Blame Corporate Memphis
February 7, 2021 4:21 AM Subscribe
"It’s become the definitive style for big tech and small startups, relentlessly imitated and increasingly parodied. [Corporate Memphis] involves the use of simple, well-bounded scenes of flat cartoon figures in action, often with a slight distortion in proportions (the most common of which being long, bendy arms) to signal that a company is fun and creative." Josh Gabert-Doyon on why every tech advert looks the same (Wired).
The advertising and marketing industry in general is incredibly conservative, aesthetically speaking. Once they find a formula that works, they flog that formula until the end of time.
How long has the "peppy ukulele music" thing been going on? At least a decade?
(I'm sure that many of the people who produce this stuff would prefer to do more creative work.)
From the article: "It's a desperate attempt at trying to be human". Yes. That's what all corporate marketing is. It's an attempt to convince us that a business – which is just an abstract legal construct, established for private profit – has a personality. A relatable personality that we'd like to hang out with.
That's why it all feels so uncanny and off-putting. They're putting a friendly mask on a crude effigy of a human being, and putting it next to you, with a sign around its neck that says "let's be friends!"
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:45 AM on February 7, 2021 [39 favorites]
How long has the "peppy ukulele music" thing been going on? At least a decade?
(I'm sure that many of the people who produce this stuff would prefer to do more creative work.)
From the article: "It's a desperate attempt at trying to be human". Yes. That's what all corporate marketing is. It's an attempt to convince us that a business – which is just an abstract legal construct, established for private profit – has a personality. A relatable personality that we'd like to hang out with.
That's why it all feels so uncanny and off-putting. They're putting a friendly mask on a crude effigy of a human being, and putting it next to you, with a sign around its neck that says "let's be friends!"
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:45 AM on February 7, 2021 [39 favorites]
Once they find a formula that works, they flog that formula until the end of time.
Half of your ad-spend is wasted, the problem is that no-one knows which half. If something seems to work, I can see a reason to stick to it.
posted by pompomtom at 5:18 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Half of your ad-spend is wasted, the problem is that no-one knows which half. If something seems to work, I can see a reason to stick to it.
posted by pompomtom at 5:18 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh that reminds me of this video on corporate music, which is kind of the same concept but for backing tracks in videos; how to express vaguely optimistic sentiments in a way that has no actual emotions attached to it.
posted by Merus at 5:19 AM on February 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Merus at 5:19 AM on February 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
They're putting a friendly mask on a crude effigy of a human being, and putting it next to you, with a sign around its neck that says "let's be friends!"
Crude utterly sociopathic human being that if it refuses to be sociopathic, will be bought out by another sociopathic entity and converted into a sociopath.
posted by lalochezia at 5:39 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
Crude utterly sociopathic human being that if it refuses to be sociopathic, will be bought out by another sociopathic entity and converted into a sociopath.
posted by lalochezia at 5:39 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
I love waking up on Sunday mornings and finding out someone has created a new way to trash talk my city. Yeah, I read TFA, I get Memphis is a reference to an Italian design firm, and that for many Memphis is a city on the Nile, not a city in denial. Still doesn’t make me any less sick to death of it. Looks like Corporate Menlo Park to me.
posted by grimjeer at 5:49 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by grimjeer at 5:49 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
And this style seems to have about as much in common with its namesake as the Italian furniture has with the Dylan song that inspired its moniker. The isometric perspective thing I agree gets overused, but the trend that really bothers me is the single weight line drawing iconography thing. We recently got a new graphic identity with a lot of these elements and it just seems lazy.
posted by St. Oops at 6:12 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by St. Oops at 6:12 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
This too shall pass. But what shall not, unfortunately, is using anything that works okay with majority of the population even if it offends a minority.
posted by hat_eater at 6:24 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by hat_eater at 6:24 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Some rambling observations: As a former advertising "creative," I have worked on a LOT of this stuff.
A big part of why the majority of this stuff becomes cookie-cutter is that during the brainstorming or "concepting" process, the creative teams, research teams, account management, and even the clients, bring in samples of other videos, ads and corporate "stuff" that they think the thing we are all working on should resemble, or at least examples that they all find effective or inspirational or moving or whatever. So you become immersed in this dreck for many hours a day. You create corporate dreck in an environment that's brimful of other people's corporate dreck.
