Minimalism vs Vaporwave

ミニマリズム / ヴェイパーウェイヴ

Minimalism comes from Functionalism and Vaporwave from Digital Retro. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with different intent, which is the fastest way to tell them apart.

Minimalism

Minimalism — Agnes Martin 作品, SFMOMA 展示 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Minimalism — Agnes Martin 作品群, SFMOMA 展示 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Minimalism — Dan Flavin《Untitled (to Don Judd, Colorist) 1–5》1987, Tate Modern — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Removes elements to maximize the meaning and tension of what remains.

Vaporwave

Vaporwave — Ostarisk《Vaporwave art example》2017年 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Vaporwave — yumikrum《Nine lives》2017年 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0Vaporwave — Kazachstanski nygus《ヴェイパーウェイヴの作例》 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Turns memories of consumer society and early digital life into dreamlike unease.

MinimalismVaporwave
Era1960s–2010s
FamilyFunctionalismDigital Retro
KindStyleStyle
CuesVast white space / Few elements / Quiet color / Precise spacingPink and purple / Classical statues / Early CG / Tropics and Japanese text
Best used forFocusing attention on a single value · Letting quality speak quietlyHandling the internet's strange homesickness · Unreality for music and art
TypeA light sans-serif or a well-cut serifSerifs, pixel faces, fragments of Japanese
CompositionOne message, one focal point, wide marginsFloating objects, horizon lines, collage
MaterialNearly achromatic; texture in exactly one placePurple and aqua, low resolution, VHS noise
CautionMissing information is not minimal. Decide priorities before you cut.Don't reduce Japanese to meaningless decoration. Bring criticism or personal memory.

Put these two together

Functionalism ／ Digital Retro

IndexStyle