Frutiger Aero: Gen Z's make-believe nostalgia

Zoomers are trying to be nostalgic and it's making Millennials nervous.
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[@JJMcCullough]

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[@RaptureGaming626]

You're such a Boomer JJ, get with the times. 🤣🤣🤣

[@jeffchapman8992]

"Climate Change" ... hmm... man-made, I presume? Who is being naive? [Real] science much? How much did the WEF pay you to slip that in?! Pathetic. "X"er.

[@ClownGirlsHonkHonk]

Hey JJ just wanted to say that Bugs Life is not forgotten. Youre 40 so you missed the magic. Im 30 and bugs life is considered a holy grail to people my age. Go ask 30 year olds what they think of bugs life you might be surprised. Also, it wasnt just the graphics, it was the political messaging behind it that inspired us as well.

[@thekidfromiowa]

A dissection of the polarizing "corporate art style" deserves a video of its own.

[@markmh835]

"JJMCC"? JJ Metropolitan Community Church? 😊👍🌈

[@WittyUsername14]

"Old man yells at glossy clouds"

[@joshuaabe4832]

I am also an old man (JJ's age) and laughed too hard at this comment

[@AdamXJ]

It's perfect 😂

[@KrazyKaiser]

Like, literally. He's describing Frutiger Aero the same way FrankJavCee describes vaporwave. But like, unironically.

[@user-mp6mv7xf6b]

@@KrazyKaiser Because the sociological analysis is extremely flawed . It's very HBombreguy marxist "i have a narrative and will twist all of reality to fit into it" video essay to give you even though it's wrong. No one cares about frutiger Aero but theyre trying to use it as a prism to look into the soul of society when it was just a way of people trying to show 4k resolution since the best people could do before that for aesthetics was ugly pixel art garbage. Im not pro capitalist but they just take buzz words and throw them into their essays: "the CORPORATION, GLOBAL WARMING!, the FUTURE WE WERE PROMISED! NATURE!".

[@Zectifin]

I'm his age and completely disagree with him.

[@EmperorTigerstar]

Frutiger Aero is the same to the 2000s as Vaporwave is to the late 80s/early 90s. Some real elements but highly exaggerated and romanticized.

[@kelechi_77]

It acts a lost future, like some kind of alternate history of if that aesthetic remained rather than it being this big cultural thing at the time.

[@compatriot852]

Didn't expect to see you here.

[@RealJuiceWrld]

What’s this lost future? Would we have floating cars and fish tanks suspended mid air right now if society had kept using a certain design theme? It’s just an art style bro there’s nothing stopping you from creating work in the style. There’s nothing stopping other people from not caring either.

[@lawden210]

Regarding it being romanticised, that's just nostalgia in general

[@DM-mq6hx]

Simulacra?

[@SXZ-dev]

I think people are just sick and tired of flat design tbh and want a return to colorful, vibrant styles

[@jakeystarsuper]

Same you know you can change your icons

[@a_disgruntled_snail]

I absolutely am not and do not.

[@ASAPShitPost]

​@@a_disgruntled_snail How come? It's been around for long enough at this point to become tiresome. There's a sort of staleness and lack of personality in the flat design trend, leads to a lot of designs being the same as one another in a way

[@calebdanielherman4913]

@@a_disgruntled_snail That's a hilarious joke! Flat design style was a mistake.

[@a_disgruntled_snail]

@@calebdanielherman4913 I strongly disagree.

[@Ubylmoen]

I kinda like that it has a name. Now if I want to see it, I can just say "fruitiger aero", not "hey you know that way some things looked in 2004, but not all of the things?"

[@Zectifin]

yeah he complains about categorization, but its literally an aesthetic about a time when the internet was exploding and nostalgia for the kids that grew up in that era. it makes it a searchable web term. it just makes sense.

[@hi6575]

Humans create names and categorizations for everything. It’s why we have names for eras in art history; otherwise we wouldn’t know how to find styles we like. Fruitier aero is definitely a style of design, just like how other designs have names. It would’ve been categorized sooner or later.

[@TheAdventuresOfJimiJaden]

I used to have to say that too, but now I can say the name of it. Thank you internet.

[@theninjamaster67]

​@@Zectifin He's not complaining about categorizing he's complaining about how people are trying to shove more and more into that term to the point of it being meaningless.

[@MyNameIsPoet]

this exactly! it's concise and easy, and it's all ours

[@danielc56]

“Zoomers, please stop the Pokémonification of everything!” says the guy who literally Pokémonified CANADA!!

[@JJMcCullough]

I’ll Pokémon YOU next if you don’t pipe down

[@RedDogRichard2112]

@@JJMcCullough haha You need to say that in your next video! Hearing you say those words would make my day!

[@danielc56]

@@JJMcCullough Haha! 😂 I still gotta get you to sign my Canadmon book someday! 🇨🇦👹📖

[@MarjaMariachi]

@@JJMcCullough JJ used "Dad on a family road trip" energy. It's super effective! :D

[@cosmiccentaur]

lmao

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i may have paradoxically been converted into a fruitiger aero fan by this video

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i need a 101 in gen z nostalgia. pokémon? suite life of zack and cody? is there gen z food and drink? i'm obsessed now

[@brayanvelez2517]

that’s right

[@zanzamanzaanza5981]

@@PhilEdwardsInc I think that description is on the right track & shows good foundational understanding, but I'd add that Gen Z grew up immediately after Pokémania (Mid '00's to Mid '10's). I remember a few kids playing with the trading cards at school once in a while, a bunch of kids played the games & I think most of us saw the anime, but it wasn't as much of a defining thing as it was for millennial kids. For Gen Z TV nostalgia (at least in the US), SpongeBob is easily the most impactful show of the 00's, either Adventure Time or Phineas & Ferb were the biggest in the early 10's, although there's a lot of strong contenders from all 3 big kids networks (Nick, Disney, CN) & their spinoff channels. Dreamworks & Pixar easily ruled theatrical animation. PBS is an honourable mention though. For Games, there were 2 kinds of kids. Kids that got caught up in the console war between Xbox & PlayStation & got games that were probably too mature & the kids that played it safe with Nintendo systems (particularly Wii & DS). Browser games are an honourable mention too, great time-wasters in Computer class & probably the one type of game to unify all of Gen Z. For Pokémon-type IPs specifically, I might just be tired, but I can't think of a super toyetic franchise that was unique to gen Z kids (Beyblade, Yu-gi-oh, & Bakugan were at least somewhat big, but mostly peaked in the early 00's when Gen Z was too young to engage with them that much yet). When it comes to Gen Z food the only thing that immediately comes to mind is Caprisun & Lunchables (which both overlap w/ younger millennials as well), although there has to be more that I can't think of right now. For traditional media in general, it should be fairly simple to look up the most popular/most played games, movies, songs, &c of the 00's & 10's, which Gen Z kids would've grown up with, seen parodies/commentary about on TV or online & so on, which form our cultural frame of reference. But you also have to account for online media & internet culture/subcultures of the time which are much more difficult to generalize or track down. There's probably a bunch of subreddits & stuff you can go to for more engaging/insightful/personal discussion about this. I'm running out of steam at this point, so I'll leave it here.

[@ieatalgae]

​@@zanzamanzaanza5981 For toys, maybe LPS? Sure, it was originally marketed to young girls, but it seriously became a cultural phenomenon on KZbin- one that we haven't really seen replicated in the same way, though that might just be my nostalgia talking lol

[@Sagalink]

@@PhilEdwardsInc Hey Phil, big fan of the videos! As a zillenial (born in '99) nerd, I can say that a lot of my nostalgia is tied to that big wave of early CGI, around when things like "jimmy neutron" and the original playstation were coming out. It's very much abstract art, but if you want to check out a modern online series that plays heavy on Gen Z nostalgia, I'd recommend looking up "ENA".

[@Larinx-11463]

the irony of saying "erm frutiger aero isnt actually a thing" while being able to very very accurately describe, identify, and categorize it consistently, is very strange. You do have a point that sometimes some people can maybe tend to possibly over categorize and subdivide labels, but why yell at a cloud like that when talking about an aesthetic that clearly captured a particular look of a certain era? This feels more like a case of being proud of being meta, like this odd pride in being the first to say "this isnt a thing", rather than some substantive debunking of an aesthetic.

[@gibbyjibby0]

100%

[@VeraEdelman]

So true lol

[@josed.9874]

I actually think it's cool to classify and discover aesthetic styles. It just shows how rich and diverse the aesthetics of that time were. 2000s nostalgia doesn't have to be the same as 80's nostalgia and that's ok.

