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Main takeaway from Twitter’s design & brand journey?

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Main takeaway from Twitter’s design & brand journey?

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Twitter’s 2010-2023 brand design iterations perfectly encapsulated everything that Twitter was as a platform; it’s the best design the platform’s ever had

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~ Twitter’s main demographic are Millennials (early Twitter) and Gen-Z (later Twitter);

~ Y2K is a source of nostalgia for Millennials; it’s also currently going through a revival with the Gen-Z’s interest in the culture of the 2000s;

~ Y2K seems symbolic as it was originally born out of excitement for web 2 and the new millennium; its revival can be partially attributed to the launch of web 3 — Y2K is something familiar and yet exciting and new all the same;

~ Y2K is also going through a rebrand now as Gen-Z attribute some parts of the original 2000s culture while modifying the rest to fit in with their own culture, style and worldview

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BRICKS Magazine - If you have a voice, use it.

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Inventing Y2K: Why Gen-Z Love the 2000s So Much - BRICKS Magazine

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No one expected the ‘cultural void’ of the 2000s to become so beloved – yet, after the Y2K aesthetic’s emergence in 2014, it has firmly cemented itself in the cultural zeitgeist. Why are Gen-Z still so obsessed with the 2000s?

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Cluttercore: Why The 2010s Blogger Aesthetic Is Back In Style

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The 2010s blogger aesthetic is experiencing a revival courtesy of it-girls like Bella Hadid, Iris Law and Emma Chamberlain and TikTok trends like cluttercore and weird girl.

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~ Y2K (2000s) & synthwave / vaporwave (2010s) resurgence

~ vaporwave: direct inspiration from the Memphis group

~ more on vaporwave: tropical skylines with altered reality vibes like unnatural hues and glitches

~ escapism??

~ bringing back “Twitter” and Larry the Bird

~ the aesthetic of cyber culture

~ textures: liquid chrome, glitter, translucent plastic

~ muted iridescence (reflects the cautious optimism of the current gen)

~ 3D design (influenced by “blobism” / “blobitecture”)

~ ditch the white space and pristine elements

~ “Word Art” Microsoft Word (Windows 95)

~ chunky / bubbly / blocky / futuristic fonts

~ more on fonts: sans-serif + easy to read (threads & tweets need readability)

~ colours: deep blues, purples and teals + pastels + cool neon shades (think cyberpunk)

~ references to early forms of social networking and cyber culture

~ classic gradients with subtle iridescent and metallic “finishes”

~ cluttered “diy” interface / aesthetic

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Q+A with Digi: The revival of Y2K design | The Digital Fairy

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Eye on Design: Iridescent and holographic motifs are often associated with Y2K. What is the context behind this?

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The Y2K Aesthetic is Fully Back, but Can It Stick Around?

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When editor and consultant Casey Lewis started her newsletter digest on youth culture, After School, she instinctively gravitated towards pastel and iridescent-like backgrounds for her graphics. “To be honest, and I’m sort of embarrassed to admit this, I didn’t think about it too deeply!” she told m

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Gen Z trends and youth culture analysis, 5x a week. Click to read After School, by Casey Lewis, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of readers.

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~ x.com - original domain that started Elon Musk’s eponymous “x” saga

~ Jimmy Soni: “X as a digit, as a variable allows you to say, “X checking, X PayPal, X loans, X this, X click, X that.” So the idea was that X was a kind of hub and from it, would emerge all these other financial spokes.”

