Memphis

メンフィス / 1980s / Style / Pop

Laughs off functionalism and enjoys the dissonance of shape and color.

Memphis — Ettore Sottsass, Carlton, 1981 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 · © Sailko
Ettore Sottsass, Carlton, 1981 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 · CC BY 3.0 · © Sailko
Memphis — Memphis Milano collection — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Dennis Zanone
Memphis Milano collection — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Dennis Zanone
Memphis — Ettore Sottsass, Ashoka, 1980, Triennale Design Museum — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 · © Sailko
Ettore Sottsass, Ashoka, 1980, Triennale Design Museum — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 · CC BY 3.0 · © Sailko

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Zigzags
  • Small figures
  • Pastel plus primary
  • Speckles

Best used for

  • Softening a stiff subject
  • A young, sunny personality

Use this style

Take the compact brief into a project or hand the structured version to an AI tool.

design.mdimage promptJSON APIMCP & machine accessCompose
open in ChatGPTopen in Claudeopen in Google AI
Detailed guidance and sourcesProduction rules, reference works, comparisons, research and citation formats

Dictionary entry

Type
A chunky geometric sans
Composition
Scatter small motifs, anchor with one large shape
Material
Pink, yellow, teal, black speckles
Caution
Don't stop at background pattern. Map the figures to navigation and units of meaning.
Further study
Ettore Sottsass / Memphis Group

Related entries

More from Pop

Continue through styles in the same Pop family, prioritised by shared effects.

Browse all Pop entries

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link
https://indexstyle.org/styles/memphis
Markdown
[Memphis — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/memphis)
HTML
<a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/memphis">Memphis — IndexStyle</a>

Back to index position