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Inspiring Retro Design Projects

Too often these days the word ‘Retro’ is associated with the Retro Futurism design movement. Whilst I love this movement, it has become a little over-used in recent times. Also, it makes me think – just what happened to plain old Retro?

Today I bring you several awesome projects showcasing retro style design. These focus less on bright colors and light effects, and more on old-school product design, faded colors, old typography, pop art etc… We hope that you enjoy going back in time with these effects, and find some inspiration in them for your day’s work!

Alex Varanese: ALT/1977: WE ARE NOT TIME TRAVELERS

“What would you do if you could travel back in time? Assassinate Marilyn Monroe? Go on a date with Hitler? Obviously. But here’s what I’d do after that: grab all the modern technology I could find, take it to the late 70’s, superficially redesign it all to blend in, start a consumer electronics company to unleash it upon the world, then sit back as I rake in billions, trillions, or even millions of dollars.”

I love this project, as Alex Varanese (a favorite artist of mine) takes modern technology and fits it into old-school retro designs. It’s amazing how well these sleek modern designs fit into a retro design theme, complete with grungy faded colors and typography:

Alex Varanese: Elektrotrash: A Found Art Typeface

Another great project from Alex Varanese. This time he designs his own retro style typeface. This is constructed from various retro objects, artifacts and patterns/textures. Because of this each letter becomes a highly detailed work of art, whilst the wider constructed words are hugely stylish.

Fred: Vrac

This is one of my all time favorite retro projects. The artist has clearly done his research, as each piece shows a tremendous amount of retro authenticity. Even the simplest designs have ever letter, colors and blur applied perfectly to achieve a convincing retro result!

John Mattos: Selected Works

John Mattos uses a combination of political, social and technological motifs as a basis for his retro-styled works. The majority of his work uses vector techniques, yet his color-choices and work with adjustment layers gives them a very retro feel. Impressive stuff!