Alegria - the non-representational style guide from Buck

June 16, 2022 3:08 PM

Corporate Memphis dig into the origins of this ever-present art style as seen on Facebook, Hinge, Uber, Google, Flow, Youtube, The Guardian, Spotify, AirBnB, Slack and seemingly every other web3 startup.
posted by Lanark (37 comments total)

I didn't know the term for this style! Whenever I see it I get flashbacks to Global Village Coffeehouse.
posted by rustybullrake at 3:57 PM on June 16, 2022 [7 favorites]

...ever-present art style as seen on Facebook, Hinge, Uber, Google, Flow, Youtube, The Guardian, Spotify, AirBnB, Slack and seemingly every other web3 startup.

Makes sense. It was the hip style when those kids were...er...kids.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:03 PM on June 16, 2022

I spent the first few minutes confused, sure that I'd already seen this months ago, even though it's new. I was thinking of this video, though, which might also be of interest, although it's really more a complaint than a history lesson.

It looks like "r/fuckalegria" has moved to "r/fuckalegriaart" for some reason.
posted by Western Infidels at 4:18 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

I looked up that kids book he references, Love Around the World. As noted in the video, it was based on Fleur Pierets & Julian P. Boom's attempt to marry in every country that had legalized same-sex marriage in 2017. They made it to only 4 countries before Julian died from brain cancer in January 2018.

It's just a very small thing but for the second wedding they forgot their rings and some kind person just lent them theirs. Reminds me of the guy who played accordion and the general jubilation to get hitched- I remember folks going up to Canada or NYC...and I'm getting into my feels.
posted by zenon at 4:25 PM on June 16, 2022 [6 favorites]

Back when I worked for [redacted big tech company] our in-house illustrator got a lot of inbound harassment from edgy design bros who hated this art style and I guess wanted an excuse to bully a nonbinary person while also feeling like they were striking some sort of blow against capitalism. I was completely unsurprised when the guy behind the Humans of Flat Twitter account got banned for being racist.

So while I totally get the irritation with this style, I personally feel my sphincters clench a little when I see people complain about it, because in my own experience I've seen a lot of complaints about this art style used as a cover story for obscuring reactionary ideas. At least this YouTuber doesn't seem to be part of that specific group of people and I appreciate that they try to throw a bone to the actual artists at the end of the vid at least.
posted by cultanthropologist at 4:40 PM on June 16, 2022 [8 favorites]

I've seen a lot of complaints about this art style used as a cover story for obscuring reactionary ideas.

Because of the association with big companies attempting “inclusive” messaging it gets the same kind of split negative reaction as, say, corporate Pride stuff - a lot of people on the left think it’s insincere pandering/pinkwashing, and a lot of people on the right think it’s the devil.
posted by atoxyl at 5:13 PM on June 16, 2022 [10 favorites]

Fascinating. I have been noticing this awful trend and in ignorance assumed it was merely the result of the general infantilism of the age, writ large. So much more to the story. Great post!
posted by armoir from antproof case at 5:14 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

I spent the first few minutes confused, sure that I'd already seen this months ago, even though it's new. I was thinking of this video, though

You might have seen it as the first comment in this previous discussion about Corporate Memphis.
posted by zamboni at 6:10 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Others have linked to the Solar Sands video (I think both are great), but there's also a similar saturation and hate for the so-called CalArts style of cartoon character as well (akak noodle arms big grin style of Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, etc.)

It's touched on previously.
posted by AlSweigart at 6:24 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

I guess this video figures, but two things:

1. get a mic stand, ffs;
2. the video creator's artwork (at around 12:21, say): David Barnes (the bee with wheels / of Montreal albums) would really like some words, probably including "blatant knockoff".

posted by scruss at 6:26 PM on June 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

I never knew this style had a name, but I noticed it as it gained prominence on the web. I honestly assumed it was a conscious statement on, or an unconscious reflection of, how fat the average American is these days.
posted by Rykey at 6:59 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

The New York Times Book Review poked fun at this cartoon style in their Christmas book roundup. For instance, here's the illustration for THRILLERS.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 7:37 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

The video was too video for me, and I don't like his whole thing, but the thing I most don't like is how he pronounces "Alegria", as Ah-LE-grya, instead of Ah-le-gree-ah. Can somebody who was able to video the whole thing tell me if there's an in-video explanation for this or it's just his thing?
posted by signal at 8:08 PM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]

Corporate Memphis is just a terrible name for this style, which has nothing in common with "real Memphis" except...bright colors?
posted by How the runs scored at 8:16 PM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]

Can somebody who was able to video the whole thing tell me if there's an in-video explanation for this or it's just his thing?

