why every tech company uses this art style

Does corporate art really deserve the hate? Here's how big tech art became the ukelele music of the design world. Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get up to 65% OFF your subscription ▶️ HERE: go.babbel.com/1200m65-youtube...
Why does the internet loves to hate corporate art? Why is corporate illustration so popular? What's next after corporate memphis? We talk about the dark side of corporate memphis - what it represents and answer these questions.
How do you feel about corporate art?
Links to references for illustrations that I could find:
dribbble.com/tranmautritam
blog.tubikstudio.com/digital-...
Timestamps
00:00 - the origins of big tech art
02:20 - happy art in unhappy times
04:20 - is blue skin diverse
06:10 - homogeny
07:30 - what's next for corporate art?
• • • • • • • • • • •
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INTRO ARTIST
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[@newsilverware5299]

Oh dang the part about the corporations trying to not offend anyone but instead they just end up being inclusive to nobody? Makes me think harder than I normally do.

[@itsdivyag]

that last sentence is such a mood

[@two-headedcalf342]

i kinda like this style of art by itself but the problem is that i almost only see it in ads and corporate products which means that i connect it to being an ad or a boring product so when i see this kind of art i just feel the same emotions i do when i see an ad which is nothing.

[@itsdivyag]

yeah I feel like it's one of those by association things

[@oliviasommerville4733]

totally agree! where I live (Midwestern America lol) we’re kinda behind on trends so when I first saw art like this I thought “oh that’s cute” and now it’s everywhere 😭😭

[@Hopning]

The game you showed (Going Under) works super well with this style though, mostly because it is a satire of modern corporations and their culture so them using this style fits that super well

[@itsdivyag]

yess I personally love it too

[@mansi3420]

"nothing says representation like representing no one." 💀😂

[@sleepyowlsleeps]

"the ed sheeran of the illustration world" is the best thing I've heard all week

[@TheOnlyPink]

My company uses this art and they don’t realize how horrendous it is for our marketing 😅

[@jmrabinez9254]

1.- And how is that horrendous to the marketing of your company? 2.- Which art style would you propose to your company? 3.- And why don't you propose to them a different art style?

[@katharineeavan9705]

@@jmrabinez9254 1. Marketing is supposed to make a company stand out. When a company dresses up like the Facebook homepage, people will usually avoid it at worst and completely forget about it at best. Occassionally the homogeny can make it feel more trustworthy rather than like a wish version of an established brand but, depending on the business, being forgettable is often a much bigger concern. 2. She isn't being paid for that. 3. She isn't being paid for that.

[@Beans_Z]

I mean, I should've seen no response coming. The comment was made a year ago, with the reply only being made 5 months ago. Either that or they read your reply and took your suggestions, which I'd like to believe more.

[@fourcatsandagarden]

I don't hate the art style, but it definitely looks like the kind of style that people will make fun of in 20 to 40 years as a 'tacky style of the era,' the same way we often look back at styles from the 50s, 60s, and 70s that we now think look tacky but back then were just the peak of...something. Especially since the style is already being mocked now. (Actually it has a very big 60s/70s feel, imo, which probably doesn't help it at all.)

[@jmrabinez9254]

Why do you say so?

[@The_Open_Book]

My first impression was that it was just a lazy style but the more of it there is, the more I've realized how unsettling the reality of some of the body proportions would really be lol and I am scared of them; FOR them. What would these poor torment beings suffer if they became sentient? The fate of their doodleBobs are cursed.

[@Mxrvx_26]

I just wish it wasn't so common. It's the same everywhere and it gets boring to see.

[@sanecatlady]

The thumbnail art made me irrationally angry 💀

[@torenielsen9993]

Whyy do they have small heads? That pisses me off in a way I do not understand.

[@DeathnoteBB]

Probably to keep it from looking so bland your eyes glaze over. Gotta have _something_ unusual

[@c_sea1n]

A second reason would be to account for people with disabillities

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

Ugh I hate this art style so much… it’s EVERYWHERE

[@SL-dn6rn]

After being forced to do designs and collaterals based on this style by corporates, I considered a career switch recently despite having a degree in multimedia 😭💔

[@justmahir]

Watch Adobe buy the rights to this art style next 😭

[@DeathnoteBB]

Nah their whole thing is being creative

[@frogressive-rock]

It would be a blessing because then we wouldn't see this ugly style nearly as much.

[@jasminv8653]

It definitely feels like 80s carpets meets 50s cartoons and it's like. Heurgh. Do something else im begging you. At least they used more interesting colour combos in the 50s lmao.

[@isthatachicken]

Okay accurate😂

[@adon214]

Anytime I see this art it just makes me feel like I'm in kindergarten again. One thing though I will say and maybe this comment will be quoted many years down the line. But there are strange instances of certain forms of art that are not liked at the time but then there's this discovery of it 20 30 years down the road and then it becomes popular and in demand. There's a part of me that genuinely hopes that this will not happen with this in particular art

[@itsdivyag]

the fun shapes does feel inspired by children's illustration!

