“Anonymous Global Style”

That phrase was coined (I believe) by Bret Easton Ellis to describe a sort of personality-free cinema that’s developed over the last decade or so, but this article is what moved me to start this thread

YIKES:

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

So this isn’t about 4chan?

…Oh it’s basically about strip mall aesthetics capturing the zeitgeist early.

But so many of them were similar, whether in Brooklyn, Osaka, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, or Santiago

Schwulst had identified an AirBnB design aesthetic that had organically emerged and was quickly spreading through the platform’s properties. White walls. Raw wood. Nespresso machines. Eames chairs. Bare brick. Open shelving. Edison bulbs. The style combines the rough-hewn rawness of industrialism with the elegant minimalism of mid-century design.

IF they wanted the places they looked at to be different they should have uses the Max Price filter

heyyyyyyyy sexy laddddy

Just glad there were no Union Flag cushions in any of those Air Bnb pics.

interestingly this phenomenon also applies to thinkpieces like this

can I get "bold brands and courageous companies have the chance to chart a different course. To be different, distinctive and disruptive." on a rustic wooden wall sign?

lol yeah I wondered if the blandly repetitive way this was written was a meta joke

In this home we believe bold brands and courageous companies have the chance to chart a different course. To be different, distinctive and disruptive

But it isn’t just the interiors that all look the same. Architecture all looks the same too. But it isn’t just the architecture that all looks the same. Coffee shops also all look the same. But it isn’t just coffee shops that all look the same

https://i.imgur.com/UrWgDQy.png

i have a thread on 77 ('the midwestern united states, or possibly just my apartment, exists outside of time', if you're on 77) that is about this phenomenon. unfortunately the thread is a challenging read due to how high i was every time i posted to it. and the seemingly solidifying homogeneity of so much about the world that i get to see (mostly the midwestern united states) is difficult for me to describe, much less describe convincingly, because i'm not quite 40 and the time period of consolidating taste is within my own lifetime. it seems to me like very little has changed, compared to the relentless waves of changes throughout most of 20th century and before. however, i do very much feel that anonymous style as a force that grows stronger. also, inevitable mention of current ai trends and how they reinforce the consolidation toward average preferences

The "Sweary self-help books" graphic is pretty funny.

All these irreverent titles which nevertheless have to censor the word 'fuck'.

Cars and planes are the same to me. If some cars pass by I don't know what brand they are. I wouldn't even be able to remember if they were white or silver or something else

But buses and trains still seem pretty distinct in different places and also more prone to changing