On tiktok, they're calling the rebrand "indie twee" and often slightly merging it with 2014 tumblr style. They appear to have scrubbed all mainstream 'hipster' aesthetics from it though, as I assume they remember that being parodied. Florals, short straight skirts, Zoeey Deschanel fringes, pale filters, earth-tone illustrations. The shortening trend cycle is freaking me out, never thought I'd see it back so soon.
This is super interesting to me as a millennial that was Juno's age when Juno came out, thank you! From my memory, that whole aesthetic was also kind of a response to digitization and computer-tech culture-- going 'lo-fi' with notepaper and pencil textures as opposed to the high-shine, loud and sleek minimalist look (like the ipod silhouettes). I think the neo-brutalist designs are doing the same thing, but from the perspective of a generation that has primarily and basically only used digital tools-- how do we make this look "homebrew" and counterculture when we MUST rely on perfect calculations done by a machine to determine alignment and kerning? By simulating a failure of those calculations (glitches) and breaking established rules. Almost an evolved form of the digital zine mentality of geocities and angelfire websites, but with, like, hopefully more self awareness, lol.
@@GodheadNee this is so interesting, thank you so much for sharing!! by coincidence, im writing a piece for my uni magazine on the accelerating trend cycle and retrofuturism at the moment and this was genuinely very helpful!
Im like punching the air as an autistic graphic designer this shit gets me so hyped i literally cant even articulate it im just like freaking it in my living room at 3:40 am i love yall so much
I wouldn’t have been caught dead using a gradient in 2016… I think I only used gradients this past year.
Fancy seeing you here…
@@Gryff oh shit hey bud 🤣
Gradients still just remind me of 2008 flash games
Ah yes, those who adapt slow. Me on the other hand, laughing, already being past gradients since 2019.
as a confused millennial graphic designer myself - I do sometimes fear the "loud and stretched", but I really love seeing a new generation setting trends, breaking rules, and - most importantly - re-inspiring me to think out of the box again 😌
Hate to speak in generational terms but it’s not that we as zoomers see things as not-as-hideous-as-they-used-to-seem-like, it’s more that we are finding some post-ironic enjoyment in plenty of things that we do recognize as culturally perceived as hideous and/or outdated and reframe it more in the perspectives that actually work. Hideous clipart memes, music genres like hyperpop and digicore, we just kinda feel nostalgic for things that made people cringe 10 years ago now that their just as loud and obnoxious opinion no longer matters. I think the influence of internet cringe culture is also at play here as ppl either grow tired of it or find some joy in things that are supposed to be “cringe” or “embarrassing”.
Excellent way to put it. I read an article about "digital brutalism" and nothing there really caught my eye and mostly just looked ugly, but at the same time I love stuff like the foreverbox style and weirdcore (the visual style not music genre) because it has a lot of nostalgia attached to it and brings me feelings of familiarity and being safe, as well as it just looking fun. Also worth mentioning I ironically liked hyperpop for like, a week and from then on I just listened to it unironically.
That's honestly the most exciting thing to me. Nothing's frustrated me more in the 25 years I've been around than "that's so cringe, tho". I've always wanted "cringe culture" to die off and it seems like it's finally happening as this big cultural dare.
@@colbyboucher6391 don’t kill the part of you that’s cringe, kill the part that cringes
@@keshetallekaridi708 beautifully said
Part of it is also, I think, that we've seen what gets lauded by older generations, and it just doesn't appeal to us, or otherwise revolts us. Like, working hard your entire life for a pitiful shitty retirement? Being patriotic for a country that hates you? Consumerism in the face of climate catastrophe? Fuck that shit, and fuck the aesthetics that go with it.
I find the emerging "zoomer" humour and design really fascinating. It's interesting how I recognize a lot of it from the 90s/ early 2000s digital world. It looks like stuff crudely made in paint, or those user made websites when people were writing HTML badly, with garish clashing colours. But that seems like it would be something millennial like me were exposed to, and zoomers would be too young. Very interesting.
