1. J. S. Weis Art for Facebook, 2017 2. Ally Reeves 3. BUCK, Facebook Alegria, 2017 4. Slack 2017 5.@clayohanon on twitter/X
Designers hold strong opinions. It’s part of the job—creative discernment relies on the ability to articulate why you like something and why it works. Being a hater serves a similar purpose. But few design trends have broken containment and garnered lasting contempt from those beyond the design community quite like Corporate Memphis. Ask somebody outside the design world about their least favorite font and they’ll likely say Comic Sans. Ask them about their least favorite illustration style, they’ll likely say Alegria.
What’s the root of this collective disdain? Aside from Meta and LinkedIn, brands aren’t using it all that often anymore—so where did Corporate Memphis go? Let’s dive in.
Corporate Memphis—commonly (and somewhat incorrectly) referred to as Alegria art—hit the scene in the late 2010s. The name nods to its supposed roots in 1980s Memphis Milano design, though the resemblance is mostly superficial. Facebook brought it mainstream in 2017 when they introduced Alegria into their brand guidelines: ambiguous figures with blue and purple skin, floppy limbs, and impossibly tiny heads. (1) It was meant to signal diversity without actually depicting it, using ambiguous, exaggerated figures to feel inclusive without representing anyone in particular. Other tech brands took note and created floppy figures of their own. In the years following, Corporate Memphis and Alegria became synonymous with tech companies. Then Corporate Memphis became the target of internet ire. There’s an entire subreddit dedicated to the subject, full of comments calling the illustration style soulless and meaningless. (5) Here’s our take: the issue with Corporate Memphis isn’t the style itself, it’s what it represents. The real problem is tech giants using friendly, cheerful illustrations to soften the edges of policies and business practices that are anything but.
Just as Corporate Memphis reached terminal velocity in the tech space, another corporate illustration style rounded the corner. Literally. Kroger’s 2019 rebrand introduced Krojis, a fleet of 3D claymorphism characters that look as though they’d be nice to chew on. (7) Claymorphism takes modern 3D tools and the spirit of Corporate Memphis illustrations to create something joyful, tactile, and full of texture. Similar to the original intentions of Corporate Memphis, Claymorphism depicts body types and people in unrealistic ways to convey inclusivity but offers a gummy, chewy texture that’s antithetical to the flat features of Corporate Memphis/Alegria art. It’s a bit of Pixar, a bit of Wallace and Gromit, and it shows no signs of disappearing. So far, we’ve seen claymorphism primarily in the B2C space. Kroger has not said goodbye to their Krojis—and they have no reason to since Krojis have become memeified (which, it can be argued, is an unspoken goal for achieving brand awareness and cultural relevance). Many other brands are bringing claymorphism elements to their user interfaces, ditching flat effects for a full, lifelike, rounded style. More recently, Airbnb rolled out some very beautiful (and quite popular) ads that use practical and CGI tools to create a claymation effect. An interesting note there, too: design studio BUCK created Airbnb’s new ads (6) and Facebook’s infamous Alegria illustrations. But while the former has received praise, the latter lives in the consumer mind as a symbol of corporate “How do you do, fellow kids?” energy.That's the big question: why do some corporate illustration styles elicit strong negative reactions, while others receive praise? Is it the illustrations themselves, or the companies that use them?Perhaps plump, clay-like figures will start popping up amongst tech brands soon. Perhaps not. Meta/Facebook tried stepping into the 3D world with the Meta Horizon Worlds game, but nobody cared. At the moment, B2C brands are seeing the most success with this style. There’s a sense of nostalgia and craftsmanship surrounding these clay-like elements that we appreciate—and when the right project comes along, we’re very excited to create some chewy figures of our own. For now, enjoy our Kroji-fied team.
