Memphis is an aesthetic that involving bright colors, pure geometric shapes, and zig-zagged lines that originated in the 1980's by the Italian design group Memphis Milano. The group had designed furniture and disbanded in 1987 due to the hype of their movement fading. Although the aesthetic was initially The look they had created was used for furniture, it's also used in visual art as well. This aesthetic is often used to retroactively define and depict the decade it debuted in. The popularity of this aesthetic had lasted into the early 90's of which it sometimes erroneously stated to have come from.
Contents
Visuals
Memphis typically uses lightly colored (typically white) backgrounds plastered with purely geometric shapes of bright colors. Pink, yellow, and blue are very common colors used for said shapes. Zig zagged lines (which are usually black) also tend to appear alongside the geometric shapes.
Media
TV Shows
Saved By the Bell (1989)
Video Games
Sonic the Hedgehog (Japanese Mega Drive cover; 1991)
Subgenres
Corporate Memphis
In the late 2010's and early 2020's, big tech corporations started using artwork with a flat, minimalist style that shared a resemblance with Memphis. This style was later dubbed Corporate Memphis, partially due to criticism accusing it of corporatism, with critics often referring to it as too sanitized and generic.
Gallery
Corporate Memphis