[@LoveSickWorld]

That’s not even to mention that you can get specific even from there. This Fruitger Aero for instance isn’t the same as Y2K aesthetics, so you could get more specific then just a generalization of 2000s nostalgia if you wanted to

[@msmsmsms8515]

an immense accumulation of spectacles

[@Bob-ew1hx]

I think that the “future we were promised” isn’t really about climate change. I think it’s about the hopefulness that the Internet provided when it was first gaining popularity, contrasted with which many view the internet now.

[@CPTginyu1015]

Yeah I agree. I have no idea where he got that from. I think the phrase just refers to the idea that Frutiger Aero often depicts a certain view for the future, that did not end up coming to fruition, as well as what you said about hopefulness.

[@funkyjoebob6121]

i think what also drives zoomers to have that "future we were promised" mentality was how optimistic humanity was about the new millennium and being the first generation the be born right before, during, and after Y2K

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

@@funkyjoebob6121yes and I don’t feel that it’s a naive view either. Sure, it is colored by the fact the zoomer generation were largely naive and happy kids at the time, but people in general did still believe in a bright happy future, especially coming out of the Y2K scare. 2008 was largely a turning point and I think that’s why a more simple, hipster aesthetic took its place. People grew more and more cynical in general

[@josiahferrell5022]

Why are we talking like this is in the past? Those ideas can still happen. If we imagine humanity surviving with our tech for more than the next 50 years, those hopes for the future will be the only way we achieve it. It just might have taken longer than many hoped, myself included.

[@user-tv2is5hs5h]

@@CPTginyu1015I still prefer “techno-optimism” to describe this rather than using an exotic pairing of words. Makes it more accessible (even if someone hasn’t heard the term before, they can pick up on context clues to understand the concept).

[@3oclockcereal]

I think the people who gate-keep and fight about niche subcultures like you mention tend to be hyper online rather than gen z as a whole

[@RealJuiceWrld]

It’s the same as if you ran a survey next to a bus stop asking people if they own a car or not. A disproportionate amount of people will not own a car. Hyper online kids that were bullied in school make up a disproportionate amount of the people who even know what the term Frutiger Aero refers to.

[@RickJaeger]

Generally: yes. However: we should consider that, with both Millenials and Zoomers, "online" statistics are going to resemble the broader population better and better, especially for upcoming generations, since so many more of us are spending so much more time online.

[@ASMRDoodlez]

Yeah, I'm just a couple years older than Gen Z, and I've never heard of this, nor does it make me feel anything.

[@crypticcorgi8280]

Fair point.

[@g4_61]

Agreed. I’m not at all familiar with the hypertaxonomized “Aesthetics wiki” so frequently cited by JJ, and learned of the term Frutiger Aero independently of it. I’d imagine the same to be true of most other Gen-Z individuals indulging in the same nostalgia.

[@Beaccof]

15:40 its being able to google exactly what you mean googling "00s aesthetic" or "00s computer aesthetic" or "00s 3d graphic aesthetic" will not get you that specific "frutiger aero" style

[@sezztooley]

i agree, the satisfaction that comes with being able to search for an exact look, vibe, memory, etc is worth having all the sub-categorization. we just can't exclude folks or start fights over aesthetics like JJ's critiquing.

[@Assfucker0001]

Jj really missed the mark with this one 🤦‍♂️

[@hokton8555]

yeah it only existed in interface designs and toothpaste lables

[@dishh]

this is very weird? born in 96, elder gen z, and have clear memories of this style on my school computers and in tv commercials. there is also a clear reason this style is emotionally impactful for us growing up. it's how we saw the future. not sure what you're trying to accomplish with this gatekeepy video.

[@cxeroannuki2840]

this is the exact opposite of gatekeeping. nowhere did he say that you can't enjoy this aesthetic, but trying to confine it into a narrow sensibility with strict criteria is killing what makes it fun in the first place. to say nothing of people trying to attach political meanings where there are none

[@Z0MB13R0T]

wait yall genuinely looked at that as a kid and thought, “ah this is what the future looks like”? 😭 i thought we all just liked it because it was pretty to look at

[@twilightguardian]

If you were born in 1996 you are not gen z you're a millennial, defined as someone who was a child during the turn of the millennium. If you did not exist during the year 2000 you're gen z. A generation is 20 years.

[@belstar1128]

yea this tyle bring back good memories but i have to be honest when it comes to music the 2000s was just bad and nothing like the fruiter areo music and the 2000s were very emo and only when looking back later on do i appreciate this look and the best things from the 2000s

[@stephanieee1953]

TELL EM DISH!!! (what a surprise seeing you here lol)

[@lucyinchat]

Fun Fact: Hyper-Categorization for the sake of categorization pretty clearly originates from Millennials. 2005-2015 was the heyday of that kind of thing. What we’re doing is called “Absurd Specificity”.

[@JJMcCullough]

Don’t bring us down with you!

[@calliemyersbuchanan6458]

examples please

[@till8413]

​@@JJMcCullough You and us, _We are not so different_

[@Jeffrythesheep1]

@@JJMcCullough Remember how you listed descriptors of Ryan Celcius's vaporwave music as Fonk, Glitch Hop and Vapor Trap? Yeah those are just as vague as Frutiger Aero. Rewatch your Millennial Middle Class art video and you'll suddenly see where we Gen Z got the ideas from. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[@Phonexwing]

@@calliemyersbuchanan6458 TV Tropes

[@NerdSpartanPerson]

As an older Gen Z, I definitely grew up seeing this aesthetic in ads, textbooks, etc., often with the appeal of cool high-tech, eco-friendly design choices. Seeing this aesthetic categorized to me isn't gatekeeping, but rather finally having a way to describe this "vibe". I know people don't seem to like it, but this categorization trend is kind of an interesting way of seeing just how creative humanity has become that we have this many aesthetics, genres, -cores, etc. and can have so many people enjoy them.

[@brayanvelez2517]

yup

[@humanbean7884]

As a young millennial, completely agree

[@jumpvelocity3953]

It’s simply too pretentious for me, the layman, and definitely seems like it would be harder for people like me to discover and enjoy.

[@NerdSpartanPerson]

@@jumpvelocity3953 But why? You hear or see a new thing, you learn the term for it, and you go about your day. New term you've never heard before? Learn what it means, go about your life. Idk how it seems pretentious when everyone learns new words all the time, it's just how language and culture works.

[@HandleToBeDetermined]

Pretty much sums up how art movements are named. Artists don't really have much of a say on it. Usually, it's the art critics that come up with a name, sometimes decades down the road to better categorize it for academia. Internet just happened to breed tons of niche micro-movements in art in design, so Gen-Z are now stepping up to categorize them.

[@NottJoeyOfficial]

Did this man really go "Yeah, my generation made music about going to the barber shop and mall in the 90s called Barbercore and Mallcore music. By the way, Gen Z is dumb because they have to name their nostalgia!" Love this channel, but how can you directly contridict your point before you've even made it?

[@Momo-qe2zk]

How is it make believe? Some people chose bad examples of it, but I was alive in the late 2000s/early 2010s and this was definitely a trend.

[@fuosdi64]

It was a design language, that was all. Zoomers think that this is some sort of universal shared experience. It's not.

[@Momo-qe2zk]

​@@fuosdi64 No one thinks that.

[@fuosdi64]

@@Momo-qe2zk I've watched about a dozen other videos and they all push that narrative

[@Momo-qe2zk]

@@fuosdi64 Sure....

[@kangelparfait]

​@@fuosdi64where are the other dozen videos

[@noidea2568]

"As someone who is turning 40 this year" Damn, I wish I'll look nearly as good at almost 40.

[@mtaylorfoofa]

Haha

[@juanfranciscovillarroelthu6876]

is the gay magic, for some reason most gay men age a lot better.

[@JonahNelson7]

@@juanfranciscovillarroelthu6876anyone that marries men ages well

[@URProductions]

@@juanfranciscovillarroelthu6876 Less women nagging them.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

@@URProductions I'm not gay but I've never been married and have always been single, and I think I look good for 42.

[@AG7SM]

As Gen X can attest, every generation struggles with the feeling of aging out of the cohort that the majority of culture is targeting.

[@LittleLordFancyLad]

Gen X never aged in. The boomers went on too long and then the Millennials started early.

[@azazelazel]

​@@LittleLordFancyLad I don't agree. I'm too young to have a memory of it, granted, but retrospectively speaking, popular culture from the 90s seems like quintessental Gen X to me.

