When an aesthetic style becomes popular, it’s often followed by something close to its opposite. Think of Dadaism, which emerged as a reaction to traditional art forms. Or postmodernism, which rose in response to the modernist movement. Think also: Luigi and Waluigi — but it’s not about “good” or “bad.” These cycles are essential to broader creative evolution.

‍

We see the same kind of call-and-response trend cycles in design, too. In recent years, following an era of meticulously crafted design work, a new challenger has been gaining momentum: anti-design.

Anti-design is characterized by traits like asymmetry, clashing colors, mismatched elements, no grid or discernible structure, and overlaid or crowded text and imagery. At first glance, it may seem chaotic or even unintentional, but that’s part of the point.

It’s a deceptively insider movement. To those outside the design world, it may seem like “anybody could make that.” People who aren’t designers make things all the time, often relying on dollar store vernacular(9), which sometimes gives the impression of being “cheap.” Like unpolished ads on spammy websites or that bake sale flyer your aunt cooked up in Microsoft Word. When brands adopt this aesthetic, consumers might find it lazy, but designers can recognize its purpose.

You probably remember Charli xcx’s album brat, 2024 (8). The album cover art subverted everything we’d expect from a mainstream release. A lowercase title, an absence of imagery, and that almost sickly slime green. It looked sparse, but it was an intentional choice to make the cover as aesthetically displeasing as possible to start a conversation around desirability. This, in turn, made it quite desirable, with brands quickly releasing slime green products. In fact, Vogue Business reported that “searches for items in brat green surged 17% in two weeks.” (10)

Modern graphic design is rooted in simplicity and ease for the user (or viewer). Conversations surrounding anti-design argue whether it is anti-user, and some “argue that it is the strongest advocate of the user, seeking to create memorable experiences that both respect and challenge their intelligence.” (11) Ironically, despite its dollar store qualities and cheap knock-off aesthetic, anti-design can feel pretentious to some because only designers or those with design knowledge could decode the subversion.

However, what’s currently subversive doesn’t remain subversive forever. Since anti-design relies on subverting dominant design trends, it raises the question of what anti-design will become and how it will push design language forward. As more designers employ anti-design in their work, the more commonplace anti-design will become. This call-and-response aesthetic cycle is necessary for creating something new. While we don’t lean into full anti-design in our studio work, we love experimenting with its spirit, adding special (or “unnecessary,” depending on how you look at it) details. And we’re excited to find out what comes after anti-design.

Tell your aunt she did a great job with the bake sale flyer and applaud her for contributing to the future of design.

From our latest newsletter. Subscribe here for more!

‍

Sources:

9. https://cari.institute/aesthetics/dollar-store-vernacular

10. https://www.voguebusiness.com/story/fashion/the-business-of-brat

11. https://99designs.com/blog/design-history-movements/anti-design/

12. https://epigram.org.uk/the-art-of-brat-how-design-has-proved-itself-fundamental-to-conversations-about-youth-gender-and-politics-2/

13. https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/laney-punarate-graphic-design-discover-130325

14. https://cargocollective.com/hod/Anti-Design#:~:text=The Anti-design movement emerged,the expense of capitalist enterprise

15. https://designaftercapitalism.org/anti-design

16. https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/jean-pierre-consuegra-graphic-design-discover-250225