~ Musk wants to transform Twitter into an “everything app” (Musk said in an interview that he was inspired by WeChat)

~ “x” represent variability, but also ambiguity - it’s meant to represent everything, but ends up representing nothing

~ X doesn’t have an identity - even its logo design almost entirely mimics the Unicode symbol for “x” + the colour black = the absence of colour (either doesn’t evoke anything in particular, or evokes strong negative or suggestive associations)

~ Twitter - it’s all in the name

~ the definition of “twitter” is a short burst of inconsequential information and chirps from birds, which describes the purpose of social networking on Twitter — to share short and quick information

~ Twitter doesn’t need to be an “everything app”

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How the Twitter Homepage has Changed in the Past 10 Years

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How the Twitter Homepage has Changed in the Past 10 Years

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Twitter is the world's most loved microblogging social network. Users interact and post messages known as Tweets. Twitter was created in March 2006 and launched later that year in July. Since then, it has evolved a lot. Today we are going to review the changes and evolution of Twitter homepage design in the last ten years.

Twitter Homepage Changes from 2011 - 2020

Without further adieu, let's get into it.

2011

The first look of the homepage is a bit cluttered. It is not very clean. However, a dedicated and highlighted section for new sign up is acceptable. The homepage also had an option to search trending topics and news. Overall, it was an excellent interactive design, but the direct page sign-in option would have been nice.

2012

In 2012, the homepage was more to the point. It had a direct sign-in option and featured a short sign-up section as well.

2013

Again in 2013, Twitter had a similar approach with sign-in and sign-up. However, the background featured a more human touch. Also, Twitter used words like "care" to encourage empathy.

2014

In 2014, as smartphone usage increased overall, Twitter started marketing platforms other than PCs. It also featured the famous blue color again; however, the sign-up and sign-in features were still straightforward.

2015

In 2015, Twitter focused more on branding itself as a social network, and it showed on the homepage as well. It also featured background images just like in 2013 to introduce the same human element.

In 2016, Twitter introduced a whole new design; it offered a lot more on the home page.

A straightforward sign-up and sign-in were no longer on the page but much news and featured tweets became part of the homepage.

2017

2017 featured a similar design; however, it featured the famous logo in the background. Also, the logo was modified and had a clean vector look.

The company also kept the "Featured Tweets" on the homepage.

2018

2018 featured the best design yet. Twitter introduced a clean, minimalistic look. It highlights the logo and the overall theme of the company beautifully. Also, direct sign-up and sign-in were introduced again.

2019

2019 again featured the same look, only the sign-up and login buttons were introduced in the same theme.

2020

In 2020, Twitter is featuring the same design, and no changes were made.

We hope you enjoyed our quick feature on how Twitter has changed their homepage design in the last 10 years. If you liked this article, check out:

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How the Twitter Homepage has Changed in the Past 10 Years | HackerNoon

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Twitter is the world's most loved microblogging social network. Users interact and post messages known as Tweets. Twitter was created in March 2006 and launched later that year in July. Since then, it has evolved a lot. Today we are going to review the changes and evolution of Twitter homepage design in the last ten years.

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The History Of Twitter In Profile Pages: From 2006 To 2015 by Twirpz

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The History Of Twitter In Profile Pages: From 2006 To 2015 by Twirpz

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History of Twitter’s Logo Evolution: From "twttr" to "X" - A Visual Journey

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History of Twitter’s Logo Evolution: From "twttr" to "X" - A Visual Journey

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Evolution and History of Twitter Logo and X Logo and Design Journey

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Explore the evolution of Twitter’s logos from “twttr” to the bold “X” under Elon Musk’s leadership. A visual journey of design and cultural impact.

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Stripe | Financial Infrastructure for the Internet

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Stripe powers online and in-person payment processing and financial solutions for businesses of all sizes. Accept payments, send payouts, and automate financial processes with a suite of APIs and no-code tools.

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The simplicity of Apple.
In a credit card.

With Apple Card, we completely reinvented the credit card. Your information lives on your iPhone, beautifully laid out and easy to understand. We eliminated fees and built tools to help you pay less interest, and you can apply in minutes to see if you are approved with no impact to your credit score. Advanced technologies like Face ID, Touch ID, and Apple Pay give you an enhanced level of privacy and security. And with every purchase you get Daily Cash back. Apple Card. It's everything a credit card should be.

