# PC Music Graphics

> The release artwork of London's PC Music label (2013-2023) and its immediate circle (Diamond Wright, Sophie, Timothy Luke): early hyperpop that treats a song as a polished synthetic product, not the later glitchy, maximalist hyperpop. One object, often a 3D render or a retouched portrait, gleams on a plain ground: plastic, milled aluminium, a pink capsule, a blue disc. Ideas are taken literally and pushed until strange, with puns on brands and computer culture. Dazed called the look 'bouncy, shiny, commercial, plastic, unnatural, metallic'.

- Period: 2013–present
- Where: Western Europe, North America
- Origin: London, where A. G. Cook founded the PC Music label in 2013, and its network of visual collaborators: photographer Hannah Diamond and the Diamond Wright team from the start, and Brooklyn-based designer Timothy Luke, who joined about three years into the label's history (one of his first projects was the 1UL EP, 2017) and became its main designer. The label stopped new releases at the end of 2023 (its last was Thy Slaughter's Soft Rock); the open end covers the designers' continuing practice, not new label releases.
- Branch: Digital native
- Also known as: PC Music visual aesthetic, Early hyperpop artwork (PC Music circle), Bubblegum bass artwork
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/pc-music-hyperpop-graphics/

## How it works

- Present the release as a product: one gleaming object, capsule, disc or retouched face, isolated on a plain field like an advert packshot.
- Render the surface until it looks too perfect: wet plastic, specular highlights, milled aluminium, airbrushed skin.
- Take the title or the sound literally and push the idea as far as it will go, until the literal reading turns strange.
- Hide puns and quotations from brands and computer culture in the image: a tech logo, a coffee pod, the #0000ff of an early hyperlink.
- Keep the type sparse and knowingly artificial: a custom display face, a stock default or a corporate-looking wordmark, never warm handwriting.
- Play it straight: the commercial gloss is quoted with a deadpan, ironic sincerity, not mocked with grime or collage.

## 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/) (defining)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (characteristic)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (occasional)
- [Lowercase only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lowercase-only/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (characteristic)
- [Pastel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pastel/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (occasional)
- [Iridescent & holographic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/iridescent-and-holographic/) (occasional)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (characteristic)
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (occasional)
- [Optical pattern](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/optical-pattern/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Gloss & highlights](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gloss-and-highlights/) (defining)
- [Skeuomorphic material](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/skeuomorphic-material/) (characteristic)
- [Chrome & 3D render](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/chrome-and-3d-render/) (characteristic)
- [Frosted glass](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/frosted-glass/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)

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

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

### Tone & intent
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (defining)
- [Technological & futurist](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/technological-and-futurist/) (characteristic)
- [Luxurious & glamorous](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/luxurious-and-glamorous/) (occasional)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (occasional)

Avoids: Collage & layering, Horror vacui, Glitch, Grain & noise, Paper & letterpress bite, Painterly brushwork, Pen, brush & ink, Earth & mineral, Warm & approachable

Palette: #0000ff, #f2ff1f, #ff9ccf, #c9ccd1, #e0151f, #ffffff

Typefaces: Custom display lettering after Rudolf Koch and Berthold Wolpe, with a Renaissance, woodcut feel (Timothy Luke, 1UL, 2017), Comic Sans and other early-web system defaults, quoted knowingly (Kane West, Western Beats, 2014), Logo-like wordmarks that play on brand names and words, such as Luke's morphing Easyfun logo (2023)

Known for: QT, Hey QT (XL Recordings, 2014): a song presented as an advert for a fictional energy drink, with a promotional image by the Diamond Wright team and CGI DrinkQT renders in the 2015 video; Kane West, Western Beats (PC Music, 2014): artwork set in Comic Sans, alluding to the typography of early websites; Sophie, Product (Numbers, 2015; Sophie was a PC Music affiliate, so this is an adjacent-circle release): released in silicon bubble cases alongside a 'silicon product' resembling a sex toy; Timothy Luke, artwork for Danny L Harle, 1UL EP (PC Music, 2017): four neon-yellow panels in which glowing lines give the sung words a physical form, with custom lettering after Rudolf Koch and Berthold Wolpe; Timothy Luke, optical-illusion artwork for the PC Music compilation Month of Mayhem (2018), applied to the vinyl so the turning disc makes a chaotic image; Timothy Luke, cover of A. G. Cook, Apple (PC Music, 2020): a milled-aluminium texture after Apple products that also quotes the Internet Explorer logo and metal-band iconography, with biblical imagery and a pun on Ag, the chemical symbol of silver; Timothy Luke, gleaming pink Nespresso-like pods for A. G. Cook, Beautiful (2023 edit); Timothy Luke, PC Music Forever playlist artwork: a gleaming disc washed in #0000ff, the original colour of a hyperlink

