Corporate Memphis

Corporate Memphis is a term used (often disparagingly) to describe a flat, geometric art style, widely used in Big Tech illustrations in the late 2010s and early 2020s. It is often criticized as seeming uninspired and dystopian.

Illustration in Corporate Memphis style from humaaans design library

Origins

Corporate Memphis is considered to be rooted in a style which has been dubbed flat art- a broad category of illustrative styles characterized by flat shapes and exaggerated proportions. However, the inception of Corporate Memphis as its own style is often attributed to Alegria, an illustration system commissioned by Facebook from design agency Buck Studios in 2017.

The style's title, which has been colloquially assigned, is a reference to the Memphis Group, an Italian architecture group from the 1980s known for its designs that are often thought to be garish. It is also known as the Alegria style, or Big Tech art style. Illustrators working in this style often refer to it as flat art.

Visual characteristics

Corporate Memphis style artwork featuring characters with blue and purple skintones

Common motifs are flat human characters in action, with disproportionate features such as long and bendy limbs, small torsos, minimal facial features, and bright colors without any blending. Skin tones are often depicted in a non-representational manner, with colors such as blues and purples being employed in order to create a sense of inclusivity.

Reception

The style has since been criticized for being generic, overused, and attempting to sanitize public perception by presenting human interaction in utopian optimism. Criticism of the art style has also been thought to be rooted in critiques of capitalism.