When it comes to corporate videos and non mainstream ads, internal communications and stuff, the clients themselves drive a LOT of the work. Also: EVERY CLIENT wants to be Apple. Slightly less so; every ad agency wants to be Apple. I have personally worked at two different agencies where the head Man thought it was imperative, useful, inspirational and pure Leadership Genius to give every single employee a copy of Steve Jobs' biography. I have two copies of that hardcover book laying around somewhere, because it was deemed Necessary for me and all my coworkers to read it. (Both copies were foisted upon me and my fellow drones during a company pep rally, complete with speech by the Head Man, naturally.)
Most corporate clients—no matter how well paid—have pretty boring jobs. So the creation of ad/promotional materials segment of their job is without a doubt the bestest, most exciting highlight of the year for them. They LOVE doing this shit, or at least they love putting their fingerprints on this shit. So the clients will often be a big influence on the final product. Their expertise on these matters usually means they are apeshit about other companies' marketing materials. This is especially true for the kinds of Business to Business (B2B) videos and inspirational corporate anthems the main post video is talking about.
A couple more things: EVERYONE in the marketing world... EVERYONE is an expert on music. I'll leave it at that. Also: in the marketing world—especially on the client side—everyone wants their fingerprints on the final piece of "creative" because their jobs depend on it. So it's creation by a huge committee. And while they want their fingerprints on it—they don't want their fingerprints on Anything that might be considered a failure in any way by anyone above them. So: keeping it Safe is key.
I could go on and on. I'm glad I had the jobs I had... hell, they PAID well! But I'm even gladder that I'm out now.
(one of the Head Dudes who foisted Jobs' biography upon us all is also a U2 superfan. Ahem.)
posted by SoberHighland at 6:38 AM on February 7, 2021 [43 favorites]
A big part of why the majority of this stuff becomes cookie-cutter is that during the brainstorming or "concepting" process, the creative teams, research teams, account management, and even the clients, bring in samples of other videos, ads and corporate "stuff" that they think the thing we are all working on should resemble, or at least examples that they all find effective or inspirational or moving or whatever. So you become immersed in this dreck for many hours a day. You create corporate dreck in an environment that's brimful of other people's corporate dreck.
When it comes to corporate videos and non mainstream ads, internal communications and stuff, the clients themselves drive a LOT of the work. Also: EVERY CLIENT wants to be Apple. Slightly less so; every ad agency wants to be Apple. I have personally worked at two different agencies where the head Man thought it was imperative, useful, inspirational and pure Leadership Genius to give every single employee a copy of Steve Jobs' biography. I have two copies of that hardcover book laying around somewhere, because it was deemed Necessary for me and all my coworkers to read it. (Both copies were foisted upon me and my fellow drones during a company pep rally, complete with speech by the Head Man, naturally.)
Most corporate clients—no matter how well paid—have pretty boring jobs. So the creation of ad/promotional materials segment of their job is without a doubt the bestest, most exciting highlight of the year for them. They LOVE doing this shit, or at least they love putting their fingerprints on this shit. So the clients will often be a big influence on the final product. Their expertise on these matters usually means they are apeshit about other companies' marketing materials. This is especially true for the kinds of Business to Business (B2B) videos and inspirational corporate anthems the main post video is talking about.
A couple more things: EVERYONE in the marketing world... EVERYONE is an expert on music. I'll leave it at that. Also: in the marketing world—especially on the client side—everyone wants their fingerprints on the final piece of "creative" because their jobs depend on it. So it's creation by a huge committee. And while they want their fingerprints on it—they don't want their fingerprints on Anything that might be considered a failure in any way by anyone above them. So: keeping it Safe is key.
I could go on and on. I'm glad I had the jobs I had... hell, they PAID well! But I'm even gladder that I'm out now.
(one of the Head Dudes who foisted Jobs' biography upon us all is also a U2 superfan. Ahem.)
posted by SoberHighland at 6:38 AM on February 7, 2021 [43 favorites]
I could go on and on. I'm glad I had the jobs I had... hell, they PAID well! But I'm even gladder that I'm out now.
