Memphis vs Wacky Pomo
メンフィス / ワッキー・ポモ
Memphis comes from Pop and Wacky Pomo from Illustration Styles. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Memphis
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Laughs off functionalism and enjoys the dissonance of shape and color.
Wacky Pomo
A postmodern children’s-marketing style mixing Googie, Memphis, old cartoons, factory signs, and odd Victorian figures into exaggeration and mild bad taste. It cartoonizes everything until product and place resemble a giant invention machine.
| Memphis | Wacky Pomo | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1980s | early 1990s–early 2000s |
| Family | Pop | Illustration Styles |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Zigzags / Small figures / Pastel plus primary / Speckles | Distorted checks, spirals, zigzags, and bursting arrows / Cartoon gears, pipes, eyes, tongues, and strange machines / Violet, lime, orange, and red with black outlines / Heavy headlines whose letters change shape and angle |
| Best used for | Softening a stiff subject · A young, sunny personality | Making toys, sweets, games, or attractions behave like one giant cartoon machine · Studying 1990s children’s advertising through both visual language and promotion ethics |
| Type | A chunky geometric sans | Tilt heavy display letters individually and use no more than two layers of shadow, outline, or dots. |
| Composition | Scatter small motifs, anchor with one large shape | Extend spirals and pipes from the central product and stage one small event in each corner. |
| Material | Pink, yellow, teal, black speckles | Unify flat spot color, rough cartoon lines, molded plastic, and painted metal at high saturation. |
| Caution | Don't stop at background pattern. Map the figures to navigation and units of meaning. | Do not use density merely to seize children’s attention. Keep age, advertising disclosure, and safety information above decoration in the hierarchy. |