Styling the future : MANIAC

ual-tunlayadunn

Since we were introduced with artworks that involve technology I went back to a NETFLIX series that I’ve just finished a while ago called “MANIAC”. Although it is set in the future the art direction is oddly retro resulting in a charming fantasy world. Here are some screenshots that I took and some notes on them :

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In this future, people are even more isolated. This room for example is designed to fit one single person with only essential utilities. I really like this set. There are bright colours and decorations but with loneliness painted all over.
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In a modern facility that experiments on drugs, the furniture is incredibly retro. You can see the Eames chair in various colours. The basic test machine also looks like something from the 70s or 80s. No LCD screen just film projections.
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The UI in this series are all retro-looking but there’s something lovely about the graphics in these retro monitors. It’s what ‘digital’ is to a generation of people without smartphones.
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Some equipments and settings look like a video game. From the icon on the TV to the design of the test subjects room and even the tools the scientist use to fix a glitch during an experiment.
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The graphic design just screams ‘RETRO’ and if you’re a 90’s kid or even older you’ll be familiar with this typography style. As seen on countless logos or something more obvious : the iconic IBM logo.
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This set up in particular reminds me of “The Man Who Fell to Earth” starring David Bowie. It’s such an odd way to record feedback from a test subject but that’s what makes it interesting.
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The face of the intelligent computer. Pixelated like an accumulation of codes and data. One thing about the series that made me laugh was the idea of a depressed computer.

Films and series can portray so many vision of the future whether it’s a dark apocalyptic world, a sterile and modern place, cyber-punk metropolis or even an approachable and bright one like “HER”.

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Published by ual-tunlayadunn

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