Round 1, Match 38 — Pridecore vs. Polychrome
Pridecore is an internet aesthetic and practice that centers on the creation of art, moodboards, and other digital content using the colors and symbols of various LGBTQ+ pride flags. Originating on Tumblr around the late 2010s, the aesthetic is a form of self-expression and community-building, allowing young people to celebrate and explore their specific identities in a creative way. The main element of the aesthetic is not just the display of pride flags, but their transformative application: using the distinct color palettes of flags like the bisexual, transgender, or asexual flags as the basis for new, aestheticized content. This can range from character art and icons to abstract moodboards and glittery GIF sets ("stimboards"). The defining characteristic of Pridecore is the transformative application of a pride flag's color palette to other visual forms, creating new, aestheticized content that celebrates a specific identity. This is most commonly expressed through the creation of moodboards and stimboards, which are curated collections of images and GIFs that all share the distinct color scheme of a chosen flag. The aesthetic is also central to online fandom communities, where it manifests as fan art and character edits in which a character's clothing or background is recolored to match a pride flag, often as a form of "headcanon" expression. The style also includes original digital art, pixel graphics, and custom flag designs for more niche identities, all using the same principle of color palette adoption.
vs.
Polychrome is a graphic design aesthetic that originated in the early 2010s. It is characterized by heavy use of abstract and blended colorful patterns, usually generated through natural means. It is named after the album of the same title by Koan Sound, which features the aesthetic in its cover art. The style can be found in advisements for commercial brands, film, etc. The visual style of Polychrome is characterized by colors bursting/mixing together, usually over simple white/black backgrounds. This includes ink/liquid spills, powder explosions, smoke, paint smears and splatters, oil slicks, blended watercolors, plastic shimmers etc. The palette uses a wide variety of high contrast colors, mostly of blue.
Which aesthetic do you prefer?
Pridecore
Polychrome
