Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute

“for the aesthetics obsessed as a friend of the institute, & a lover of aesthetics, i must share one of the most useful resources to help you describe + discern internet eras, micro-trends, and the origins of popularity: cari”

“A super fun hole to fall down especially if you're looking for inspiration and if you have any interest in different aesthetics that have ruled different eras of our lives, then it's a true goldmine. Each have an associated are.na board that acts as a mood board for each genre of aesthetic. Some favorites include blob world, new wave tropical, and radical surrealism. CARI, or Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute, is an online community dedicated to developing a visual lexicon of consumer ephemera from the 1970s until now.”

“I think I dreamt of this website. I can't believe it exists -- a complete index of visual eras. today im feeling like a ☀️dollar store vernacular sun 🌙 wacky pomo moon 🌅 preschool pop rising”

“"...an online community dedicated to developing a visual lexicon of consumer ephemera from the 1970s until now." Browse aesthetics like Austurbane, Disco-Deco, Eco Beige, Pacific Punk Wave, and so so much more.”

“Omg this website is a designer dream. An alphabetical catalog of every design aesthetics with explanations and photos to boot. See you in 10 hours…”

“As someone who loves organizing things visually, there is no website I can get lost in like CARI, or Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute. An encyclopedic collection of consumer aesthetics through the ages, the breadth & taxonomy are so impressive.”

“I wrote an essay about the CARI (Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute) project back in 2022 - such a fantastic resource https://open.substack.com/pub/dirt/p/dirt-whimsicraft?r=96p&utm_medium=ios”

“I LOVE that someone has put a name to every aesthetic and their time frames. It's brilliant because who could articulate names like Silicon Dreams of the late 90s or McBling of the 2000s.”

“this is amazing! ready for my deep dive!✨”