Get the latest tech news

What is Frutiger Aero, the aesthetic taking over from Y2K?

Shiny globules, green fields, tropical fish – memories of an era dominated by glossy, naturalistic design are taking over the internet

This adds up to a naturalistic aesthetic that provides a feeling of the indoors and outdoors merging together – an apt representation of an era where the arrival of smartphones was transforming the internet from something locked away in a computer room, to a living and breathing entity all around us. “I think part of the reason why companies adopted this style was to convey a sense of approachability and friendliness, since this was an era when technologies were becoming much more widely accessible to people that had previously not felt comfortable [with them]” says Evan Collins, also from CARI and known for pioneering research into other popular aesthetics, such as Y2K and . Whether it was a soulless trap to entice us into big tech, or an authentic shift towards accessibility, and whether it has any lasting influence or not – the resurgence of this glowing aesthetic and its motifs inevitably runs parallel to our emergence from the early 20s into something fresh and glossy and new.

Get the Android app