08Retrofuturism
An imagined future built from a coherent older analog technology.
Definition and context
Retrofuturism revisits futures imagined through the technology and design language of an earlier period. Choose a specific vocabulary rather than mixing every nostalgic object together.
People and ecology
Operators and technicians should use the controls convincingly. Ecology and life-support systems can reveal how an older imagined technology meets an unfamiliar world.
Spaces and forms
Build an observatory, vehicle or habitat around analog equipment. Dials, switches, tape reels and mechanical controls should belong to one coherent system.
Color and materials
Walnut, enamel, brushed metal and molded housings can express a mid-century vision. Material and manufacturing logic are more useful than a generic vintage filter.
Light, composition and scale
Let warm interior task lighting meet a clear exterior future landscape. Compose equipment as readable working groups rather than a wall of decorative knobs.
Sound and graphics
Relay clicks, tape motion, motors and restrained signal graphics establish an analog grammar. Avoid touchscreens and cyberpunk neon when that grammar is the point.
Motifs and distinctions
Its motif is the future as an earlier era could have imagined it. It is more specific than nostalgia and need not be dystopian.
Ideas for game environments
Give each control an apparent purpose. An analog observatory looking onto an extraterrestrial valley can express both historical technology and an unrealized future.
Read scene descriptions
Main environment
A mid-century analog observatory looks over an extraterrestrial valley and distant dish antenna. Walnut cabinetry, enamel housings, waveform CRTs, dials, tape reels and paper tape belong to one coherent technology. Warm task light gives the room a working, inhabited character.
In a kitchen of tomorrow, a resident operates the stove with an analog lever.
An ecological habitat designed in the language of the 1960s Space Age.
A close view of an analog instrument panel.
An anthropomorphic instrument sits on a desk in a warm study.