A network of aesthetics emerging in the late 1980s, some an evolution of prog-punk-zolo memphis-y squiggles, keith haring, woodcut revival, a "return-to-the-natural" handdrawing movement, reaction against the computer aided design boom, late 80s environmentalism revival, etc. Still very postmodern in the sense of appropriating seemingly endless prior artists & artistic movements (Chagall, Klimt, Matisse, Picasso, Cubism, Art Deco, Fauvism, early human art) mainly for commercial/corporate purposes. Peaks in the mid 1990s, falling out of favor later on as the pendulum swung back to the minimalism/tech/clean vibes of Y2K & Gen X/YAC. Also, it wasn't just that--this is speculation, but something had to fill the 'cool, hipster down to earth, hand-drawn/crafted vibes' void, and I think it was Mission School and Industrial-Ameriana variants, because they weren't so 'tribal' & culturally appropriative. I would need to speak to some actual Gen-Xers (hit me up), but I'm pretty sure at some point (maybe even the entire time) they were like 'this aesthetic is embarrassing' and dropped it entirely, in favor of MS and IA, because they were more genuine or authentic to their experience and expression.

It's very wide-ranging and could be split into many sub-groups, but this format seems to work better. Common motifs include: woodcuts, 'tribal/ancient imagery and iconography', moons, suns, spirals, hands, eyes, stars, simple styled flowing/curvy figures, 'aroma swirls', coffee cups, natural elements like trees/waves/landscapes, earth tones, hand-drawn look, 'airbrushed dirty look', the earth/globe, hearts, colorful gradated backgrounds, rough irregular borders & lines. Overlaps with 'pop surrealism' from the same time period, though GVC is usually trying to convey 'sincerity' as much it is needed to sell something; sorta faux-naive, down to earth, warm.

Article:
https://www.are.na/blog/case%20study/2018/09/06/evan-collins.html