What Is Retro Futurism? Explore the Retro-Futuristic Art & Design Trend

The retro futurism design trend is all about looking to the future through the lens of the past.  Combining futuristic technology and themes with old-fashioned design, retro-futurism explores the conflicting visual aesthetics of both the past and the future – resulting in a very interesting design trend indeed. 

Featuring bizarre technology, faded colors, and dystopian themes, retro futurism was originally born out of futurists’ predictions of how technology would impact the world we live in. It often includes imagery of eccentric gadgets and machinery, virtual worlds, robots, space colonies, and interstellar travel. Retro futuristic art can explore everything from daydreams of futuristic cities and flying cars, to the devastating and alienating effects of technology on humanity. 

The term ‘retro futurism’ refers to how predictions of the future were depicted in an earlier era. It’s a combination of modern-day aesthetics, futuristic technology and old-fashioned design. In graphic design, retro futurism often features futuristic imagery, faded bright colors, cyber-inspired typography, and rounded geometric shapes. 

Here are some of the key characteristics of retro futurism:

While it’s been popular since the early 80s, the retro-futurist aesthetic is currently trending across many different industries – from pop culture, technology, entertainment and social media, to art, design, and fashion. 

This trend fuses two of the most popular design trends of the moment – retro design and futuristic design. It blends our fascination with futurism and all things tech with the warm, nostalgic feeling that retro design evokes, creating a melting pot of emotional themes. 

One of the reasons why the use of nostalgia works so well for design is because of its strong effect on our mental wellbeing. Studies have found that nostalgia leads to a stronger sense of belonging and purpose, and can relieve the feelings of uncertainty that the future brings.

Want to integrate retro futurism into your creative projects? Here are some of the best retro-futuristic-inspired video templates, photos, graphics and fonts on Envato Elements… 

Featuring everything from retrowave landscapes and retro cyber cities to neon vaporwave loops, here are some of the best retro-futuristic stock videos on Elements… 

Whether you’re wanting a futuristic cyberpunk font or a faded retro typeface, here are some of the best retro-futuristic fonts to try… 

If you want to add a hint of retro futurism to your next poster, album or book cover, here are some of the top retro-futuristic graphics templates on Elements… 

Add an eye-catching element to your next video project with these video templates, from retro-futuristic holograms and neon logos, to cyberpunk openers… 

Including retro synth-wave backgrounds to retro-tech landscape kits, create super cool retro-futuristic visuals with these graphics… 

Want to create a retro-futuristic world or photo manipulation? Try these sci-fi inspired photos from Envato Elements… 

Add a fun, futuristic feel to your next video with these cool, retro-futuristic music tracks…

And that’s a wrap! We hope you enjoyed this trip back to the future. For more trending design styles, read up on the top 90s Trends Making a Comeback, the Line Art Trend, the Photo Manipulation Trend, the Pastel Design Trend, and our Graphic Design Trends for 2022!