Style combination · Contrasts

Corporate Memphis × Rubber-Hose Revival

Both draw stretched figures in flat colour, but the revival gives each brand its own outlined, nostalgic mascot where Corporate Memphis uses interchangeable faceless people.

From the research on Rubber-Hose Revival (Cartoon Mascot Graphics)

Mix them and make something Corporate Memphis Rubber-Hose Revival

A smiling yellow cartoon sun with white gloves, dark limbs and red sneakers strides across a white background, holding one finger upward. Large curved red lettering reads “BRIGHTER” above it, surrounded by colorful squiggles, sparkles and short rays. — AI-generated by Stylogeny from the recipe below, and checked against it: the type from Rubber-Hose Revival, the form from Corporate Memphis, the composition from Rubber-Hose Revival. Not a real or historical work.

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Corporate Memphis Rubber-Hose Revival (Cartoon Mascot Graphics)

Type from Rubber-Hose Revival: Hand-lettering
Ornamented display
Colour from Corporate Memphis: Flat fields
Full polychrome
Form from Corporate Memphis: Distortion & exaggeration
Stylised figuration
Composition from Rubber-Hose Revival: Isolated object
Single focal point
Surface from Rubber-Hose Revival: Flat

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Rubber-Hose Revival

Pop

Londrina Solid, standing in for Hand-lettered titles in the manner of early-1930s cartoon title cards: bouncy, swelling capitals drawn to match the character

Text · Corporate Memphis

The flat vector illustration style that became the default visual voice of big tech in the late 2010s: faceless, ethnically non-specific figures with elongated limbs and tiny heads, drawn in bright flat colour among blobs, leaves and confetti. Codified in Buck's Alegria system for Facebook (2017) and spread by open libraries such as unDraw and Humaaans, it was later named, half-mockingly, after the Memphis Group.

Hanken Grotesk; Corporate Memphis used Circular and Airbnb Cereal

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Corporate Memphis, with a counter-accent from Rubber-Hose Revival. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Corporate Memphis Rubber-Hose Revival (Cartoon Mascot Graphics)

#ffffff ground · 36%
#2f2e41 ink · 14%
#ffc857 accent · 18%
#d7352b accent · 14%
#6c63ff accent · 10%
#ff7f6e accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #ffffff;
  --ink: #2f2e41;
  --accent-1: #ffc857;
  --accent-2: #d7352b;
  --accent-3: #6c63ff;
  --accent-4: #ff7f6e;
  --font-display: "Londrina Solid", cursive;
  --font-text: "Hanken Grotesk", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Rubber-Hose Revival (Cartoon Mascot Graphics): The early cartoon look this revives is entangled with blackface minstrelsy: several sources trace the black bodies, white gloves and large white eyes of Mickey Mouse and his peers to minstrel caricature, and many 1930s shorts carried explicit racial caricature. Borrow the elastic limbs, round construction and outline, not the minstrel face; never give a character exaggerated lips, dialect or skin colour as an ethnic marker. The characters themselves (Cuphead, Bendy, Mickey, Felix, Oswald, Betty Boop) are still trademarked or copyrighted: invent your own mascot and never ask an image model for a named character or studio hand.

The two styles

A brightly coloured illustration shows a person with a dark ponytail striding with one knee raised and arms spread, wearing a yellow shirt, purple trousers and teal shoes. The words “Move Brighter” appear above them on a white background scattered with colourful dots and curved marks.

2017–present · North America, Global / networked Corporate Memphis The flat vector illustration style that became the default visual voice of big tech in the late 2010s: faceless, ethnically non-specific figures with elongated limbs and tiny heads, drawn in bright flat colour among blobs, leaves and confetti. Codified in Buck's Alegria system for Facebook (2017) and spread by open libraries such as unDraw and Humaaans, it was later named, half-mockingly, after the Memphis Group.

Large red lettering reading “BURGER BUDDY” sits above a smiling cartoon cheeseburger with sesame seeds, lettuce, tomato, and melted cheese. The burger has black arms and legs, white gloves, and red shoes, and raises one hand in a thumbs-up against a pale cream background.

2017–present · North America, Western Europe, Southern Europe, Global / networked Rubber-Hose Revival (Cartoon Mascot Graphics) A present-day revival of 1920s and 1930s American cartoon drawing: characters with bendy, jointless 'rubber hose' limbs, round bodies, big white eyes and gloved hands, drawn in a confident black outline and filled with a few flat colours. Studio MDHR's hand-animated Cuphead (2017) made it a contemporary look; from there it moved into games, motion graphics and, by the mid-2020s, food brands whose mascot is a burger, coffee cup or devil with springy arms beside soft, bouncy lettering.

More combinations

With Corporate Memphis

All 28 combinations with Corporate Memphis

With Rubber-Hose Revival

All 10 combinations with Rubber-Hose Revival

Every style combination