Word.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:42 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Word.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:42 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Memphis vs errrbody
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:42 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:42 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
[reads SoberHighland's comment; nods solemnly in recognition of every vapid-business-book-flogging, Steve-Jobs-adulating, bland-as-cornflakes-bourgeoisie-taste-having, self-appointed "Thought Leader" I've ever worked for]
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:49 AM on February 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:49 AM on February 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
Half of your ad-spend is wasted, the problem is that no-one knows which half.
The people who know which half of your ad spend is wasted also know it’s a lot more than half, and don’t have any reason to tell you anything about that.
posted by mhoye at 6:50 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
The people who know which half of your ad spend is wasted also know it’s a lot more than half, and don’t have any reason to tell you anything about that.
posted by mhoye at 6:50 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
By which I mean.
Facebook is basically a Ponzi scheme for propaganda.
posted by mhoye at 6:57 AM on February 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
Facebook is basically a Ponzi scheme for propaganda.
posted by mhoye at 6:57 AM on February 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
I have been assuming it's just a thinly veiled warning that I probably don't want any of whatever it is they're selling. Very effective so far...
posted by jim in austin at 6:58 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jim in austin at 6:58 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
But what shall not, unfortunately, is using anything that works okay with majority of the population even if it offends a minority.
I cannot parse this. Little help?
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:04 AM on February 7, 2021
I cannot parse this. Little help?
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:04 AM on February 7, 2021
That video that Merus linked to in the first comment is great, everyone should watch it.
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:21 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:21 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Generic tech company advert style woman devouring her son
posted by little onion at 7:26 AM on February 7, 2021 [24 favorites]
posted by little onion at 7:26 AM on February 7, 2021 [24 favorites]
Seems a close cousin to the animation showing up in all the ads I see on Hulu (I dunno if this is quarantine production or cost-cutting or what) like this one from Brandman (?) University.
posted by stevil at 7:37 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by stevil at 7:37 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Corporate Memphis grew, in part, out of a change made by Apple in 2013. Before then, computer interfaces often employed skeuomorphism, an aesthetic that employed shadows and bevelling, along with other visual techniques, to make buttons and icons resemble real world objects. The heavily-ornamental style became less useful to users over time, and, eight years ago, Apple dropped elements of skeuomorphic design in favour of a flattened user interface.Yeah, nah.
Flat design was absolutely not user-driven. From the get-go by designers seeking tech press mentions for being Bold and Innovative and Disruptive. And of course once Apple did it, Microsoft doubled down on it and within a year it was just the Done Thing. Usability? Pfft.
Flat design is objectively worse than skeuomorphic design by any reasonable usability metric. Flat design is to the 2010-2020s as flared jeans and platform shoes were to the 1960s-1970s and will spend about equal amounts of the future being equally strongly derided.
posted by flabdablet at 8:10 AM on February 7, 2021 [21 favorites]
SoberHighland,
I really appreciate your comment, because in the short time I worked in local television, I learned quickly how the client:
1. Doesn't know what they want.
2. They just know they want it to be like that big cool thing that already exists, because it worked for them, right?
Clients are a big, big, big, big reason why all this stuff becomes so fucking cookie-cutter. Because, at the end of the day, they're paying for what they want, and if what they want is what's popular because they're pathetic and have a FOMO, and it's not our fault if they refuse to use the actually slightly better proposition made by the creative team they hired.
What's really sad is the people who read those navel-gazing books about Jobs aren't much better than my dad when he was wasting all his time and money reading get-rich-quick scheme books in the 80's. My dad was just a crummy used car salesman, but the same minutae about advertising and sales apply.
Flat design was absolutely not user-driven.
Flat design always felt to me like the Developers decided they knew better than the people handling User Interface, and since they can't Art worth a damn, they just said "fuck it" and made it all flat, because they might not be able to draw, but they can use that square tool and paint can in fucking mspaint.
