The aesthetic I chose was magewave, a composite aesthetic that has taken years to develop, borrowing from many different themes, and solidifying itself into a truly unique aesthetic (that happens to now be one of my favorites.) Wizards have always evoked a very specific image, one of knowledge, power, and fantasy, and in contrast to witchcore (a much calmer theme that romanticizes the small actions and quiet life, similar to cottagecore,) magewave evokes a much more active and lively theme, often depicting snapshots and moments…

How well versed does one need to be in the structural design of the human form?  If one intends to have the figure as a central element in their works, they will need to explore and memorize the design of the human form.  If one wishes to become a master draftsman in any genre, studying Figure Structure is where they start. The goal is mastering the structural design of the human form so that dependance on what one sees and the stillness of the model…

  [1] An airship hovers over a Steampunk city, exhaling steam into the sky above and shining light on the city below   Steampunk was originally inspired by the science fiction genre, but is primarily viewed through a retrospective lens, adapting historical concepts through a futuristic interpretation. The “Steampunk era” is devoid of digital contraptions, instead relying on purely mechanical processes to propel the evolution of humanity. As a result, the aesthetic is heavily characterized by the concept of modernized mechanization, where the past serves…

During the roaring 20s, when Art Deco reigned supreme, opulence and grandeur were common parts of Art Deco architecture. However, when the great depression hit, the times called for a more simplified style. Architects, designers, and artists everywhere took inspiration from aerodynamics, creating designs that had lines that flowed like airstreams. Sometimes this was for actual aerodynamics; airplanes in this era began to look like the optimized vehicles we know today. With other vehicles, like trains, this was a combination of a sense of style…

Photo source: Matt Cameron (1) Introduction Tracing back to its roots in 12th-16th century architectural styles, modern gothic design is an impressive style. While the modern style may be more free and open, some similar themes include use of ornate embellishments and focus on light and shadow. There is an emphasis on functional geometry and repeating shapes and textures, as illustrated by Laboratorio Simbirizzi’s Gothic Patterns paper (2). While there are many aesthetics, for example in fashion and music, which are part of the “gothic” style,…

History: Victorian architecture refers not to a particular style but to an era—the reign of Queen Victoria over the United Kingdom of Great Britain from 1837 to 1901. During this long reign, architecture in Britain was dominated by many different styles. Some were evocative of the past—Gothic, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Scottish Baronial, Italianate, and Greek, to name a few however new styles were emerging such as Arts and Crafts and later Art Nouveau. The Victorian era was a period of increasing wealth, an expanding middle class,…

Maximalism can be defined as the aesthetics of excess. It is an expression belonging or relating to a style in design, art, etc., that uses the largest range of materials and colors possible and very complicated shapes of forms. According to Wikipedia, maximalism in the arts is “a reaction against minimalism… an aesthetic of excess and redundancy.” The beginning of maximalism is hard to detect as it seemed to have existed in many forms and styles. Earlier incarnations had wealthy individuals displaying artwork and other…

Architecture Parlante, French for “speaking architecture”, is an architecture aesthetic meant to convey its purpose through its form. It originates in the 18th century during the Revolutionary period to describe the works of the French architects Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Étienne-Louis Boullée, and Jean-Jacques Lequeu. Although not used as a term in modern architecture, a modern equivalency would be Postmodern architecture, which carries similar ideas of providing context for a building’s purpose through its form. I am introducing Architecture Parlante specifically to discuss the French artists who…

Colm Dillane began his career in fashion selling t-shirts that he designed to his high school classmates. Not long after, Colm began his undergraduate degree at New York University where he continued to design and create clothes that he sold out of his dorm room. In 2011, during his sophomore year at NYU, Colm founded his current fashion label KidSuper. KidSuper is Dillane’s attempt at using art and fashion to capture the magic and wonder of childhood. As you can see, many of KidSuper’s designs…

Psychedelic rock art of the 1960’s and 70’s was defined by bright bold colors and wavy space filling patterns. The artist Wes Wilson kickstarted this movement in San Francisco when he began to bend and morph the lettering in his posters to fill the spaces in his art. Other artists in and around San Fransisco quickly picked up on the technique and many began to similarly distort the lettering and images in their posters. The style drew inspiration from pop art and art nouveau movements,…

I chose the industrial chic or industrial aesthetic because I have always enjoyed its look. Something about the exposed brick, ductwork, and metal has always drawn my attention. While this aesthetic is most commonly associated with interior design, it can just as easily be applied to a variety of objects. This can be done primarily through the incorporation of metal and unfinished wood, which can add the character that industrial chic is known for. The use of this aesthetic arose starting in the 1970s but…

