The Iceberg of Internet Aesthetics

If you’ve been on the internet long enough, you’ve probably stumbled across a strange photo of an empty mall that made you feel unsettling yet nostalgic for no reason. Or maybe you found yourself hypnotized by a low-res VHS video of a rainy city street, with japanese city pop playing softly in the background.

These videos belong to a vast, evolving world of internet aesthetics. And in this blog, I will be explaining some of these aesthetics on the aesthetics iceberg, from popular mainstream ones, to niche, obscure, or forgotten ones. I will also be ranking these aesthetics based on letter grades, and all of these are based on my opinion so don't get mad. If you end up enjoying this read, comment “part 2” and I’ll make another one.

Cyberpunk

At the very tip of the iceberg, we have cyberpunk - one of the most iconic internet aesthetics of all time. It originated all the way back in the 80s, and was popularized by movies and books such as Akira, and Bladerunner. Cyberpunk is often described to be “high-tech, low-life.” It imagines a future where advanced technology coexists with urban decay, corporate control, and social collapse. Cyberpunk is all about glowing neon colors, cityscapes, holograms and more. Cyberpunk is also just amazing if you want a cool 4K wallpaper. You’ll often see it replicated in night photography, especially in cities like Tokyo, ChongQing and Hong Kong. Cyberpunk is also strongly tied to music genres like synthwave and darkwave. Also, this is just my opinion but I think the weekend’s recent projects like After Hours and Hurry Up Tomorrow fits the Cyberpunk theme. I mean, just listen to Niagara Falls and take me back to LA. Cyberpunk has also dominated the gaming world with games like Cyberpunk 2077, and continues to show up in photography, fashion, and YouTube edits. Just the scope and influence of cyberpunk is insane, which is why it gets a high A-tier.

Liminal Space

The next mainstream aesthetic we are covering is Liminal Space. Although this aesthetic emerged in the early 2010s, it was popularized by the viral “Backrooms” video, where endless yellow-lit office spaces become a psychological maze of dread and eerieness. Usually, liminal spaces features photos of empty malls, hotel hallways, parking lots and more. Sometimes it even stems to video games such as Minecraft. These photos usually would have bad lighting and a lot of camera noise. It captures a space where you feel unsettling yet weirdly nostalgic. Liminal spaces are uncomfortable not because they’re outright scary, but because they resemble real places we’ve seen or imagined but can’t quite place. Sometimes, the music accompanied with the photos adds to the eeriness feeling. Some of the most popular liminal space music includes: A Burning Memory, Warm Nights, Fallen Down, and Six Forty Seven. With the aesthetic and music combined together, they depict memories we have that never existed. The aesthetic also stems to other sub genres that we are going to talk about later in this video, so make sure you stick around to find out what they are. Anyways, because of how effective liminal space is at making people feel something, liminal space lands a low S-tier.

Flat Design

Up next we have flat design, an aesthetic that has dominated mainstream tech UI since around 2013, when Apple introduced iOS 7 and Microsoft rolled out its Metro design language. Flat design is exactly what it sounds like — a visual style that avoids three-dimensional effects, gradients, shadows, and textures in favor of bold colors, geometric shapes, and simplicity. It was a rejection of the glossy, skeuomorphism of the early 2000s, replacing realistic icons and textures with clean lines and minimal detail. You see it in literally every app you use — Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok all adopted flat design as the default. Flat design is often criticized for lacking personality and depth, leaving no room for emotional resonance. People might say, “well, what about the music associated with it?” Well? Personally, I can’t really find music that reminds me of flat design, I guess maybe you could count NPC music or Meme Music but I’m not sure so let me know in the comments. Because of how lifeless and boring flat design, I’m placing it in the D-tier. The only reason why I didn’t put it in F tier is because I do web dev and it actually looks kinda good in websites.

Minimalism

If flat design had a mom, it would be minimalism. By definition, minimalism refers to a lack of clutter or unnecessary detail. It favors neutral color palettes, clean surfaces, geometric shapes, and plenty of negative space. But unlike flat design, minimalism can feel calming and satisfying when done right. You’ll see it in modern interior design, such as IKEA showrooms, Apple product launches, or a simple desk setup with only a lamp, laptop, and plant. It shows up in fashion, branding, and more. Minimalism gets a solid to high B-tier.

