Afrofuturism vs Cyberpunk

アフロフューチャリズム / サイバーパンク

Both sit in Visions of the Future, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. One is aesthetic and the other style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

Afrofuturism

Afrofuturism — サン・ラー 1973 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainAfrofuturism — 『スペース・イズ・ザ・プレイス』ポスター 1974 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainAfrofuturism — サン・ラー・アーケストラ（CC BY-SA 4.0）

Connects African diasporic history, culture and future, reclaiming stolen time and new possibility.

Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk — 新宿・歌舞伎町のネオンサイン — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0Cyberpunk — 新宿・歌舞伎町の看板群 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Cyberpunk — 香港・德己立街の夜景 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Advanced technology and ruined daily life share the same frame, so the future arrives as promise and as threat.

AfrofuturismCyberpunk
Era20th century–1980s–
FamilyVisions of the FutureVisions of the Future
KindAestheticStyle
CuesCosmic futures / Cultural pattern / Metal and earth / Myth reinterpretedRainy nights / Multilingual neon / Dense cabling / Dark cities
Best used forNarratives that speak past and future at once · Centering the viewpoint missing from received futuresSpeaking of technology's light and shadow together · Thick world-building for games and film
TypePair geometric letterforms with culturally grounded faces, carefullyAngular sans, monospace, multiple scripts
CompositionLead with the symbol; layer strata of timeStack information densely on dark planes
MaterialDeep black, gold, vivid color; research where the materials come fromBlack, teal, red neon, raindrops
CautionNever borrow patterns as anonymous 'African style.' Learn the specific makers, regions and histories.Don't use Asian cities as a symbol of otherness. Make the fictional social order concrete.

Put these two together

Visions of the Future

IndexStyle