Well, he mispronounces "Mobile," which suggests he hasn't heard the song...
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:18 PM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]

I think this style may have peaked, simply because I used to see a lot of people posting on the Adobe Illustrator subreddit asking “what is this called and how do I do it” and I don’t any more. I will be glad as I am kind of tired of it.

To me it mostly feels like an Ed Emberly drawing book or a fifties Cartoon Modern cartoon with all the life and fun squeezed out and replaced by corporate-approved “fun”. It’s got the same emphasis on slabs of flat color broken up by occasional linework, all filtered through hands that refuse to ever pick up a stylus and use a freeform tool like the pencil or brush in Illustrator.

(Disliking this look has nothing to do with gender politics, I’m a trans lady and I’m pretty tired of it. I’m also tired of it in part because there’s a bunch of sites that have free, easy-to-recolor CorpMem art that get used by startups who might otherwise hire someone like me to do some bespoke illustration.)

And seriously, have a look at this book and see if you don’t see a lot of “CorpMem but lively and fun”.
posted by egypturnash at 10:42 PM on June 16, 2022 [6 favorites]

get a mic stand, ffs;

I'm glad it wasn't just me..
posted by Candleman at 2:04 AM on June 17, 2022 [3 favorites]

I haven't watched the last 4-5 minutes, but I was surprised that Yellow Submarine stylizer Peter Max didn't get a mention up front.
posted by rhizome at 4:12 AM on June 17, 2022 [3 favorites]

As others have said, MY DUDE THAT IS NOT A HANDHELD MIC.
posted by prismatic7 at 4:25 AM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

Back when I worked for [redacted big tech company] our in-house illustrator got a lot of inbound harassment from edgy design bros who hated this art style and I guess wanted an excuse to bully a nonbinary person while also feeling like they were striking some sort of blow against capitalism.

Is Corporate Memphis the new Comic Sans? A thing that's common and easy to dislike so some people choose to base too-large parts of their personality around hating it?
posted by entropone at 5:27 AM on June 17, 2022

For whatever reason, this style just screams “HR” to me. Like, when you start a new corporate job at a tech company, this will be the default style of every slide deck they show you during onboarding. Oh, you will see some Corporate Memphis.
posted by panama joe at 5:52 AM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

The more I look through examples, the more convinced I am that Corporate Memphis is Global Village Coffeehouse, they just updated the aesthetic from woodcut to vector.

Corporations love big swoopy people in dynamic poses.

I wonder what the next generation of big swoopy people will look like?
posted by rustybullrake at 7:23 AM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

Because of the association with big companies attempting “inclusive” messaging it gets the same kind

There was a commercial for something (carseats maybe? I don't recall) that used purple and green as people colors (aliens yes! native Americans and Asians no). instead of actual people colors way back in the 1990s that aired during cartoons. I wish I could remember the product because it was the first time I noticed fake 'inclusion'. It would be kind of an interesting sociology project to determine the first group to do it.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:01 AM on June 17, 2022

... that used purple and green as people colors (aliens yes! native Americans and Asians no). instead of actual people colors...

I had a friend who did illustrations for school textbooks. According to their style guide, all humans had to be depicted as grey, faceless manikins of no obvious gender (but who looked suspiciously male in their proportions). This was to avoid race and gender discrimination, somehow?
My absolute favourite illustration she did was for a history textbook about the Aztecs.
She created a beautiful illustration depicting a human sacrifice, with the priests and the victim depicted as these grey manikins, dressed up in Aztec regalia, and with a lot of very red blood all over the place.

I don't think her bos was happy with that one.
posted by Zumbador at 8:41 AM on June 17, 2022 [4 favorites]

oh man, I haven't thought about Global Village Coffeehouse in a while! Boy, does that take me back. I don't know if I exactly miss it, although I like that earthier tendency better, and I enjoy stylized line art as a rule. Maybe it's coming back pretty soon; it's about time, and the nostalgia machine is hungry.