[@lainiwakura1776]

@@LittleLordFancyLad A lot of shows in the 90s targeted Gen X.

[@LittleLordFancyLad]

​@@azazelazel ​ @lainiwakura1776 Only the late 90s, and by then the Millennials were starting to come in to their own. The Gen X cohort was just too small and too apathetic to make the same impact.

[@humanbean7884]

​@@azazelazelyeah agree, the late 80's and all of the 90's were incredibly GenX (in both the best and the worst ways)

[@josevillalpando6730]

I'm a millennial and this just feels like weird copeing with your ageing. Is gen z not allowed to have nostalgia? Odd take.

[@danizanzibar4344]

no they aren't allowed to have nostalgia, because they suck

[@imwastingmytimeonthis677]

@@danizanzibar4344 waaa waaa waaa

[@JP_0306]

TBF we millenials were guilty of this overspecification trend first. We chopped up the 80's retro aesthetic into such specific peaces that they have become indistigushiable from each other (Vaporwave, Outrun, Synthwave, Chillwave, Dark Synthwave, Retrowave, etc.) no matter, which of these you look up, you'll find the same virtual highway sunset image.

[@fuosdi64]

I'm a millennial and we were the anti label generation.

[@SpydrXIII]

well i can help you distinguish a bit, synthwave and outrun are the same thing. and everyone tags that grid highway stuff with all these terms for SEO, which muddies the waters for people. you just have to learn how to tell some apart. for example, i find synthwave/outrun is more 80's city night time themed, and often consumerism positive. while vaporwave is more late 80's early 90's daytime mall, and questionable on the consumerism stance. and thus ends me proving your point by being a millennial and being very pedantic with aesthetics.

[@YogSothothIsTheGate]

Crusty old millennial here, and tbh I was going to comment this exact thing. We're absolutely guilty of turning every possible visual vibe into a curated, labelled aesthetic. We were the ones out here making micro-subcultures that died in a day like fucking slimepunk, we don't really have the right to mock zoomers for this. its just young people doing young people shit, trying to make sense of a big confusing world by giving names to things and trying to find patterns in all the chaos. To that I say "have fun".

[@GuyunZhongli-ow4ti]

I honestly just called it retro and vaporwave as its easier to search it that way

[@belstar1128]

it does have a purpose if you want a certain style of music

[@Jalapinecone]

I think the reason why this generation tends to hyper-categorize everything is because we have grown up in a time where there is an internet full of things that require keywords to search for, and the internet is our main interface with culture. In previous generations if you heard a song you liked, you didn't need a very specific genre to describe it because your only ways to listen to music were on a radio station, which plays broadly similar music, or to buy a cd from a cd store. If you liked a song you'd just tune into the same radio station, or you would ask a music savvy friend or a shopkeeper at the CD store for a recommendation and they'd point you to something similar. There was no technological interface that you needed to use to find it. Nowadays if I hear a song that i like, I need to link it to a word that I can put into google to find more music that is in a similar style. It doesn't suffice to tell google that I want to listen to electronic music, I need to tell google that I want to listen to speed garage, or colour bass, or jungle, or psystyle, and that will let me find what I want to listen to

[@roboboy430]

Yeah, I agree that a lot of the push towards categorizing things into hyper specific terms is at least partially due to search engines being so broken that they don't really do a good job of actually providing usable results with vague keywords anymore.

[@ohwell2088]

I agree! Communities in online spaces have dissolved so much that you would be hard pressed to find any obscure aesthetic, or visual vibe if you don't know the specific keywords. The online experience is so individualized nowadays that this is needed.

[@cosmiccentaur]

Good point!

[@yakubachok]

Wow Never thought about it, makes so much sense

[@LoveSickWorld]

This was exactly how I started my craze with the Post Rock Genere- I found some band called April Rain and I would’ve thought that band was all there was to this sound if I didn’t see it labeled as being this post rock thing. Any other generation would’ve just said it’s Rock and that gets me no where

[@WoodEe-zq6qv]

3:20 "The Gen-Z tendency to make everything a Pokemon" Did this friend of yours realize he was speaking to the writer of *Canadamon: Canadian Culture Monsters*?

[@lithunoisan]

Did he get rid of a part of the video?

[@YourFatherVEVO]

@@lithunoisan no, wrong timestamp 3:10

[@lithunoisan]

@@YourFatherVEVO What if there was 10 seconds of the video he cut out so now it’s at 3:10?

[@pXnTilde]

Holy shit he is like a child in that

[@ezg1272]

JJ: "I'm interested in the advancement of culture and its effect on people" Culture: **advances and has an effect on people** JJ: "NO! NOT LIKE THAT!"

[@sebastianavendano7872]

You always come up with names and concepts in your videos for trends you observe and care about, and then say zoomers have a tendency to name everything, my man, that’s a human tendency, that’s what you do in your videos

[@mabeylane7163]

its so funny that he came up with a name to categorize the phenomenon of people categorizing things too much

[@improbablelem2670]

I bet this one will be as controversial as the Wikipedia episode.

[@pyrotechnic96]

Yeah idk if I can even make it through this one. Seems like strained finger wagging to me

[@DruidEnjoyer]

@@pyrotechnic96 Would some temple run gameplay in the corner help you make it through?

[@lurji]

jj loves to be so beyond self righteous and contrarian it turns into cringe💔

[@_lil_lil]

​@@pyrotechnic96I mean, when I was a teen in the 00s, it wasn't "cool", it was corporate allegria but 15 years earlier. You can like it (I personally hate it but that's just my opinion) it just wasn't a thing the youth at the time even liked, I thought it was random, like vaporwave but neutered and corporate. I think JJ also just doesn't like arbitrary labels that much.

[@Winkle-Dinkle]

@@pyrotechnic96gotta watch the video to hear the argument…

[@uuu1797]

i feel like i’m being gaslit

[@user-go2wj1pb2t]

Don't we all

[@Bwoodkid]

how are you telling me that FF7 (@ 12:17) didnt look geat as a kid!?!?!?!

[@VeraEdelman]

You are being gaslit. Don't fall for it. Your feelings are valid.

[@SirMildredPierce]

Old man yelling at Frutiger Aero clouds

[@Uttployal8008]

Real:

[@annoyingmultifandomname2217]

“you can’t be nostalgic! because i don’t feel the same way!”

[@krombopulos_michael]

I'm a younger millennial and don't have a problem with the label of "Frutiger Aero", and I don't think it's a problem that the name isn't necessarily intuitive or used at the time (which I think is also true of a lot of prominent art and design movements). The main thing to me is that you'll know it when you see it, and even though I never heard of this before this video, I instantly recognised what it meant with some visual examples. These images were really a trip down memory lane for me just because it's a style that is now so out of fashion that it really feels like a time capsule. I agree with the point that these basically existed as a way to show off fancier computer graphics at the time because shiny, glowy, colourful, photorealsitic design really looked very futuristic at the time just because computers couldn't do that stuff before. It really didn't have anything to do with techno-optimistic propaganda. I do have to say though that while I sort of get why people see it as optimistic, it also leaves me with a weird sort of cold and ethereal feeling too. This design always seemed to depict things that were pristine and devoid of any kind of actual human life. Like the liminal spaces discussed in a previous award winning video, there's often something kind of unnerving about how empty and lifeless it all is. On a surface level it looks realistic but that also serves to highlight how artifical it is at its core. I still like it though just because I really started getting into computers at the time and wanted to trick out my whole interface with as many shiny glowing orbs as possible when it was in style.

[@lithunoisan]

It feels sterile, which many depictions of the future are.

[@kosinusify]

That's a very good take, you have put into words what I couldn't. It feels fesh and naturalistic, but also hauntingly artificial.

[@pottingsoil723]

​​From what I understand Frutiger Aero is the name of a type of font that was highly popular in these designs at the time. Or it's a reference to the font artist whose font was popular, something along those lines 😅 And for sure I agree with you there, well said. We were all optimistic about the digital future but were still living in much simpler times compared to the 2010s and up. Before social media and big tech ruined everything.

[@GuyunZhongli-ow4ti]

it truly does, its like slapping eco-friendly stuff on everything that is mass produced on chinese poor provinces, its not as hopeful as they present to be Also i just think its cool that it has a name and ID as a graphic designer those kinda things are important to have in ur design vocab to appear amazing w/ clients 🤣

[@captainketchuphater63]

what you described is exactly what i like about it. its that bright happy dreaminess with a creepy vibe because of how fake and empty it looks. it reminds me of youtube videos that say places you've seen in your dreams because of that unnatural emptiness

[@kiga14]

According to JJ: Kids aren't nostalgic like we used to be.

