# Indie Sleaze

> Mainly a fashion and music-scene label applied in retrospect to the late-2000s indie and blog-rock crowd (skinny jeans, band tees, smudged eyeliner). Its graphic expression is mostly photographic and platform-based, not a designed system: amateur direct-flash party snapshots posted as an unedited stream to MySpace and early Tumblr, overexposed, noisy and dark-roomed. Its distinctness lies in that pairing of flash snapshot and blog stream.

- Period: 2006–2012
- Where: North America, Western Europe
- Origin: Begun in the late 1990s and early 2000s in New York City's post-punk revival scene (the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol), with the UK adoption around figures such as Pete Doherty and Kate Moss. Its popularity was tied to MySpace and early Tumblr, where people posted photos of their outfits, usually from parties. At the time it was called 'indie style' or 'hipster style'. The name came later: in 2016 a user in the Facebook group then called Post-Post-Y2K proposed 'indie uber-sleaze'; Dalia Barillaro made a separate group of that name in 2018, which the Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute (CARI) added as a category; and the Instagram account @indiesleaze (launched by Olivia V) shortened it to 'indie sleaze' in 2021.
- Branch: Postmodern
- Also known as: Indie sleaze aesthetic, Indie style, Hipster style (2000s), Tumblr-era party aesthetic
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/indie-sleaze/

## Use it with care

The look was built on photographing real people, often drunk or intoxicated, in nightlife, and posting the pictures publicly without their ongoing consent; the Cobrasnake archive and the Tumblr and MySpace posts are of identifiable individuals. Terry Richardson, whom Wikipedia lists among the mid-2000s photographers who embraced the style, has been accused by multiple models of sexual misconduct and exploitation (he says the allegations are false) and Condé Nast stopped commissioning him in 2017; he is deliberately left out of the exemplars and his work is not a model to follow. The revival raises the same consent and privacy questions: get consent from anyone identifiable, and do not reuse old nightlife photographs of real people as stock for a retro look.

## How it works

- Shoot the scene with on-camera flash and publish it uncorrected, red eyes and blown highlights included.
- Let a dark, crowded room fill the frame and crop the subject off-centre.
- Present images as an unedited stream of snapshots in a plain blog or profile-page layout.
- Keep text minimal and casual, as captions and names rather than designed headlines.
- Prefer a grubby, performatively careless finish over polish or craft.

## Its design choices

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

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Column grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/column-grid/) (occasional)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Lowercase only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lowercase-only/) (occasional)
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (defining)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (defining)

### Imagery
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (defining)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (characteristic)
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Web & CSS](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/web-and-css/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)

Avoids: Modular grid, Central symmetry, Generous white space, Didone, Abundant decoration, Flat vector illustration, Authoritative & institutional, Rational & objective, Calm & contemplative

Palette: #0d0b0e, #e8d9c8, #c8322d, #e6e1ea, #5a3a63

Typefaces: Default blog and profile-page sans-serif captions (platform defaults, not a specified face), The MySpace and Tumblr interface type around the photographs (platform defaults, not a specified face)

Known for: The Cobrasnake (Mark Hunter), flash party photography; Maya Spangler (Stolenbesos), photographer credited by Numéro as a contributor to the 2024 revival; Instagram account @indiesleaze (launched 2021 by Olivia V); MySpace and early Tumblr photo posts of the 2006-2012 indie party scene

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

- Influenced by: [Grunge Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/grunge-typography.md) (1990–2000)
- Alike in its design choices: [Nordic Noir Book Cover](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nordic-noir-cover.md) (2005–present), 56% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [PS1 / Lo-Fi 3D Revival (PSX Aesthetic)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ps1-revival.md) (2015–present), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Post-Punk Record Sleeve (Stiff, Factory, 4AD)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/post-punk-sleeve.md) (1977–1990), 50% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Witch House Graphics (Symbol Names and Haunted Web Imagery)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/witch-house-graphics.md) (2010–present), 49% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Weirdcore & Dreamcore](https://stylogeny.com/styles/weirdcore.md) (2019–present), 49% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [BUGA UP Billboard Alteration](https://stylogeny.com/styles/buga-up.md) (1979–1985), 48% alike

## Sources

- Wikipedia, 'Indie sleaze' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_sleaze)
- Wikipedia, 'Terry Richardson' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Richardson), for the caution

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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, “Indie Sleaze”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/indie-sleaze/