(I'm looking squarely at you Win8/10)
posted by deadaluspark at 8:14 AM on February 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
I really appreciate your comment, because in the short time I worked in local television, I learned quickly how the client:
1. Doesn't know what they want.
2. They just know they want it to be like that big cool thing that already exists, because it worked for them, right?
Clients are a big, big, big, big reason why all this stuff becomes so fucking cookie-cutter. Because, at the end of the day, they're paying for what they want, and if what they want is what's popular because they're pathetic and have a FOMO, and it's not our fault if they refuse to use the actually slightly better proposition made by the creative team they hired.
What's really sad is the people who read those navel-gazing books about Jobs aren't much better than my dad when he was wasting all his time and money reading get-rich-quick scheme books in the 80's. My dad was just a crummy used car salesman, but the same minutae about advertising and sales apply.
Flat design was absolutely not user-driven.
Flat design always felt to me like the Developers decided they knew better than the people handling User Interface, and since they can't Art worth a damn, they just said "fuck it" and made it all flat, because they might not be able to draw, but they can use that square tool and paint can in fucking mspaint.
(I'm looking squarely at you Win8/10)
posted by deadaluspark at 8:14 AM on February 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
Reminds me of the Millennium Orbital Crescent Swish. By the time you notice it's a thing, it's everywhere.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:22 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:22 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
always felt to me like the Developers decided they knew better than the people handling User Interface
More likely to me is the New Marketing Guy looking at the dev team's place-holder mockups and going "Meh. I can sell these as-is. Cut the art team by another eighty percent, I have bonuses to justify."
posted by flabdablet at 8:32 AM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
More likely to me is the New Marketing Guy looking at the dev team's place-holder mockups and going "Meh. I can sell these as-is. Cut the art team by another eighty percent, I have bonuses to justify."
posted by flabdablet at 8:32 AM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I actually find flat design to be much easier to read and use than skeuomorphic design. Then again, I am one of those accursed Developers.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 8:44 AM on February 7, 2021
posted by escape from the potato planet at 8:44 AM on February 7, 2021
I've thought of isometric perspective removing the viewer from the scene. For example, if you look at a photograph where you can see the horizon, or the height of the horizon is implied through a vanishing point, you can deduce the height of the camera when it took the photo. Isometric removes a lot of those sorts of cues that position the viewer relative to the depicted scene.
I haven't heard this idea of it eliminating time, I'd like to hear someone elaborate on that.
In an earlier UI post i came across the term "Flat 2.0" which seems to come from designers going for the flat look but realizing depth cues are helpful sometimes. You can have a little drop shadow as a treat.
The small heads I think come from, they don't want them to be specific people. I think they also want to be able to make their flat people racially diverse, but they don't trust their illustrator to not pull like, a caricature, like give someone big lips or something. So it's safest to have very few facial features and keep them consistent. Only indicate ethnicity through skin tone and hair. Sometimes they chicken out of even doing that and give them blue and orange skin or something.
posted by RobotHero at 8:48 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
I haven't heard this idea of it eliminating time, I'd like to hear someone elaborate on that.
In an earlier UI post i came across the term "Flat 2.0" which seems to come from designers going for the flat look but realizing depth cues are helpful sometimes. You can have a little drop shadow as a treat.
The small heads I think come from, they don't want them to be specific people. I think they also want to be able to make their flat people racially diverse, but they don't trust their illustrator to not pull like, a caricature, like give someone big lips or something. So it's safest to have very few facial features and keep them consistent. Only indicate ethnicity through skin tone and hair. Sometimes they chicken out of even doing that and give them blue and orange skin or something.
posted by RobotHero at 8:48 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
"give them blue and orange skin or something."
Jim Jinkins has entered the chat.
posted by deadaluspark at 8:52 AM on February 7, 2021
Jim Jinkins has entered the chat.
posted by deadaluspark at 8:52 AM on February 7, 2021
I remember when the switch from skeuomorphism happened -- that is, when my iOS updated to new, uglier icons. I liked the old style. But then, that is a pretty good indicator that it was out of fashion.