Frutiger Aero

Moving down the iceberg, we have probably my favorite aesthetic on this list — Frutiger Aero. Frutiger Aero rose to popularity from late 2004 to 2013. It is characterized by the use of skeuomorphism, glossy textures, transparent glass, vibrant colors and blending nature with technology. Some photos of Frutiger Aero rooms can also be tied a bit to liminal spaces. Frutiger Aero was so influential in the late 2000s that it appeared everywhere. If you owned a Windows computer around that time, Windows Vista and Windows 7 were basically built around that theme. It also extended beyond just operating systems and into the fabric of everyday media. TV commercials for products like smartphones, cars, and cleaning supplies often featured clean airbrushed visuals of water droplets, gliding surfaces, and floating UI elements. Even phone startup animations and everyday commercials mirrored this vibe — showing a utopian, hyper-digital lifestyle with blue skies and nature. In the gaming world, the Nintendo Wii played a massive role — with games like Wii Sports Resort and My Aquarium showcasing the aesthetic beautifully, and music such as the Wii party main menu theme, Wii sports theme, Wii channel theme, and the photo channel theme. Anyways, the late 2000s era itself was pretty much drenched in this hyper-modern optimism, with many malls, offices incorporating this style. Frutiger Aero also have an entire catalog of music tied to this look, which includes a lot of the Wii songs I just mentioned in addition to songs like: Aquatic Ambience, Lotus Waters, LEASE, and more. Overall, Frutiger Aero gave us an optimistic view of the future. It was a time when the internet felt alive, when people had hope. Although it has declined since the early 2010s, social media has brought it back and it is currently experiencing a resurgence due to people being nostalgic and sick of boring flat design.
Frutiger Aero gets a glorious S-Tier. Yes, this is biased because I grew up around that era, but I stand by my statement.

Frutiger Metro

If Frutiger Aero and Flat Design had a baby, it would probably be Frutiger metro. Frutiger metro marked a transitional period between Frutiger aero and flat design, with the “metro” part of its name directly referencing Windows 8 Metro UI. As you probably guessed, Frutiger metro features abstract flourishes, fluid shapes, solid silhouettes, and gradient blocks. The thing that sets Frutiger metro apart of flat design is that Frutiger metro leans towards maximalism, while flat design lean towards minimalism. Frutiger metro was pretty prominent around the late 2000s, with many commercials, such as the iPod commercial, using Frutiger metro elements. Like Frutiger aero, Frutiger metro is also experiencing a resurgence with edits most notability from the YouTuber nohlun. Frutiger metro felt nostalgic, but it doesn’t convey as heavy of an emotional message than Frutiger aero or other aesthetics mentioned on this list.

Frutiger Metro gets a low B to C tier.

Analog Horror

As we are moving deeper down this iceberg, things will get a lot darker and unsettling. With that being said, this brings us to Analog Horror.

This aesthetic emerged in the mid-to-late 2010s with YouTube series like Local 58, The Mandela Catalogue, and Gemini Home Entertainment, which used a unique kind of storytelling: horror told through outdated broadcast formats. Analog horror uses VHS scanlines, grainy footage, emergency alert system messages, and old educational tapes twisted into something deeply wrong. The design philosophy is rooted in discomfort, taking media we associate with safety or routine and corrupting it. The music associated with it is minimal and tense, often using dark ambient noise, VHS static, and off-key songs to heighten the fear. It evokes a kind of dread that’s hard to describe. Every time I watch analog horror, I get chills down my spine. Analog Horror lands in a strong B-tier.

Dreamcore

Next, we have Dreamcore, which feels like someone straight out of a fever dream. Dreamcore is built around surreal visuals that blend beauty and eeriness. You might see floating staircases that go nowhere, empty suburban neighborhoods, lines of red/black captions that describe a feeling you can’t quite name, or photos of places that seem familiar yet impossible. Dreamcore can be considered as a branch of liminal space, but unlike liminal space, dreamcore leans into surrealism and exaggeration. There’s a sadness to it, but also something peaceful, like being halfway between awake and asleep. Dreamcore gets a solid A tier.