Retro-Futurism is an aesthetic that takes on an artistic style similar to that of the 40s and 50s. This is the kind of style that reminds me of classic Coca-Cola ads or drawings like “Rosie the Riveter”. What makes retro-futurism special is the incorporation of what someone from the mid 1900s might expect the distant future to look like. The contrast between the nostalgia brought on by the art style and the sci-fi features integrated throughout, the aesthetic can evokes a unique and thought provoking…

The term “dirtbag” originated in the climbing world to describe people who were so committed to climbing that they would forgo a traditional lifestyle in order to spend as much time as possible climbing, beginning in the 1960’s and 70’s. Examples of dirtbags are Yvonne Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and The Stone Masters, a group of climbers who would spend their summers living and climbing in Yosemite. This lifestyle or and lack of traditional career path led these “dirtbags” to have a limited cash…

Organic Architecture The definition of organic architecture is the focus on sustainability and the harmony of interaction between buildings and nature. This aesthetic creation is contributed with Frank Lloyd Wright and his unique architecture designs. It is believed it was started as early as 1908  when Frank Lloyd Wright began to use organic when describing his architecture. [1] “Through years of study and experimentation, organic architecture came to describe Wright’s total design ideology. Some of the governing principles of this philosophy included:” The belief that a…

When we were discussing art in class, sports being considered an art was brought up. That discussion got me thinking of soccer since I used to play a lot of it in the past, and it specifically made me think of team playstyles. One of the most prominent team playstyles in the last couple of decades is called “Tiki Taka.” It is a possession-based style that relies on incredible amounts of coordination and skill from the players on the field to pull off. In this…

The aesthetic that I chose to explore was psychedelic art. It originated in the 1948, and is only possible with Albert Hofmann’s discovery of LSD. Originally, psychedelic art was literary with notable authors such as Lautreamont, and Louis-Ferdinand Celine. Then in the 1960s the aesthetic turned into an artform. Artists such as Rick Griffin and Victor Moscoso were at the forefront of the psychedelic aesthetic. They were artists in San Francisco who designed posters for psychedelic rock, such as the poster down below by Victor…

This southwestern aesthetic primarily involves adobe buildings from an architectural standpoint. This type of building has been dated to time periods before 5,100 BC and appears all over the world, the best examples of this aesthetic in the U.S. can be found throughout Arizona and New Mexico. An adobe building is different from other structures because the house itself is assembled from adobe bricks that are composed of clay, sand, rocks, and dirt then mixed with other earth materials such as straw in order to…

BRTHR is a duo of filmmakers, Kyle  Wightman, and Alex Lee. The origins of the duo, and subsequent aesthetic, came about in 2013 when the two released their first video, “Tokyo Slow-Mode”. Now based in Tokyo and New York, BRTHR continually pushes the possibilities of video editing and has a fully realized aesthetic that is seldom seen anywhere else. BRTHR has gained acclaim both in pop culture and niche internet groups from their combination of vaporwave, cyberpunk, retro film grading, and golden age Hollywood to…

Whimsical Aesthetic Our modern day definition for  Whimsical is “Silliness mixed with optimism” [6]. The dictionary Definition of Whimsical is  “Playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way” [7]. Fairytales and children’s book illustrations are commonly associated with being whimsical due to their appearances of randomness and chaos. The core of this aesthetic is being very playful and childlike. This aesthetic has been prevalent in art for hundreds of years. Recent fashion trends and fashion from the 90s correlate to being whimsy…

Outrun, also known as or attributed with synthwave and retrowave, among others, is a relatively new aesthetic. It only recently came about and gained popularity in the 2010s. Outrun visuals and music evoke nostalgia, familiarity and longing of the 80s, even with people who were born long after they ended. Fast, boxy cars, neon colors and old computer graphics are staples of this aesthetics visuals. Outrun and synthwave music smooth synthesizers and basslines which help elicit those nostalgic feelings. The name ‘Outrun’ originates from an…

“Industrialism adheres to a simple, strong aesthetic with a focus on the raw functionality of the elements” – Alison Giese (designer) Industrial aesthetic in design gained popularity in the early 2000s and has remained popular. Most of the context I’ve seen it in is in interior design, or the design of city spaces. Generally, industrial aesthetics are inspired by the utilitarian functionality of factories and warehouses, and make use of simple stripped down spaces. Commonly industrial aesthetics compose natural color palettes, generally using black brown…

The 70’s aesthetic consists of bright colors assembled in a wavy psychedelic pattern and funky out of the ordinary fonts. Not each design followed the same parameters.  Graphic designs began to push the norm and became more experimental. This led to the graphic designs of the 70’s to be coined the “dark horse” of the century. The 70’s was also a boom for advertising, so bright colors and eye catching designs quickly became popular. Advertisers began to push limitations to stand out and draw consumers…

