This week at Mirror80 we get into the Holiday spirit by revisiting ’80s seasonal style. Today’s images are brought to you by the 1987 film Less Than Zero, a haunting story of drug abuse and loss based on the book by Brett Easton Ellis. While the movie is far from the beacon of warm fuzzy Holiday fun, its breathtaking interiors provide us with a glimpse of posh ’80s winter decor. If you lived in a California mansion decorated by a cutting edge interior designer in the mid-late ’80s, perhaps your Christmas tree and centerpieces would look like this…
Friday Video Picks: ’80s Teen Commercials
We conclude our week-long focus on products and advertisements targeting ’80s teens with two commercials that celebrate all things bright and distracting! Let’s start with the following clip, an ad for Magic Girl perfume. In a fruity whirlwind of confusion, this piece puts the competition to shame with images of spellbound, obsessed teens. And some pretty wicked ’80s fashion!
Mirror80 Wishes You a Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving from Mirror80! Today’s visuals are courtesy of Etsy shop VintageStickerLove. The perfect ’80s Thanksgiving statement (a bit of Autumn plus a bit of glitter), these vintage leaf stickers from Stickopotamus showcase a variety of Fall hues. I’m also a fan of the shop’s profile, which recalls the memory of a lost sticker collection and the joys of rebuilding it piece by piece today. Because it’s never too late to revel in the simple pleasures of youth…
Mid-Week Match-Up: ’80s Teen Products Then and Now
This week Mirror80 has spotlighted teen grooming products from the 1980s in all of their shiny glory. But we’ve often wondered what happened to these multi-hued treasures. Are they still out there, or did their remains end up on the shelf of a TJ Maxx in the early-mid ’90s? You may be surprised by our findings…
Crazy for Caboodles!
Ladies of the ’80s yearned for oodles of Caboodles. Or maybe just one good one to stylishly carry their grooming products. These beauty organizers by Caboodles of California were packed with storage options, including pull-out trays in a variety of configurations. And of course, each case had a built-in mirror, the ultimate primping essential.
Pic Fix: 1980s Teen Product Ads
This week Mirror80 pays homage to the wonderful world of teen-targeted media. If you think ’80s graphic and product design had eye-catching appeal, you can bet design efforts were cranked up a few notches to grab the attention of teenagers. Imagine the set of Saved by the Bell, then imagine if it were edible. That’s right–teen products looked good enough to eat (which is a bit scary since many of them were drugstore items). Graphic designers packed advertisements with candy forms and colors. Here are a few of our favorites, taken from the November 1990 issue of Teen Magazine, starting with the ad for Malibu Musk, shown above.
Friday Video Pick: “Bulletproof” by La Roux
In the spirit of ’80s graphic design, we set out to select a mind-blowingly stylish video for today’s Friday Video Pick. A video that could be a Trapper Keeper if it materialized into a school supply. There was only one choice for us: “Bulletproof” by La Roux! It may not be from the ’80s or even an ’80s copycat, but moments of ’80s influence can’t be denied. From the black and white grids to the floating geometric shapes, it’s hard to keep up with the visual changes packed into this 3 1/2 minute work of art! The beginning even features a backdrop that evokes the color and pattern combinations present in the design of ’80s powerhouse collective The Memphis Group.
A 1980s Graphic Design Revival
While an ’80s revival hit the fashion realm years ago, it’s the world of graphic design where a 1980s design revival is currently exploding, particularly on screen. Let’s start with the screen of your favorite mobile device. This year Glow Play released Radballs, a unique, ’80s-inspired puzzler for the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Set against the background of a heavy synth soundtrack, Radballs comes to life with ’80s-fabulous colors like hot pink, aqua and yellow, and with motifs including diagonal lines and dotted backgrounds.
Mid-Week Match-Up: An ’80s Deco Poster Inspires Dining Room Decor
We continue our celebration of 1980s graphic design by focusing on an ’80s Deco poster we featured in Monday’s Pic Fix. In fact, the poster inspired us to design a 1980s Deco-style dining room with a modern edge, thanks to today’s Hollywood Regency revival. Think Jonathan Adler meets Art Deco! Proving that ’80s decor can blend seamlessly with modern sensibilities, our “’80s meets modern” dining room is a celebration of ’80s Deco in the context of today’s style.
1980s Graphic Design Styles
This week Mirror80 takes a look at the attention-grabbing graphic design styles that emerged during the 1980s, an attention-grabbing decade! While a variety of techniques abounded, today we examine some of the boldest. The image above, recently designed by Andrew Guengerich to evoke the ’80s, was inspired by Trapper Keeper patterns and motifs. We continue by examining 1980s collectibles and media-related items, noting a variety of graphic design styles that captivated the decade’s consumers.