I always figured that this style was popular in part because, since they use fanciful skin tones like blue and purple, they can imply diversity without actually providing representation.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:52 AM on February 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
I always figured that this style was popular in part because, since they use fanciful skin tones like blue and purple, they can imply diversity without actually providing representation.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:52 AM on February 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
I don't know anything about design but I loved this quote - it's not every day you find someone in the industry give their full name and then be this derisive about what his peers (and himself) are producing:
“It really boils my piss to be honest,” says Jack Hurley, a Leeds-based illustrator who says his main output is “daft seaside posters.” Hurley was familiar with the style from Facebook’s login page, but had started to see the illustrations, with their sensible, slightly strange characters, while walking around his neighbourhood as well. “I live in a student area and there are some real scumbag letting agents,” he says. “Suddenly they've got all this marketing with the bendy-arm-people.”
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:53 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
“It really boils my piss to be honest,” says Jack Hurley, a Leeds-based illustrator who says his main output is “daft seaside posters.” Hurley was familiar with the style from Facebook’s login page, but had started to see the illustrations, with their sensible, slightly strange characters, while walking around his neighbourhood as well. “I live in a student area and there are some real scumbag letting agents,” he says. “Suddenly they've got all this marketing with the bendy-arm-people.”
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:53 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
When I hear someone play the ukulele now I picture either a cat running to an automated feeder, someone taking a big stinky foam bed out of a box, or some household implement being folded up and stored conveniently. A nice instrument, ruined forever.
posted by freecellwizard at 9:02 AM on February 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by freecellwizard at 9:02 AM on February 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
A nice instrument, ruined forever.
It didn't help that during the same period *every Youtuber under the god damned sun* had a "ukulele cover" of some fucking song or other. I remember the first one that made me want to die screaming was the sheer number of uke covers of the Adventure Time theme song circa 2012.
posted by deadaluspark at 9:08 AM on February 7, 2021
It didn't help that during the same period *every Youtuber under the god damned sun* had a "ukulele cover" of some fucking song or other. I remember the first one that made me want to die screaming was the sheer number of uke covers of the Adventure Time theme song circa 2012.
posted by deadaluspark at 9:08 AM on February 7, 2021
How long has the "peppy ukulele music" thing been going on? At least a decade?
In some other even darker timeline I've built a time and teleportation machine and I find all the people responsible for the jangly upbeat ukulele and toy xylophone marketing music and I lock them in a dark concrere bunker and attempt to melt the flesh right off their bones playing Merzbau at them using a sound system so large and loud that it bends physics and reality.
And I mean everyone. Every soul crushing corporate PR video, every twee crowdfunding video, every hideously light and airy YouTube unboxing video. Everyone.
And then I keep doing that until it turns all Raccoon City in there and they start eating each other and there's only one left standing.
The one left standing is then turned into a weaponized noise artist armed with a pedal board full of effects pedals and a shitty old mixer and turned loose on an unsuspecting marketing industry.
posted by loquacious at 9:17 AM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
In some other even darker timeline I've built a time and teleportation machine and I find all the people responsible for the jangly upbeat ukulele and toy xylophone marketing music and I lock them in a dark concrere bunker and attempt to melt the flesh right off their bones playing Merzbau at them using a sound system so large and loud that it bends physics and reality.
And I mean everyone. Every soul crushing corporate PR video, every twee crowdfunding video, every hideously light and airy YouTube unboxing video. Everyone.
And then I keep doing that until it turns all Raccoon City in there and they start eating each other and there's only one left standing.
The one left standing is then turned into a weaponized noise artist armed with a pedal board full of effects pedals and a shitty old mixer and turned loose on an unsuspecting marketing industry.
posted by loquacious at 9:17 AM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Isometric projection... During the last century, with the advent of computer drawing programs, a style developed that appears to be either isometric projection or very close to it. Especially in city scapes. See opening credits to “Silicon Valley”. This wasn’t so much a design thing from what I remember. It was because if you held the shift key you could restrain the angles of lines to a small set of angles. Thus it was easy to do 3D drawings. I can remember whipping out buildings in “perspective” without having to know anything about perspective. The medium is the message...
posted by njohnson23 at 9:20 AM on February 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 9:20 AM on February 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
Home of Corporate Elvis and the Ancient Greeks
posted by thelonius at 9:27 AM on February 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 9:27 AM on February 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
“Isometric perspective is interesting, because nothing recedes to a vanishing point,” Rudnick says, “and therefore it also eliminates the variable of time.” He points out that this type of design is particularly popular with fintech and mortgage companies – playing down the passage of time is particularly advantageous to firms selling financial productsI have no evidence that this is not true. But, I also see a whole lot of isometric drawings because it's the default option in the CAD software we use. I would be surprised if it's because my colleagues and our software vendors are driven to downplay our field's relationship to the passage of time. (Though, I guess we usually exchange those drawings at the last possible minute. . .)
