The digital future is ‘electric blue’ – on brain rot and how (not) to get stuck in the aesthetics of the interface

This epilogue explores the concept of interface aesthetics as a critical dimension in the making of digital futures. It argues that the sensory and visual qualities of interfaces – often epitomised by the recurring motif of the ‘electric blue’ – are not neutral but deeply ideological, shaping imaginaries of empowerment, invisibility, and seamless integration. Drawing on cultural theory, media aesthetics, and examples from interface design, digital culture, and contemporary art, the text examines how aesthetic choices in platform interfaces reflect and reproduce neoliberal logics. It highlights the creation of the consumer subject and paradoxes such as the coexistence of promised empowerment and phenomena like ‘brain rot’ and ‘digital lethargy’, which signal cognitive fatigue under platform capitalism. Finally, the epilogue points to vernacular practices, artistic interventions, and critical literacy as potential strategies for interrogating and reconfiguring our relationship with interfaces, suggesting that aesthetic critique is essential for envisioning alternative futures beyond the dominant electric blue paradigm.