Does anyone know why the official MN Twins web page margins look like they were drawn for an early 90s Bulletin Board System (BBS)?  Is this a bizarre tribute to the 1991 team?  Does anyone know the story about why this was chosen?  Is there a story, or was this task simply given to an intern or employee's child?  Is there stuff like this all over the stadium too?

Twins:  If you cannot afford photoshop, there are free alternatives.  You don't have to overthink it -- just look at what the Red Sox did with their website margins.

 

It's called "pixel art" and it's indeed an intentional choice.

I enjoy the pixel art at Target Field:

This was further discussed/blamed in an article here last month:

 

45 minutes ago, spycake said:

This was further discussed/blamed in an article here last month:

 

He's talking about the font at the top -- specifically the obliterated I -- I'm talking about the side gutters on the web page looking like the welcome screen on the dial-up message boards that predate the commercial internet.

Definitely going for the 80/90s digital retro look in all the marketing this season. I'm sure somewhere in the marketing department there is a big binder with exactly the rationale and aims of the campaign but I agree it seems a little out of place. 

Personally I think it is fun but I would be better with some context or integration into other things

I think it amazing they could find any positive headline for Sano, no matter what format they put it in.

9 minutes ago, BritishTwinsFan said:

Definitely going for the 80/90s digital retro look in all the marketing this season. I'm sure somewhere in the marketing department there is a big binder with exactly the rationale and aims of the campaign but I agree it seems a little out of place. 

Personally I think it is fun but I would be better with some context or integration into other things

Maybe the rationale is matching the "retro" approach of Bally Sports North pulling Twins broadcasts from most streaming TV providers.

38 minutes ago, spycake said:

Maybe the rationale is matching the "retro" approach of Bally Sports North pulling Twins broadcasts from most streaming TV providers.

Thank Goodness for the FILs cable subscription 

I noticed the Twins also use this styling on the highlights on the web page.  The pixelated animation looks like the special effects from Star Trek IV, when Starfleet is sending a distress signal to our heroes and heroines because a strange orb lost contact with its friends and decides the only option is to destroy all planetary life.  My wife goes to similar extremes if I don't answer the phone.

There is also a subliminal pixelated TC Bear that shows up for a fraction of a second.  Not sure what that's about.  It's too pixelated to tell what it is subliminally, you have to pause the video to see what it is.  Maybe it's just meant to frighten us?  Mission accomplished.  I suppose it works, we are wondering wtf we just saw instead of wondering wtf just happened on the field.

13 minutes ago, Dodecahedron said:

I noticed the Twins also use this styling on the highlights on the web page.  The pixelated animation looks like the special effects from Star Trek IV, when Starfleet is sending a distress signal to our heroes and heroines because a strange orb lost contact with its friends and decides the only option is to destroy all planetary life.  My wife goes to similar extremes if I don't answer the phone.

There is also a subliminal pixelated TC Bear that shows up for a fraction of a second.  Not sure what that's about.  It's too pixelated to tell what it is subliminally, you have to pause the video to see what it is.  Maybe it's just meant to frighten us?  Mission accomplished.  I suppose it works, we are wondering wtf we just saw instead of wondering wtf just happened on the field.

Yeah, they’ve been showing the “creepy”  pixelated TC on the Target Field screens, especially pre-game. IMO this doesn’t make a lot of sense for marketing a baseball team, too artsy/aesthetic for the average fan.

I like it. They work it well into video highlights (when there are those)

This is a recent design trend, probably fueled by our continuing (unhealthy) nostalgia for all things old(ish) and blowback against high res everything in our lives.

Sometimes, I think mixing pixelated with high resolution imagery can look pretty cool but I’m not terribly impressed with the Twins’ implementation in this case.

I think the Twins in particular have a strong interest in associating themselves with the time period around 1987 and 1991, and distancing themselves from the year 2021.

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

This is a recent design trend, probably fueled by our continuing (unhealthy) nostalgia for all things old(ish) and blowback against high res everything in our lives.

Sometimes, I think mixing pixelated with high resolution imagery can look pretty cool but I’m not terribly impressed with the Twins’ implementation in this case.

When can we aspect Pong to be available on TD?