Intersections Between Postmodernism, New Ugly and Popular Graphics in Contemporary Graphic Design

Abstract

Contemporary graphic design observes the remarkable popularity of New Ugly, a movement whose stylistic essence is based on the fictitious amateur nature of visual solutions created by qualified professionals. In a context defined by the impact of technology and the massive access to social media, this research seeks to analyze the possible postmodern heritage of this movement, as well as its relationship with the inexperienced design of popular graphics. Through the literature review as the main method, the study's conclusions refer to the relevance of postmodern philosophy in the definition of the New Ugly, based on criteria such as ugliness or randomness; the influence on the visual language of this movement of popular graphics and its amateur aesthetics, a phenomenon whose main difference points to the different intentionality of its respective proposals; and the importance of ugliness —as the aesthetic essence of the Internet (Internet Ugly)— and some of its products (memes, glitches, GIFs), as well as the participatory culture of social networks, in the visual philosophy of New Ugly.