Grunge, is the rebellion against the pristine and orderly visuals–and thinking–that I am so accustomed to. As a human in my day-to-day life, I am organized, structured, and appreciate a good routine, but grunge celebrates imperfections and highlights the beauty seen within decay and disorder. The style embraces a raw unrefined energy that is so unappreciated in other faucets of my life. Through grunge design, I like to explore gritty textures, uneven and torn edges, and faded, worn, and aged visual elements that infuse designs with grit and authenticity. This is helpful when I am in a rut and don't know what to do because it is abstract and explorative which really gets me out of my head and into work mode. This design style allows me to be more creative and free when I am creating designs and I really love it.
Brutalism, on the other hand, shares a similar aesthetic to grunge and are often used simultaneously. Brutalism, however, inspires the minimalist within my soul because it strips away the unnecessary details of grunge, which leaves the lasting impression of functional beauty. Embracing simplicity of brutalism in my designs is seen through incorporating robust geometric shapes, simple monochromes, and bold typography. Brutalism challenges my design choices and my regular thought patterns because it urges me to confront the essence of design itself and forces me to concentrate and find the most honest and fundamental beauty within a design.
And then there is nostalgic imagery, which is not really a design style and more of a visual aesthetic that appeals to the nostalgia of my childhood in the 2000s. For me, the visual aspects of nostalgia are seen through my interests in pixel-art, low-poly 3D models, and the fuzziness of a CRT screen, which all can be recreated digitally in really unique and interesting ways. Nostalgia is one of the most interesting feelings someone can put into their art. It is an odyssey and memory of the past which is weaved into the things I see in the world that remind me of good times where I wasn't thinking about so much stuff and just experiencing everything around me. When I put this into my artwork and design it makes them feel more sentimental. I think everyone can relate with this in some ways, even if people have different ideas of nostalgic imagery.