[@cara-setun]

Nostalgia was better when he was a kid

[@Milochachki]

This video just gives off “uhm actually ☝️🤓”

[@stpedro-ht9ng]

thanks for your pejorative comment devoid of any substance except for smugness

[@gwynedd8179]

@@stpedro-ht9ng ☝🤓

[@GlobinHD]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@stpedro-ht9ng thanks for your pejorative comment devoid of any substance except for smugness

[@womfle2409]

⁠@@GlobinHDthanks for your pejorative comment devoid of any substance except for smugness

[@migueljarias]

@@womfle2409thanks for smugness statements devoiding.

[@hi6575]

Bro is acting like gen z didn’t also grow up with fruitiger aero when I vividly remember this from my childhood

[@AysePuramu]

Same. Some people seem to think older gen Zs are like 12 when they're actually 27 lol

[@fuosdi64]

Gen Z runs from 1997-2012. A good portion of your generation did not grow up seeing this design language.

[@AysePuramu]

@@fuosdi64 It's noted that what we refer to as Frutiger Aero raised popularity in the late 90s and lost in around 2016/2017. This means the oldest of our generation was 20/21 years old when it ended, while the youngest was 4/5 (for myself I was 13/14), and this is enough time for most of the entire generation to remember and grow up with it and be nostalgic over it. I began using a PC when I was 2, that was in 2005, and I bet most gen Zs born in families who could afford a PC or tablet/smartphone spent a lot of time in front of a screen as well. I used Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 7, and on. What people forget is that most of us didn't start using internet now or only after we became teens, we were mostly basically born using PCs or for the kiddos, smartphones.

[@septanine5936]

I'm gen z but on the younger side (I'm 16) but I still remember this aesthetic. it was everywhere before the switch to minimalism

[@Amy_Angelitta]

​@@fuosdi64 it was still 2014-2015 when those designs still existed 💀 I even had a computer with that design, and my phone and tablet at the time had that design...what are u talking about??

[@cowonavuwus8758]

Gatekeeping nostalgia is the most millenial thing i’ve ever heard

[@user-is7xs1mr9y]

As a millennial, I agree and this guy is making us all look bad. He never stopped being a hipster.

[@vroomkaboom108]

I'm a Zillennial proudly keeping it alive and looking proudly on a new generation of gatekeepers 🙏

[@fabsmkowo5105]

I dont think that the designers who create the frutiger aero aestetic were trying to create that narrative about how the future betrayed us, but that narrative resonates with a lot of the zoomer generation and can generate new artistic ideas

[@humanbean7884]

The designers were trying to create a bright and optimistic view of the future, as the "end of history" was still fresh, and the millennium bug wasn't the apocalypse. Except for 9/11 shock that stirred up American jingoism, the decade until 2008 was really optimistic. That's why GenZ has that "lost future" feeling

[@thepagecollective]

No, they weren't. That said, the culture oozed with the promise that tech would remove the downside of nature, and enhance the upside, and a kurzweilian singularity just around the corner.

[@LilDinoGuy]

I think that’s very true. JJ saying that shifts in artists’ work and new aesthetics are driven by new artistic modalities/technologies feels super reductive. Art is absolutely influenced by culture and current events and values, even if it’s just in the reading of it.

[@sarougeau]

There is definitely merit to what JJ said. I remember being at Best Buy with my father in the mid 2000s to look at a plasma flatscreen TVs to replace the gargantuan 50" CRT we had. Every demo screen had nature videos so they could show you how vibrant and life like it looked. I vividly remember watching a video that looked like an aquarium tank with fish and thinking to myself "this looks just like real life." Crazy how that's not even a thought I'd have regularly anymore because it's the norm.

[@Zectifin]

literally how vaporwave works. dont hear him complaining about that though.

[@blpendragon4035]

JJ found the aesthetics wiki and was not pleased

[@Foogi9000]

Tbf it's kinda absurd how many Aesthetics are on there. Feels overbloated imo.

[@cloudirubez07]

“Old man yells at the clouds for 20 minutes and 25 seconds”

[@kemregik]

And on this episode of JJ Doesn't Get It™: Why modern schools of graphic design aren't real. JJ, I love you, but Frutiger Aero was a legitimate design movement that had wide reaching influence on many different industries including architecture and interior design. Your comments about why having to explain what the name Frutiger Aero means demonstrates its failure could be said about literally any design style with strange or silly names (Art Deco and Bauhaus come to mind). Also, being able to subdivide the style into more specific aesthetics is useful to narrow down the emotional impact of art composed in those styles. Having been exposed to far more diverse media over our lives, Gen Z attaches emotion to our nostalgia differently to Millennials, but that doesn't mean it's any less significant or valuable than yours.

[@ztl2505]

I agree with all of this and I’m particularly baffled by the claim of most design movements being value neutral, especially coming from someone who made an entire video on the ideological underpinnings of pre/post-modernism.

[@theyspeakofmagic2046]

can’t agree more with you

[@TurtleMarcus]

@@ztl2505 I don't read him as saying "most design movements are value neutral" - his point is more along the line that nostalgia itself is not inherently political. Trying to interpret a feeling about a particular style associated with a specific era as political statement or philosophy about the present is a misguided analysis. The more useful thing to do, would be to study the values and views of the style, and only then relate it to our present.

[@MisterM2402]

In what way do you mean Gen Z has "been exposed to far more diverse media"? Previous generations are still alive and being exposed to the same media Gen Z is.

[@kemregik]

@@MisterM2402 Gen Z has had exposure to the Internet from birth, meaning they began their lives with the highest density of media exposure throughout our lives compared to the previous generation, which in turn had a higher exposure than the generation previous. Internet > Mass and Media > Traditional Media

[@dotdotdot1000]

I think you're too harsh on this. Literally the same thing as vaporwave which I've never seen you disapprove of.

[@benjaminwatt2436]

the harsh title is a gimmick, but he's overall point seems reasonable

[@gravityissues5210]

GenXer here. Screw all this fake nostalgia crap. I lived these decades; they weren’t that great.

[@aclstudios]

@@gravityissues5210 Loved or lived?

[@gravityissues5210]

@@aclstudios yeah, lived; typos galore. The only thing I miss about the past is the Blackberry keyboard. Seriously, I despise typing on smart phone touch screens.

[@user-sr3xe5vj4i]

That's not what the word literally means.

[@ianbirchfield5124]

god forbid gen-z be nostalgic about something!

[@cara-setun]

I’m curious about what JJ thinks zoomers *should* be nostalgic about

[@danizanzibar4344]

why yearn for something if you (genZ) are shit and all their "thing"s are shit too

[@you-hype-child5104]

@cara-setun Idk, but as a Zoomer (2006), some of my nostalgia is for Skylanders, Zool Pals, Club Penguin, Animal Jam, the Ice Bucket Challenge, and old Minecraft KZbinrs. Stuff like that.

[@bordertownmex8810]

Bro just let us remember and enjoy the good parts of our lives and some of our childhoods

[@lanzalgarme]

Welp, it’s real. JJ McCullough mentions Frutiger Aero.

[@dhendable]

I get the sense that he didn't really enjoy having to say those words so many times in one day lol

[@thelyonking5812]

I’m Gen Z and was so confused by the title. I have no idea what Frutiger Aero means as a term, but as soon as I saw the aesthetic I instantly knew it and was nostalgic for it. I just thought if it as the Wii/DS aesthetic since that was where I remember it from the most. I definitely have noticed an uptick in nostalgia among people my age. All my friends and I have been playing late 2000s/early 2010s pop hits that we grew up listening to and we all talk about the Wii and older Xbox games. Stuff like beyblades has seen a big resurgence among people my age too. There is also a lot of nostalgia for the mid 2010s era of SoundCloud music that dominated while we were in middle school (I was born in 2004).

