content/blog/2021-03-28-vaporwave-vs-outrun.org

  1#+date:        <2021-03-28 Sun 00:00:00>
  2#+title:       Comparative Analysis of Vaporwave and Outrun Visual Styles
  3#+description: Systematic examination of Vaporwave and Outrun aesthetic frameworks, focusing on graphical elements, chromatic schemes, musical associations, and period-specific cultural influences.
  4#+slug:        vaporwave-vs-outrun
  5#+filetags:    :vaporwave:outrun:retro:
  6
  7* Overview
  8
  9When it comes to an aesthetic that originated primarily online, there
 10tends to be a lot of confusion around what falls into each specific
 11genre. This post discusses Vaporwave and Outrun, which have become
 12almost synonymous in the minds of those online who aren't hardcore into
 13these genres of media. More specifically, Outrun is largely an unknown
 14term while all aesthetics in these two genres are usually attributed to
 15Vaporwave. For example, take a look at the image search results for
 16Vaporwave: the results include *a lot* of Outrun-themed images. You'll
 17find a similar trend almost everywhere.
 18
 19#+caption: Vaporwave Search Results
 20[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20210328-vaporwave-vs-outrun/vaporwave-search-results.png]]
 21
 22* Vaporwave
 23
 24#+caption: Macintosh Plus Album Cover
 25[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20210328-vaporwave-vs-outrun/macintosh-plus.png]]
 26
 27Okay, so what is Vaporwave? I'm going to just copy-and-paste some
 28general info from the Wikipedia article on
 29[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave][Vaporwave]], so that I'm not
 30repeating everything you can already search for online:
 31
 32#+begin_quote
 33Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style, and
 34an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s. It is defined partly
 35by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz,
 36elevator, R&B, and lounge music from the 1980s and 1990s. The
 37surrounding subculture is sometimes associated with an ambiguous or
 38satirical take on consumer capitalism and pop culture, and tends to be
 39characterized by a nostalgic or surrealist engagement with the popular
 40entertainment, technology and advertising of previous decades. Visually,
 41it incorporates early Internet imagery, late 1990s web design, glitch
 42art, anime, 3D-rendered objects, and cyberpunk tropes in its cover
 43artwork and music videos.
 44#+end_quote
 45
 46This is an excellent summary, and it helps address my point here: there
 47are specific aspects that make Vaporwave unique:
 48
 49** Time Frame
 50
 51The time frame for references, logos, etc. focuses mostly on the 1990s
 52in Vaporwave. You'll see old school Pepsi logos, Microsoft 95 screens,
 53tropical plants, classic marble sculptures, and many references from
 54Japan's influence in the 90s.
 55
 56** Art
 57
 58The color scheme is generally a soft, light palette that uses pastel
 59colors. The backdrop will often be in a light-pink or teal blue.
 60
 61** Music
 62
 63The musical genre of Vaporwave incorporates soft tunes, lounge music,
 64and sound effects that will make the listener reminisce of the 90s. The
 65sounds of the genre are generally slower-paced and calming. The major
 66breakthrough artist for Vaporwave was
 67[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vektroid][Macintosh Plus]], who released
 68the album
 69[[https://archive.org/details/MACINTOSHPLUS-FLORALSHOPPE_complete][Floral
 70Shoppe]] in 2011. Another more recent example is the artist
 71[[https://sadbert.bandcamp.com/][sadbert]], whose latest album
 72incorporates the upbeat tones of the 1999 Dilbert TV series.
 73
 74Notice that Vaporwave doesn't include things like racing cars,
 75futuristic technology, chrome, or the deep orange/purple color scheme.
 76Vaporwave is a focus on the idyllic state of the world when technology
 77was becoming common in households, a reality that we have already
 78experienced. Focus on the most aesthetically-pleasing parts of that past
 79is a large part of Vaporwave.
 80
 81* Outrun
 82
 83#+caption: Outrun
 84[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20210328-vaporwave-vs-outrun/outrun.png]]
 85
 86Now, let's get to Outrun. This one is a little trickier since the genre
 87has largely been lumped under the Vaporwave title for so long. However,
 88it stems from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthwave][Synthwave]]
 89music genre and is likely named after the 1986 racer game,
 90[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_Run][Out Run]].
 91
 92** Time Frame
 93
 94Outrun can be thought of as a retro-futuristic aesthetic born from the
 951980s.
 96
 97** Art
 98
 99The color scheme uses a very dark color palette with the main colors
100being deep oranges, blues, and purples. Red edges are common around
101objects in Outrun art. The background of the Outrun aesthetic is almost
102always a neon grid like you'd expect to see in Tron or a 1980s arcade
103machine.
104
105Classic sports cars, chrome robots, computer generated graphics and
106fonts, and the occasional use of rain or palm trees can be found in
107Outrun art.
108
109** Music
110
111This aesthetic has a more aggressive and fast-paced style of music,
112which tends to match the subject of the art in this aesthetic.
113
114Outrun enthusiasts love what people in the 1980s thought the future
115would look like. Take a look at a common video game discussed in Outrun
116circles, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon:
117
118#+caption: Fry Cry 3: Blood Dragon
119[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20210328-vaporwave-vs-outrun/far-cry.png]]
120
121Another example that doesn't force the color scheme as hard as some
122online art does is Kung Fury:
123
124#+caption: Kung Fury
125[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20210328-vaporwave-vs-outrun/kung-fury.png]]
126
127#+caption: Kung Fury Hacker Scene
128[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20210328-vaporwave-vs-outrun/kung-fury-hacker.png]]
129
130* Conclusion
131
132While Vaporwave and Outrun share similarities, they are two distinct
133aesthetics with many important distinctions. Someone who enjoys one may
134not necessarily enjoy the other, so it's important to make sure we
135properly describe the aesthetic we're looking for.