  The aesthetic I chose was Industrial Design. I chose this aesthetic because it was something I’ve always seen/known about on a superficial level but never really understood. The design seems to be increasingly popular, or at the very least, seen a recent resurgence in popularity in both personal spaces and in commercial/public spaces based on how I’ve seen more images that reflect this style in my daily life. In a general sense, the aesthetic has always had an appeal to me as well, and…

Maximalism, as one might guess, is an aesthetic that heavily opposes minimalism. Where minimalism says “Less is more”, maximalism responds with “No, actually, more is more.” Maximalism is a form of expression that relies on excess. Although the word maximalist has only started gaining prominence in the last few decades, the concept has been around for a long time.  Maximalism can be traced all the way back to the 16th century, where it could be seen in cabinets of curiosities. These cabinets of curiosities were…

When we think of seeing a building or work of art, I believe many of us would imagine a complete, fully-realized structure or piece. The aesthetic of the incomplete capitalizes on this inherent psychological reaction by intentionally leaving something looking incomplete, thus challenging conventional expectations. This aesthetic utilizes Gestalt psychology, founded in the 20th century, which states that humans will perceive things as complete rather than focusing on the incomplete gaps (1). Humans will have a tendency to restore the individual aspects to create a…

The word Eldritch is commonly defined as an adjective to describe that which is strange, eerie, uncanny, ghostly, or similarly fear-inducing. It is also commonly associated with H.P. Lovecraft’s elder gods and eldritch horrors such as Cthulhu or Yog-Sothoth. Below are four artists renditions of an eldritch horror pulled from a simple google search with the key word eldritch.     The first three images show combinations of features one may see in nature with what could be considered corruptions. The first image combining two…

Aesthetics  of American Numismatics The phrase ‘pocket change’ means something is inexpensive or cheap. But have you ever stopped to look at your pocket change? Although coins today carry very little value and are not used as a primary form of currency in daily life, that as not always been true. In 1929, the peak of the Gilded Age before the great depression, a manufacturing worker could make $25 dollars a week (Wolman, 1933). The gold and silver composition of coins during this period reflected…

The De Stijl movement was founded in 1917 and is known for having major contributions to the artistic and architectural world. Considering that the De Stijl aesthetic began towards the end of the Expressionism era, which was known for its unusual massings, distorted forms, and natural influences, there is no doubt that the primary “fathers” wanted to start a new art movement. Designers like Theo Van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, and Gerrit Rietveld were some of the first to create a new set of rules and…

Art Academia is the aesthetic that characterizes biological and naturalist illustration, patent diagrams, and DaVinci’s sketches. It is an old aesthetic, and a contemporary one. It spans various techniques and styles from pencil sketches to ink drafting. In all of its iterations however, it is characterized by largely black and white illustration with minimal earth tones. Shading is executed in uniform ink washes, stippling, or hatching.               The aesthetic is generally highly detailed and technical, with its high detail…

Cubism is an avant-garde movement formed in Paris in the early 20th century. The earliest pioneers of the movement were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who were later joined by the likes of Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, and Juan Gris. In cubism artwork, elements of the subject are broken down to basic geometric shapes to portray a more abstract form. The use of multiple view points also provides more context to the work; this technique is clearly seen in the portraits by Pablo Picasso where…

     Ever since I was first introduced to Tom Sachs via the Neistat brothers, Casey and Van Neistat, I have been captivated by his bricolage and handmade DIY aesthetic. The aesthetic almost seems anarchic but it’s quite the opposite as Tom has established an extremely deliberate set of guidelines and codes in his meticulously organized studio.      Tom created a short film titled Ten Bullets that outlines these codes for his workshop. The film is shot using the same aesthetic principles as all…

In this fast-paced world where every event depends on the singularity of time, we often overlook the complexity and implications of time in our day-to-day life. A Million Times’ is a kinetic art installation by the Swedish Design studio Humans Since 1982. The work makes use of several clocks that work synchronously to create mesmerizing displays or to show the time. It has been put on display at various locations around the globe, one of the more popular ones being at Singapore’s Changi Airport. The…

The utilitarian aesthetic is distinct and recognizable, but sometimes overlooked as an aesthetic decision. Since it emphasizes a focus on functionality over achieving specific aesthetic properties. Nonetheless, the usage of utilitarian philosophy in design produces distinct designs which can be evaluated aesthetically. The philosophy of Utilitarianism was first concretely defined in the early 19th century by Jeremy Bentham, followed shortly thereafter by John Stuart Mill. These principles were further popularized in Henry Sidgwick’s The Methods of Ethics in 1874. Although the philosophical concept of Utilitarianism…