I am happy to have a name for this. And to know about the Memphis Group, whom I'd never heard of.
posted by eotvos at 9:34 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm a little bit positive about this simple, flat, minimal esthetic - trite and overdone though it is - and I'll tell you why: it's because the other half of tech design is an ugly bloated mess of stock photographs, script overload, placements, overlays, page elements, text in a hundred different sizes and colors that goes off the edge of my screen in a way I can't even scroll to.
posted by splitpeasoup at 9:54 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by splitpeasoup at 9:54 AM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
When I hear someone play the ukulele now I picture either a cat running to an automated feeder, someone taking a big stinky foam bed out of a box, or some household implement being folded up and stored conveniently. A nice instrument, ruined forever.
Allow me to un-ruin it for you.
posted by flabdablet at 9:57 AM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Allow me to un-ruin it for you.
posted by flabdablet at 9:57 AM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yeah, you want isometric views in CAD because sometimes they help to see what's going on, to keep you from missing something in a flat view. You don't use perspective because you want all the lines to still be in the right scale (and because it's hard to do by hand).
Obvs. the bendy arms come from the I-40 "M" bridge and the isometrics are necessary to capture the grandeur of the Pyramid.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:59 AM on February 7, 2021
Obvs. the bendy arms come from the I-40 "M" bridge and the isometrics are necessary to capture the grandeur of the Pyramid.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:59 AM on February 7, 2021
I showed this to an Art Director and got the reply "The tyranny of iStock."
I think isometric projection was originally meant to evoke video games (fun!) where it was used to conserve computational resources and programmers' time. The latter is doubtless appealing to designers as well.
Only indicate ethnicity through skin tone and hair. Sometimes they chicken out of even doing that and give them blue and orange skin or something.
That's arguably a fair dodge if you only have space for one or two figures.
uke covers of the Adventure Time theme
Aren't those just covers of the Adventure Time theme?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:33 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think isometric projection was originally meant to evoke video games (fun!) where it was used to conserve computational resources and programmers' time. The latter is doubtless appealing to designers as well.
Only indicate ethnicity through skin tone and hair. Sometimes they chicken out of even doing that and give them blue and orange skin or something.
That's arguably a fair dodge if you only have space for one or two figures.
uke covers of the Adventure Time theme
Aren't those just covers of the Adventure Time theme?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:33 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
...and of course once Apple did it, Microsoft doubled down on it and within a year it was just the Done Thing...
Actually no... Microsoft introduced their "modern (metro)" user interface with well and truly with Windows Phone 7 in 2010... (Precursor was Zune, but... like who bought that?)
Flat design, no skeuomorphism, typography front and center.
I would suggest that this mobile UI design language actually influenced desktop operating systems quite a bit... definitely for Windows since v.8... (Released in Oct 2012)...
posted by rozcakj at 10:36 AM on February 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
Actually no... Microsoft introduced their "modern (metro)" user interface with well and truly with Windows Phone 7 in 2010... (Precursor was Zune, but... like who bought that?)
Flat design, no skeuomorphism, typography front and center.
I would suggest that this mobile UI design language actually influenced desktop operating systems quite a bit... definitely for Windows since v.8... (Released in Oct 2012)...
posted by rozcakj at 10:36 AM on February 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
AIGA Eye on Design has a rather more detailed investigation into this illustration style, which was named Alegria by the design firm that did work for Facebook. There's some interesting discussion in this Reddit thread, too.
Jennifer Hom, who revamped Airbnb's illustration style, wrote a thoughtful article on considering representation in illustration: Your Face Here.
posted by oulipian at 11:34 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
Jennifer Hom, who revamped Airbnb's illustration style, wrote a thoughtful article on considering representation in illustration: Your Face Here.
posted by oulipian at 11:34 AM on February 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
I would suggest that this mobile UI design language actually influenced desktop operating systems quite a bit... definitely for Windows since v.8... (Released in Oct 2012)...
