# Vaporwave

> An internet-born microgenre and visual aesthetic that remixes the debris of late-20th-century consumer culture (Windows 95 dialogs, classical busts, palm trees, mall interiors, Japanese text, early 3D renders) in pastel pinks and cyans. Emerging around 2011 from records by James Ferraro, Daniel Lopatin and Vektroid, it is at once nostalgic homage and deadpan critique of corporate optimism.

- Period: 2011–2017
- Where: Global / networked, North America
- Origin: Online music and art communities (Tumblr, Bandcamp, Last.fm, Reddit)
- Branch: Digital native
- Also known as: Vaporwave aesthetic, ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/vaporwave/

## How it works

- Collage appropriated late-20th-century commercial imagery (classical busts, Windows 95 dialogs, palm trees, mall interiors, bottled water) into dreamlike scenes.
- Bathe everything in pastel pink, lilac and cyan, with sunset gradients and occasional neon.
- Set text in full-width, widely spaced Latin letters and mix in Japanese katakana for a hazy, globalised-corporate atmosphere.
- Stage objects on infinite perspective grids, checkerboard floors and low-poly 3D renders.
- Degrade the image with VHS scanlines, glitches and compression artefacts to evoke decaying memory.
- Keep the tone deadpan and ambivalent: half homage, half critique of consumer nostalgia.

## 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/) (defining)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (occasional)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Wide letterspacing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/wide-letterspacing/) (defining)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)
- [Bitmap & pixel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/bitmap-and-pixel/) (occasional)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (occasional)
- [Script](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/script/) (occasional)

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

### Form & shape
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (occasional)

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

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

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

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

### Tone & intent
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (defining)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)

Avoids: Earth & mineral, Paper & letterpress bite, Carved line, Column grid, Rational & objective, Authoritative & institutional

Palette: #ff71ce, #01cdfe, #05ffa1, #b967ff, #fffb96, #1a1040

Typefaces: Full-width Latin text (ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ), Japanese katakana in MS Gothic / MS Mincho, MS Sans Serif (Windows 95 interface), Times New Roman and Arial system defaults

Known for: Macintosh Plus (Vektroid), Floral Shoppe (2011); James Ferraro, Far Side Virtual (2011); Daniel Lopatin as Chuck Person, Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 (2010); Blank Banshee, Blank Banshee 0 (2012); Adam Harper, 'Vaporwave and the pop-art of the virtual plaza', Dummy (2012)

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

- Grew out of: [Early Web Vernacular](https://stylogeny.com/styles/early-web.md) (1994–2004)
- Influenced by: [Y2K Futurism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/y2k-futurism.md) (1997–2005)
- Influenced by: [Memphis Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/memphis.md) (1981–1988)
- Influenced by: [Frutiger Aero](https://stylogeny.com/styles/frutiger-aero.md) (2004–2013)
- Led to: [Weirdcore & Dreamcore](https://stylogeny.com/styles/weirdcore.md) (2019–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Synthwave / Outrun](https://stylogeny.com/styles/synthwave-outrun.md) (2006–present), 50% alike
- Alike in its design choices: ['Good Morning' Greeting Images (WhatsApp Forward Vernacular)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/good-morning-greeting-image.md) (2013–present), 44% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Claymorphism & Soft 3D](https://stylogeny.com/styles/claymorphism.md) (2020–present), 44% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Surrealist Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/surrealism.md) (1924–1960), 43% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Acid Graphics / New Ugly](https://stylogeny.com/styles/acid-graphics.md) (2016–present), 42% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [VTuber Avatar and Stream Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vtuber-graphics.md) (2016–present), 42% alike

## Real works

- [Floral Shoppe (フローラルの専門店), album cover](https://web.archive.org/web/20120124040241/http://beerontherug.bandcamp.com/album/floral-shoppe): Macintosh Plus (Vektroid, Ramona Andra Langley), 9 December 2011 (Bandcamp page archived 24 January 2012), Internet Archive Wayback Machine (Beer on the Rug Bandcamp page)
- [Far Side Virtual, album cover](https://web.archive.org/web/20130121185736/http://hipposintanks.net/releases/james-ferraro-far-side-virtual/): James Ferraro, 2011 (label release page archived 21 January 2013), Internet Archive Wayback Machine (Hippos in Tanks release page)
- [Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 (TCC011), cassette cover](https://web.archive.org/web/20110830202713/http://thecuratorialclub.blogspot.com/2010/08/tcc011-chuck-persons-eccojams-volume1.html): Chuck Person (Daniel Lopatin), August 2010 (label post dated 8 August 2010, archived 30 August 2011), Internet Archive Wayback Machine (The Curatorial Club label blog)
- [nine lives (vaporwave collage of two winged cats)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nine_lives_vaporwave.jpg): yumikrum (Flickr), Uploaded to Flickr 22 February 2017, Wikimedia Commons (from Flickr)

## Sources

- Adam Harper, 'Comment: Vaporwave and the pop-art of the virtual plaza', Dummy Mag (2012)
- Grafton Tanner, Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts (Zero Books, 2016)

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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, “Vaporwave”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/vaporwave/