Stylogeny combining Googie × Y2K Futurism

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Style combination · Pairs well

Googie × Y2K Futurism

Both sell a glossy future; add Googie starbursts and orbit lines to Y2K chrome for retro-futurism that spans both millennia.

From the research on Googie & Atomic Age

Add Googie starbursts and orbit lines to Y2K chrome for a retro-futurism that spans mid-century and millennial optimism.

From the research on Y2K Futurism

Mix them and make something Googie Y2K Futurism

SignalGoogie × Y2K Futurism1945 · 1997
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Googie, their arrangement from Googie, the finish from Y2K Futurism. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

01

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.

Googie & Atomic Age Y2K Futurism

Type from Googie
Colour from Y2K Futurism
Form from Googie
Composition from Googie
Surface from Y2K Futurism

02

The type

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

Display · Googie

Signal

Yellowtail, standing in for Brush Script (Robert E. Smith, 1942)

Text · Y2K Futurism

The optimistic, chrome-plated vision of the future that surrounded the turn of the millennium, spread by consumer electronics, music videos, games, fashion and dot-com branding. Translucent candy-coloured plastics, liquid-metal and bubble 3D renders, lens flares, wide techno sans-serifs and icy silver-and-blue palettes sold the digital age as sleek, fluid and weightless, until the dot-com crash dimmed it.

IBM Plex Mono; Y2K Futurism used Eurostile Extended and Microgramma

03

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Y2K Futurism, with a counter-accent from Googie. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Googie & Atomic Age Y2K Futurism

  • #f5f7fa ground · 36%
  • #141414 ink · 14%
  • #1f6fff accent · 18%
  • #f2673a accent · 14%
  • #b4f02e accent · 10%
  • #f6cf3f accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f5f7fa;
  --ink: #141414;
  --accent-1: #1f6fff;
  --accent-2: #f2673a;
  --accent-3: #b4f02e;
  --accent-4: #f6cf3f;
  --font-display: "Yellowtail", cursive;
  --font-text: "IBM Plex Mono", monospace;
}

04

The two styles

A glowing retro space-themed sign reads “Orbit Bites” in large turquoise and orange cursive on a dark navy background. A rocket, ringed planet, starbursts, sweeping yellow trails and angular pink panels surround the lettering. 1945–1965 · North America Googie & Atomic Age The exuberant commercial modernism of post-war American roadside culture (coffee shops, motels, car washes, bowling alleys and neon signs), named in 1952 by critic Douglas Haskell after John Lautner's Googie's coffee shop in Los Angeles (1949). Upswept roofs, boomerangs, starbursts, atoms and parabolic arches worked as giant signs for passing drivers, with casual scripts and neon promising a Space Age future. A glossy silver-and-blue music player interface titled FLOW features an abstract glass orb wrapped in reflective, brightly tinted rings. Playback controls, a progress slider, a vertical icon toolbar, and four colorful sound preset thumbnails fill the lower and right edges. 1997–2005 · Global / networked Y2K Futurism The optimistic, chrome-plated vision of the future that surrounded the turn of the millennium, spread by consumer electronics, music videos, games, fashion and dot-com branding. Translucent candy-coloured plastics, liquid-metal and bubble 3D renders, lens flares, wide techno sans-serifs and icy silver-and-blue palettes sold the digital age as sleek, fluid and weightless, until the dot-com crash dimmed it.

05

More combinations

With Googie

All 17 combinations with Googie

With Y2K Futurism

All 15 combinations with Y2K Futurism

Every style combination