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

- Influenced by: [Y2K Futurism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/y2k-futurism.md) (1997–2005)
- Influenced by: [Kawaii Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kawaii.md) (1970–present)
- Influenced by: [Early Web Vernacular](https://stylogeny.com/styles/early-web.md) (1994–2004)
- Alike in its design choices: [Claymorphism & Soft 3D](https://stylogeny.com/styles/claymorphism.md) (2020–present), 54% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Generative-AI Image Aesthetic](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ai-image-aesthetic.md) (2022–present), 49% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Frutiger Aero](https://stylogeny.com/styles/frutiger-aero.md) (2004–2013), 48% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Vaporwave](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vaporwave.md) (2011–2017), 44% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Streamline Moderne](https://stylogeny.com/styles/streamline-moderne.md) (1930–1945), 44% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Emoji Pictographic Language](https://stylogeny.com/styles/emoji.md) (1997–present), 43% alike

## Sources

- Felicity Martin, 'A trip inside PC Music's visual universe with designer Timothy Luke', Dazed, 11 December 2023, https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/61533/1/pc-music-guest-edit-timothy-luke-visuals-2023 (Luke Brooklyn-based, found by A. G. Cook on Tumblr; 'wasn't involved with PC until around three years in', one of his first projects the 1UL EP, 2017; look 'bouncy, shiny, commercial, plastic, unnatural, metallic'; 1UL four panels, glowing yellow lines, custom type after Koch and Wolpe; Month of Mayhem 2018 optical illusion; Apple milled aluminium, Internet Explorer logo, metal bands, 'an obvious bit of biblical imagery', pun on Ag for silver; pink Nespresso-like pods for Beautiful 2023 edit; PC Music Forever disc in #0000ff; Easyfun morphing logo; Luke's 'scarlet red, motherboard-esque Number 1 Angel mixtape artwork' for Charli XCX; 'taking ideas, and just pushing them as far as possible')
- PC Music, catalogue, https://pcmusic.info/ (release list with per-release credits: 'Artwork by Timothy Luke' on Me4U 2017, Month of Mayhem, Apple 2020, Beautiful (2023 Edit) and Soft Rock 2023; 'Image by Diamond Wright' on Every Night 2014; 'Artwork by Hannah Diamond' on Reflections, 22 November 2019)
- Timothy Luke, portfolio, 'PC Music', https://cargocollective.com/timothyluke/PC-Music ('ongoing design and direction for PC Music'; images incl. 1UL_EP and Month of Mayhem)
- Wikipedia, 'PC Music', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Music (founded 2013 in London by A. G. Cook; 'embracing the aesthetics of advertising, consumerism, and corporate branding'; cuteness, camp and kawaii; Comic Sans on Western Beats alluding to early websites; Month of Mayhem 28 July 2018; final year of new releases 2023, last Soft Rock, 1 December 2023)
- Wikipedia, 'Apple (A. G. Cook album)', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_(A._G._Cook_album) (released 18 September 2020 on PC Music; cover designed by Timothy Luke)
- Wikipedia, 'Danny L Harle discography', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_L_Harle_discography (1UL EP, PC Music, 19 May 2017)
- Wikipedia, 'Hey QT', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_QT (XL Recordings, 26 August 2014; fictional energy drink; promotional image by Diamond Wright; CGI DrinkQT in RealFlow and 3ds Max)
- Wikipedia, 'Product (Sophie album)', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_(Sophie_album) (Numbers, 27 November 2015; 'silicon bubble cases' and a 'silicon product' resembling a sex toy)
- Wikipedia, 'Hannah Diamond', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Diamond (cover artwork with heavy retouching producing 'unnatural, hyperreal versions of herself' before 'empty, one-dimensional spaces'; works as a photographer producing her own visual artwork; Reflections, PC Music, 22 November 2019; Diamond Wright)
- Wikipedia, 'Hyperpop', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperpop (origins traced to PC Music; 'an exaggerated or maximalist take'; references to 2000s Internet culture and the Web 2.0 era; 'shiny, cutesy aesthetics'; glitchcore's 'glitchy, fast-paced, and cluttered edits' and datamoshing)
- Wikipedia, 'Number 1 Angel', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_1_Angel (Charli XCX mixtape, Asylum, 10 March 2017; producers include A. G. Cook, Sophie, Danny L Harle, Life Sim and Easy FX)

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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, “PC Music Graphics”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/pc-music-hyperpop-graphics/