As the regular monotony of life blends with the seemingly soulless void of grey and white hues, a visual renaissance of wild designs and captivating concepts, dominating Instagram and social media, offers a refreshing break. Examples include Hiroshi Nagai’s ’70s and ’80s-inspired Americana summer and artist Marius Troy’s illustrations that fill Tokyo with giant red orbs. To celebrate this trend, here are five designs that strike the perfect balance between not being too loud or too dull, but just the right amount of slick.

The Tokyo Rising Suns Project

The land of the rising sun is imagined in its truest form by Norwegian multi-disciplinary artist Marius Troy, who uses illustrations to paint a picture of Tokyo filled with giant red orbs that represent the crimson sun of Japan.

A Richard Mille-themed Summer

The iconic watchmaker showcased its latest “Colored Ceramics” collection, inspired by summer and drawing from the ’80s Memphis Design movement. Called the RM 07-01, the new set of timepieces combine different variations of colours, materials, and shapes while staying grounded in the ethos set by Dominique Guenat and Richard Mille.

A City in Motion

New York-based artist Alexander, who goes by the handle of wrapped.nil, captures the hustle of the cultural capital of the world through a series of long-exposure photos.

The ’80s-Inspired Minimalism of Hiroshi Nagai

Designer and illustrator Hiroshi Nagai dials the clock back to the ’70s and the ’80s, occasionally drawing inspiration from greats such as Magritte and Dali, all while keeping pop art as his main source of focus. “Without American pop art, I would not have started painting the way I did. This experience made me paint my summer skies as deep blues from that point on,” says the artist.

A Unique Take on Stop Motion

Stop-motion animator and fibre artist Andrea Love takes a unique spin on the labour-intensive stop-motion visual art by using elements of fibre to showcase the regular mundanity of life.

Feature Image Credits – Richard Mille