This is actually a serious, longstanding beef of mine, the way desktop interface graphics, for use with high-precision pointing devices (mice, trackballs) and keyboards, have been redesigned to resemble touchscreen interface graphics, designed for use with low-precision pointing devices (i.e. fingers). Desktop interfaces keep getting more white space in places that used to present information, buttons get bigger with more space between them, easy-to-see-on-small-screens graphical labels replace clear, legible text labels, font sizes go up- these are all choices that make a lot of sense on phone interfaces but which make desktop interfaces balkier and less useful. Facebook's a great example- the new interface is very, very plainly built for smartphones (particularly the narrowness of the layout in an era where widescreen monitors are the rule) and displays less info and obfuscates more options than the previous interface- the fact that it's somehow taking way, way more resources to display less information at a time is the cherry on the shit sundae.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:05 PM on February 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
This is actually a serious, longstanding beef of mine, the way desktop interface graphics, for use with high-precision pointing devices (mice, trackballs) and keyboards, have been redesigned to resemble touchscreen interface graphics, designed for use with low-precision pointing devices (i.e. fingers). Desktop interfaces keep getting more white space in places that used to present information, buttons get bigger with more space between them, easy-to-see-on-small-screens graphical labels replace clear, legible text labels, font sizes go up- these are all choices that make a lot of sense on phone interfaces but which make desktop interfaces balkier and less useful. Facebook's a great example- the new interface is very, very plainly built for smartphones (particularly the narrowness of the layout in an era where widescreen monitors are the rule) and displays less info and obfuscates more options than the previous interface- the fact that it's somehow taking way, way more resources to display less information at a time is the cherry on the shit sundae.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:05 PM on February 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
From Jennifer Hom's article: But despite illustration’s growing popularity, it’s not universally considered a distinct discipline. Companies look to designers who like to draw, engineers who can doodle, or freelancers with a barebones design brief. Illustration hasn’t received the same time and resources as other crafts.
It's kind of amazing that there is a generational lack of knowledge that men and women used to make a whole career out of commercial illustration. Still, I guess people don't start companies in SV because they're interested in art, the past, or respect for trades.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:17 PM on February 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
It's kind of amazing that there is a generational lack of knowledge that men and women used to make a whole career out of commercial illustration. Still, I guess people don't start companies in SV because they're interested in art, the past, or respect for trades.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:17 PM on February 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
Pope Guilty - every time there is a website upgrade, this is what I see. I usually phone and complain - especially if "my call is being recorded for quality control purposes".
And my additional beef - sans serif fonts for NUMBERS. I can deal with sans serif for text - but can you use a font where I don't have to squint to distinguish between 0,6 and 8.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 2:29 PM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
And my additional beef - sans serif fonts for NUMBERS. I can deal with sans serif for text - but can you use a font where I don't have to squint to distinguish between 0,6 and 8.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 2:29 PM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's not just tech ads. In the past hour I've seen it in a prescription drug ad and a news article about COVID. Which I guess makes sense because both tech and drugs resort to the same thing. Clean simple generic pieces that say very little. I hate it almost as much as white background with a person or two in front cell carrier ads. Marketing and advertising truly seems like the most souless awful "creative" business going right now. I almost went into it. I was good at it. But everytime the idea was reduced down to lowest common denominator fluff. And after a while I decided I couldn't earn a paycheck by manipulating people anyway so that was that. But the people that stick with it? Ugh. Get a real job.
posted by downtohisturtles at 2:44 PM on February 7, 2021
posted by downtohisturtles at 2:44 PM on February 7, 2021
TBH I’m actually looking forward to the inevitable transfer of this aesthetic to corporate interiors work. Then again, I’ve been a closet postmodernist for decades.
One side benefit of working from home has been the ability to avoid stepping into any more “walnut-n-airplants-n-black steel” coworking spaces. May their Edison bulbs spontaneously ignite and burn them all to the ground.
posted by q*ben at 3:12 PM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
One side benefit of working from home has been the ability to avoid stepping into any more “walnut-n-airplants-n-black steel” coworking spaces. May their Edison bulbs spontaneously ignite and burn them all to the ground.
posted by q*ben at 3:12 PM on February 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Only vaguely related, but you're this far down this thread, so...