Maybe that is precisely *why* it is so new and interesting. I only really have a memory of web 2.0, I can imagine that anyone who first witnessed the emergence of private html homepages cannot stand these colors now, but for me this is a blast from the very recent past, something that feels like it lies beneath everything I look at all day
@@QuinnArgo Yes I completely agree. The reaction against Web 2.0 style feels like it's coming from the growing anti-Big Tech sentiment, with the pandemic increasing our awareness of all its harmful aspects. Web 1.0 seems like an optimistic Wild West and this design is like an ode to what the internet could've been before Zuckerberg and Co. got involved. When Big Tech get hold of this aesthetic, as they inevitably will, it's gonna feel weird.
@@seallofapproval yeah, old internet was harder to use but it was infinitely more interesting that this corporate hellscape dominated by the 5 biggest websites with nothing else coming even close in functionality
As a zoomer, I only caught the last few breaths of the old web, mostly 2006-2010, before facebook took over, but at the start of "decent" design on the web. It's extremely nostalgic to me.
@@sznio 2010 to 2012/2013 to me, since I am in Latin America.
gotta say i love the reintroduction of early 2000s high detail skeuomorphism and all the tribals and flames etc. it really caters to my attention deficiency
"Ancient Millennials" doing graphic design, haha. I was thinking of starting up a club of people who worked in graphic design in the 70s and 80s...you know, where we can all compare our worst #11 X-ACTO injuries (btw, I would win that one)
And actually, many of those agencies have stables of young people but they are run by oldsters...the high end ones anyway. They make the final call on designs. It was that way at the high end agency I worked at in the 80s too...
Glad to have you tuned in! Wow, the days when paste ups were literal - I only got war stories from my lecturers at art school on those. Yes, the Executive Creative Directors and such do usually tend to be the old guard, but I think there's definitely some new energy from the young bloods these days. Happy New Year.
I have removed significant amounts of meat off my left index finger. Twice. Although the second one was with an axe so might not count strictly based on your criteria.
@@LinusBoman Well, hopefully the "young blood" don't have to bleed quite as much as the "old blood" did...
@@duckrutt I was slicing several layers of Mylar for colored view graphs that fit in a frame (you might have to look that up) and they needed them ASAP. I inadvertently had the index finger on my left hand, holding the metal straight edge, hanging off just a tad. I sliced the side of that finger clean off... I mean there was a piece of it lying on the art table. It bled and bled.
Fortunately this was at General Atomic (Torrey Pines, CA) and they had a medical facility there on the property.
It hurt so bad but also, I was rather embarrassed... I'd only been working there a few months.
@@RedSpiralHandTV yup. Fortunately I did it opening a box of supplies so I didn't bleed on anything important.
I LOVE the zoomer brutalist aesthetic, especially for book covers, where this kind of thing has been slightly niche for a while. I'm willing to buy any book that looks like that, big letters repeated over and over, simple patterns, bright colors
i love how you discuss trends :D although even as a gen z cusp whatever, im a bit annoyed by the 'digital brutalism' trend bc 1. it's lack of regard for function positions it so far away from the founding principles of brutalism (architecture anyways) and 2. it is the anti accessibility trend. it's like design for design's sake which im very meh about, even if i can appreciate it aesthetically. idk maybe i'm wrong about that! would love it if you had any resources that discuss it more in depth :^)
I feel it obscures the line between 'art' and 'design'. From an aesthetic point of view, I even applaud it. But it loses functionality, a lot.
I hope it turns out to be a quickly fading trend. Mostly because I am not comfortable designing within it, myself.
@@royvandermarel3953 Feeling the same way. It feels more like an art style ( I mean yeah graphic design always took inspiration from modern art ) though it lost the technical fidelity sometimes. Accessibility and readible designs won't die. You can adjust the style towards the trend though in my mind it should always function as well. In case of a poster it might not be that clear as it sometimes is just an attention grabber.
It's UGLY
i never knew i was interested in design until i found your channel. you've got me fangirling over the olympic pictograms (which were fantastic) and reading Never Use Futura - this is a whole new avenue i'm so excited to explore. huge congrats on your new baby, and i hope 2022 is excellent for you!!
That's exactly what I hoped for with this channel, and it makes me really happy to hear it! Thank you and hope you have an excellent 2022 as well!
