# Acid Graphics / New Ugly

> A late-2010s club and poster style that updates 1990s rave graphics with modern 3D tools: liquid-chrome and melting lettering, neo-tribal spikes, wireframes, op-art patterns and acid-green palettes on black, mixed with blackletter and stretched grotesques. Associated with David Rudnick, Studio Cryo and Anja Kaiser and collected on Instagram's @acidgraphix, it overlaps with the 'New Ugly' turn towards deliberate antidesign.

- Period: 2016–present
- Where: Global / networked, Western Europe, Central Europe
- Origin: European club-music posters and record sleeves, spread via Instagram (@acidgraphix)
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Acid design, New Ugly, Antidesign, Neo-rave graphics
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/acid-graphics/

## How it works

- Render lettering and symbols as liquid chrome or metallic 3D, then warp, stretch, mirror and melt them.
- Pair acid green, ultraviolet or hot pink with black and silver for a nocturnal, club-lit palette.
- Mix blackletter, ultra-wide grotesques and pixel faces in one composition and break the grid on purpose.
- Decorate with neo-tribal spikes, sparkle stars, wireframe meshes and op-art moiré borrowed from 1990s rave and Y2K graphics.
- Push density and tension until the work looks deliberately 'ugly' against clean corporate minimalism.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (characteristic)
- [Broken grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/broken-grid/) (characteristic)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (occasional)
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (defining)
- [Blackletter](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/blackletter/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (characteristic)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (occasional)
- [Bitmap & pixel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/bitmap-and-pixel/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (defining)
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Iridescent & holographic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/iridescent-and-holographic/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (characteristic)
- [Whiplash line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/whiplash-line/) (characteristic)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (characteristic)
- [Optical pattern](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/optical-pattern/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Chrome & 3D render](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/chrome-and-3d-render/) (defining)
- [Glitch](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/glitch/) (characteristic)
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Cosmic & celestial](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/cosmic-and-celestial/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [3D render](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/3d-render/) (characteristic)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Motion & broadcast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/motion-and-broadcast/) (characteristic)
- [Web & CSS](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/web-and-css/) (occasional)
- [Screen printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/screen-printing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (characteristic)
- [Technological & futurist](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/technological-and-futurist/) (characteristic)

Avoids: Earth & mineral, Pastel, Soft extrusion, Paper & letterpress bite, Classical text block, Ornament-free, Calm & contemplative, Warm & approachable

Palette: #000000, #ccff00, #c4c4c4, #ff1ad9, #3d5afe, #ffffff

Typefaces: Liquid-chrome and melted custom lettering, Blackletter and neo-gothic display, Ultra-wide grotesques (e.g. Monument Extended), Bitmap and pixel faces

Known for: David Rudnick; Studio Cryo (Mindaugas Gavrilovas); Anja Kaiser; Luigi Brusciano, @acidgraphix Instagram archive; 'Acid Graphics Are the New Psychedelia, With a Heady Dose of Cynicism', AIGA Eye on Design (2019)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Rave & Acid House Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/rave-flyer.md) (1988–2000)
- Influenced by: [Y2K Futurism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/y2k-futurism.md) (1997–2005)
- Influenced by: [Grunge Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/grunge-typography.md) (1990–2000)
- Influenced by: [Techno-Futurist Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/techno-futurism.md) (1986–2002)
- Alike in its design choices: [Synthwave / Outrun](https://stylogeny.com/styles/synthwave-outrun.md) (2006–present), 44% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Angura Theatre Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/angura-poster.md) (1965–1985), 42% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Vaporwave](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vaporwave.md) (2011–2017), 42% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Demoscene Graphics (Cracktros, Demos & Text-Mode Art)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/demoscene-graphics.md) (1985–present), 41% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Glitch Art & Datamosh Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/glitch-art.md) (2001–present), 39% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Kinetic Typography & Variable Type](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kinetic-typography.md) (2016–present), 36% alike

## Real works

- [Skechers China project (lettering)](https://web.archive.org/web/20260128015743/https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/acid-graphics-are-the-new-psychedelia-with-a-heady-dose-of-cynicism/): Jonathan Castro, undated; reproduced September 2019 (image file saved in Photoshop CC 2018), Internet Archive Wayback Machine (AIGA Eye on Design)
- [Hyper Trance Mafia, graphic for Evian Christ's Trance Party III](https://web.archive.org/web/20220114080523/http://davidrudnick.org/project/tranceparty3/): David Rudnick, 2014 (Trance Party III, Corsica Studios, London, 31 October 2014; posted to the designer's site 11 April 2017), Internet Archive Wayback Machine (davidrudnick.org)
- [Cry Baby, club-night poster for Institut für Zukunft (Mykki Blanco, Yves Tumor, Perera Elsewhere)](https://web.archive.org/web/20260128015743/https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/acid-graphics-are-the-new-psychedelia-with-a-heady-dose-of-cynicism/): Anja Kaiser, 9 October, year not stated (c. 2015–16; image file saved May 2017; reproduced 2019), Internet Archive Wayback Machine (AIGA Eye on Design)
- [Drumstation vs. Eternia, poster for Cross Club](https://web.archive.org/web/20190402103830/http://studiocryo.tumblr.com/post/182581480223/poster-drumstation-vs-eternia-event-cross): Studio Cryo (Mindaugas Gavrilovas), 2018 (event 7 December; posted 5 February 2019), Internet Archive Wayback Machine (studiocryo.tumblr.com)

## Sources

- AIGA Eye on Design, 'Acid Graphics Are the New Psychedelia, With a Heady Dose of Cynicism' (September 2019)
- AIGA Eye on Design magazine, issue #05, 'Distraction'

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Acid Graphics / New Ugly”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/acid-graphics/