What does Non-Vintage mean (NV)? When a wine is “non-vintage” (usually abbreviated to NV on the label), it means that the wine in the bottle is a blend of several different years or “vintages.” If you think about it, the term “multi-vintage” would make more sense! Pronunciation (US): 1. A season's yield of wine from a vineyard 2. The oldness of wines Familiarity information: VINTAGE used as a noun is rare.
Vintage design involves more than simply ripping off the past. Learn how to create something modern with elements from the past.
Cover image by Archiartmary.
Does vintage design ever go out of style? We’ve been riding the tide of throwback references for the last decade, stemming from a cultural obsession with all things mid-century modern and leading to the hipster movement’s adoption of 19th-century design traits.
But what does “vintage” mean in design now? While straight retro design is still popular, blending vintage influences with contemporary elements is key to creating designs that feel spot-on. In this article, learn how to channel retro style in a way that feels completely right, right now.
Why Do Brands Keep Returning to Vintage Design?
Have you ever bought a product or downloaded an app simply because it reminded you of a positive experience when you were younger? We’d all like to say no, but whether it’s a choker necklace, a pair of Adidas Originals, or Pokémon Go, it’s very difficult to resist the pull of nostalgia marketing — especially when goods get packaged as something shiny and new.
Nostalgia marketing is nothing new, but it has particular power over the millennial market. In a digital age of virtual relationships and all-encompassing work schedules, nostalgia facilitates social bonding. Casting your mind back to long summers spent on Rollerblades or listening to the Backstreet Boys is not only a fun way to bond with friends and colleagues from a similar generation, it’s also a strong incentive to buy products that trigger that same powerful, nostalgic feeling.
This emotional hook gets channelled by some of the biggest brands in their marketing campaigns, and visual design plays a huge part in triggering an emotional response in the consumer.
The point-of-sale rests on making the consumer feel happy, secure, and even childlike, transporting them back to an earlier time, a simpler time they can view through rose-tinted glasses.
So What is “Vintage” Now?
You might think that nostalgia marketing only applies to the eras during which the target markets were alive, but product sales have shown that this isn’t always the case. Millennials might have been born in the 1980s, but they’ll still respond well to products branded with 1970s- or early 1980s-inspired designs. The enduring hipster movement also demonstrates that incarnations of even earlier design styles in contemporary branding, such as 19th-century industrial, 1920s art deco, or mid-century modern, still provokes a similar emotional pull.
So perhaps we can come to the conclusion that earlier eras, whether we lived through them or not, represent simpler, pre-digital utopias for contemporary audiences, and that the term “vintage” can now refer to any design that references any era or combination of eras to trigger the emotional need for simplicity and childlike happiness.
While “vintage” design might have meant letterpress textures and 19th-century-inspired logos a few years ago, it now has a much broader reach. Vintage now is about mixing different eras and styles to create a mood of authentic-feeling nostalgia.
Know Your Trends and Eras
Nostalgia marketing might explain how brands can sell vintage-inspired products, but it doesn’t solely account for why certain design styles and eras become trendy and find mass appeal. Pop culture trends also play a large part in defining which specific vintage styles feel relevant right now. 1970s style has been enjoying a resurgence throughout the design world over the past year, in part thanks to movie releases like American Hustle and The Nice Guys, which has since trickled down into fashion and interior design.
In graphic design, it’s the disco-era typography that has really stuck. Its friendly, retro vibe has struck a chord with comedians and millennial-focused TV productions, with series like Master of None choosing distinctly ’70s-style typefaces to set the tone of their opening credits.
There are contemporary methods for channelling the ’70s look without appearing old-hat. Look for typefaces that offer a modern take on ’70s-esque design hallmarks. This chunky display font marries Swiss Style minimalism with disco styling for a result that feels clean and elegant.
This type design from Wete Studio shows how exaggerated proportions can make a condensed ’70s-type style feel completely new and interesting.
While the ’70s still lend a cool edge to nostalgic branding, this year is all about a 1980s resurgence. It’s a natural transition over to the next decade, and releases like Blade Runner 2049 and shows like Stranger Things are only adding fuel to the fire.
While the ’80s were known for overt glamor and power-shouldered excess, the contemporary incarnation of this decade is pared-back and draws on the influence of ’80s design movements. To channel vintage ’80s the right way, look to simple elements like color palettes and patterns that evoke a retro mood. Designs inspired by the pop-art styling of the Memphis Group feel appropriate today. Try teaming simple geometric patterns with pastel colors and clean type for a minimal take on the trend.
Even an ultra-simple texture background, like the one below, will help give your brand and packaging designs a nod to ’80s style while bypassing a complete rewatch of Saved by the Bell.
Neon typography and glow effects also nod subtly to the moody styles of Blade Runner and Tron. These lend an instant nocturnal ambiance to any design. Set a contemporary sans serif font in pastel neons to bring any design into the ’80s.
Mix and Match Vintage Styles with Confidence
Even though the ’70s and ’80s are having a moment in design today, the mood of the new approach to vintage design is, at its core, inclusive and far-reaching. You can embrace the stylistic traits of any era as long as you do it with a hefty dose of modernity.