Everyone's interested in design! Sometimes you just need a good voice to listen to first
You should do a video on the 50 year cycle! Hadn't thought about it like that but it makes absolute sense. Don't know if there's a video past the clip you made here but worth looking into it imo!
This is quite an insightful video. Thanks!
Whoa, didn’t expect you to be here. I love your videos very much!
funny seeing you here
Been on CZcams since 2007, but this is my favourite new channel. Looking forward to what you make next :)
Thanks mate!
from the perspective of a 16 year old gen-z, there's a strange phenomenon that took place in about 2019 that i call the nostalgia rush. since the early 2000s, eighties nostalgia was lingering in the air in the same way that 1950s nostalgia does, in faint tacky "retro-wave" nuggets that would come and go. it experienced a massive boost as we got into the mid 2010s, and it all really kicked off with stranger things.
however, post-stranger things, i began to notice that what was considered nostalgic was slowly starting to spread out and consume all separate eras of design and fashion in the mainstream and then it all happened quickly over lockdown- all different kinds of aesthetics that were only still appreciated in niche circles now became widely popular in general alternative culture again. think the revival of emo, y2k's further empowerment, 70s style's total resurgence with the browns, yellows and greens synonymous with that era going from considered gross to totally cool, late 2000s/early 2010s fashion being revived in their own unique groups (i.e "bella swan-core")
a lot of this stuff was still considered tacky and unfashionable just a few years ago but the popularity of nostalgia has empowered the return of so many unique styles, stuff even from MY lifetime is considered nostalgic and cool in a "retro" way. i for one welcome this, it gives me a chance to dress in familiar, loved styles and not stand out in an awkward way, and for me to even introduce myself to loads of styles which i wouldn't have even considered before.
after writing this i realize i totally ended up writing about fashion instead, but i think pretty much most fashions have their own design languages that go hand in hand so that kinda still works???
anyways, great video! very interesting perspective on this challenging aesthetic movement
its been two years and its 3:44 am but i need to nerd out because im autistic about this EVERYTHING IS DESIGN!!! nature is coded with the golden ratio, everything can be understood as big medium and small if you zoom out far enough, fashion is like the thing that is the most design after design itself, and the nostalgia explosion, youre so right while the 20yr cycle continues mostly in stuff like silouette, waist height (high waist vs low rise, imperial cut vs hourglass etc etc) and most sadly the literal flesh on ones body (mostly women and people who are associated to womanhood by society), it feels truly like theres a million paths, and i see that reflected on myself a lot. The closest description i formed in my head is that winter is the distant past, and summer is the more recent past and present. I go heavily faux-historical in the winter, very 20s and 50s. In transitional seasons i get a little 60s does medieval, very barbarella, which is slightly less distant but like. Im 20. Its as much as ancient for me (even though it truly feels still alive). In summer i range from y2k does disco, and 2020 does y2k. And i say y2k does disco because i could never wear high rise. That shit cuts you in half once you sit down. Im rambling im so sorry. But it truly feels like everything is going so fucking fast, before you had the mainstream and the underground, and its like they fused into this fucking explosion, and im a little afraid of what will be left once the dust settles. if anything i just hope its not twee Gd please not twee again
It's so strange to me that right now I'm not really seeing much design that particularly meets my aesthetic desire. Whilst I enjoy this nu-brutalist design I am frustrated by its illegible nature and not just in the typography but as a whole. I believe this is intentional as well in a way that i kind of find a little manipulative. Last year (2021) year moreso than any previous year my response to design has been "what is this even trying to advertise?" Some of this has been in response to minimalism to the point where purpose is lost but most of it has been to busy collages of seemingly unrelated themes and styles. If I'm being generous I would say it reminds me of old school comic book stands where each zine on the stand is bursting with colour, dynamic poses and trying to grab your attention with enticing text... I'm not feeling that generous and instead it's looking more and more like a page of clickbait CZcams thumbnails from 2009. Your Instagram point kind of supports this. Why make your design make sense if people are more likely to click when they don't understand what it is. That is after all the task that these designers are frequently being assigned instead of reaching a specific target audience. I think that this style will soften out a bit to become more fit for purpose and I can only hope that with that it drops the exploitation of mindless internet traffic. That might seem like a strong critique but I genuinely love the concept of going against the minimalist approach and creating a busy and brutal design. I just think a lot of it could be achieving those goals without being so hostile to the audience who has to engage with them.
