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memphis design
"Memphis Design" is a shorthand term for a broad trend in design and fashion during the 1990s, seen in artwork, advertising, on television, patterns on clothing, and designs on objects such as cups, furniture, carpeting and more. While this aesthetic originated in the 1980s (see section below), it was widespread by the 1990s, and fading in popularity around 1996/1997. In the decades since, it has becomes a stereotypical aesthetic of the early to mid 1990s.
The aesthetic features geometric shapes, zigzagging lines (sometimes brush strokes), dot patterns and stripes; the pallete is made up of bold, bright colours, particularly pink, yellow, blue, purple and teal.
This tag will mostly apply to 90s themed posts with Memphis patterns for backgrounds, or characters wearing 90s clothing, but may apply to some more 1980s themed posts, and even describe some vaporwave artwork, as Vaporwave's 1990s quasi-nostalgia may feature Memphis designs.
Why "Memphis" Design?
Technically speaking, "Memphis" specifically refers to the Memphis Group, an Italian design and architecture group, who created art, interior design, and furniture which used the bold colours and geometric shapes that came to define this aesthetic.
While the Memphis Group formed in 1980 and was disbanded in 1987, the visual aesthetics inspired by their work, directly or indirectly, hit mainstream popularity by the early 1990s.
Related Tags
- 1990s
- grunge (fashion) - another trend in fashion that emerged in the early 1990s
