Fascinating thread. Entertainment board related because of the comment about how they did the color in Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" and the comments about the hope for a return of color vibrancy in the new Superman movie.

Every aspect of life is being stripped of color.

Many have noticed this trend — but why exactly is it happening?

Something deeper is going on… (thread) 🧵 pic.twitter.com/CFSKmgWgqO

— Culture Critic (@Culture_Crit) February 19, 2025

https://www.vox.com/culture/22840526/colors-movies-tv-gray-digital-color-sludge

thank you so much for sharing. I have come to loathe minimalism in so many ways. Give me color and texture and pattern, I'd rather *hate* it than nothing it.

McDonald’s then vs now pic.twitter.com/TKpzIvBGmb

— juju 💰 (@ayeejuju) March 3, 2025

Seems like this phenomena extends beyond film. Most businees you go to nowadays have no character and are designed like the lobby of a Hyatt Place.

YUGE issue at Disney, where former Imagineers have taken to X to criticize the bland, cheap design choices now prevalent across the parks and resorts. No more theming; everything looks the same.

It's just a trend. More color will circle back eventually.

could be the same reason architecture like this was a thing


I hate the minimalist/brutalist (loosely speaking) trend. Not sure if it is something that came about naturally or was pushed by some means or another.

AgBQ-00 said:

---

could be the same reason architecture like this was a thing


I hate the minimalist/brutalist (loosely speaking) trend. Not sure if it is something that came about naturally or was pushed by some means or another.

---

I think I had a sociology elective in that building in 1992.

I guess the world is just catching up to the A&M campus.

Thanks a lot, Stalin!

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

---

McDonald’s then vs now pic.twitter.com/TKpzIvBGmb

— juju 💰 (@ayeejuju) March 3, 2025

Seems like this phenomena extends beyond film. Most businees you go to nowadays have no character and are designed like the lobby of a Hyatt Place.

---

Everything from architecture to street lights has pretty much morphed to "drab and depressing". We don't produce things that look good anymore, for the most part.

There are conspiracy theories out there that it is a coordinated effort to demoralize large populations. I don't know about all that jazz, but i wish we still made stuff that looked cool in general.

El Gallo Blanco said:

---

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

---

McDonald’s then vs now pic.twitter.com/TKpzIvBGmb

— juju 💰 (@ayeejuju) March 3, 2025

Seems like this phenomena extends beyond film. Most businees you go to nowadays have no character and are designed like the lobby of a Hyatt Place.

---

Everything from architecture to street lights has pretty much morphed to "drab and depressing". We don't produce things that look good anymore, for the most part.

There are conspiracy theories out there that it is a coordinated effort to demoralize large populations. I don't know about all that jazz, but i wish we still made stuff that looked cool in general.

---

The same goes for a lot of popular music right now. Too much whisper-singing, mumble-rapping, and simple computer-generated percussion backing tracks. No distinguishing sound or depth or creativity. Just depressing as hell.

One Louder said:

---

AgBQ-00 said:

---

could be the same reason architecture like this was a thing


I hate the minimalist/brutalist (loosely speaking) trend. Not sure if it is something that came about naturally or was pushed by some means or another.

---

I think I had a sociology elective in that building in 1992.

---

Still have bad dreams about Blocker

Same thing goes with style. There's no more style in the west. Even the manhole covers in Japan are beautifully adorned.

Yep. McDonalds Corp was "born" in 1969 so it's aging like the rest of us Gen Xers.

I can't find the tweet, which I randomly came across a couple days ago, but someone seemingly in the know basically responded by saying it's a money issue. The color paint dyes cost more, they fade faster, and thus cost more in upkeep, etc. In other words, it's less about actively choosing a more modern aesthetic/design as a style decision, and more about building things like this the cheapest way possible, requiring the least upkeep, as a financial decision. I'm not excusing it, but there's at least a practical reason behind it.

As for movies/TV, there is no excuse. I'm so incredibly sick of the flat, gray, low-contrast look. We peaked in the mid-00s in that regard, seeing as recently I've come across the first Transformers and second Pirates movies on TV, and they feel like they're from a completely different era now… bright, but high contrast, deep blacks, wildly colorful, sun drenched, etc. Blockbusters used to look so damn good, then Marvel came along and increasingly adopted a more flat-gray look and now damn near everything is shot that way.

I figured there was a cost saving reason involved, which in a way makes it an even more depressing choice.

The current "gray box" fast food building design also enables easy transitions from a Taco Bell to a McDonalds to an individually owned local joint, depending on what the market needs.

No more obvious Pizza Hut exteriors now housing a nail salon or vape store.

Didn't Trump sign an EO about bringing beauty back to the design of public / government buildings? My first reaction was how pointless. But then as I thought more about it, I was reminded of all the gorgeous courthouses you can find in small Texas towns that I love so much. I wouldn't be opposed to that becoming the de facto design for government buildings going forward. Maybe it'd be the first step to bringing life back to all other building architecture.

Of course, could just be nothing more than a way to line more pocketbooks at the expense of taxpayers, as it obviously costs more to design, build, and maintain buildings like that.

It's an "updated" professional look that also is the most inexpensive.

When the minimal bland look was first being used then you could tell it was updated/new, which was good and welcome. Now it looks cheap and cookie cutter. Why? Because it is cheap and cookie cutter

There's a definite cost element, but it has a sort of symbiotic relationship with what's "in-vogue" as well.

Just as an example, a lot more trim work and built-ins in homes used to use more stained hardwoods (think like your stereotypical 80-90's golden oak homes with brass fixtures). Stained wood requires a better quality wood and higher-skilled carpenters to built, stain, and install them. In the 90's, there was a housing boom, and also houses were moving towards more open floor plans.

The open floor plan design-language at the time was more aligned with the "sleek" style that painted trims and built-ins offered (almost always white which adds to the airy, open feel), so you see a shift for an architectural reason. But then you compound it with the building boom, and the workforce had to take on more unskilled labor, so there's a labor reason you see more painted wood. And similarly, it allowed for cheaper materials that were easier to mass produce. It self-perpetuates and becomes a desirable thing. My opinion, but this is where it makes its way into other things like our movies and cars and McDonald's.

But 25 years later when stained wood started back around, the supply chain isn't tooled the same as it was in the 80's and it can't provide the same quality product at the same scale. Same issue with the workforce not being skilled at scale. So the stained wood now is often darker, which covers up some of the wood details (allows for cheaper product), and it puts less onus on the skilled labor. But it also doesn't have the same color/vibrancy that it used to.

The above is just an example of what happens all over the place. If you're interested, here's a good video on how sealants have contributed to a lot of commercial architecture. Similar concept. And just to tie back into the original thought - the relationship between cost and design is mutual, rather than one exclusively driving the other.

We are living in grey times compared to the end of the 20th century. Take some comfort in knowing that however things are today, they will change in the near future. Our kids want to have a identiy, and they don't want to have the same identiy as their parents. If its black today, look for it to be white in 20 years.

Think about it. The 60s were a color explosion. If you look at any visual media before then, you'll see that everything was black and white.

Welcome to the age of average (warning: long read about everything). It's your house, your car, fashion, plastic surgery, everything. Re-watch or re-read fight club, because it's your life: low quality mass produced garbage.

https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average

This thread is so depressing that tomorrow I am replacing my brown tie with a brown and tan tie.

I think a lot of it also has to do with modern electronics. It's almost like the "iPhoning" of everything. Sleek minimalism goes well with technology, and it's become synonymous with sophistication.