That's a fascinating thought, and it resonates with me. I have to wonder, when ads and algorithms objectively favor that which grabs attention, will we ever see a mellowing down? Or will we just see bolder, brasher, and more illegible designs, until suddenly you need to be soft to stand out against the noise... I suppose I'm trying to say that I think it will get much worse before it gets any better, and that gives me a headache. 😅
This is fascinating!!! I never understood that "digital brutalist" style but after watching this, I have a new found appreciation for it
Regarding the 50 year cycle, it very much reminds me of Laver's law, which is a prediction/description of attitudes towards fashion, based upon how many years ahead/behind it is. It follows a trend of negative to positive in the few years ahead of the curve, then a strong negative to positive as something gets older by the decade.
It was proposed a very long time ago, if I recall, so I couldn't say if it still holds up, or if it did when proposed, but I think it's interesting to see similar ideas being brought up in other fields.
In movies and TV there's often talk about the 30 Year Cycle. Like how filmmakers and TV producers of the 80s rediscovered the 50s, 90s did the 60s, 2000 did the 70s, and 2010s reached the 80s. It's about time 2020s get on to the 90s... the theory being grounded in the assumption that the trendsetters often are about 30 years old and the period they feel nostalgia for is the time they were born in and had the least amount of responsibilities and rules during.
You can even go even further back. As in the 1950s they rediscovered and remade tons of properties from the 20's. And the earliest movies were about westerns and the civil war. Recent memory for those filmmakers.
As someone born in 1985 I am in the age group that will probably cling on to the 80s for a good while forwards. I find the 90s esthetic a bit too loose and busy.
Maybe the 40 year thing in architecture is because architects tend to get to positions of decisionmaking when they are in their 40s?
Although seeing the design of Burger King using designs that are straight out of an UPA cartoon does mess with my assumptions a bit. Maybe the cucles work with multiples of 30? As UPA was more 60s than 90s? But UPA was actually more like 50s... Dangit...
I'm really loving the design trends of 2021 tbh stretched fonts, hazy gradients and poppy 70s and 90s vibes are super fun!
Wow digital brutalism, didn’t know the name to that. Honestly when I see it and I just think “this is what generic graphic design looks like”. Can’t believe it’s only been around for 2 years? It feels like it’s always been everywhere 😅
What styles would you point to as non-generic?
I think it's important to mention that zoomers ( I am on the cusp of millennial and gen z) have the easiest access to media and knowledge than ever before therefore we can see the designs and aesthetics of the past and are able to cherry-pick elements and bring them back. This accessibility also means the trend turn over speed is ridiculously fast
Speaking as another zoomer, I think the attitude (at least for me) is simply that it's funny to do stuff intentionally in a stupid and ugly way. I definitely feel like I know what the "traditional" rules and sensibilities of graphic design try to tell us, but I also see that it's just plain fun to do stuff that you're not "supposed to" do. Like walking in the middle of the street when it's the middle of the night and no cars are around, it's pretty harmless but you know it's still "forbidden". Or, say, constructing intentionally gross, creepy, or scary environments in Animal Crossing, which is supposed to be the video game embodiment of the concept of "cute" (se /r/crappyanimalcrossing).
It's like yeah, I know the "rules" and what they're there for, but hey! There's nobody around to stop me, so I can decide for myself when I want to and don't want to follow them!
Great video! And thanks for touching on this brutalism trend. I follow a popular designer who does a lot of work like that. I'll be honestly, not the biggest fan of it cause it more amateur hands it just looks...well, like amateur work. But I dig the kinda "punk" DIY vibe that some well put together pieces have. I'm a BIG fan, however, of the "retro" designs. I follow a few people who do it SUPER well. Like it's the perfect blend of that 60/70's aesthetics with modern sensibilities.
There's definitely a spectrum in terms of quality, regardless of aesthetic style and tropes, for sure. I've definitely seen some examples that I genuinely like a lot.
@@LinusBoman CS Lewis, whom I like when he's writing as an essayist and critic, not as an author of fiction, once wrote that it is difficult, if not impossible, to properly critique something if you don't like what it's trying to be. If you hate murder mystery novels, you will not have any insight into whether any particular such novel is a good or bad example of its genre.