Figure 1 Dieter Rams https://rolling.design/en/blog/dieter-rams/   The aesthetic I chose is dubbed the “Braun Style,” which was created by Dieter Rams in the 1960s and inspired designers like Jonathan Ive at Apple. Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer best known for his work with the electronics company Braun during the 1950s and 60s. His designs for Braun, which included products such as radios, turntables, and calculators, have become iconic examples of minimalist and functional design. The “Braun style,” as it is often called, is…

I’d like to explore an aesthetic that has gained popularity recently due to several great influential pieces of media. Cyberpunk consists of a futuristic set of motifs that balance between aspirational and pessimistic. It uses its mix of clean object design and impoverished scenery to tell a compelling set of stories about capitalism through the lens of science fiction. Click here to read my blog post

  This aesthetic was inspired by a new skyscraper above being erected in Denver which will finish building in 2023. This new apartment building will incorporate a hiking trail within the building that scales from the bottom, all the way to the roof. This aesthetic incorporates our inherent human love of nature within a city setting. As you can see, this intricate design allows for flourishing gardens with plants the size of small trees throughout the building. This allows outside viewers to see the beautiful…

The 1950’s were a time of great prosperity for the United States of America. The technological developments that were spurred on by World War II were becoming commercialized and mass produced by the previously-wartime indsutry for the everyday citizen to enjoy. Household appliances, the vacuum cleaner, fiberglass, and modern cars from Ford and General Motors. A fascination with space also began in this time and in 1957 (Auto Universum) with the first artificial satellite, dubbed Sputnik, orbitting Earth the Space Age had begun. Many wartime…

Uncover Colorado defines a ski bum as “A person who moves to a ski town, takes up just enough employment to pay for their skiing habit, and lives to ski 100+ days per season. Some last a season, others stick around for life. There’s an art to ski bumming. Ski bums are often lifties and other resort workers during the winter, and find a different seasonal job in the summer. Some are said to be ‘living in a van down by the river.’” I believe…

Art Deco, a shortened version of the French phrase Arts Décoratifs, is an architectural and product design style that originated in pre-WW1 France and became popular in the USA and Europe from the 1920’s-1930’s. Significant people in Art Deco included Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dunand, and Pierre Chareau (1). Major influences for the Art Deco style include cubism, bauhaus, and constructivism (2). In general, Art Deco can be described as a combination of modern design and pre-war craftsmanship and intricacy. The motivation behind Art Deco was…

I chose Catalan Modernisme in Arquitecture as an aesthetic to explore for two reasons: one is the admiration and appreciation I have for those buildings and the other is that I am Catalan. To me, all the buildings built during this movement share a relation with practicality and beautifulness that cannot be found in any other. This movement not only did its impact in architecture, it was also found in machinery, paintings, literature… But for the purpose of this post we will focus in the…

Welcome to the world of custom motorcycles. Within this world there are countless aesthetics to choose from, dating from the early 1900s to present day. Seemingly every decade and every industrialized country has a history with custom motorcycles that is unique to its time and place. For this blog post I wanted to showcase the era of the early 1960s in America. Around this time comes the birth of the chopper, one of the most culturally important custom bike aesthetics to date. Harley Davidson engines…

Born out of the artistic style of 1920s and 30s, Art Deco is a sleek and streamlined (although certainly not minimalistic) aesthetic. Art Deco emphasizes both form and functionality, adding artistic touch to functional items and architecture. Blocks of color and high contrast images are often seen in the Art Deco movement. Art Deco combines classic and contemperary, as exemplified greatly in the featured image. Josep Maria Sert’s “American Progress Murals” in 30 Rockefeller Plaza celebrates contemporary American values and figures, such as Abraham Lincoln,…

The outfit picture or (fit pic) has been on Instagram since the creation of the image sharing social media site. Like most things, fit pics started as a simple way for a person to share their outfit. Commonly, users will either take a photo in the mirror or have a photographer take pictures of them. Fit pics can be whatever the user wants, whether it is a casual photo or has artistic intent. Through the evolution of instagram, fit pics have become important in many…

Dadaism was an avant-garde art movement which came to fruition in Europe in the early 20th century. Beginning in 1920, artists who felt a strong opposition to the first World War began to resonate with a new counter culture art movement. In its roots, artists saw Dadaism as a protest of the colonialist and nationalist interest which many believed to be the underlying cause of the war. (1) America is Falling, Dash Snow, 2006. Famous for his use of grotesque and raw imagery, Dash Snow…