This doesn’t apply solely to graphic design. In fashion photography especially you can see influences from different eras creating engrossing and beautiful images. These “Swimming Pool” photos from Elizaveta Porodina mix ’70s Helmut Newton styling with ’60s faded Hollywood glamor. Add a reference to 1950s synchronized swimmers, and you’ve got a very modern vintage mix.
What’s the takeaway here? Approach vintage design with a fresh eye, borrowing elements from different eras and combining them with contemporary touches to make your design feel current. This branding for Van Leeuwen ice cream is a lovely example of how 1950s elements like pastel colors and script fonts can pair with ultra-clean layouts and simple black text.
![Mean Mean](http://blog.9flats.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/vintage-blog-300x273.png)
Sometimes modern vintage is at its best when you can’t quite pinpoint the era in the design. This design for board game Pyramid Arcade is a great example. The design borrows from ’50s and ’70s styles, which lends the game a nostalgic feel. But the geometric elements and clean, futuristic typefaces make the whole design feel very modern.
Applying retro colors to geometric or low-poly icons and patterns is a quick way to combine vintage touches with modern flair.
This identity for Medialab Prado is another example of mixing eras and stylistic references to create an up-to-date result. By combining ’60s textbook styling with ’50s colors and a minimal grid layout, the branding here is loaded with nostalgia, but it still manages to feel clean and professional.
So…Anything Goes?
It’s an exciting time to be designing with vintage references, as consumers are now receptive to a very broad range of styles. So you can drop in ’70s-inspired colors along with some early 20th-century type styles into an otherwise contemporary design, and you’ll instantly create a new vintage mood.
Keep in mind that broad vintage trends do still dominate, and we’ve rapidly moved from the ’70s into the ’80s, and now the ’90s are enjoying a resurgence in fashion. But consumers are open to new interpretations of these eras, and ultimately any design that taps into nostalgia marketing will meet the current demand for designs that remind us of childhood or simpler times.
Continue your nostalgia trip with this tutorial on giving photos a vintage look, or why not learn how to create a vintage-inspired festival poster in Adobe InDesign?
The terms antique, vintage, and estate are used to help date older pieces of fine jewelry. So what is considered vintage jewelry and what is considered antique? This is a common inquiry, and the answer varies from how we would classify vintage cars or old houses.
All jewelry that is not brand new is considered estate jewelry, but not all estate jewelry is considered vintage or antique. Antique jewelry and vintage jewelry are defined by when the item was made.
Estate Jewelry
Estate jewelry is any piece of jewelry that is used. This term encompasses all second-hand jewelry, regardless of whether it could be defined as antique or vintage. The item could be less than a month old and it could still be considered estate jewelry.
For example, say you got engaged four years ago with a brand new diamond ring, but you decided to call off the wedding. Last week you finally sold your ring to a jeweler. When reselling the ring, the jeweler would classify this ring as a piece of estate jewelry.
Instead of describing all used pieces as estate jewelry, dealers usually limit this term to jewelry that was made within the last 30 years. Anytime this term is used to describe a piece of jewelry that may look like it's much older than this, inquire to verify the exact age with the seller.
Sometimes the use of the term “estate” can be a reproduction indicator. It is safe to assume that whenever a dealer says “estate” without any other mention of the item's age, that piece of jewelry is not very old at all.
Vintage Jewelry
Jewelry has to be at least 20 to 30 years old to be considered vintage. This could be anything made during the 1990s or earlier. Vintage is probably the most common term of the three since it encompasses a large collection of periods when jewelry was mass produced.
Would an engagement ring from the 1800s be considered vintage? Technically speaking, yes. Although instead of classifying the ring as vintage, most dealers would call the ring antique so they can highlight just how old the ring is.
What about your grandmother's engagement ring from the 1940s? That would be considered a vintage engagement ring.
Antique Jewelry
Antique jewelry is any piece of jewelry that is about 100 years old or older. Many pieces from the 1920s are now considered antique, especially those made in the earlier part of the decade. When an item is called “antique” by a reliable dealer, you can rest assured that the heirloom is very old.
![Definition of vintage Definition of vintage](http://www.thefrenchcellar.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/rsz_year_label.png)
Beware of the term “antique style” which is another reproduction indicator. Anytime the word “style” is used when describing a piece of jewelry that appears to be old but there is no other mention of the item's age, this could mean the item is a reproduction.
'Estate Jewelry' Can Be Misleading
Sometimes the use of the terms “vintage” or “estate” can be misleading, so it is very important to understand how reputable dealers use these terms and how unreliable dealers use them so you can avoid accidentally buying a reproduction.
For instance, a reliable antique dealer would not call a 300-year-old cameo an “estate cameo” even though it technically is a piece of estate jewelry. Instead, a reliable dealer would only use the words “antique cameo” to avoid any confusion.
An unreliable dealer might call a brand new reproduction cameo that looks like the 300-year-old cameo an “estate cameo” to make the uneducated customer believe the cameo is much older than it actually is.
When in doubt, contact an expert you trust to help you figure out what type of estate jewelry you are dealing with. Sometimes styles and trends repeat themselves, so it takes a lot of finesse and education to date the item correctly.