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A familiar layout -

Large storefront windows allowing for ample daylight, industrial-size wood tables to make using your laptop easy, and a bright or minimal interior with walls either distressed, painted white, or covered in subway tiles/exposed brick: does this sound familiar?

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Hipster coffee -

One of the defining features of the 2010s was the "hipster coffee" movement. In a turn away from the homogenous, big chain coffee experience, people were craving something different.

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Hipster coffee -

The flat white was born; espresso started to be fashionably roasted, milk alternatives were more common as the idea of a plant-based lifestyle went mainstream, and elaborate latte art became the norm.

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Similar aesthetic -

Although the new hipster coffee houses were born from a rebellion against corporate hegemony, many offered similar menus and aesthetics.

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Similar aesthetic -

What was more peculiar was that geographical location didn't impact their originality; across the globe coffee houses sprang up, independently from each other, reaching the same end point.

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21st-century cafés -

The new generic coffee houses of the 21st century had matching features across the board, alongside their claims of authenticity.

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21st-century cafés -

Exactly how they were authentic was less clear. In spite of springing up organically, they were a result of the 2010s social media algorithm-defining culture: a phenomenon of sameness.

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Borderless apps -

The digital creates a geography-free world, one where certain features are inoffensive and appeal to a large, specific demographic.

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Borderless apps -

When you are in one of these coffee houses, you could be anywhere in the world, such is the power of the generic hipster coffee house aesthetic.

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Instagram -

As Instagram usage grew, it made it possible for baristas to follow each other. Through algorithmic choices, they were able to find and consume similar content.

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Instagram -

As the algorithm exposes you to more and more of what's similar to what you (or people with a similar social media profile to you) have previously liked, personal tastes began to merge.

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Online reviews -

Apps like Foursquare, Yelp, and Google Maps offered images and reviews that drove people who followed a similar aesthetic on Instagram to these coffee houses in real life.

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Online reviews -

The Instagram aesthetic was put at the top of searches or highlighted in maps, driving the likes from the digital world into real-life sales.

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A dominant aesthetic -

As a certain aesthetic dominated social media platforms, it became a good business decision to adapt to the norms molded by it.

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A dominant aesthetic -

Customers rewarded coffee houses with business and, if they were impressed enough, would post about them on their own social media account.

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A lifestyle brag -

Posting to your own Instagram became a lifestyle brag, as well as providing free advertising to coffee houses so they could attract new customers.

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Instagrammification -

The phenomenon of the "Instagram wall" appeared, and hipster cafés weren't immune. It was created specifically as a place where you could take photos to post online. Some incorporated other trends, like the ubiquitous shade of "millennial pink" that was trending with brands at the time.

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Rinse and repeat -

And so, the rinse and repeat cycle of aesthetic optimization and homogenization continued, becoming less of a "style" and more of a way of life.

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A way of life -

The phenomenon was no longer limited to coffee shops: co-working spaces, hotels, restaurants, and start-up offices all adopted it, as physical space was itself turned into a product.

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A way of life -

Similar to the aesthetic leanings of other decades, and combined with the millennial coffee obsession, the hipster coffee house trend went beyond an aesthetic.

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A moment in time? -

As with any style, at some point the dominant aesthetic's appeal began to wane. Small changes were made to move away from the cliché.

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A moment in time? -

The Brooklyn-inspired industrial look was dialed down in favor of Scandinavian minimalism, a nod to another aesthetic trend of the 2010s: normcore.

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Scandi cool -

A more modernist take, spindly leg chairs made space for uncomfortable, backless geometric boxes, while there were less lights made from plumbing fixtures and more plants instead.

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Scandi cool -

Again, it fit the wider millennial trend of plant-mania. However, style was less important than paring things down to the fundamentals.

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Same old, same old -

Homogeneity became even more entrenched, as the trend appeared to have become the expected norm. The sameness remained the same.

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Same old, same old -

No longer restricted to just coffee shops, you could also expect to find it in places including beer halls, gastropubs, Airbnbs, and art galleries.

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Hipster philosophy -

The proclaimed hipster philosophy of the 2010s was one of using products that would display your uniqueness in the world of the mainstream.

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Hipster philosophy -

In true hipster irony, spaces that were meant to be places of individuality became globalized and increasingly monotonous.

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Following trends too closely? -

The changeable nature of social media aesthetic preferences makes pursuing a single trend a risky business. After the initial hype dies out, we're all left with the algorithmic monotony.

Sources: (The Guardian)

See also: What exactly is cottagecore?

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