Why I Miss Y2K Color and Futurism
Image Courtesy: Marie Claire
The year 2000 was the turn of the millennium, an event bringing many emotions like excitement, anticipation, and even fear of the future and whether we will even see the beginning of the millennium. These emotions during the time shifted the world to think about the future — a colorful, creative one that influenced many aspects of life, such as art, fashion, branding, and technology. But as we have furthered into the future, branding has stopped becoming less colorful and taken a more minimalistic approach, reflecting the shift people have in their thoughts about what the future would look like.
The aestheticism of the early 2000s played on the idea of a colorful, bubbly techno utopianism futurism. Elements such as gradient hues, chrome, chunky typography styles, and 3D shapes were extremely popular in branding and art. The rise of tech also allowed for styles such as Frutiger Aero and Metro to come into play, which included elements such as bright colors, especially blues and greens, glossy textures, sprawling patterns, abstract flourishes, and humanistic elements. Fashion featured futuristic styles such as shiny, silver, metallic, leather, and chrome. Denim on denim was also trendy, and denim styles such as low-rise jeans, capris, and flares could be seen everywhere. Overall, the trends of that era took a bolder turn of the grunginess of the 90s, bringing more color and statement pieces into play and influencing people to play more with their personal style.
Image Courtesy: Dazed
Technology experienced a boom during the 2000s, and its aesthetic did not fall short of colorful. Designs of early 2000s tech featured the signature futuristic coloring, looking very similar to the Fruitger Aero aesthetic. Technology designers also played with design elements such as curves, gradients, layered transparencies, and lens flares. Popular technology, like the Macintosh computer and Nokia phones, featured those significant details and brought color and curves into their futuristic designs.
Image Courtesy: Reddit
Today, design, branding, technology, and even fashion have taken a more simplistic approach. Designs are more focused on being sleek and minimalistic, the opposite of how they were 20 years ago. Technology and branding design also feature a grayscale and muted palette compared to the color of the early 2000s. Nowadays, simplicity and uniformity are favored and considered chic in design.
Even though I feel like modern design choices reflect how people currently view the future, they seem to lack the personality and charm of the early 2000s. A lot of current branding and tech design seem to mirror each other and lack personal identity. Even though many people believe that designs during the 2000s were over the top, they showed personality, creativity, and individuality, which is not as prevalent today. Branding reflected the boldness and the fun people were having during the time with style, and I wish for that to come back today. With the resurgence of early 2000s fashion styles, I hope to see more designs today that encourage people to be bold and more creative.
Strike Out,
Writer: Trinity Talton
Editor: Blake N. Fiadino
Tallahassee