Grunge Design in 2008

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Tuesday Creative
Culture, Design

Grunge Design is a chaotic and abstract design style from the 1990’s arguably coined by David Carson, dubbed the ‘godfather of grunge.’ Ok, fast forward to 2008. Smashing Magazine.com posted an article last week which states: “Shiny and glossy design elements are now officially outdated. Just like retro is becoming trendy again, the grungy look appears to rapidly gain on [sic] popularity.”Is 90’s grunge design coming back? And how do designers feel about it?
One of our Art Directors here at Tuesday Creative, Andrew Seles, took particular umbrage with this from the Smashing post: “In our everyday environment we’re unlikely to find ideal geometric forms or pretty shadow effects as they are manifested by glorious web 2.0-designs.” Andrew’s response: “While this once was the case, it is increasingly less so. Not only is media sleek these days, but our environments are becoming more refined. Whether it’s the latest in architecture and environmental graphics, a new chair at Ikea or snacking at a boutique eatery like Pink Berry, the real world places we inhabit and the objects we interact with are more polished and highly designed than ever.”

Jennifer Murse, a designer at Tuesday said: I DON’T love the aesthetic when it’s done well, but I hate it when it’s done poorly.” Murse went on to cite these examples, which in her opinion, display well executed (Subdued.net), (Misprintedtype), (THS), (MindTwitch), Grunge Design, poor use of (Jeremy Zevin), (Satsu) it, and even some who claimed a grunge aesthetic, but were not successful (AJMiles), (WebDesigner) in pulling it off.

This co-opt of 90’s design is best captured with the following quote from Fresh Styles for Web Designers: Lo-Fi Grunge Style… “If there is indeed ‘nothing new under the sun’ (as the author of Ecclesiastes repeatedly asserts), one way to come up with a ‘fresh’ style is to go back in time a few decades, cut what you find, and paste it into the present.” Today’s grunge design, however, is not nearly as exciting as the 90’s not because ‘it’s been done’, but because the new grunge no longer feels like a rebellious aesthetic. David Carson’s edgy abrasive design and typographic art is now being appropriated to resemble a scrap-book party rather than a military coup. On the flipside, negative feedback from the public that the 90’s aesthetic was illegible and confusing may have driven today’s designers to create a more palatable and modern grunge. For better or worse, grunge has officially returned!

Ironically, it may be a misnomer to call grunge retro. After all, did it ever really go away? Take a look at distressed fashions and splattered rock graphics of the last decade. Torn edges and weathered textures might be as much a nod to the 1990’s as they are to the 1890’s. The steady recycling of yesterday’s styles may already have lapped itself several times over. The grunge movement of the 1990’s was itself a throwback to the counter-culture of the 60’s and early 70’s (Woodstock II, anyone)? Have we reached a critical mass where the term “retro” is an oversimplification? Perhaps, much of today’s work may at best be “inspired by” or at worst grossly “derivative of” what came before it.

One thing is certain: trends are always a bit sticky. They are, after all, trendy. So, designers are charged with balancing what is fresh with the specific demands of a project and the needs of a client. A passing fad may work well in a short-lived, targeted campaign. Apply that same style to a logo (whether it’s grungy or chock full of gradients and drop shadows) and you may be quickly outdated. Either way, it’s safe to say organic, hand-tooled designs will always have their place along side the slick and seamless.

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