Young Bohémienne: Natalie Clifford Barney (1875–1972) at the Age of 10 The word “bohémien(ne)” was first associated with artistic, countercultural people in 1800s France. The association is confusing because the word “bohémien(ne)” or “bohemian” actually refers to three (fairly) distinct groups of people. Firstly, the word refers to Bohemia, an actual region that sat within modern day Czechia. Secondly, the word referred to the Romani people who were associated with that region (despite having migrated from modern day Northern India). Thirdly, the term has come…

I chose aesthetics in lighting because it is a field that encompasses both technical and creative aspects of lighting design and has various practical applications in different settings. It can be used to create a specific atmosphere, enhance the functionality of a space, and bring out the best of architectural features while being sustainable. Aesthetics in lighting is a field that has been developed over time, with its roots tracing back to the earliest days of human civilization. The use of light in architecture can…

I found this web text from 1912 about lettering and thought it was kind of cool! These days most of our “lettering” is done by a computer, but I’ve found this resource invaluable both for understanding the role of existing fonts in design, and for designing my own! I’d highly suggest giving it a virtual leafing through! I also appreciate how the authors are very opinionated about certain fonts. This is their opinion of the “Modern Roman” font: “In the eighteenth century modifications were intro­duced…which…

Pop art is a fairly modern aesthetic that was created in the mid 1950’s as a result of artists such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. The movement was fabricated as a statement that criticized the fine art’s negative views of mundane or commercialized art, and pop artists generally worked with bright colors, and simplistic and recognizable forms. An example of this new attitude can be found in Warhol’s CampBell Soup series, which depicts the most common of objects with fine art techniques, mocking snobbish…

I chose to do more research on the Minimalism aesthetic. I chose this because I have always found this style interesting because it translate into art, interior decor, architecture, and art. While doing research I found that this aesthetic first emerged in the early 1960’s and had a big following for the decade. It had died down for while as different aesthetics started to appear. It has slowly started to become a lot more popular recently within architecture. According to the TATE website the artist…

  Screen Capture of the city in ‘Cyberpunk 2077’   The cyberpunk aesthetic combines multiple visual aesthetics but generally portrays cities at night that are very high tech and futuristic. These elements are exaggerated with low key lighting that contrasts deep blacks with vibrant neon lights. Shades of purple, blue and pink are often key colors of this aesthetic. The cities depicted in this aesthetic are tightly packed with large skyscrapers and traffic caused by futuristic style vehicles. Often, a haze or smog is present…

Retro Futurism is an aesthetic which employs the use of one technological theme to create an idealized Sci-Fi outlook of what civilization could become. The Jetson’s, Lost in Space and Fallout are all examples of Retro Futurism with a specific focus on flying cars, personal robots and atomic advancements. Retro Futurisms appeal is one of nostalgia and relies heavily on the use of alternate history; where different major decisions, advancements or people have made a significant impact on the outcome of human society and it’s…

I chose the streetwear aesthetic because it resonates with my daily style and I believe many others. It is a very casual and comfortable style yet trendy. This aesthetic includes very expensive shoes, graphic t-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, mom jeans, and vintage accessories. This aesthetic first became popular in the 1990’s surrounding the hip hop rise and rap culture. This mainly originated from big cities like New York hip hop fashion, California surf wear, and elements of Japanese punk fashion. Categorized by comfortable clothing such as…

Brutalism is an architectural style that arose in the 1950s in the United Kingdom. The style arose during building reconstruction in the post-war era. Brutalism is a style where the raw materials used to construct the building are exposed. Buildings usually have a dark worn out aesthetic to them. A great example of this is the engineering center here at CU Boulder(1). The engineering center was completed in 1966 and designed by Charge William C. If you notice the building is made of old concrete…

The aesthetic I chose to study is best described as ‘nature fighting back’. Depictions of this aesthetic include imagery of nature flourishing despite man-made obstacles – how humanity has abandoned, neglected, or mistreated a space that was once vital to everyday life. This style was popularized by multiple forms of media, ranging from photographs, paintings, films, shows, and video games. As concern for climate change and other environmental impacts grew, it was not uncommon for movies and novels in the early 2000s to depict apocalyptic…

“The term “Modern architecture” describes architecture designed and built within the social, artistic, and cultural attitude known as Modernism” Erin Midgol (1). There is a strong emphasis on experimentation.  Modern architecture came around with advancements of engineering and building materials. With respect to architecture, modernism came around in the 20th century, and became more prevalent after WW1. The home shown below is designed by architect Mary Schicketanz, who is the owner of Studio Schicketanz, based out of Carmel, California. The home is known as a…