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The simplicity of Apple. In a credit card. With Apple Card, we completely reinvented the credit card. Your information lives on your iPhone, beautifully laid out and easy to understand. We eliminated fees and built tools to help you pay less interest, and you can apply in minutes to see if you are approved with no impact to your credit score.

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Y2K in Rosalía’s Aute Cuture album cover

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Y2K in Rosalía’s Aute Cuture album cover

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“Claws” Charli XCX Homemade Official Video

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“Claws” Charli XCX Homemade Official Video

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NewJeans Logo by achmxdnur on DeviantArt

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❤️ the entire ecosystem of the platform is built on instant messaging and shared responses, which in turn creates a very strong sense of of community;

❤️ threads contribute to endless discussion, which anyone can take part in, regardless of their follower count;

❤️ Twitter shares information instantly and without bias - in a way, it presents the most actual and objective news on the internet;

❤️ Twitter makes its users feel more in touch with global news and trends;

❤️ provides a hotline to the world's influencers and celebrities;

❤️ a constant source of memes and drama.

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💔 Twitter’s sharing of unbiased information usually presents little to no context, which attracts various conspiracy;

💔 marketing schemes and stunts flourish on Twitter by taking advantage of its algorithm;

💔 Twitter’s manner of news sharing breeds “headline reading” (i.e. convinces the users of the headlines’ factuality without the need of context);

💔 Twitter encourages lazy thinking and virtue signalling;

💔 most content on Twitter is designed to elicit the strongest emotional response, which contributes to the posts’ virality;

💔 Twitter is a source of negative emotional contagion for many of its users;

💔 there is more negative content on Twitter than there is positive, because negative content is more likely to go viral; furthermore, Twitter’s anonymity encourages venting, making it the perfect breeding ground for toxicity;

💔 Twitter is heavily politicised (over 80% of world leaders have verified Twitter accounts), which in turn elicits conflict on political grounds; additionally, Twitter is often used to spread political propaganda.

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Y2K

DISCLAIMER! This page has become an overview of all aesthetics that are generally labelled under the Y2K umbrella, and is still under construction.

Since the advent of the internet, Y2K (short for Year 2000) has become a broad term that describes the societal zeitgeist of the world between the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Named after the Year 2000 problem, it is characterized by fashion, hardware design, music, futuristic technology, and optimism relevant to the time period. Since the Mid-Late 2010s, the group of aesthetics described as Y2K have made a resurgence in popular culture and social media.

Y2K originally referred to an aesthetic prevalent in popular culture from roughly 1997 to 2004. However, the term has massively expanded since then due to misappropriation and semantic shift, and this specific aesthetic is now retroactively known as Cybercore, Cyber Y2K, Futuristic Y2K, or Kaybug. This era's predecessors include the Memphis Design era (circa 1984-1997) and the Grunge era (c. 1991-1997), and was later succeeded by the Frutiger Aero era (circa 2004-2013).

Y2K was well-established by 1997, replacing the core '90s era which had been known for its grittier aesthetics such as Grunge. The Spice Girls single "Wannabe" was released in the U.S. and gained international popularity, leading to a new era in teen pop, and in a Super Bowl ad that year the group heralded the arrival of "Generation Next". Furthermore, post-grunge started to become emblematic of popular bands such as Creed and Foo Fighters, Nu-Metal began its mainstreaming with Limp Bizkit, Deftones, and Incubus, Hanson released " Mmmbop", and more music videos by artists such Puff Daddy (" Mo Money Mo Problems"), Will Smith ("Gettin' Jiggy wit It", "Men in Black"), and the Spice Girls ("Say You'll Be There") were done in the Y2K style. In an attempt to compete with rival companies such as WCW and ECW, WWF entered the edgier "Attitude Era" and had gotten rid of its Memphis influence (from the "New Generation Era") by March 1998. South Park and King of the Hill premiered, and Cartoon Network debuted the Toonami block which mainstreamed anime in the U.S. The PS1 and N64 were now in full-swing with games such as Final Fantasy VII and Goldeneye. The movies Titanic and Men in Black were released which are regarded as Y2K phenomena. Y2K fashions such as frosted tips, soul patches, and JNCOs were becoming popular.