This is bugging me
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:06 PM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
This is bugging me
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:06 PM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
A lot of illustrations in this style are available free on Canva, and I tend to use them a lot when I do marketing stuff for the library where I work because my marketing budget is zero and almost all the other free Canva clip art looks unforgivably ugly.
I feel as if I've been using Papyrus for years and have only just been told how uncool it is. But... I'm probably not going to stop, because I'm definitely not a good enough designer to make something look good with just colors, shapes, and text.
posted by Jeanne at 5:19 PM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I feel as if I've been using Papyrus for years and have only just been told how uncool it is. But... I'm probably not going to stop, because I'm definitely not a good enough designer to make something look good with just colors, shapes, and text.
posted by Jeanne at 5:19 PM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
ChurchHatesTucker, I just showed that to my 16 year old. He notices stuff like that all of the time, and I just wanted him to know there are other people out there who do.
posted by mollweide at 6:02 PM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mollweide at 6:02 PM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is actually a serious, longstanding beef of mine, the way desktop interface graphics, for use with high-precision pointing devices (mice, trackballs) and keyboards, have been redesigned to resemble touchscreen interface graphics, designed for use with low-precision pointing devices (i.e. fingers).
Right there with you, along with strong resentment for touch screens appearing on new versions of every kind of device that used to have knobs and/or buttons my fingers could actually feel for without looking. And no, low-resolution haptic feedback from an inbuilt vibrator completely fails to cut the mustard.
Multi-touch screens are kind of nifty as a technological achievement, but the lazy engineering choice to slap one on every fucking thing just because they're cheap and potentially waterproof has led to a noticeable worsening of device usability across the board, not merely the clunkification of desktop computing and web interfaces.
As far as GUI pet peeves go, mine is the now all-pervasive ultra-thin/disappearing/missing scroll bar and thumb.
posted by flabdablet at 10:25 PM on February 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
Right there with you, along with strong resentment for touch screens appearing on new versions of every kind of device that used to have knobs and/or buttons my fingers could actually feel for without looking. And no, low-resolution haptic feedback from an inbuilt vibrator completely fails to cut the mustard.
Multi-touch screens are kind of nifty as a technological achievement, but the lazy engineering choice to slap one on every fucking thing just because they're cheap and potentially waterproof has led to a noticeable worsening of device usability across the board, not merely the clunkification of desktop computing and web interfaces.
As far as GUI pet peeves go, mine is the now all-pervasive ultra-thin/disappearing/missing scroll bar and thumb.
posted by flabdablet at 10:25 PM on February 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
Just think of the world we could have had if the Hertzfeldt design language had won out over Corporate Memphis.
posted by flabdablet at 5:42 AM on February 8, 2021
posted by flabdablet at 5:42 AM on February 8, 2021
There's enough to like about the style of illustration that there's a reason they started using it. I do find something appealing about it.
posted by RobotHero at 7:50 AM on February 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotHero at 7:50 AM on February 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
As far as GUI pet peeves go, mine is the now all-pervasive ultra-thin/disappearing/missing scroll bar and thumb.
My corporate timecard/time entry portal has this feature, and you have to click a very specific corner of the screen before some scrollbars appear to be able to enter your time.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:20 AM on February 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
My corporate timecard/time entry portal has this feature, and you have to click a very specific corner of the screen before some scrollbars appear to be able to enter your time.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:20 AM on February 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Pleasant, bland, inoffensive...this is what corporate design aspires to. It works because only a few curmudgeonly artist types hate it. At some point a newer pleasant, bland, inoffensive style will take its place. It's interesting to document but not something to lose sleep over.
posted by emjaybee at 10:14 AM on February 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by emjaybee at 10:14 AM on February 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
The real audience for most graphic design is the client, specifically the risk-averse people in the meeting who review the options. The design that says the least but looks vaguely pleasant survives, because no one will get fired for approving it.
posted by argybarg at 10:11 PM on February 8, 2021
posted by argybarg at 10:11 PM on February 8, 2021
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posted by Merus at 4:40 AM on February 7, 2021 [7 favorites]