Wierdcore

Do you have a weird cousin? Well, dream core does! Introducing weirdcore!!! This aesthetic exploded in the early 2020s and pretty much thrives on discomfort. It’s often consists of lo-fi, low-resolution images with strange captions like “You are not supposed to be here” or “nothing is real.” These images are, well, weird: they contain warped faces, a lot of eyes, empty rooms bathed in unnatural light. Where dreamcore tries to capture the surreal beauty of dreams, weirdcore is more about the anxiety that lives within them. There’s often no logic to the images — they’re meant to be felt more than understood. Weirdcore has become a space for people to express trauma, isolation, and confusion in a way that doesn’t need to explain itself. With that being said, there is a way darker branch of weird core that we are going to explain later on. I’d give Weirdcore a B tier.

Weather Channel

Now we’re really getting into the obscure and strange aesthetics that are either forgotten, hyper-niche, or just plain uncanny. Let’s start with the Weather Channel Aesthetic, also known as weathercore. Weathercore could be considered a sub-genre of vaporwave, although it predates vaporwave by decades. This aesthetic could be considered similar to Frutiger aero, with features of nature like grass fields, clean skies and more. Its surprisingly comforting visual roots all the way back in the late ‘80s and ‘90s. It recreates the look of old Weather Channel broadcasts: forecasts with chunky fonts and background of blue skies and white clouds accompanied by smooth jazz and vaporwave music. This aesthetic isn’t about the weather at all — it’s about the mood. It evokes that nostalgic, early-morning TV feeling from childhood, when you were home sick or waking up before school. The soft jazz soundtrack, the clunky graphics, the slight VHS grain — all of it works together to build a sense of calm. It’s cozy and underrated, so it earns an S tier.

Traumacore

Traumacore is where the iceberg takes a very dark turn. It’s not just an aesthetic — it’s a deeply personal form of expression used by people to process trauma, often related to childhood or abuse. traumacore uses images of toys, bedrooms, cartoons, and playgrounds, overlaid with glitch effects, broken text, or disturbing captions. 

Traumacore is controversial — for some, it’s very relatable and helps them express their feelings, but for others, it feels triggering. Trauma-core sometimes can really dark and disturbing, which could, well, traumatize ppl, which is why I’m giving it a C tier.

Web1.0

Let’s take em back to the old days to the start of the internet, which is when the web1.0 aesthetic is introduced. This aesthetic is also known as web core, and it is pretty much the aesthetic of the early internet. It consists of plain html websites, glittery GIFs, ugly fonts, ascii art, neon backgrounds and more. Spacehey resembles the webcore aesthetic a lot, and you can see it through the chaotically customized profiles. Although webcore is pretty chaotic, it represented a time Before the web was corporatized, where blogs, forums, and photo archives were extremely popular, expressing a decentralized and individualistic nature. This aesthetic also technically overlaps a little bit with the vaporwave movement. Personally, I give this aesthetic a B tier, it is interesting so look at what the old internet looked like.

Kidcore

Now we reach the bottom tip of the iceberg — aesthetics that are the most fragmented, chaotic, and emotionally intense. Kidcore is built around childhood nostalgia, using saturated rainbow colors, stickers, toys, and cartoon characters from the 90s and early 2000s. It’s joyful, playful, and sometimes cloying. It often feels like trying to recreate the feeling of being six years old and watching PBS with a bowl of cereal. Though not for everyone, Kidcore is sincere and colorful, so it lands at a B-tier.

Glitchcore

glitchcore is just pure digital chaos. It’s an aesthetic that leans into broken textures, distorted faces, rainbow glitches, and rapid strobing patterns. It usually features anime characters. I don't really get this aesthetic and it just hurts my eyes everytime I see it so it earns an F tier.

(I won't include an image because of how much it hurts my eyes)

Conclusion

Anyways that is pretty much it for this blog, it's a pretty long article so if you've made it to the end congrats!!!