Between 1998 and 2000, Y2K began to experience a massive surge in popularity with phenomenon such as Pokémania, Limp Bizkit, NSYNC, TRL, The Matrix, TOM replacing Moltar on Toonami, and Britney Spears. Y2K's popularity peaked around Late-1999/Early-2000, coinciding with the turn of the millennium and apex of the Dot-com Bubble.

The Y2K Era gradually declined afterward due to events such as the Dot-com Bubble Burst, 9/11, and the War on Terror, though residual aesthetics from the era still remained popular until roughly 2004. New aesthetics such as McBling, UrBling, Surf Crush, and 2K1 appeared at this time, initially running concurrent with Cybercore.

2004 was the last hurrah of Y2K, being the last year where the aesthetic(s) experienced any form of mainstream popularity. Cartoon Network switched from the "Powerhouse" era to "CN City" era, with most of their '90s programs ending and Toonami moving to Saturday nights. Nickelodeon went through a similar transition also, with '90s Nicktoons, the SNICK block, and pre-movie SpongeBob SquarePants ending. The final major Nu-Metal albums were released in 2004, and emo soon overtook nu-metal as the dominant "alternative" music genre; the popularization of MySpace and release of Green Day's American Idiot. McDonald's retired the McDonaldLand characters (except for Ronald McDonald) and rebranded from the "We love to see you smile" slogan to the infamous "I'm lovin' it" slogan. The first Web 2.0 conference was held in October 2004, early social media sites such as MySpace were rising in popularity. Marvel's Blade series, known for its heavy use of Y2K aesthetics and music, ended. The Rock retired from WWE, and Brock Lesnar temporarily left to join the NFL, leaving John Cena to become the face of the company.

By 2005, the Y2K aesthetic had more or less vanished completely. After Y2K ended, it gave way to the Frutiger Aero aesthetic, which coincided with the advent of Web 2.0; Frutiger Aero is widely considered Y2K's successor aesthetic, containing various similarities but being distinct as an aesthetic in its own right.

Since the Mid-Late 2010s, Y2K Era imagery and pop culture has begun to make a resurgence in various circles of the Internet, niche entertainment, and even mainstream entertainment due to the 20-year nostalgia cycle. Examples of Y2K revival songs include "1999" by Charli XCX, "2002" by Anne Marie, and "Motivation" by Normani. Evan Collins coined the term in 2016, having noticed the aesthetic had not yet been explored by the Vaporwave scene as much as earlier, more ubiquitous periods (particularly '80s/Early '90s aesthetics like Memphis Design and Synthwave), and wanting to give it more exposure. Collins runs the Y2K Aesthetic Institute along with Froyo Tam. They archive works exhibiting the aesthetic, in the fields of graphic design, flyers, game console design, video game concept art, interior design, architecture, fashion, etc. and chronicle both art from the era the aesthetic was popular, as well as modern depictions of the aesthetic. Tam has also made Ferrite Core DX and other open-source typefaces inspired by Y2K typography.

Another example of modern-Y2K aesthetics being used is the indie puzzle game known as CROSSNIQ+, which utilizes the more bold, thick-line aesthetics seen in Y2K cartoon styles. Also run by Krieger and The Y2K Institute is u::r::here, a free virtual gallery dedicated to showing off Y2K art and aesthetics.

The most major community forum that is based on Y2K aesthetics is Agora Road's Macintosh Cafe, which coins itself as a "nostalgic Y2K community". There are some smaller ones, such as the Orion's Arm forum, although that one is primarily about the fictional universe itself.*The aesthetic seems to be breaking into pop culture, such as the Charli XCX and Troye Sivan song 1999.