[@JlMMEY]

Wii/DS is Technozen not Frutiger Aero

[@thelyonking5812]

@@JlMMEY man I don’t know all these labels and shit. This is exactly what JJ was saying is wrong with us🤦‍♂️

[@jumpvelocity3953]

Isn’t it crazy that our generation has porn stars now, it feels like yesterday when I was clicking “I’m 18” and feeling devious

[@jumpvelocity3953]

@@JlMMEYis this troll or nah 😂

[@heinrichagrippa5681]

@@jumpvelocity3953 Just wait, I promise you it will feel even weirder and more surreal a few years from now when you suddenly realize the little gen-alpha kids are walking, talking, grown-ass adults in the workplace who fondly remember those really old PS5 and Nintendo Switch games from their childhood. You'll stand there confused thinking "Wait, but that's... that's not old. That wasn't even that long ago. Wasn't that just like... last year or something? How were you a child such a short time ago? How the hell is the stuff you're nostalgic about so... _recent?"_ Then you'll finally understand how I feel when people, despite being adults, tell me their childhood game was Minecraft. Not Monkey Island or Mario 3, but freaking _Minecraft._

[@Anthony-rb8ib]

I dont know how he can say that 80s and 90s nostalgia has never been outright politicized. Vaporwave itself, the whole genre, started as a criticism of hyper consumerism

[@user-tp8ut7cs6j]

Exactly what I was thinking. Every criticism that he offers can be applied to Vaporwave. I have yet to hear him make the same complaints about Vaporwave, an aesthetic that he obviously feels strongly for. Vaporwave started out as a form of cultural critique and was influenced by Mark Fisher and Derrida's concepts of hauntology and lost futures. Also, he ignores the fact that corporate marketing teams and designers don't create designs without an embedded message. Frutiger Aero was meant to calm people's anxieties about artificiality and big tech's rise to power. It was geared toward older people who were ambivalent about new technology more so than younger demographic groups. Design is visual marketing and if it doesn't have some kind of call-to-action or promise of utopia, it won't resonate with the public. Design is a mirror of the desires of the public that it's catered to, which makes it's inherently political, even if that political message isn't consciously realized. Also, all someone needs to do is google Vaporwave subgenres to see how many inane subcategories the aesthetic has. The need to categorize everything into smaller and smaller units started with Millennials and it has more to do with the way search algorithms function than some flaw in the mindset of a certain generation. I'm not even a Zoomer but I feel the need to defend them when people start doing this kind of thing to them. As a Millennial, I'm acutely aware of being blamed for all the things that have happened as the result of the actions of previous generations by people from those very same generational groups. The Boomers did it us and now we're starting to do it to the new guys on the scene. I think this is a kind of reaction to a feeling of anxiety people feel when they realize they're not young anymore. We become nostalgic and talk about how everything was soooo much better when we were the newer, younger and cooler generation. This need to feel that the grass was always greener 20 years ago is a "we" problem, not a "them" problem. Let's all try to break the cycle and not become just like the Boomers. I have no problem with nostalgia, as long was we appreciate it for what it is and realize it's not an accurate picture of the past. Nostalgia is not reality, it's heavily biased and you can be aware of that fact and still enjoy it.

[@jakeystarsuper]

I am truly sorry i don’t understand your title of gen z “trying to be nostalgic?” Excuse me what do you mean trying? Do you not think that gen z is old enough to be nostalgic? Sound like you’re gatekeepering. I am gen z almost 25 and nostalgic for a lot of things. Frugtiger Aero geels like its supposed to be build on fun, comforting and down to earth. I am gen z almost 25 and nostalgic for a lot of things. A perfect blend of technology and nature. Thats what makes it so appealing. So what if its not realistically accurate its supposed to be fun. Im not about to have some Millennial tell me otherwise

[@AysePuramu]

I just turned 21 today and I couldn't agree more. As a kid I grew up with my cousin and her older sister who is a millennial, and I remember her and her friends were all nostalgic over 90s stuff back in the early 2010s when she was an older teenager. I remember Gen Xers from my parent's age saying millennials couldn't be nostalgic for 90s stuff that time because they were children and that bugged me. Why does it matter to older people what youngsters are nostalgic for? You can only be nostalgic when you're like, 40? As a 13yo or so I couldn't understand the concept of "90s nostalgia" my millennial cousins and other people their age used to talk about, but since I became a little older, I began to understand, and now in my 20s, I totally understand.

[@biji8427]

The past is now old man!

[@darubicon1501]

I think the point is that, at least from a Boomer point of view, is that the future isn't new!

[@noahfenech3369]

The past is now young man

[@kalinkamalinka4333]

as part of Gen Z myself, I feel like we're a very nostalgic and sentimental generation in general. But specifically with fruitger aero, I think it comes from how we "grew up" fast and were exposed to adult things very young, so now we cling to anything that represents a sense of innocence before our unrestricted internet access. Things like fruitger aero provide a sort of romanticized view of the internet, not that the items in fruitger aero themselves are "hopeful" or "optimistic", but that our views at the time of seeing them were, if that makes sense. It's not the images or the creation of the images that represents the aesthetic, it's the context in which we consumed them, as optimistic kids ourselves.

[@yonizaslavsky4246]

So true, I never thought about it but my whole life i felt that I was either learning things earlier then I should or later then everyone else

[@RealJuiceWrld]

MY generation is SPECIAL because we were exposed to things at a young age! Other generations are DIFFERENT!!

[@JustAManFromThePast]

I don't know how Gen-Z can be characterized as growing up quickly. No teenager in the US has worried about being drafted since the 1970s. If anything the more recent generation are the first the never had to stop doing what they did as kids. Spongebob, the Simpsons, etc., are still on the air.

[@Copperkaiju]

​@@JustAManFromThePastThis is true to an extent but to be fair the newest generations have to worry about at least a few things older generations didn't. For example I think younger people don't feel as safe in schools nowadays due to a variety of reasons.

[@JustAManFromThePast]

​@@Copperkaiju ​ @Copperkaiju I think the greatest detriment to the younger generation is the lack of hope in a better future, probably appropriate for our times. People care about how they're moving, not where they are. If you woke up tomorrow with 50 million bucks you'd be overjoyed, unless you were a billionaire, then you'd be suicidal. An unprecedented and impossible to replicate historic run made almost everything better for most people, at least in the West, from 1870 to 1970. Not only did you go from hot-air balloons to men on the moon, the homes of the average person became filled with devices that would have gotten them hanged for witchcraft in Salem a few centuries before, things we wouldn't even want to try to live without: vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators, central heating, air conditioning, running hot and cold water, let alone TVs and radios, then VCRs and DVD players. Women, racial and sexual minorities saw honest to God remarkable progress in their own lifetimes. With the election of Obama a lot of that low hanging fruit was gone. We had our black president, gay marriage is law. Everything after this is getting at margins, in culture and technology, much more work for much less gain.

[@NATT441]

Zoomers: pokeemon yeee JJ: I'm a Millennial so I don't believe in labels.

[@trav8694]

don’t make it other peoples’ problem that you don’t understand things lol

[@tylerhackner9731]

As a gen z myself, I only see this in certain spaces anyway. No one I know irl knows or cares. I wouldn’t necessarily be nostalgic over it. There’s plenty of media that came out of the latter half of the 2000s and early 2010s that I am nostalgic over, and I liked seeing those designs as a kid. But most of my nostalgia is not purely aesthetic driven.

[@RealMacJones]

fr, I'm way more nostalgic for the shitty color grading of the early 2000's films than any OS aesthetic.

[@sanjarsocool]

it’s the connection to that time that’s visualized as an aesthetic

[@circleinforthecube5170]

@@RealMacJones brian eno stated something about that, the flaws of a technology becoming memorable and nostalgic

[@Sauce787]

Is every generation doomed to forget what it was like to be young? Kids in the 90s did the same thing with their hyper specific sub cultutes and music genres. A lot of these "zoomer" classifications were originally coined by millenials and gen x.

[@annwn.]

Yep, this is true. The term "Frutiger Aero" was coined by the CARI (Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute) and most of their members are adults and not Gen Z.

[@AwesomeYena]

​@@annwn.Um, some Gen Z are adults now.

[@Aaronnoraator]

I think that categorizing aesthetics is pretty inconsequential. It's nice to have a name for a style that you see every now and then

[@stephenbenner4353]

I don’t think we’ve forced Hollywood into remaking anything. They’ve just somehow lost the ability to make anything new.

[@KrazyKaiser]

This 100% IDK how we could "force" Hollywood to do anything. They do whatever the fuck makes them money.

[@adamvince5652]

It's because they know millennials will bite.

[@Foogi9000]

No but think about how many people go to see those remakes. Disney is the perfect example. As long as people keep supporting these practices with their money nothing will change.

[@cara-setun]

If remakes flopped from the get-go, Hollywood wouldn’t have kept making them

[@willg9106]

I don't see why you can't both categorise and appreciate as a whole to a certain extent.

[@cara-setun]

Exactly “If you break nostalgia up into tons of micro-labels, you can’t appreciate it” why?

