# 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.

- Period: 2017–present
- Where: North America, Global / networked
- Origin: San Francisco Bay Area tech industry (Buck's Alegria system for Facebook)
- Branch: Digital native
- Also known as: Alegria, Big Tech art style, Flat human illustration
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/corporate-memphis/

## How it works

- Draw people as flat vector figures with oversized limbs and torsos, tiny heads and minimal or no facial features.
- Use non-naturalistic skin colours (purple, blue, coral) so figures read as universal rather than as specific people.
- Render everything in flat fills without outlines, gradients or texture, letting overlapping shapes describe form.
- Isolate small vignettes (a figure, a laptop, a potted plant) on white space beside short headline copy.
- Scatter blobs, leaves and confetti squiggles to add energy without adding information.
- Build a modular kit of poses, props and colours so any team can assemble on-brand scenes.

## Its design choices

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

### Layout & composition
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (occasional)
- [Cards & bento tiles](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/cards-and-bento-tiles/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Geometric sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-sans/) (characteristic)
- [Rounded sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-sans/) (occasional)
- [Flush left, ragged right](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flush-left-ragged-right/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Pastel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pastel/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (defining)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)
- [Squiggles & confetti](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/squiggles-and-confetti/) (characteristic)
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)

### Ornament
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Flat vector illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-vector-illustration/) (defining)
- [Icons & pictograms](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/icons-and-pictograms/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Web & CSS](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/web-and-css/) (characteristic)
- [App & OS interface](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/app-and-os-interface/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (occasional)

Avoids: Naturalistic depiction, Straight photography, Rebellious & subversive, Ironic & self-aware, Dark ground, Photocopy & distress, Horror vacui, Experimental & distorted

Palette: #ffffff, #6c63ff, #ff7f6e, #ffc857, #2f2e41, #3ec7b0

Typefaces: Circular (Lineto), Airbnb Cereal, Gilroy, Inter

Known for: Buck, Alegria illustration system for Facebook (2017); Katerina Limpitsouni, unDraw open-source illustrations (2017); Pablo Stanley, Humaaans illustration library (2018); Slack and Salesforce marketing illustration (late 2010s)

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

- Grew out of: [Flat Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/flat-design.md) (2010–2016)
- Influenced by: [Memphis Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/memphis.md) (1981–1988)
- Alike in its design choices: [Scandinavian Functionalism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/scandinavian-functionalism.md) (1930–present), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [American Mid-Century Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/american-modernism.md) (1940–1970), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Thaw Modernism (Soviet and Czechoslovak)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/thaw-modernism.md) (1956–1968), 58% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Yuru-chara (Japanese Local Mascot Design)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/yuru-chara.md) (2000–present), 57% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [WPA Silkscreen Posters](https://stylogeny.com/styles/wpa-poster.md) (1935–1943), 56% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Illustrated Rom-Com Book Cover (Cartoon Couple Cover)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/illustrated-romcom-cover.md) (2016–present), 55% alike

## Real works

- [Humaaans: sitting figure on an exercise ball (Humaaans-sitting-1)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Humaaans-sitting-1.svg): Pablo Stanley, December 2018 (Humaaans library launched at humaaans.com in early December 2018; file dated 13 December 2018), Wikimedia Commons (from humaaans.com)
- [Facebook Alegria illustration system (BUCK case study)](https://web.archive.org/web/20201022092726/https://buck.co/work/facebook-alegria): BUCK for Facebook (illustrators including Xoana Herrera), 2017–2020 (system commissioned 2017 and launched about a year later; case study archived 22 October 2020), Internet Archive Wayback Machine
- [Hero image for 'Don't Worry, These Gangly-armed Cartoons Are Here to Protect You From Big Tech' (AIGA Eye on Design)](https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/dont-worry-these-gangley-armed-cartoons-are-here-to-protect-you-from-big-tech/): Katharina Brenner, from Pablo Stanley's Humaaans library, 21 August 2019, AIGA Eye on Design
- [unDraw illustration library: 'Illustrations' catalogue page](https://web.archive.org/web/20190101045337/https://undraw.co/illustrations): Katerina Limpitsouni (site coded by Aggelos Gesoulis), 2019 (archived 1 January 2019; library launched 2017), Internet Archive Wayback Machine
- ['Rainbow reader' illustration for the Save to Pocket panel in Firefox](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Firefox_Browser_%E2%80%93_Rainbow-reader.svg): Mozilla (Pocket), 2022 (added to the Firefox source on 22 February 2022, Bug 1746015 'Save to Pocket refresh signup panel'), Wikimedia Commons (from Mozilla's gecko-dev source)
- ['Eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya - 12 de maig | ERTA' (explainer video, frame)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corporate_Memphis_-_Generalitat_de_Catalunya_(2024),_1.png): Departament d'Acció Exterior i Unió Europea, Generalitat de Catalunya, April 2024 (frame dated 8 April 2024), Wikimedia Commons (frame from the Generalitat's YouTube video 0v9SzSRqxok)

## Sources

- Wikipedia, 'Corporate Memphis' (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Memphis)
- Creative Bloq, 'Why I'm glad the Corporate Memphis art style is dead' (creativebloq.com)

---

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, “Corporate Memphis”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/corporate-memphis/