Of all the aesthetics styles from ‘mid-century’ to ‘space age’, gearheads seem to have the most love for the ‘synthwave’ style. Also called retrowave, vaporwave, neon-noir and outrun, that last name borrowed from the old Sega video game ‘OutRun‘ released in 1986, featuring a Miami Vice era Ferrari driving down endless roads lined by palm trees.
Characteristics of the synthwave aesthetic include neon pink and contrasting cyan, retro arcade-game style 2D graphics with grid lines to add the illusion of depth, influenced by the film ‘TRON’ from 1982. Synthwave style often includes sunsets depicted in gradients of yellow, orange and purple, just like the permanent sunset which players chase in ‘OutRun‘.
While the ‘New Age‘ Subaru WRX is not a vehicle commonly seen in synthwave imagery, its just retro enough to fit the genre. After each local car-meet, we attach a GoPro to the roof / hood / windshield of the WRX and try to re-create the synthwave video of our dreams.
This time, music from ‘White Bat’ gave us the unique vibe we were looking for. Synthwave music, inspired by new wave and electronic music, adds a drum beat, synthesizer chords and fake saxophone solos to 1980s music, creating a nostalgic sound that never actually existed before. The resulting music sounds like a distant faded memory.
The synthwave aesthetic evokes feelings of nostalgia of the 1980s era, back when cars (not phones) were a big part of popular culture. Gearheads really connect to imagery of sunset drives down the Pacific Coast Highway, the flickering fluorescent lights of a video game arcade, or the neon signs of Tokyo as seen on an old VHS casette. Night Drive 18 is our latest attempt to capture the synthwave aesthetic.