[@nandishhiremath1439]

I am kind of lost how can you appreciate somthing "whole" but to an extent, when you classifying something you are separating one thing from another. and also appreshateing something "whole" but to an extent is not possible because literally "whole" means every part or everything of something and to an extent is up to some part of something. I hope I am making sense sorry about this, did not meen to be rood or anything. (sun)

[@cara-setun]

@@nandishhiremath1439 can a doctor appreciate a human body even though she classifies different parts? Can someone appreciate their country even though the country is made of different provinces?

[@jumpvelocity3953]

@@cara-setunnobody appreciates America because of the history and culture of Hummingdinger Arizona along with the other few hundred thousand towns in the country, which is a more analogous example.

[@cara-setun]

@@jumpvelocity3953 not really? No one is claiming Frutiger Aero is the entirety of Gen Z nostalgia

[@ethancotton9978]

Hi JJ love your videos. Early Zillenial here. Unfortunately I think you're a little off base with this one. All sorts of specific aesthetics and design trends were broken into different strata by designers of the 20th century too. Art Deco alone has many ultra specific spinoffs and styles like streamline moderne and googie. Categorization and overcategorization are just components if how humans think. We like recognizing patterns.

[@weplayaj509]

Good take !

[@shan4364]

Look I’m gonna be honest, I don’t vibe with this one JJ. I love your videos, as have I loved this one however, the need to categorise aesthetics is sort of born from the archival nature of the internet is it not? I think names grant access to a specific type of subject, one that encodes a certain feeling not akin to those found using more broad strokes. For example, we can say “I like metal” but you can also say “I like Finish gothic Black Metal” (metal heads please don’t kill me, I love you dearly.) The first example is said to someone who may not be as familiar with you or this fact while the more specific option could be said to someone who is also familiar with the genre of metal music. By giving names to “cores” and aesthetics we can communicate more effectively the visual and feeling we are trying to describe. We can rag on them but Gen Z have an amazing knack for navigating the infinite archive of the internet and gathering information. They can very easily create mood boards, places of discussion and also contribute to these aesthetics that then dominate advertising campaigns, clothing and even promote a way of thinking that applies itself to the real world. I do appreciate the time and effort you put into your videos. I am an avid watcher of your channel and having a Canadian partner myself, I am able to relate to topics he has mentioned when talking about his home country. That’s all I have to say really, if you see this (doubtful) all the best wishes from your many European viewers :)

[@elmomierz]

your example sidesteps something that JJ mentions in the video. As someone who knows little about metal music, the phrase “Finnish black gothic metal” still gives me enough information to have a pretty good idea of what you’re talking about. “frutiger aero” does not do this. The phrase is completely uninformative, and like he says “2000s era shopping mall aesthetic” DOES provide the listener with adequate context. Most of the commenters talking about this point are actually just considering search engine optimization, and the fact that “frutiger aero” is searchable. But this isn’t very insightful. It’s searchable because it’s the name that chosen, not the other way around.

[@shan4364]

@@elmomierz I understand what you are saying, but I have to ask you about your opinion on trends. Not everything starts with a name; Art nuevo is the vaguest term at its inception. “New Art”. What does that even mean? Anything created now is new art but we understand now that new art referred to a specific movement. I’m fumbling but do you kind of get what I’m trying to say?

[@elmomierz]

@@shan4364 it’s beginning to sound like we agree that the name is bad. We can argue over whether or not it’s anyone’s fault, but it seems that at least you’ve admitted that these trends don’t always have good names.

[@casualcadaver]

You guys realize this is how language evolves right? You make some sounds with your mouth or scribble some shapes onto paper and if enough people understand what you are trying to convey then it becomes as real as any other word.

[@AnthonyGalli]

I lol’ed at the politicization of it. THIS IS WHAT THEY TOOK FROM US {points to screensaver}!

[@vincentsvirtues4172]

Zoomers will make anything political

[@lajya01]

Boomers and millennials were promised flying cars and tourist trips to the moon. I've never seen them going on a political rant when it didn't happen.

[@judgesaturn507]

'We used to be a country. A proper country.' (Windows XP default wallpaper)

[@humanbean7884]

​@@judgesaturn507"I have a dream!" (nice grassy hill with wind turbine, bubbles and dolphins) In all seriousness though, I get what they mean. 00's zeitgeist was optimistic and with hope for the future, it never delivered.

[@stevethepocket]

@@humanbean7884 I feel like you can find false optimism in the aesthetics of almost any era if you go looking for it. I myself remember the 2000s being a deeply cynical time because everyone I knew was focusing on the geopolitical situation, in contrast to the "end of history" of the '90s where the Cold War was over and the economy was booming. So you had the emo and edgelord subcultures dominating the online space. But anything aimed at gen-Xers during the actual '90s was also deeply cynical, focusing on the aftermath of the Reagan era and holding up every negative current event as a sign that we'd just traded one hell for another.

[@MrMike855]

A good example of "it's not that deep". Sure, as someone born in 1996, the style does make me nostalgic, but Occam's razor seems to apply here.

[@kphaxx]

"Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity" 🤔

[@fuosdi64]

You aren't Gen Z, lol.

[@boogers69420]

@@fuosdi64he’s edging on it though

[@fuosdi64]

@@boogers69420 So? It's still not considered Gen Z lol. Their experience is going to be Millennial.

[@grav3yardshawty]

@@fuosdi64that logic doesn’t make any sense

[@LightDontShinee]

Even being Raised in Mexico for the first 12 years of my life, i can even say we Went through this Frutiger Aero Nostalgia, it irritates me that i have heard people say the early 2000s didn't have the nostalgia the 80s or 90s brought, but as someone who wasn't allowed to get out of home at a young age, and I would submerge myself into my computer for Hours at a time, I can assure you that I can remember when i would have vivid dreams of this Futuristic warm future feeling the themes of Microsoft and even early 2000s phones would bring, before I even knew what an asthetic was or before I knew how to even describe it. There wasnt a lot of money in our house hold but all i wanted was a computer to play those Flash Games Cartoon Network advertised all over on TV in the early 2000s, i can clearly remember when i was trying to navigate the slow Internet we had back in the day. Good times

[@nardo218]

turning 40 means shit that happened 10 years ago isn't nostalgia. that just happened like .. a minute ago.

[@justinbell7309]

J.J. being a boomer trapped in a millennial's body is my favorite genre of his videos.

[@mohhie]

an attitude towards nostalgia cant be right or wrong, it just IS and this gives us a more valuable lesson about the z gen

[@matturner6890]

what would that lesson be?

[@mohhie]

@@matturner6890 hmm tbh i dont know but id love to listen to someone smarter than me talking about it

[@Sanguinello0s]

As a Gen Z myself, I think why we like the fruitger aero aesthetic so much is because we finally have something to be nostalgic about, instead of being called “too young” to be nostalgic for anything, we’re just trying to cling onto our childhood as much as possible.

[@CM-di1oz]

this kinda feels like how boomers would react to vaporwave, you can’t argue that it’s not a hyper specific exaggerated astetic od 80s neon colors and Greece architecture for some reason. That also has all its like off shoots of outrun and synthwave with constant infighting which basically has all the same flaws as thoese you pose to AF. I love futiger aero as a concept and aesthetic, but I honestly I relate more to vaporwave in like a meta sense almost, I’m a middle/late zoomer. I’m 18, an adult now as apposed to the zoomer limits of 12 and 27 who would have a drastically different experience. Also I had internet from a young age so to me vaporwave is disconnected from the true 80’s to me it reminds me of the early 2010’s era of the internet and that’s what I’m nostalgic for. Also as for the like “political message” I think it’s not unique really like boomers have 50’s Americana with heavy conservativestism and generally vaporwave is considered a semi satarical anti consumerism aesthetic. I don’t think that the companies makeing futiger aero designs had the environment in Mind but for me I think it really represents one of the last times that tech had unique aesthetics. The skewmorphism of early iOS or windows 7 they where fun and unique as apposed to the modern simplistic aesthetics design Trends it feels like it had artists who enjoyed makeing it. And I think the modern tendency for purely utilitarian UI and design is why zoomer have such an obsession with “aesthetic” as an abstract idea. We want something that feels human in a world where we everyone feels more and more alone. We want to rember an internet of expression and connection not the current one of corporation and isolation. God this comment is too long

[@spacepanda584]

Regardless of whether Gen Z is really more prone to hyper-categorizing concepts into smaller and smaller subcategories, I don’t see how that objectively encourages gatekeeping or minimalization. You can easily label multiple different aesthetics while still recognizing their similarities and how they can heavily overlap one another, or even fall within larger, more encompassing genre umbrellas. Even JJ admits that Millennial vibes like Vaporwave or Synthwave can be further broken down into further subgenres and this presumably doesn’t have a negative affect on their greater nostalgic aesthetic, it feels weird that he thinks this is fine but when Zoomers do the same thing suddenly it’s “narrowminded” or “limited”. Also how can we be too fixated on categorization, but also trying to “broaden the term” to include “unrelated themes” at the same time? Are we really the ones being nitpicky here?