Do you agree? Do you find the same when critiquing or analysing design? If you dislike the style of a logo, is it more difficult to analyse that particular logo as the individual logo it is, as opposed to analysing it as an example of its genre?
nice name lol
Trig - that's a great quote, and a good question. I don't know if I agree with Lewis on that. I think if you're a decent writer and are well read across genres, even if you're not into murder mysteries, you could tell a well crafted one from one written by a hack. I certainly feel that way about stand up, which I did for a few years. After being immersed in comedy, there are a lot of styles that aren't my cup of tea, but I know who is a good vs a hack, even if neither make me laugh because of their style. I think It's similar with graphic design to some degree. It becomes muddy when there are "naive" styling elements, but generally you can tell if the designer has a good eye and has attention to detail. But I might not be as unbiased as I might like to believe! Haha.
@@LinusBoman I think that Lewis was a bit cheesed off at the literary critics' response to what we would now call "genre fiction", which he, of course, wrote, so it's likely that he himself wasn't actually as unbiased as he should have been when he wrote it!
I've not yet tracked down the original quote, but it's somewhere in "Of This and Other Worlds" if you want to look it up.
Was wondering if you've noticed something or am I going crazy. I just finished a web/app dev course and when we all showed our projects I couldnt help but notice that around 70% of them used teal as the main color (mine included). I'm wondering do different levels of designers (I'm assuming we were all amateurs/non-designers) tend to stick with particular colours... is teal just "in" lately and we've just picked it up subconsciously?
Great video! Digital brutalism is not a term I’ve heard before but I think it fits perfectly. I’ve certainly noticed it before, particularly in album covers, and some independent fashion. Also, the style of typeface you used for your section intros seems to be becoming more popular, I like it a lot.
I really enjoyed this video. I find it so satisfying when something you notice happening in the world of visual culture is crystalised into a nameable idea or style. Congratulations on becoming a father!
As a millennial, this got me thinking and left me calm and with less anxiety about what's to come. At least, design wise lol. Great video!
Made me feel old tho, lol
I was always loosely interested in design and your channel really focussed that! (Sorry for the bad expression I'm German). In your videos i particularly enjoy the influence of design on everyday-life which you might not even notice. Also, I find the challenges for brands these days very interesting (as you mentioned the does-it-instagram question or how car brands want to appear modern and green)
All in all, I love your general view on society and generations. It gives you a new perspective, which is always nice. Happy new year to you!
Need this for 2022!
Really learned a lot! I feel like my design professors at school refrain from being super honest about trends and sometimes student works following the trends. Learned a lot from your video and instantly subbed!
I fill that this year has had a little bit of a renasiance to the Y2K style, with designers like Kyoto, or Detectiive (check their twitters). Also, i really love how Graphic Brutalisim looks, i just discovered what its called watching this video, ive always called it the "Designers Republic Signature Style" and ive used it a lot in school projects since 2019. Really good vid
So happy I discovered your channel! I've recently started getting interested in the world of design in it's many forms and aspects and your channel explains things to people like me with no actual background in a very engaging manner. Looking forward to more!
Your my best new subscription of 2021 🙂
Thank you, too kind!
Old retired guy here. I noticed that you used one of my favorite fonts here. Windsor!!!!! Another QUALITY font that was probably overused back in the GOOD old days was ATF Bookman with Swash. Now Mark Simonson has brought this back with his EPIC Bookmania. SMASH minimalism!!!!!
Who would have known that I was such a pioneer when I was stretchin' Arial in MS Paint way back when I was a wee toddler
I love the way you speak or script your videos. Ironicallly it has this minimalism to it
As a junior designer, your videos really help when it comes to talking about/describing and presenting my work. Thank you
Please create more videos like this, really engaging stuff
Please do more of this. Analyzing design in particular years or spans of time or change points. Also, cutting edge new things happening in design that are interesting and not pretentious
So you are telling me that those ultra squished letters on the top genres of Spotify 2021 weren't an error? That was an actual design decision? Daaang boy.
Great video. Cheers from Argentina.
my uni's year end show branding looked SO similar to some of the photos you showed at the beginning!