Music artists like DV-i, nuphory, System ST91, and Porter Robinson (under the alias of Virtual Self) produce Y2K-inspired electronic music in genres such as trance and atmospheric drum and bass. Dance System incorporates Y2K visuals and ambient into 2000's house music in his debut album Where's the party at?.

Virtual YouTuber Yuuki Takemoto experienced the Y2K Era, and incorporates it into her videos and art.

The artist named "Ivy Hollivana" seems to invoke a lot of the Y2K imagery in her music videos.

In NYC there is a store called happy99 which takes inspiration from Y2K styled art, toys, fashion and even architecture, They even have promos in their twitter where one is inspired by Y2K CGI and VFX while the other video is inspired by PS1 era games like Parappa the Rapper and DDR.

Planet 1999 released Devotion in 2020, features elements of Y2K such as Zip Drives, Furbies, Classic Mac computers and the mascot of the video evolving like a Pokémon or a corrupted version of Vibri from Vib Ribbon at the end of the album.

Kaizo Slumber is an electronica musician, of whom he incorporated various visual key elements from this aesthetic in his clips.

The clothing company Champion in 2022 had a shirt with a caterpillar on it that had a very Y2K style to it.

Many LGBTQ artists during pride month like to combine the concept of pride with the Y2K aesthetic.

The recent "Neo-Y2K" movement has modernized the Y2K aesthetic, incorporating elements of modern digital art, Glitchcore, Vaporwave, and various video game aesthetics and blending them with the color palettes and themes of Y2K. Notable artists of this aesthetic microgenre are Nuphory, TRAELMYX (also known as ::Y2KAE::, Vulpeox, and kur0myx), and SAM WAITIN. The microgenre is also much more closely related to the musical scene compared to old-school Y2K aesthetics, with all three of the aforementioned artists making some form of dance music. Additionally, the Neo-Y2K movement has connections to several other "revival" aesthetics, such as Blob World, Bubblegum Bling, and Neo-Vectorheart.

Nu-metal and Industrial rock were closely associated with the Y2K period, particularly in the United States and France, and received particular attention after the Woodstock '99 festival. The subgenres epitomized the more masculine aesthetics of the Y2K period, combining Hip-Hop and Electronic styles with Heavy Metal. Bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Deftones, Filter, Incubus, Coal Chamber, American Head Charge, and Marilyn Manson epitomized this controversial strain of Y2K culture. Acts like Nine Inch Nails, Tool, and White Zombie served as progenitors of Y2K musical aesthetics in the early and middle portions of the 1990s decade. Subcultural styles like Mallgoth, Rivethead, and Cybergoth epitomized part of the Dark landscape style, a subtle offshoot of the landscape aesthetic heavily inspired by nu-metal and industrial culture in the landscape era.

One of the most well-known music associated with Y2K in the United Kingdom was big beat, a subgenre of electronic music that used "heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns". Bands and music producers such as The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, Junkie XL, and Propellerheads performed this music during the '90s. However, the genre has since become less prevalent in the mainstream, with modern examples being few and far in between.[1]

Another known genre at the time was trance, which has been more modernized and mainstream. Famous DJs from this period like Push, Ferry Corsten, Tiësto, Chicane, PPK, ATB, Signum, and Lange demonstrated well the euphoric and futuristic vibe of the Y2K aesthetic. Other tracks that became hits during the turn of the Millennium were "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay, Darude's "Sandstorm", and Rank 1's

Other genres used during the Y2K Era were jungle, drum n' bass, and trip-hop (like Portishead, Massive Attack or Tricky). Much like big beat (and what ultimately inspired big beat to begin with), these genres have a heavy emphasize on techno-style music, with fast beats and use of synthesizers. To this day, these genres are still used in EDM scenes all over.

Bubblegum Eurodance was also common during the Y2K Era. Aqua, the Scandinavian band responsible for the 1997 hit " Barbie Girl", is often attributed as being the most popular example of this genre, with an honorable mention going to the Italy's Eiffel 65, known for their 1998 single " Blue (Da Ba Dee)".