[@cabinessence_timely_hello]

just watch his Vaporwave video man, he is not bashing people for categorising stuff, just for pretending the categories are the set on stone things they are claimed to be, instead of a small part of a bigger thing

[@soloheroina]

as a gen z, i agree w this 100%. i felt very confused with what point this was trying to make. to me the hypercategorization serves to give names to and appreciate the smaller aspects of a whole. to say that it somehow stifles our appreciation is incongruent to me

[@DaDARKPass]

Ok, but genuinely, the the shiny stuff and gradients and blues and transparents and all that stuff from the 2000s looks a billion times better than the terrible 2010s and 2020s artstyles of everything. Like, people complain about the "corporate" artstyles, but that stuff is literally everywhere, not just in corporate messaging.

[@gigglypink]

Old man yells at cloud. I am a millennial and am happy Gen Z has their own vaporwave.

[@user-is7xs1mr9y]

Me too. I'm a young millennial though so I was still a kid in the early 2000s. I love both Vaporwave and Frutiger Aero.

[@user-is7xs1mr9y]

As a millennial, I don't claim this guy. Congrats dude, you've become the boomer.

[@boogers69420]

lol right

[@elmike-o5290]

I was born in 1968. Everything about this video is utterly incomprehensible to me. I will now go off to a cabin in the woods. Good night and God bless.

[@heinrichagrippa5681]

Don't worry, us millennials are marching ever closer to that same inevitable destination with each passing year. So, assuming you're still alive then, you won't be alone.

[@AwesomeYena]

You're around the same age as my dad [I'm not insulting you or anything]

[@AslanKyoya1776]

1994 baby here, I was in junior high when Frutiger Aero began and ended high school at its end. I never knew how popular this would become in the realm of nostalgia, and now I kind of miss it being the default aesthetic.

[@Roverfan24]

This video is actually awful. He makes like 1 point in the entire video and then for the rest of it he rambles on about how gen Z "just wants to be nostalgic". He LITERALLY AGREES that the aesthetic was popular in the late 2000's and early 2010's, so he refutes that one point he made. Just generally a badly put together video

[@TwilightLimits-sk7kn]

Hollywood is looking back to the 80's and 90's for remakes/sequels. The music industry is looking back to the 80's, 90's and 00's to "sample" other music. And now computer software designers are looking back to the early 00's for aesthetics. I wonder what these industries will look like in 20, 30 or 40 years from now

[@themacamorefarmer7880]

it doesn't look great

[@MRSYSTEM96]

@@themacamorefarmer7880 100% agree

[@funeralfriend4527]

they will be nostalgic for nostalgia

[@Viraus2]

This all kind of reminds of how zoomers imagine the 80s looked like vaporwave, miami vice, and taco bell, when it actually looked like grandma's house more often than not

[@ryanjacobson2508]

At the tail end of a decade, we tend to see a very exaggerated version of that decade's aesthetics in some (and I stress some, not all) of the graphic design, car aesthetics, and architecture/interior design etc. There definitely has never been a decade where EVERYTHING looked a particular way.

[@adamlam9600]

And now some in gen z remember 2009 as glowing, sunny, happy meadows blessed by the Windows XP and Nintendo Wii gods. Whereas if you asked me to name something i'm nostalgic for from 2009 i'd say, hey remember that white packaging theme that McDonald's used, that looked pretty nice

[@burtburtist]

i still miss grandmas house though, you right tho hyper exaggeration is just trendy af rn

[@monkeytube138]

Yup. The 80s was wood paneling, ashtrays, and white doilies.

[@circleinforthecube5170]

grandmas house had a lot more architectural character than bland minamalist interior design

[@adanactnomew7085]

I think JJ doesnt get that aesthetics have become their own subculture. Its not just "2000s era UI", its the broad aesthetic that itself is a culture. In the past, most subcultures only had aesthetics as a by-product, but it wasnt the main thing the subculture was based upon. Punk has a look, but its mostly based around music and politics. In current times though, a lot of subcultures have sprouted out, probably because of Tiktok, that are almot entirely based on aesthetics, like Cottagecore, or Dark Academia. The aesthetic itsrlf is the subculture.

[@cobracommanda]

Agreed. Previous generations' cultures were defined more by music/art/fashion/design: i.e. Grunge, Memphis, Woodstock, Art Deco, Jazz, Bauhaus, etc. I think that the current focus on aesthetics might have something to do with the ubiquity of computers.

[@hypnotixyt]

I feel like I'm getting reprimanded by my dad

[@evilomskbird]

for real tho lol

[@xythrr]

I really dont think you can reasonably call it fake. There are fans of it, like I, who have been nostalgiac before its major burst in popularity - granted, most people just called it 'aero', because windows.

[@pokemongeek10000000]

I really dislike the fact people my age are all about making labels and then proceededs to tell people those labels shouldn't matter. Like if you're gonna sort and label everything then just admit it.

[@insertnamehere3106]

Why do we do this? Is this something the Gen X and Boomers dealt with?

[@fernpelt54]

@@insertnamehere3106short answer is yes, every generation does this to some extent or in some realm as a way to make sense of the world. the world just is more global now with all kinds of visuals, arts, musics, etc available to us at any time, hence niche genres, aesthetics, and just about anything else that can be categorized

[@matthewmangan6251]

I think documenting aesthetics is a cool concept, and I could definitely see autism as a factor If someone finds it annoying, then ignore it

[@Bo_539]

I mean could it be that some people your age make the labels then others your age don’t think labels matter

[@evanthesquirrel]

Fetch isn't a thing

[@DE-GEN-ART]

it gives "get off my lawn"

[@dooba1234]

Im so so sorry for finding joy in things

[@brookelynnhirsch3458]

wasnt the term named by graphic designers to describe a graphic design trend from the early 2000s? Not just arbitrarily named by gen z

[@annwn.]

Yeah. Frutiger Aero was coined by the "CARI" (Consumer Aesthetics Research Institution), and most of their members as far as I know are adults

[@DJ_BL00DJEMZ]

The name of the graphic designer is Adrian frutiger

[@EmpireAntz]

I get that it might seem a bit excesive and hence annoying to you that all of these sub-categorazations keep being added to the Frutiger Aero family, but to me they're as necessary as music subgenres are. Let's say that you wanna listen to rock music, but not just something stereotypical of our general notion of rock music like AC/DC or Led Zeppelin; sometimes you might wanna go more into a psychedelic path with bands like Pink Floyd or a progressive one with King Crimson. For people searching for visual aesthetics of the mid 00's to early 2010's it's more or less the same: a couple of years prior it would've been quite hard to find a specific sub-branch of images you remember from your childhood, put that in contrast to today with all of these new nomenclatures and it's a breeze.

[@TacSprint]

Being born in the first year to be considered gen Z (1997), I'm in this weird position where I can relate on some level to both generations, but more so the latter end of the millennials. Frustrating that people tend to associate gen Z with being kids when I've been an adult for a while now lol

[@Material_Monkey]

I always thougt, that gen z "ended" in the late 00s and people after that where "gen alpha". Most gen z people are already studying or already have a job

[@The-rp6do]

As someone who was also born in 1997 I agree, we’re approaching 30

[@onewingedangel9189]

We're almost all adults at this point.

[@serebii666]

@@Material_Monkey The generally agreed end is 2010-12 for Gen Z. But I'd argue society is already aware of Gen Z's entry into adulthood. We haven't seen many of those awful op-ed articles about Millenials "killing" XYZ industry in a while, and the "insufferable young person" dunking has shifted to Gen Z (and to an extent Gen Alpha) too. Millenials are now reaching middle age as Gen X were near 2 decades ago, which also informs all the recent media rebooting and focusing on the early 2000s, this video included. That basically mirrors the 2000s and their interest in 1980s media, like Freaks and Geeks at the beginning of the decade and Teen Wolf at the end.

[@key-chain]

I've heard "zillenial" for your type

[@PC_-nz8kf]

This guy is in my nightmare blunt rotation

[@YodaVSjesus]

Boy said it was fake nostagia because he was "too old for the 2000s" also searching 2000s aesthetic will not find the specific frutiger aero stuff. Millienials ruin everything lol.