Great video- your analysis and reflections on whats going on right now were really nice to hear
im a graphic design student at portland state and can confirm that nearly everything coming out of our program looks like your thumbnail... as a transfer student into the program it drives me crazy but confident to keep doing my own thing
Ef'ing minimal UI has been a complete pain professionally. I work in IT and nearly all of my users have been universally confused by minimal UI we had to use. No matter how long they were forced to use the same, unchanging interfaces, they never got used to them and would constantly make tickets when they needed to do anything beyond the most basic task as even known exactly what you were looking for did not help in actually finding it.
This became even more obvious over the past couple weeks when we upgraded every use from the old minimalist UI office had to the current less minimalist UI in O365. We were bracing for constant support calls from the UI change, but shockingly there was almost none. Many users even remarked how much better the new version was. The only major difference between the two is that there is actual color in the UI graphics again and they almost kind of look less abstract.
Loved the Electric Company intro there, that really hit hard
Congrats with the baby! Hadn't heard about it yet, though I'd call myself an avid follower of your content. I love your videos.
Are we not gonna talk about that shade thrown at Adam Driver at 3:02 ? lol
Just randomly came across this channel & I think I just found one of the best youtube channels in the world. You’re basically a lecturer
super interesting break down Linus. Couldn't agree more that the design world has such a narrow understanding of what's good and bad. The overwhelming majority of design simply conforms to current trends, ensuring that all of it looks dated in less than a decade (loved the architectural analogy). I'm always thrilled when I see a brand update on Brand New that is simply good on its own terms, not because it ticks all of the "cool" boxes. One that comes to mind is the new Seat Geek logo, where so much personality was created by arcing the base and cap lines.
Love all of these design insights and the channel 🔥🔥
Thanks mate, appreciate you saying so!
Keep it coming in the new year. Love your stuff
Thank you for your awesome content this year Linus! I found your channel about two months ago and you've helped me fall in love with design again!
(Your work on the evil mega-corporation branding should win you an Emmy😂).
Have an awesome 2022.
Thanks Emmanuel. Happy new year to you too!
This video should have been longer. 😭
It was marvelous. 🌟 Off to check out the Tokyo video.
you're my favourite youtuber discovery of 2021!!!
EPIC VIDEO, LINUS! I'd like to see more casual / freeform shorts and content from you. Congrats on making it through another challenging year. Congrats on the new baby human. So glad to see more successful 80s Linus's come to the spotlight. Looking forward to more of your content this year 🥳🥳🥳
Great work on the thumbnail of this video! I was immediately drawn to the design - then I realized it's a parody of 2021 design trends and I feel like a sucker.
wasnt expecting you to bring up pirate studios but christ what an example
Absolutely love how concisely you put all of this, fantastic video!
I'm a millennial designer who saw the brutalist style kind of emerging back in 2016 or so . Some of the blogs I was following were showcasing such designs and at the time I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. I understand it better now and utilize it sometimes for work now lol.
That was nice. Let's have one for 2022!
Oof coming hard for Adam Driver there harsh bro 😂
( - from one geriatric millennial to another)
My 2022 new year's resolution is to stop destroying any more professional celebrity actors/models with my acid tongue. 😂
Love this video! I have used stretching font and other anti-design elements on my project but my professors treat them as they are just false and need to be correct. They love everything present in a minimalistic aesthetic. It makes me question myself and this video explained everything.
I don’t know if this is an example of digital brutalism but it reminds me of the album covers for Life of Pablo which came out in 2016. I wonder if that was very early sign of its emergence
Loved this analysis into why design has shifted to its current way
and thus, the pendulum continues to swing back and forth
Thanks for doing what you do here, Linus. Speaking as a designer that didn't follow a traditional route for design education, following your channel has felt like the best way to stay in tune with the industry and reminds me of what its like to have knowledgable colleagues around you to learn from. Please keep sharing! Good luck with the year ahead!
You are my new favorite person on the internet. Obsessed!
i loved this video! Your thoughts are really worth listening. Congrats on the baby, keep it up the excellent work.
I'm glad, I'm so sick of minimalism 😔 As a young designer, I've always felt so tied down by the crispness that is demanded by the old guard: let me go eild!
