There is a type of design treatment that I’ve seen a lot of this last decade that has a strong appeal for me. They tend to be somewhat minimalist, typographically-driven, unadorned, nostalgic, and have a bunch of other ineffable qualities.
In trying to label this type of work, I developed the portmanteau that gets to the heart of heart of the aesthetic: vernachronistic
vernacular: ordinary, unadorned language
anachronistic: belonging to a period other than which it exists
Certain artifacts from yesteryear convey the effect of forgoing any kind of graphic decoration in favor of an unassuming utilitarianism. I refer you to just one of the many sublime collections from Lisa Congdon’s “A Collection a Day” blog to illustrate the kind of artifacts to which I’m referring. It’s primarily in retrospect that these recent relics can be admired for a rare kind of unaffected beauty.
When folks like us at Knock Knock create new work that is a pastiche of those bygone artifacts, that then is “vernachronistic.” Knock Knock has created a slew of “vernachronistic” products over the years, but some of the more recent releases that I love to death include 100 Tickets, Forms for Real Life and the Personal Library Kit.
