[jfax]

I couldn't find independent use of the term "Frutiger Aero" outside of this article when it first blew up, so I guess this coined it. Why "Fruitger" Aero. This basically smacks of being a forced meme by underageb& zoomers. But that's only half the reason this hits me as being frivolous and tiresome, I also echo the other comment here that's beginning to find "hyper-specific genre-mania" boring now.

[ideasphere]

Adrian Frutiger was a well-known type designer whose fonts were popular in the era being talked about. It makes sense but I agree that to me, this hyper-specificity and flexing of knowledge on specifics shows that it’s really about the person coining it wanting to plant their flag in the ground. To be ‘the person who coined that phrase everyone uses online’ and their justification for taking that role is “I know who Adrian Frutiger is.” It promotes the idea of singular figures defining (and policing) the definition of these terms rather than encouraging others to contribute and engage in a collective mess (which is how I prefer culture to operate.)

[simulo]

Depends on perspective - graphic designers and typographers might find "Frutiger" to be the obvious part and wonder what "Aero" means.

[krackers]

"Aero" itself was already a well used term, the "frutiger" part adds nothing and is just an attempt to reinvent something seeking fake nostalgia. What's next "Forstall Aqua"?

[Cthulhu_]

I think the intent was to name a wider aesthetic, whereas Aero was a Windows style.

[Apocryphon]

It dates back to at least CARI's work: https://www.are.na/consumer-aesthetics-research-institute/fr...

[ideasphere]

They are specifically who I’m defining as flag-in-the-ground types.

[Apocryphon]

Someone's got to catalogue these things somehow. If it wasn't them, it'd just be some YouTube essayist or TikTok streamer.