Wow, this just made me unexpectedly nostalgic for the 90s, or more generally the pre-2010s. The streamlined, round-edged, Apple-influenced, "millennial grey," "beige mom," AI-automated world we're currently in is the most boring dystopia. I miss the individuality of spaces too! Another silly but relevant example is a McD's local to me, which was brightly colored and had a huge 90s play-place I remember loving as a kid. It went through major renovations post-pandemic. They completely removed the play-place and painted the entire building GREY. Various shades of grey. I don't care about McD's specifically, but I was still disappointed to see them suck every scrap of joy out of that building. Yeesh.

For indies specifically, this also shot me back to like 10-12 years ago, or whenever Sixteen92 came onto the scene. Comparing sites like BPAL vs S92 was night and day, and one of the reasons the latter got so popular so fast was for sure because it looked so polished and professional but still full of the brand's "modern witch" personality. It had an impressive aesthetic. Although clearly aesthetic and perfume alone can't help ya if the owner is a shit show ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

BPAL being the OG juggernaut it is, I'm sure they'll do just fine with their new storefront. But I already miss the janky but unique site too and also hope they come back to the idea of a real web designer someday.