[@halfmoons9439]

“Are you tired of being an embarrassment to your family?” Well yeah but I can speak Punjabi so that ain’t it

[@solarmoth4628]

I don’t hate it but so much if it wasn’t used so much. It’s everywhere and I’m fatigued. There’s so many art styles in this world and would it kill them to pick something else.

[@isthatachicken]

IT'S DIVYA G!!! AND THE G STANDS FOR (G)WELCOME BACK I've been rewatching your stuff because I missed you but I know that Masters is Masters-ing so yeah!

[@itsdivyag]

hiii!! glad to be back tbh I missed making content

[@kbhasi]

I've seen the style and, as someone who favours other art styles that are used in the likes of animation, illustrated novels, picture books, and comics, I don't like it, but I drew the theory that it's cheaper to design using such boring flat art styles and cheaper to train many designers to follow such art styles. I'll go ahead and watch and see if anyone else has had the same theories I have about this. I was also reminded of how, as part of my art self-studies* to help inform my art direction and style, I planned to practice redesigning online services and software that used such flat art styles to try and imagine what they would've been like if they were instead designed by a comic artist who'd normally create art for comics aimed at the 8 to 12 age range. This video gave me more examples of services that I could add to the list. * I don't post these publicly as some of the studies I do are of kinds frowned upon on my sides of social media that I follow indie artists on. It's while I scrolled through your KZbin channel that I realised that I subscribed to you because I saw that you did videos about books. (5:31) I agree as I'm intentionally aiming for a specific style for a future project I'm working on. That would in turn be what I plan to have as my default art style, and the project is of a kind that I've seen normally use flat design. I also see such intentional design with the packaging for some plant-based milk products where I (and probably a number of other people) would get attracted to buy them over regular dairy cow milk because of the way the packaging stands out compared to those. Modern Figures packaging design is my go-to example for this, but I've also seen it with the packaging designs for Oatly and Oatside.

[@charmaine8465]

I didn’t realise people hated this art style 😅 I’ve always thought it was cute

[@itsdivyag]

tbh I feel like it its cute as well and the 'style' can be so different its hard to lump it all but can deffo see where the over saturation of like the copy and paste types

[@annejia5382]

same i always thought of it as cute hahaha

[@charjl96]

It's jarring and fake. Utopian nonsense. Blowing smoke up your ass

[@luckymoonholidayshorts4949]

Same honestly it isnt my artstyle but it just looks nice 😮😮

[@dianalovesbooks2591]

Thanks for coming back Divya! We missed you and your humor.

[@itsdivyag]

More to come!! thank u so much

[@doyouhaveayoutubechannel]

The G stands for generic lol I actually like this art style, it feels clean and cute, cool topic.

[@justmahir]

I'VE MISSED YOU 💜 KEEP UP THE CONTENT PLEASE!!!

[@FallisLife]

My US state capitol has a big building with that specific art style painted on it and I hate driving by it so much.

[@sohampandirkar]

I MISSED YOU SM DIVYA!!!!! Glad to have you back😭😭😭

[@victorhugo5207]

I love these, it doesn't bother me at all. It is something new. It doesn't matter to me that it is corporate. It's easy access, fast, and understandable. It is advertising. It is everything that modern art stands for, must be why it is everywhere

[@medea4751]

SHES BACK fr had a shitty few days n you uploading made it better ty :D

[@itsdivyag]

im sad to hear ur having some bad days man :( hope ur future days are less shitty

[@LadyJenevia]

YESSSSSSSSS, welcome back, Divya!!

[@lmaooooinnit]

SHES BACKKKKK

[@halfmoons9439]

WELCOME BACK BABY! With spectacular content as per ushe. 💞

[@itsdivyag]

thank u so much this means so much to me man I hope u liked it

[@thedinobros1218]

“The Ed Sheeran of the illustration world” made me laugh so hard!

[@art-by-ren]

very insightful! loved your input!

[@Marco-vh2ss]

WELCOME BACK DIVYA!!!!

[@itsdivyag]

[@Onebadbrownie]

As a Graphic Designer who made this type of illustrations before it also because they are easier to make. The ambiguous vector shapes don't really need you to have top illustration stills to do them and with business now demanding graphic designers also be illustrators ( not the same thing) it just a easier way to keep your job

[@orionh5535]

As a performance specialist, I dont mind more vectot art. Faster load times than a 200gb stock image.

[@rencogu2877]

honestly i think it would be better if companies just used photographs of real people because imo those are probably gonna make more of an impact

[@itsdivyag]

ooh interesting take it depends on the photo imo. like if it's super obvious it's stock I tend to like zone out

[@m.v.f.3209]

The G stands for Glad you're here again! We missed u, thanks for this video :))

[@itsdivyag]

missed you guys as well!! aa tysm

[@jayolovitt5969]

I don’t hate this style, I just think it is overused (in the same way that ending app names with -ly was) it’s cute initially, then over adopted, then irritating.

