The aesthetic of my upcycling project is cyberpunk tech. The cyberpunk aesthetic encompasses “low life, high tech” themes. People tend to have a sense of hopelessness or nihilism because of different issues in their society. Some of these issues tend to be crime, class uprising, and government and corporate corruption. There is advanced technology involved that people use to give them as much of an advantage in life as they can get. This aesthetic thus, involves a maximalist approach to technology.

A high life, low tech aesthetic can be a great way to find the “opposite” of cyberpunk tech, but I want to focus on the visual aspects of my artifact in particular. Cyberpunk tech tends to have a maximalist approach to design. There are visible screws holding things together. There are lots of ridges throughout. A lot of the tech I’ve seen also has lots of color, both with lights and the casing itself. I also tend to see lots of buttons or knobs and logos or text.

THANES – ECHO LIMA

The opposite aesthetic for cyberpunk tech would be minimalist technology. When I think of minimalist technology I think of a lot of the technology we se now. Our phones, computers, and TVs are getting smaller, thinner, and sleeker. A great example is Apple. The iPhone has evolved into a screen with no home button and losing more hardware every time there is an upgrade. As technology advances, designs strive to be sleeker and more efficient, but still trying to not intimidate its buyers.

iPhone 15 – Apple

A recent example of this is the Apple Vision Pro as well. This piece of technology has a lot of innovative aspects to it, yet it looks very minimal and sleek. When ads for this product pop up you can’t see much of how it works just by looking at it. A lot of things are packed in a very approachable package. A cyberpunk approach to this technology would include plenty of buttons and knobs that can essentially achieve the same things, but with a much more hands on experience.

Apple Vision Pro – Apple

Hiroto Ikeuchi

For my project in particular, the minimalist aesthetic would simplify my artifact a lot. My whole goal for this project was to include as much hardware as I could get my hands on. This gave it a maximalist aesthetic in hopes to replicate what a character in a cyberpunk world would create. My sketch minimized the design to just about a screen and a few buttons. This replicates the minimalist aesthetic by packing all the capabilities of my artifact into a screen. With the current materials I’ve collected I could easily create this minimalist design. The Chromebook screen I’m using could be the main component of this design. I could just as easily make a case for the screen and add a button or two to complete this new minimalist design. Essentially a tablet.