The Y2K aesthetic can also be seen in the music video to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' " Californication". The video takes the form of a fictional open-world video game that depicts each of the band members on an adventure in a California setting.

R&B and hip-hop also transitioned from the Golden Age/G-Funk/Boom Bap Era to the Jiggy/Bling/ Shiny Suit 97 Era (widely known as the Hype Williams era, because of the prevalence of these visual cues in his music videos), with producers like Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, and The Neptunes. Many R&B and hip-hop artists used Y2K aesthetics in music videos, as shown were TLC in their " No Scrubs" video, Aaliyah in " Are You That Somebody", Jennifer Lopez in " If You Had My Love" or Janet Jackson in " Doesn't Really Matter".

Alternative rock and post-grunge were popular at this time and used in media such as Hollywood films and AMVs. Rap/hip-hop were similarly popular, and the popularity of it during this time influenced 2000s soundtracks later in the decade such as the ones for Homestuck and Scribblenauts and 2010s soundtracks like the OST for Persona 4: The Animation.

Cheiron Crush is a music video aesthetic that was prevalent from roughly 1997 to 2003. This video style co-existed inside the Y2K Era. In turn, the name comes from Cheiron Studios, where many pop hits of the era were produced. Camera flash shutter, chromatic aberration, and magenta are common visual features of this style.

2K1 is an aesthetic that was prevalent from roughly 2001 to 2004. This style bridged the gap between the Y2K and McBling eras. Raunchy "big red text" comedies, throwback jerseys, Minivan Rock, and Neptunes-type hip-hop production all surged at this time while Teen Pop was slowly being phased away. American flag imagery and "Dirty"-style fashion were a key component to this aesthetic which flourished in the post 9/11 world.

Cybercore (also referred to as Y2K Futurism, Cyber Y2K, Y3K (in Japan), or just simply Y2K) is an aesthetic that was prevalent in popular culture from roughly 1997 to 2004, succeeding the Memphis Design and Grunge eras and overlapping with the McBling, UrBling, Surf Crush, and 2K1 aesthetics.

Cybercore has its origins in the underground UK rave scene of the Late- 1980s/Early- 1990s (i.e. The Prodigy, Aphex Twin, The Future Sound of London), as well as the early works of the Sheffield-based Designers Republic. The first signs of the Cybercore aesthetic going mainstream appeared around 1995 to 1996, with the release of Windows 95, the start of the Internet boom, the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64 being released with games such as Wipeout and Super Mario 64, Pokemon being released in Japan, the films Hackers, Trainspotting, and Scream being released.

Cybercore aesthetics use both graphic design and CGI. Graphic designs usually feature thick lines, bold minimalism, and heavy use of iconography. CGI art is more blobby looking, having more gradients in contrast to Metalheart or Chromecore. Common colors used in Cybercore art are, but not limited to, chrome, icy blue, ocean, bright oranges, glossy white, and black (for linework).

McBling is an aesthetic that was popular from roughly 2000 to 2008. overlapping with the Y2K, UrBling, Surf Crush, Frutiger Aero, 2K1, and 2K7aesthetics. It was coined through a Facebook page in 2016 made by Evan Collins of the Y2K Aesthetics Institute. It is often loosely referred to as " Y2K fashion", " Trashy Y2K", or simply " Y2K" on social media,

The McBling aesthetic began around the turn of the millennium. It was at this time that the Y2K aesthetic began to decline and the transitional 2K1 aesthetic rose due to over-saturation, the dot-com bust, paranoia in the wake of 9/11, etc. as well as a general desire by the American public to move onto something else. Some of the earliest instances of McBling aesthetic were "Bling Bling" by B.G. from 1999, "Get Low" by Lil Jon from 2002, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake's denim at the 2001 VMAs, and the music video for Madonna's 2000 song "Music". By 2003 McBling was starting to become more prominent with the start of the Iraq War, Eve and Cam'ron's white and pink outfits at the Baby Phat show that fall, and the premiere of Paris Hilton's The Simple Life.

