something i am curious about is why the neocities/indie web’s 88x31 buttonmaking seems completely uninfluenced by / unrelated to the style of neopets 88x31 buttonmaking!
and references for neopets buttons so any non-neopets users can get an idea of what they look like.
(edit: i dont know why discourse made the buttons big in this grid :( )
(you have to log in to view petpages & neopets is not on the wayback machine, but if you have a neopets account here’s two buttonmakerportfolios for even more examples.)
i suppose it could just be because neopets buttons are more mid-to-late-00s in style and “retro” aesthetic interests are largely still focused on the 90s and early 00s on the indie web? or maybe because there are more pixel artists on the indie web than on neopets, so there’s going to be more interest in pixel art buttons? i’m curious what other people think, if there’s more to it, if it’s just coincidence, etc.
Huh, good question. I’ve seen this style of edits/buttons on other forums/pet sites, but yeah theyre not really common on neocities/indie websites.
I dont think its just a 88x31 button thing though, since ive also seen banners, footers, and other things in the same style.
I’d say its probably bc many indie webmasters go for that old web aesthetic, or for simpler designs, or use pixelart bc it fits better with their site. But even those websites that are completely original and dont go for that retro look dont do this “neopets style”, so i dont know. Maybe both “indie web style” of buttons (if there even is just one style) and “neopets style” of buttons just belong in different spaces, eras and aesthetics.
Graphic design is like fashion. There are different trends and cycles.
As a person of the internet that experienced both of those button design eras, I agree that the “old web” buttons are more mid-1990’s style while the “Neopets” style buttons are more 2000s style. I definitely saw this style on other forums and other types of graphics like avatars, user icons, banners, etc.
I actually found some templates for this style of buttons with the cutouts and whatnot while going through a folder of old graphics recently!
I find those style of buttons to be beautiful!! They actually remind me some of deviantart stamps the way some have the shine and edges on them ^^
To be honest mine is just in pixel art because it was the easiest thing for me to do. Don’t have to worry about messing with picking a font and giving it a border, finding/making a background, adding a shine layer, animating something detailed, etc.
Similarly I think my css would have a lot more gradients and shadows and shines and such if it wasn’t so much extra to do.
So this is just my speculation, but due to the way that those neopets buttons look, they seem to share a history with 2005-2015’s forum signature aesthetics and deviantart stamps, so what I think is happening is this:
The people that make those neopets buttons have likely been making banners, forum flare, and/or DeviantArt Stamps, for at least since that time or were otherwise influenced from that era. As a result it is likely a very dedicated community of makers with a decent amount of experience and they all kinda play off each other and it’s been able to establish a certain look and theme. There’s a certain ‘ecosystem’ about it, but it’s lineage is distinctly 2010’s webculture.
Meanwhile, the majority of people making ‘Modern’ 88x31 buttons are people that are only just getting into the concept now and very likely have little to no history with making forum flare so their first instinct is to lift ‘vibes’ from the source material of the late 90’s, early 2000’s. The hard edges, minimal colors, the flashing, the garishness, is all part of the point.
I’m sure that in time the ‘modern’ web-button will have its own stylistic evolution when it’s no longer trying to match the Vibes of the Old Web (and probably already has in it’s own way)
As I’m looking at the example buttons shared, I remember exactly what I would’ve done to make those border styles in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro in like 2006. (Example: for that inner border, you make a border of white and use a blend mode like Screen or Soft Light or Overlay).
Graphics trends happen with things like that in communities. People make tutorials and a bunch of people follow them. People make templates and lots of other people use them. Then of course there’s the normal getting inspired by something and making your own version.
I think that mid-2000s style is a bit more fiddly than the mid-1990s style of web graphics. Most people new to website buttons may not have seen it, or don’t know how to do it. If you want to make buttons in that style, go for it! I’m sure they will be welcomed.
Personally, I think another part of it is ease of creation!
When I look at the pixel art based buttons, I know exactly how to re-create it in a way that mostly looks good, thanks to the hard edges.
But when I look at these, for as much as I love them, I’m at a loss for how to recreate them from simply looking at them. I would have to follow some sort of guide on how to pull this style off, due to the soft edges, as I’m not sure how that would translate on my design.