This is the year in review I needed! Excited to see you reboot your channel in stretched Arial next year…
Thanks Phil, but obviously I have to go Times New Roman. For the brand. 🧐
Awesome content and I'm stoked that Arial is back.
This is a masterclass in design! I'm watching slowly and researching at every point to make sure I understand what is being discussed to implement it in my projects.
I didn't know you had had a kid, youtube keeps recomending me Jerma clips despite me never watching them. Congrats, mate
Ah I really love this video! I've definitely been seeing a lot of those post-ironic brutalist designs lately, it's so cool to look back on these trends ^__^ I would love to see a video looking at graphic design within pieces of media, like the logos within animal crossing or fonts within films.
I could'nt agree more with your observations. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
i found your channel earlier this year. i don't agree with everything you say, probably cause i'm maybe ten years younger than you, but your observations are still very interesting and informative to hear.
Commenting here for good algorithm vibes. Glad I found this channel.
Hi Linus, love your channel! Would love to see your review on automotive logos, particularly of German cars.
I just wanna say that this is the exact kind of design channel I’ve been looking for! Graphic design in popular culture and history are what interested me in it in the first place.
I found your take on 70’s design hilarious cause as a zoomer that’s my personal favorite style and color palette
I'm in a similar boat, I use the Gruvbox colours everywhere I can because its low contrast and easy on my eyes when processing lots of text. Normally people take higher contrast to be better, but I just find it dazzles me and causes the whitespace in between the lines to flicker.
This channel entertains AND makes me think.
Great video, congrats on the baby!
I'm pretty sure this video just gave me a nice dopamin boost.
I haven't seen your content before, but your thoughtful and pleasent way of sharing your thoughts on this subject just feels uplifting. Super imprest :)
Really glad I found your channel this year. Knowing nothing about graphic design, you explain things in a way that grabs me like few others.
I think your analysises are incredibly thoughtful. To read design trends this way is simply near philosophical! Thanks a lot for great videos.
Minimalism dislikes on computers, to do with usability, not just visual impact:
- computer windows or dialog boxes with such a minimal edge that if two are overlapping that the edge of the front one is difficult to see,
- grey fonts on a slightly different grey background,
- with web browsers in particular, and some other apps, being difficult to check at a glance which one I am actually using. I like the old days when the convention was that the name of the application was always at top-left of the window.
on macOS the currently selected app is in the top left of the menu bar along with its actions
omg. the way you just came for adam drivers throat out of nowhere💀
love this video! i actually love the zoomer design trends. they hit me. and really, they're effective, you have to keep looking.
As a software engineer, I'd be curious about how advances in digital technologies have affected and continue to direct and/or inspire design, like drop-shadows and droplet effects of MacOS X etc.
It's interesting to see what you consider godawful ugly. While choices in type and palette are bolder than was the norm for the last decade or so, they're still operating with a cohesive aesthetic. I'm at the tail end of the Millennial group (1993) but I find these brutalist / psychedelic trends really refreshing and compelling after the deluge of Corporate Memphis and safe bet design we got for a few years there. I get the feeling this is the same reason that David Carson felt so dynamic for previous generations.
Thanks for this channel. We live in a universe of brands and this content has already brought my visual literacy to a new level.
I find it interesting how you describe it as digital brutalism, while Satori Grahpics spoke about the same topic but rather used the descriptor of 'anti-design' which I find is super interesting considering the Memphis group origins that the anti design movement has.
You made me feel very old. I'm 52 and I still think the work of the likes of Tomato and David Carson from the 90s is cool af.
i just do graphic design for fun, used to think thin fonts and lines were cool, now i much prefer bold chunky characterful fonts, dunno if it generally draws from nostalgia of some specific time but it’s at least kinda the antithesis of some 2010s minimalism
Another amazing video. Please keep creating. Love&respect.
I like your videos even before watching because I already know it'll be good 📈📈📈
I'm glad to see corners are making a comeback in Tech design. Love having clearly defined lines and sharp angles.
I never ever want to see the 'fisher price' wavy blue plastic computer rise from the grave.
At the end of the day, we are just running in circles, aren't we? Really enjoyed your video - top work!👌D+B