# Nostalgic design · Digital Trends 2021 · Zorraquino > Design solutions that invite us to dream of times gone by. URL: https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/nostalgic-design ![Nostalgic design: Design solutions that invite us to dream of times gone by.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/0w1142l8/production/023fb899c6ee5a2c98b9fdfc9027ae2380643adc-1920x1261.webp/nostalgic-design-design-solutions-that-invite-us-to-dream-of-times-gone-by.webp?w=1600&fit=max&auto=format&q=85) Trend 07 # Nostalgic design 1. [Digital Trends 2021Home](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021) 2. [Trend 01Optimize video](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/optimize-video) 3. [Trend 02Flexible devices](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/flexible-devices) 4. [Trend 03Deepfaked media](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/deepfaked-media) 5. [Trend 04Reinventing drones](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/reinventing-drones) 6. [Trend 05New digital twins](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/new-digital-twins) 7. [Trend 06Immortality tech](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/immortality-tech) 8. [Trend 07Nostalgic design](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/nostalgic-design) 9. [Trend 08Livestreaming boom](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/livestreaming-boom) 10. [Trend 09Automation tools](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/automation-tools) 11. [Trend 10Digital loneliness](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/digital-loneliness) Nostalgic design Design solutions that invite us to dream of times gone by. Trend axes - Lo-Fi - Vaporware - Retro design - Postmodernity ## Signs of discontent with the present Technology, in its essence, is cold and inhuman, like the present we are living in. We use it to optimise the efficiency of our activities, but we often leave no room for joy or enjoyment. Faced with this, and at a time when we interact more and more with different user interfaces, a trend emerges, or rather re-emerges, that seeks human warmth, nostalgia and authenticity in what surrounds us, evoking past times that seem better. Once again we see eighties and nineties aesthetics, Vaporware and Lo-Fi styles, which show that longing to go back to calmer, quieter times, to live at a different pace. In contrast to eccentricity, the everyday stands out. We want designs that amplify our lives; we seek warmer, closer experiences. Visually, this translates into colours and textures from the analogue world and simple, careful compositions, with special attention to small details. This trend is linked to ambient computing, the idea of using devices without being aware of doing so. Just as things begin to settle, new changes burst in that do not let society get used to them and create new traditions. If there is one thing we learnt in 2020, it is that things are not going well. Hence the need to dig out the good things of the past and bring them into the present… Perhaps this desire to return to our roots is the result of the constant change in our postmodern society, which stops new ways of life from taking hold, as a result of the acceleration we are living through. ## Cases 01 / 03 Zorraquino spotlights 1. 01 Ambient technology means using technology without using it. Interfaces blend into the environment to such an extent that they require no learning or active participation from the user. 2. 02 Ambient computing has a higher aspiration: to be smarter about the devices being built, so that they amplify or complement life in a meaningful way. 3. 03 The resurgence of past aesthetics reflects a nostalgic desire to return to earlier times that are seen as calmer and more serene, as a sign of discontent with the present. Zorraquino playlist - Joven Con la EdadNovedades Carminha · 2019 - La Danza del PacharánLos Mejillones Tigre · 2020 - Ikusi Eta IkasiThe Sparteens · 2010 [See the whole playlist](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/playlist)[Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/59NooVXWi9gM1raA06ojfr) ## More on the trend ### References - [Ambient computing is in the air](https://www.computerworld.com/article/3328545/ambient-computing-is-in-the-air.html) - [Google Design’s Best of 2020](https://design.google/library/google-design-2020/) - [Lofi, Vaporwave, nostalgia y posmodernidad](http://revistalevadura.mx/2020/08/19/lofi-vaporwave-nostalgia-y-posmodernidad/) - [More Human Ambiance in Ambient Computing](https://design.google/library/more-human-ambiance-in-ambient-computing/) - [Web Design Trends: That 90s Look is Coming Back](https://qodeinteractive.com/magazine/web-design-90s-look/) - [AI-based ‘no-touch touchscreen’ could reduce risk of pathogen spread from surfaces](https://qodeinteractive.com/magazine/web-design-90s-look/) - [Ben and Martin](https://benandmartin.com/) - [A few mobile web layout options of yesterdays shot](https://dribbble.com/shots/11504258-UP-002-Mobile) - [Trip — Mental Health App Animations](https://dribbble.com/shots/14562535-Trip-Mental-Health-App-Animations) - [Mike Perry Studio](https://mike-perry-studio.squarespace.com/about) - [Poolside FM](https://poolside.fm/) - [Kinopio](https://kinopio.club/) - [Nathan Tokyo](https://nathan.tokyo/) - [Jaguar Land Rover Predictive Touch Screen Technology](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPD83qvIvBo) - [A look at the new Nest Thermostat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=087SqQmtb2w) - [Meow Mart](https://meowmart.mailchimp.com/) - [Meow Mart: a new game from Mailchimp!](https://dribbble.com/shots/14676023-Meow-Mart-A-new-game-from-Mailchimp) Pages 103–121 of the report [![Livestreaming boom: Live streaming platforms challenge conventional media.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/0w1142l8/production/7271237566e4958f392233d532dba8513f09e264-1920x1283.webp/livestreaming-boom-live-streaming-platforms-challenge-conventional-media.webp?w=1600&fit=max&auto=format&q=85)](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/livestreaming-boom) Next trend · 08 [Livestreaming boom](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/trends/digital-trends-2021/livestreaming-boom)