Thinking AESTHETICS. HEX #8ace00.
Colour is more than just a visual experience; it's a cultural force.
I Explore the history and impact of ‘brat green’
But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores, and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs. And it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room... from a pile of "stuff".
Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Colour has always played a crucial role in shaping visual culture, and Green has long been a colour with deep symbolic roots, its story woven through art, culture, and technology. In 2024, the resurgence of green—embodied by "Brat Green"—reflects a blending of nostalgia and modernity. Transcending its natural origins, Green has become a symbol of innovation, rebellion, and the ever-evolving spirit of youth culture.
The Evolution of Green: From Ancient Art to 2024's Cultural Revival
Green has long been a colour with deep symbolic roots, its story woven through art, culture, and technology. In 2024, the resurgence of green—embodied by "Brat Green"—reflects a heavy blending of nostalgia and modernity. Below I will briefly explore how green has transcended its natural origins, becoming a symbol of innovation, rebellion, and the ever-evolving spirit of youth culture.
Green in Art: Foundations in physical painting
In traditional art, green has always held a significant place. beginning with the ancient Egyptians, who used green pigments to symbolise fertility, life, rebirth and death. In medieval times, green was associated with new life, Eden and Paradise, appearing in tapestries, manuscripts, and religious iconography as a symbol of life and growth. However, green also had its dark side. In the Renaissance, it became a symbol of envy and deceit, most famously depicted in Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, where green hues signified the dangers of excess and moral decay.
By the 19th century, green had taken on new meanings with the introduction of synthetic pigments like Scheele’s Green (invented in 1775 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, chemically a cuprichydrogen arsenite) and Paris Green (copper(II) acetate triarsenite or copper(II) acetoarsenite) an arsenic-based organic pigment). These vibrant, yet toxic, colours became popular in fashion and interior design, representing both the allure and the dangers of modernity. Artists like the Pre-Raphaelites used green to evoke lush, romantic landscapes, while Impressionists like Monet captured the fleeting beauty of nature in soft, verdant tones.
This richer palette of greens played a critical role in various art movements. Impressionist artists (when more colours became available and transportable with the invention of the portible paint tube) used vibrant greens to capture the natural world’s play of light and shadow. However, the real story of Brat Green really begins in the late 20th century, when digital media started experimenting with and redefining colour.
Web Design and the Digital Colour Revolution
As the internet exploded in the 1990s, destinctive colour palettes entered web design. The early web was a wild frontier where designers explored this new medium's possibilities. Web-safe colours (an outdated set of 216 colors that were the recognised standard for web design in the 90s) were the norm, but TV graphics like ‘MTV Sky Green’ influenced more adventurous choices. Designers began using colours like lime Green to stand out in an increasingly crowded digital landscape.
The precise use of RGB and HEX codes allowed these bright, attention-grabbing colours to be used consistently across various platforms, ensuring they maintained visual impact on TV screens or early web pages. The rise of Digital software also meant that these digital colours could be manipulated with incredible precision, allowing designers to experiment with gradients, shading, and effects that weren’t possible with traditional media.
the Rise of ‘MTV Green Sky’
The late 20th century marked another significant shift for green, as it became a symbol of the digital age. The introduction of monochrome CRT monitors, which used green phosphor to display text and images, turned green into a visual icon of early computing. With their luminous green screens, these monitors became synonymous with technology and futurism. Unlike their historical predecessors, the digital green was stable and consistent, further embedding the colour in the cultural consciousness as a marker of innovation.
However, this era of green screens also introduced unique challenges, particularly "ghosting," where prolonged display of static images could leave a permanent, faint outline on the screen (which the ‘brat’ font references). This phenomenon led to the invention of screensavers, dynamic displays designed to prevent ghosting by constantly changing the screen's content. Screensavers became a cultural icon of the time, often featuring vibrant animations and psychedelic patterns, further solidifying the association between green and the digital age.
This era also witnessed the rise of green as a cultural symbol, most notably through its association with MTV music videos. In the 1990s, MTV was a cultural powerhouse that shaped fashion, attitudes, and youth identity. The bold use of green in MTV's music videos, which later became known as the "MTV Green Sky" aesthetic. REplacing VH1 SepiA Sky with green allowed directors to make the work feel futuristic without much effort (the Matrix making this choice to denote ‘real’ from ‘simulation’ being the classic example). MTV Green SKY is a vivid, almost fluesent shade of green that became a defining element of the music videos and movies of the time. The blue hues of the video are usually over exaggerated to make them look green and yellow.
Rooted in the Y2K Futurism trend, ‘MTV Green Sky’ represented a futuristic, digital aesthetic that was easy to implement thanks to advances in digital colouring techniques. Directors could quickly and effectively use green to evoke a sense of the modern and the new, aligning perfectly with the youth culture’s appetite for innovation and forward-thinking style. This aesthetic wasn’t just a trend; it became a defining visual language of the late 1990s and early 2000s, influencing everything from fashion to advertising. By 2008 most directors had moved into digital grading and the ‘green sky’ aesthetic became ‘tired’.
2024: The Cultural Resurgence of Brat Green
In 2024, green has once again become a cultural phenomenon, this time through "Brat Green," a shade that channels the spirit of MTV Green Sky while speaking to contemporary sensibilities. Popularized by Charli XCX’s latest album, Brat, Brat Green is a bright, rebellious colour that perfectly captures the album’s themes of defiance and individuality. It’s a shade that stands out in a sea of conformity, much like how directors of the 90s/2000s used this mechanic.
Brat Green has made a mark (much like the matrix from the previous generations) a cultural movement. resonating with a generation that is both nostalgic for the early 2000s and eager to assert its own identity in a world increasingly dominated by digital media. This colour (and Album’s) influence is currently visible impacting everything from fashion to graphic design, where it symbolises a return to bold, unapologetic self-expression perfectly incapsulating current trends of ‘delulu’ and personality based viral influencers.
Brat Green has also made its mark in the political sphere. Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign has adopted this vivid hue as a symbol of change and progress, much like the way MTV Green Sky once represented the cutting-edge of cultural content. Using such a distinct, unconventional colour in politics underscores how cultural aesthetics can transcend their original contexts to become symbols of broader societal shifts.
Green as a Cultural Force: Past, Present, and Future
Green has always been more than just a colour; it’s an evolving cultural force. From its ancient associations with life and renewal to its role in defining digital aesthetics, green has continuously reflected the spirit of the age. Today, in 2024, ‘Brat Green’ embodies this legacy, capturing a new generation's energy, rebellion, and innovation. Whether through art, music, fashion, or politics, green continues to be a powerful symbol of change, a colour that challenges the status quo and inspires new ways of thinking.
Laying not just in its historical meanings but also in its ability to adapt and resonate with each new generation. Brat Green, like MTV Green Sky before it, reminds us that colour is not just a visual experience—it’s a cultural statement, one that can define an era and influence Culture at large.