[@DanideLouro]

Despite agreeing with the "turning everything into a Pokemón" thing, I think our generation should define our own nostalgia in our own way. If we percive these design trends as niche aestethics that symbolize a utopic, eco-friendly and high-tech future, we should define them as such. That's one more for the list of "I like this guy but I totally disagree here" videos.

[@JlMMEY]

Gen Zers dont want to hear it, but really the majority of them are more familiar with post2010 flat minimalism than anything from the 00s. You need to get on that before the Gen Alphas claim it

[@DanideLouro]

@@JlMMEY No? I was born in 2007 and I spent my childhood in a Windows 7 notebook and a Xbox 360. Maybe being poor helped.

[@cosmiccentaur]

​@JlMMEY not really? Older Gen Z would've been around 10-12 by the end of the decade. I feel like that's a pretty good age to recognize and remember designs and general culture from the late 00s enough to feel nostalgic towards them. I mean, at least that's the case with me.

[@kingcoveryepic]

@@DanideLouro2007 kids w Windows 7 gang rise up!

[@Amy_Angelitta]

​@@JlMMEY not really. These designs are from 2016, before that, they were more detailed and realistic

[@arcanehighlighter6780]

As a Zoomer I’ve always felt that the *second* a design aesthetic or new philosophical concept gets named, it’s already one foot in the grave. We get bound by the name we assign it, and before you can have an original thought on the interesting idea, it’s been dragged through the mud of the algorithm. People are too quick to jump to making video essays; the vibe dies once it becomes a household word

[@glockenspiel266]

Hard agree, i never knew how to put into words why i felt weird about needlessly specific labels for oddly specific design styles or """aesthetics"""

[@tristenm1526]

Yea, I think the internet has a problem with oversaturation. Because info can move so fast here, and as you see the same things everywhere all the time, they become less fresh and distinct. As people define their entire identity by them and over-categorize them, they become weighed down by a bunch of baggage and can't stand on their own as aesthetics anymore. And as they're used by people who lack the talent that originally made those things appealing, or who just get off on the absurdity and trendiness of it all, they become a crutch for their personality. I don't think it's unavoidable, there must be ways to spread ideas which are less obnoxious. But there's a particular way that people discuss and present their interests online that just seems so annoying and overbearing for some reason. I can't put my finger on why, exactly, so maybe I'm just being a contrarian "le wrong generation" type of guy, but it's definitely there. And now I sound like a grumpy old man...

[@mattregan366]

No I understand you. There's something that just feels so draining about it all. I still think it's cool that people want to categorize things and form subgroups of subgroups (maybe just from a history/preservation perspective), but there's a point where it goes just way too far and saps out any fun from it all. I can maybe understand if a very niche genre gets born out of a very specific region of the world, but in the case of the internet, there is no specific location. A piece of art can be categorized as one specific -core, and then you change one little element of it, then suddenly it's a different -core. That just feels weird doesn't it?

[@thecluckster3908]

I think this happened to the word “liminal” as well as liminal spaces. It’s become so over saturated that what made it originally appealing is pretty much gone.

[@SilverHusky]

It's a post mortem name. Aero died when "Metro" was the theme for Windows 8, Windows phone, and Xbox, and the nature with tech graphics is no longer used. If people do want to make art reminiscent of the nostalgia, wouldn't having boundaries help in keeping it consistent? I don't quite get your point.

[@douglassreads]

Friend, you're not even saying anything with this one. You acknowledge the existence of whatever the hell this is, while also disagreeing with it because you want a broader picture of the timeframe (for what reason?). What does it mean that you don't want to "chop up an aesthetic" especially while you sit in front of a seminal vaporwave record? Sadly, it's just pretentious wordsmithing with this kind of person.

[@collidingwithmars]

if mallsoft is real then why not frutiger aero mr mccanada

[@RemnantCult]

Exactly.

[@wishbonefan]

Please tell me this is an april fools joke

[@Braxs-K]

Yes... 😮

[@JoelDZ]

I think the problem you're finding is less that people want to label parts of their nostalgia, but more that smaller video essayists have a tendency to shoehorn in shallow political commentary to justify their videos existing. Nothing wrong with being excited to talk about a particular aesthetic, but it's sophomoric to try and turn them into these grand narratives about capitalism and climate change.

[@nandishhiremath1439]

Thanks for the new word "sophomoric " I knew what this was but I did not know this was the word.

[@Subzearo]

But those things are related. It just sounds like you're a coward that just wants to bury your head in the sand.

[@pointillism252]

I have to disagree that the video essayists are trying to have "political" commentary, only one of them in the clips shown talked about climate change, with the rest expressing what they thought they aesthetic expressed

[@JoelDZ]

@@Subzearo You can connect just about anything to capitalism or other grand narratives, but the way these people do it is inevitably shallow and poorly supported. If you want to make a grand point about a cultural trend of tech optimism you need more support than just a niche design style or it ends up being empty. It's elevating Frutiger Aero to be the main representative of something it was only a minor symptom of.

[@bibichillieblue]

Half agree with what you say. If the political commentary is relevant to the aesthetic, then it’s not dumb to talk about it. Every aesthetic exist for some reason, and sometimes economic conditions, pop culture are at the center of it. Some people have some interesting stuff to say about it, but of course not everyone.

[@stephanieee1953]

pack it up folks, our generation isn’t allowed to feel nostalgic apparently!

[@gabrielleraul488]

As an elder millennial i just call it the glossy aesthetics ..

[@ManVsMachineProductions]

I think you may have missed the mark on this one unfortunately, though this kind of fanaticism over aesthetic 'lore' is not something I partake in, I see it as a communal activity that is good for this generation, I don't think its an exclusionary thing to chop it up, merely by doing so I think it provides a easier way for young people to define and then discuss and create in those styles, I'd say that by merely calling it the '2000's aesthetic', you would be depriving the opportunity for lots of young people to create interesting things for each other, and how is that not a good thing? I think you may be seeing this level of fanaticism as something of a symptom of this generation's internet obsession, but I think it is unfair for a generation which was (involuntarily) raised in large part by the internet to then use the internet in this way, to me this comes across as someone a bit older misunderstanding a new social phenomenon as some kind of crisis, Though I agree that intenet-fuelled isolation and obsessiveness are issues with our current youth, this is an outlet of that which doesn't see any real harm and is not a good use of time to try to discredit.

[@juliac6256]

yeah i agree, not gonna lie he is definitely acting like this is some type of problem when it’s not. like idk man i think its just the first generation of smart phone kids just like…becoming adults and trying to remember stuff from their youth (as every generation has done). obviously that experience for early gen z is very different than his as a millennial so i just think he doesn’t really understand

[@Neymarinet]

I would say the problem isn't so much frutiger aero being a faux nostalgia genre but more of how gen z can not stand to let things with slight differences remain grouped under the same banner. All of those "-cores" mentioned during the super monkey ball segment remind me a lot of the hyper balkanization of music genres or language family trees and in turn their experts who nitpick those things endlessly

[@Neymarinet]

also people trying to tie frutiger aero into political themes is insane. everyone i knew growing up living through frutiger aero did not think of a cool futuristic and green world because of it, we just liked how it looked. maybe terminally online people are retroactively looking at it like that, but we got joy out of how cool it appeared rather than making us hopeful for anything

[@jOoomOooo]

@@Neymarinet you forget the insane amount of off shoots of vaporwave from the 2010s seapunk pastel goth etc

[@buttershy_]

totally agree, i'm sick of everything having to fit neatly in a labelled box

[@D.S.handle]

What is the problem with more specific categorization of thing though?

[@guaposneeze]

I guess there's nothing wrong with the instinct to "make everything a pokemon." But yeah, I think it's really easy to miss the fact that modern classifications didn't exist at the time. It's not like Z'ers invented it. Most people imagine history being a lot tidier and more purposeful than it actually was. The past was not trying to build something for us to study, they were just kida gettin' through the day, by and large. The events in history books all just "seemed like a good idea at the time." Nobody knew they were living through one of the periods that historians would later decide is where one chapter ended and the next began.

[@computer59]

Now i remember why i hit the do not recommend button for your channel

[@komi4231]

this video is so genuinely filled with seethe its actually insane

[@jOoomOooo]

i feel like this is really contradictory when you literally THE vaporwave album in the background. you need an explanation for it. Frutiger Aero is just a subsect of the Y2K aesthetic. you are really sounding like boomer here more than usual.

[@eggdar.mp4214]

I love watching other generations be confused about other generations

[@RunningP123456]

Dude, you're literally standing in front of the Macintosh plus vaporwave album........

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Yeah he’s an idiot! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️