The McBling aesthetic went into full swing around late 2004 with the release of the movie Mean Girls, the popularization of Myspace, the popularization of emo via Green Day's American Idiot, the phasing-out of 2K1, the iPod becoming a huge status symbol via Apple's silhouette ad campaign, the premieres of Laguna Beach and Lost, and Gwen Stefani starting her solo career, further hastening the end of the Y2K era. McBling was concurrent or overlapped with a number of other 2000s aesthetics, such as UrBling, Surf Crush, 2K7, and Frutiger Aero.

The McBling era ended in late 2008 with the Great Recession, Barack Obama's election, and the backlash against 2000s culture setting in. This led into the ElectroPop 08/ Hipster/ Jersey Shore Era, which lasted from about 2008 to 2013. On social media in recent years, the McBling aesthetic has grown in popularity, albeit it is often lumped with or mistaken for the Y2K aesthetic (i.e. on TikTok and Depop, McBling-era fashions are mistakenly referred to as "Y2K fashion"), despite there being some differences between the two. The McBling revival has also been referred to as "Bubblegum Bling".

Gen X Soft Club was a popular aesthetic in the Late- 1990s to Late- 2000s, branching from the popular Cybercore movement of the time. It is considered a more natural and "down-to-earth" look at futurist optimism of the time. It's characterized by urban typography, a use of plants/nature, underground metros/train stations, airports, city skylines, and a heavy use of minimalism/cool color schemes.

GXSC's popularity between the years 1996-2002 was a movement in futurist aesthetics that spawned from the economic recovery and growing technology industry of the 1990s. Some had criticisms about the overly-optimistic, "bubblegum" styles of Cybercore and McBling. A notable shift in the visual mood of these styles happened during the turn of the millennium, mainly between older members of the Millenials/Generation X groups.

GXSC uses a mix of contemporary urban minimalism and lifestyle with Cybercore elements, along with the heavy use of Lomo effect (an analog cross-processing method creating saturated, high-contrast, "soft" looking photos), bleach bypass and blur technics in photography, and natural and muted colors - especially greens, blues, beiges, tans, greys, and black. There are also elements of 1960s and 1970s nostalgia, which were most common with Generation X.

[under construction]

FantasY2K (a portmanteau of " Fantasy" and " Y2K") is an aesthetic that takes elements of Medieval Fantasy aesthetics and reinterprets them to conform to the fashion trends of the 2000s.

The balance of these clashing styles can vary from haute couture runway looks with vaguely fantastical themes, to film and TV costumes that are passable as loosely historical, but with definite anachronisms such as modern hairstyles, makeup and silhouettes.

The aesthetic takes an unapologetically kitsch approach in its disregard for historical accuracy in favor of contemporary trends. For this reason, it is often adopted with self-aware irony, particularly in satirical media such as A Knight's Tale or Ella Enchanted.

FantasY2K is very distinct from other fantasy inspired aesthetics such as Fairy Grunge and Mythpunk, due to its far brighter colour palette and its whimsical, often camp, sensibilities. Although it shares some motifs with Fairycore, it is differentiated by its more direct appropriation of Y2K aesthetics and a more significant Medieval influence.

External links to help get a better understanding of these aesthetics:

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DISCLAIMER! This page has become an overview of all aesthetics that are generally labelled under the Y2K umbrella, and is still under construction. Since the advent of the internet, Y2K (short for Year 2000) has become a broad term that describes the societal zeitgeist of the world between the late 1990s to the early 2000s.

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This is a simple vaporwave text generator which allows you to input normal text and it will output a vaporwave font style (It's still text, but it looks like a different font, and is often call the aesthetic font).