[@dsouth7754]

Epson uses Shaq in their marketing which is instantly a lot more appealing to me than grossly proportioned alien people with technicolor skin tones. _Look at Shaq printing thousands of pages with his EcoTank and saving big on ink! I could print like Shaq too in my SOHO!_

[@victorhugo5207]

I mean, it is art whether you like it or not. In terms of art, it has line, shape, form, and colour. Hell, it is line, shape, colour, and form all in all. It unites every element of art when it comes to drawing and painting, and it's easy and understandable, modern and cartoonish, cute and happy, bright and colourful, doesn't matter if it's corporate, when I look at it as an artist, I think of it as something that I can make, and I think of making it and I know how to make it and doesn't make me hate it as a final product, I understand it differently than how the people who hate it do.

[@juniperjabber]

3:32 is that the xfinity remote error sound effect

[@Hyderomastgroningem0]

yo divya whats ur background where u from u got a real mixed up accent

[@fReAky4GoO]

Going under videogame works in that style tho

[@itsdivyag]

video game looks great tbh as I understand its a satire anyway?

[@fReAky4GoO]

@@itsdivyag wasn't a dig sorry , so used to negative side of the discourse

[@fReAky4GoO]

Yeah. Gotta cover the bases incase someone claims you missed it out

[@afreepotatochip8765]

now why did ed sheeran have to catch a stray in the intro 💀

[@diogeneslantern18]

I can't quite place your accent but it is pleasant and interesting. As for the video - corporate memphis infuriates me whenever I see it. It's a fugazi

[@manmoy4104]

the G stands for the return of the kinG (aka Divya's content)

[@itsdivyag]

aaa

[@minazhao_]

omg this was so interesting

[@itsdivyag]

aaa tyy mina!

[@Ny-kelCameron]

To me, this art style comes across as a bit belittling or more so, very infantilizing in my view. Very similar to art you see in children's books. Art that's generally geared towards newly developing minds, so you don't want to over stimulate them with to much detail, so you keep things simple. This corporate art does the same thing. It communicates that these corporations only see us as little kids and that they know better and what's right for us.

[@natashadeborah]

i prefer the lighting in your previous video

[@itsdivyag]

okay ty for this feedback! have to get brighter lights :)

[@Ratciclefan]

I definitely would prefer if we stopped using these kinds of art styles and never started again

[@annejia5382]

giiiiirrrllll your personality reminds me of sorn 💛 like in the best way hahaha 💛

[@kb3146]

I like that art style :))

[@lienhoa_12]

yesss, just like comic sans, i think it's time to stop needlessly hating on the art style. since i was a kid in 1st grade --- the first time i ever was exposed to fonts in our computer class, i've thought comic sans looks rl cute, and i still think so now. i didn;t know about its oversaturation or it being overused to a point of being hated on so much. so is this artstyle, there are many bad examples in this vid where the illus are stale, 'brother ugh' and emotionaless, but tbh, i think alot of them are fun, playful, whimsical, colorful and attractive to look at. it is a modern touch to the 'boringness' of hyper-realistic art (no i'm not hating on hyperrealistic art)

[@khanburger3610]

Call me basic but I actually really enjoy these designs. Most are Souless but I’ve seen a lot that I really enjoy and are really fun. I seem to be in the minority though

[@lyrajin8815]

hi ur really pretty!!! u look very much like tu tontawan. sorry if this is weird, i just thought i wanted to share u are very pretty ❤️☺️☺️

[@itsdivyag]

just looked up who that was omg thank you she's very pretty

[@steventapia_motiondesigner]

So Funny. I thought I was the only one noticing this trend.

[@dreamyrhodes]

I think your nose bridge is cute

[@Acorn905]

I never knew people hated this style! I think it looks very sleek, smooth and modern yeah its kind of basic and odd but i think it makes it it's own thing. Anyways thanks for the information ^^

[@christinafidance340]

I always felt that the trend to be super inclusive feels so forced…. Like how many groups of friends include a blind black guy, a bespectacled East Asian girl, a blond white girl in a wheelchair and a non-binaryNative American? That’s just SOOOO unrealistic. But to be realistic would seem non-inclusive, yet our friend groups still tend to be a bit homogenous. This corporate Memphis trend just avoids that all together. However, you’re right- now it appeals to absolutely no one.

[@florinivan6907]

For the common man inclusivity means something else entirely in comparison to the corporate heads. For them inclusivity means 'everyone is under our boot nobody is escaping us'. Yes some of these groups seem statistically unlikely but there is a subtext beneath. That subtext is actually dark borderline 1984. When you see even the rarest group promoted by the corporations the message is simple 'we know you exist and you can't hide in the anonimity of the majority'. And that's kinda dark. Because its also saying 'don't try anything out of bounds you won't make it'. Corporations(who also are in cahoots with law enforcement) are sending a very simple message to marginal groups 'we're watching you'. When you view it like that its far creepier than just corporate profit margins. Everyone complains about corporate intrusion but few think about how the corporations who have a vested interest in maintaining their grip on power are also making sure you don't rock the boat too much. The only advantage(so far) is that there isn't a single corporation running things there's a lot of infighting. Had you had a single one yt would trully be reduced to cat videos and smilling happy content. And nothing else.

[@The_Cult_Nextdoor]

Lmao! Lost it at Ed Sheeran