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Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

wired.co.uk

51–60 of 195 posts

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#51

I hate Corporate Memphis as much as the next person but > “Isometric perspective is interesting, because nothing recedes to a vanishing point,” Rudnick says, “and therefore it also eliminates the variable of time.” He points out that this type of design is particularly popular with fintech and mortgage companies – playing down the passage of time is particularly advantageous to firms selling financial products that y…

reminds me of the now-infamous Pepsi "Breathtaking" design document https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-arnell...

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#52
A lot of the reason for these design trends is that no one has the courage to think differently, so you get huge numbers of companies all looking virtually identical.

It's a bit like 'nobody gets fired for buying IBM/McKinsey' etc...no one challenges product managers and marketing when yet another adobe illustrator generated Memphis style brand identity & UI is unveiled, complete with multi cultural inclusive visual banality. At some point this will suddenly be deader than an animated gif of a flame and the next trend will quickly become ubiquitous.

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#53
post #3

The name refers to how it resembles the work of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Group

I first thought of hieroglyphs from Memphis Egypt, which also lack any depth and are drawn similarly.

https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/client/q_glossy,ret_img,w_925/http...

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#54

I think its interesting that the flat look was pioneered by Microsoft going back to the days of the Zune2 and later lumia phones that had the first Metro interface. Then google and Apple and everyone else started following. People don't think of Microsoft (and especially Zune...) as a leader in design, but I think they have had a big impact on the industry, and deserves some recognition.

TFA wrongly credits Apple with the flat trend.

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#55

I don't think this has much to do with technology or Photoshop - these memes are always he case where a few leading agencies in NYC do something for some big clients and then everyone copies. It's 'creative herd mentality as driven by generally non-marketing CEO's making the final decision on creative'.

A good example of this is Volkswagen's "Think Small" advertisement from the 1960s [1]. Plenty of magazine ads ripped off this style afterwards.

[1] https://pages.uncc.edu/visualrhetoric/projects/individual-pr...

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#58

I hate Corporate Memphis as much as the next person but > “Isometric perspective is interesting, because nothing recedes to a vanishing point,” Rudnick says, “and therefore it also eliminates the variable of time.” He points out that this type of design is particularly popular with fintech and mortgage companies – playing down the passage of time is particularly advantageous to firms selling financial products that y…

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who detected the scent of what I call "arthouse wankery" here. This is popular for the same reason flat UIs are popular - they're easy to create, blandly inoffensive, and convey "modern" to the viewer.

Seriously. It has a lot more to do with the idea too that if you look similar to other big companies who are using it then you'll get a modicum of a trust factor out of the gate than some nefarious psy op.

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#59

“It really boils my piss to be honest,” says Jack Hurley, a Leeds-based illustrator who says his main output is “daft seaside posters.”

If you are a Brit (or even otherwise) I really recommend taking a look at Hurley's work [0]. The taglines for each resort are just superb - e.g. "Cleethorpes - The Final Resort" As an aside, I'm reminded of the old joke that Cleethorpes doesn't have a twin town, but is in a suicide pact with Grimsby. [0] https://www.pinterest.co.uk/christinefbosha/jack-hurley-post...

He wrote an article for The Guardian a couple of years ago in which he explains his work - cracking images in it, too:

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/nov/29/rubbish-seasi...

Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis

#60

I hate Corporate Memphis as much as the next person but > “Isometric perspective is interesting, because nothing recedes to a vanishing point,” Rudnick says, “and therefore it also eliminates the variable of time.” He points out that this type of design is particularly popular with fintech and mortgage companies – playing down the passage of time is particularly advantageous to firms selling financial products that y…

reminds me of the now-infamous Pepsi "Breathtaking" design document https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-arnell...

I’ve never heard of this before. It’s an elaborate parody... right?
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