>>106525548
I have a theory that mainstream aesthetics seem to swing between "tech as camouflage" and "tech as display", and we're living in the former right now. There's some overlap, but it's gone something like this:
>1900s - 60s: camo era
Tech was often made to blend in the home. Consoles, radios, tvs all had wood grain or were literally built into furniture.
>1960s - early 80s: display era
Kicked off by space age optimism. Use of plastics, chromes, pod-like shapes etc. Wood grain coexisted, but it was no longer unusual to display futurism boldly.
>late 70s - mid 90s: Camo era
Beige and grey tech became standard, made to blend in with cubicles and carpets. Peak drabness.
>mid 90s - late 00s (a little in early 2010s): display era
Y2k-futurism. Shit was shiny, metallic, translucent, almost alien-like sometimes. The most optimistic and embracing era towards technology.
>Early 10s - today: camo era
Minimalism, tech made to blend in again. Samey glass-slab phones, invisible smart home tech, flat UI design, etc. Even wood grain has come back to some extent (eg cases like Fractal north, grovemade accessories, wooden acoustic paneling)
Picrel highlights it pretty well, because the space era chairs here fit in seamlessly with the y2k-futurism, both "display era" aesthetics.
