Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute
The Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute (CARI) is an online community which is “dedicated to developing a visual lexicon of consumer ephemera from the 1970s until now”.[1][2][3][4]
History
[edit]In the early 2010s, Evan Collins participated in the online vaporwave scene largely through r/vaporwave and in some groups on Facebook. He found that the vaporwave scene didn’t explore the late 1990s and early 2000s as much as the 1980s to mid 1990s. In August 2014, he watched the music video for Out of Your Mind by Victoria Beckham and realized the prevelance of futuristic looks during that era. Inspired by the video, he made a collage on photoshop to get a define the millennium/y2k aesthetic and posted it to the vaporwave subreddit. The post received interest with people asking for more examples. This resulted in him finding around 900 examples and putting them in an album on imgur in October 2014. He continued to collect examples in all fields including art, music, fashion, architecture, and industrial design, striving for a complete documented understanding of the era.[5]
In 2019, Collins delivered the first presentation on CARI at the Seattle Design Festival.[6]
Design aesthetics identified
[edit]- Gen-X Soft Club, coined by CARI member Sloane Angel Hilton.[7]
- Frutiger Aero, which spans from around 2004 to 2013, was coined by CARI member Sofi Lee.[8][9]
- Whimsigothic[10]
- Frasurbane[11]
- Global Village Coffeehouse[12][13]
References
[edit]- ^ "CARI - The Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute by Evan Collins - Issuu". issuu.com. 4 September 2018.
- ^ "The Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute: Unearthing the Forgotten Design History of the Recent Past".
- ^ Jennings, Rebecca (November 30, 2021). ""Indie Sleaze" and "Internet Awesomesauce": Meet the woman schooling TikTok on niche aesthetics". Vox.
- ^ "How 'Late 90s Single Mom' Became the Latest Y2K Aesthetic". www.vice.com. 17 August 2021.
- ^ "A Chat with the Founder of the Institute for Y2K Aesthetics - PAPERMAG". Archived from the original on 2016-05-24.
- ^ "The Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute: Unearthing the Forgotten Design History of the Recent Past". Northwest Film Forum. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ Brannigan, Maura (2023-12-19). "TikTok's New 'It' Aesthetic Trend Is a '90s Deep Cut". Fashionista. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ Dazed (2023-02-03). "What is frutiger aero, the aesthetic taking over from Y2K?". Dazed. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ "Frutiger Aero: the Windows screen saver design trend taking TikTok by storm | Fashion | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ "Introducing whimsigothic, the Stevie Nicks-inspired magic..." SCREENSHOT Media. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ "'Frasurbane' Is the New 90s Decor Trend Based on... the Show 'Frasier'?". www.vice.com. 10 August 2021.
- ^ O’Shea, Devin Thomas (2024-02-26). "The Story of Late Capitalism as Told Through Panera Bread". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ Wolfe, Alice (2024-02-19). "How We Lost "Javacore," and the Communal Coffee Shop With It". Dwell. Retrieved 2024-07-20.