From the “you should read this” pile: Rev. Dan Catt has a really thoughtful take on why the New Aesthetic is about the future (or at least the present) and not the past.
For background on the New Aesthetic, read this post by James Bridle and this essay by Bruce Sterling.
April 11, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I wonder if Windows 8 and Windows Phone’s “Authentically Digital” design principle is an example of the New Aesthetic. It’s the exact opposite of Apple’s hipster aesthetic (especially in iOS5) with the overly real-world like textures of wood and leather (leather!?) applied to digital screens.
Metro on the other hand embraces the digital, with its lack of rounded corners, right angles and very digital appearance.
I do like the hipster aesthetic (though Apple went overboard with it in iOS5), but having lived with a Windows Phone for a year and a half, I’m starting to slowly, grudgingly accept the new digital aesthetic.
And in 10 years, we’ll go through this whole cycle again 🙂