What I definitely don't miss is the idea of businesspeople bestriding the globe and making connections, or opening doors, riding symbolic creatures, etc., which still pops up in Alegria sometimes. As a young person, I would look at illustrations like that and think: what is it that businesspeople exactly do? Don't they sell stuff? Is this about getting on the internet, or ...
posted by Countess Elena at 8:51 AM on June 17, 2022

seemingly every other web3 startup.


I thought Web3 was that blockchain bullshit

Anyway, this woobly design stuff has been a creeping plague both on the Web and TV commercials.

https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/dont-worry-these-gangley-armed-cartoons-are-here-to-protect-you-from-big-tech/
posted by Ayn Marx at 9:26 AM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

I haven't watched the last 4-5 minutes,

That's a shame, really, because the last 4-5 minutes is the video presenter discussing artists who use this style to create meaningful, soulful art; it's the hopeful antidote to the bitter pill of the first 14 minutes of the video.

But yeah, dude needs to figure out his mic stand issue.
posted by erikred at 10:01 AM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

There was a commercial for something (carseats maybe? I don't recall) that used purple and green as people colors (aliens yes! native Americans and Asians no). instead of actual people colors way back in the 1990s that aired during cartoons.

Are you thinking of Doug, maybe? It was a cartoon, rather than an ad, but did feature purple, green and blue people in the cast. Doug wasn't a Klasky-Csupo series, like Rugrats or the early Simpsons, but it was part of that slightly garish early-90s style.
posted by thecaddy at 10:16 AM on June 17, 2022

According to their style guide, all humans had to be depicted as grey, faceless manikins of no obvious gender

Huh, it's like straight out of The Lathe of Heaven.
posted by 3j0hn at 10:59 AM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

It was really interesting to learn that this generic style of illustrating has a name and a history. But I must disagree – and very strongly so! – when the struthless guy says that abstract faces are better, because it’s easier to relate to them, since they do not look like any specific person.

He's quoting Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics: ”When you look at a photo or realistic drawing of a face you see it as the face of another. But when you enter the world of the [abstract] cartoon, you see yourself.”

No, I don’t. For me, this or this is infinitely more relatable than this. Realistic, individual faces prompt me to identify with them, to look at them, to ask myself what they feel, while an abstract, generic face is just a blob of colour on paper. It doesn’t express anything that makes me want to identify with it.

The Corporate Memphis style is a kind of anti-illustration: designed to replace real illustration with bland blobs of colour. It’s an incompetent designer’s idea of an inoffensive cartoon.
posted by Termite at 11:46 AM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

... and by the way, I don’t want the Corporate Memphis illustration style to die in a fire. It serves a useful purpose, since it helps us identify insincere corporate bullshit.
posted by Termite at 12:02 PM on June 17, 2022 [5 favorites]

I'm three and a half minutes in and am already grinding my teeth at all the mispronounced words. "Gaudy" is not the same as "Gaudí," pal.
posted by pleasant_confusion at 4:06 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

oh wow I didn't know the term Global Village Coffeehouse before this thread, thanks! have a complicated emotional relationship with it cause I was always too cool for it when it was trendy but now it's deeply nostalgic but also it's still so much
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:08 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

And if we must have the big shoes/tiny heads style, I prefer Robert Crumb's version.
posted by Termite at 9:38 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

I admit I didn’t finish the video either; I began to fast-forward after 5 minutes, which confirmed my impression that this was another instance of a YouTuber who knows that polemics and a funny turn of phrase = views. But the argument was convoluted and too pedantically self-assured for my liking. We know big tech is good at appropriation, so enough with the self-righteous tone already. (I am aware of the irony of me saying this self-righteously …). Also, Mondrian’s neoplasticism came before (and inspired) Bauhaus. In short, don’t equate things just because they look alike. But maybe I’m too harsh?
posted by fregoli at 1:22 AM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Really? We're going to take this sincere, fun guy to task because he mispronounces some words? Remind me to never ever make a video and share it here. JFC, do we have to be perfect in every way now to make a point?
posted by cooker girl at 7:30 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Like, my adult children both pronounce "museum" wrong. We don't know why, they just do. They say myu-ZAY-um instead of myu-ZEE-um. They know it's "wrong" but they also have to consciously really think hard about saying it "correctly" and maybe some people just pronounce things "wrong" and maybe we need to get over ourselves sometimes.
posted by cooker girl at 7:39 AM on June 19, 2022