Topic for Dec. 17.( Tue )

[Alex !]

WHY RETRO IS THE FUTURE — AND HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU

“Retro” is on the rise. Not traditionalism, which can be defined as a literal reinvention of past trends. Retro is a sophisticated, cool, sometimes ironic take on the pop culture and design of the 1930s to the 1980s. It represents a generational response by the under-40 crowd against the uniformity and slickness of much of today’s mass marketing. To some extent it also suggests a backlash to a culture of disposability and fakery.

While some element of retro has always been popular, the creation of digital flea markets such as eBay (with $40 billion in annual sales) and Craigslist.org has bought a cool, high-tech aspect to buying second-hand merchandise while providing consumers access to retro finds from all over the world.

As ephemeral as trends are, they have a way of coming back—even the most polarizing ones—years, and sometimes decades, later. Fashion’s cyclical nature makes their return inevitable. And for today’s top trends, it looks as though designers and celebrities have borrowed style cues from the past to craft looks that feel at once modern and retro. Structured straw totes on the runway nod to Jane Birkin’s penchant for wicker baskets in the ‘70s. Chanel’s pervasive use of white tights for Cruise 2019 flashes back to Twiggy’s white tights-wearing ways. From Matrix-style sunglasses (that actually predate the 1999 sci-fi film) to newspaper prints, click through to view the trends that are being embraced once more.

You’ve probably heard the saying “everything old is new again.” The same can be said about design and design trends. While the medium might change, many of the old styles can come back into fashion.

One example of this is modern retro design. Today, we’re going to take a look at what modern retro is all about and how you can make this most of it in your design projects. What’s really nice about modern retro is that it works across mediums. While we are seeing a lot of it in website design right now, modern retro adds a fun touch to print projects from business cards to poster design to party invitations.

The nice thing about modern retro _ or anything retro for that matter _ is that it comes with a certain sense of nostalgia and provides an immediate connection between the design and the user. Even without particular brands or icons, modern retro styles should make users say “I remember that.” Most of the designs focus on fun, so that they feel light, easy and have an almost child/early teen flair to them.

While you might not think of the decades from 1970 to 1990 as a digital era, the beginnings of computers, computing and gaming had a pretty distinct influence on design. Partner that with the beginnings of computer graphics (however cheesy they may be) in movies and television and the digital influence is hard to miss.

In today’s modern retro projects that translates to a bit of nostalgic whimsy in the design where designers are creating graphical elements that aren’t as good as they can be. This is done to help maintain the authenticity of the time period represented. These projects feature a lot of elements with over-dramatized pixels with blocky illustration and lettering.

And why the digital influence is there, the finesse is often not. It can be a challenge to design something that is not as clean and “good” as current standards. Don’t fall into the trap of only half finishing the design because it won’t look finished. Users will still know if the project isn’t fully usable and designed.

This style tends to resonate most with designers who were growing up during the years when these trends were popular. As with users, people who have a strong connection to the style will feel most comfortable around it and drawn to designs featuring it. If this wasn’t “your era,” a project in this style might be particularly challenging.