The full-width characters used in vaporwave text have their origins in Asian computer systems where the traditional Asian symbols would generally be considered "full-width" characters, but the latin script characters could be fit into half-width blocks because of their relatively smaller size. Have a read of this Wikipedia article for more. Here's a comparison of full-width and half-width characters:

The way this generator creates vaporwave letters is by using the unicode standard which contains "full-width" characters which are wider than usual, or rather, have larger spaces in between the letters. These characters aren't a different font. They're just different symbols, but you don't have them on your keyboard, so you're not used to seeing them. There are tens of thousands of different possible characters, and there are a very limited number of keys on your keyboard, so it's no wonder people mostly haven't seen them before.

The typical vaporwave text style that this translator helps you convert normal text into is used in song titles, vaporwave art, aesthetic YouTube videos, and all over the vapor scene.

I've also seen it called "Japanese text" and "80s text". The former is obviously from the full-width Asian characters above, and the latter is probably because of old computer systems using monospace fonts, which are easily confused with the idea of full-width unicode characters (since full-width characters should be evenly spaced no matter the font - i.e. monospace or not). And I guess the other thing that people often call it is "vaporwave meme text", which I guess is semi-accurate, but vaporwave is more of a "scene" than a "meme".

Whether you're creating a meme, a YouTube video title, a username, or whatever else, I hope this vaporwave font generator helps you out. If there's anything I can do to improve it, please leave me a comment! Ｔｈａｎｋｓ　ｐａｌｓ　：）

Edit 1: I recently made it generate "ideographic" spaces which are wider. If you think I should change it back, please let me know!

Edit 2: I recently added another "crazier" version which adds in a bunch of stuff including substitutions for the E and A letters. I also added some Chinese and Japanese symbols to the end of the normal full-width text, but if you don't want those, you can just leave them out of your copy/paste :)

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This is a simple vaporwave text generator which allows you to input normal text and it will output a vaporwave font style (It's still text, but it looks like a different font, and is often call the aesthetic font).

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Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute (CARI) by Evan Collins

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Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute (CARI) by Evan Collins

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The artifacts presented here are intended for research and reference. We do not encourage or condone unauthorized redistribution of these materials, most of which have been granted to us in good faith under that pretense. CARI should be used as a source of inspiration and analysis, not a source of free assets or images.

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creating CARI - The Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute

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FastCompany on iridescence in modern design

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FastCompany on iridescence in modern design

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The Weird And Fascinating Story Behind Design’s Iridescence Craze

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The Weird And Fascinating Story Behind Design’s Iridescence Craze

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smeccea on Instagram: "ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴀ ʀᴀɪɴʏ ᴅᴀʏ ɪɴ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚"

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1,676 likes, 30 comments - smeccea on July 28, 2023: "ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴀ ʀᴀɪɴʏ ᴅᴀʏ ɪɴ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚". 

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3D Designer . Environmental Concept Artist

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@mun15h on Instagram: "frutiger aero + neotribalism? (swipe for solo render and other old frutiger aero renders I worked on!) 
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#frutiger #frutigeraero #y2k #y2kaesthetic #y2kdesign #tribal #neotribal #cybersigil #3d #wordart #3dartist #graphicdesign"

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9,708 likes, 57 comments - mun15h on September 6, 2024: "frutiger aero + neotribalism? (swipe for solo render and other old frutiger aero renders I worked on!) 
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#frutiger #frutigeraero #y2k #y2kaesthetic #y2kdesign #tribal #neotribal #cybersigil #3d #wordart #3dartist #graphicdesign". 

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Jiayi LI 🍑 on Instagram: "Spring is coming💚🌱🍀🌸
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#illustration #gloves #plant #hope #green #flowers #spring #drawing #wildflowers #newlife #vibrant"

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3,026 likes, 41 comments - jiayillu on February 28, 2021: "Spring is coming💚🌱🍀🌸
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#illustration #gloves #plant #hope #green #flowers #spring #drawing #wildflowers #newlife #vibrant". 

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