Terminal Aesthetic is a modern "design" style by engineers who build interfaces that are characterized by functional minimalism, visual austerity, and an absence of emotional, sensory, and otherwise embodied intelligence. They produce systems that are logically sound but sterile, and unmistakably lacking in experiential refinement.
The term plays on "terminal" in two senses:
- Computational – evoking command-line terminals, where interaction is textual, flat, and unforgiving.
- Existential – suggesting a kind of design that is fatal, lifeless, or hostile to organic experience.
Promptcore: a sub-style of the terminal aesthetic characterized by direct visual or conceptual reference to command-line interfaces, prompts, or coding environments. Often blending nostalgia for early computing with a raw rejection of visual comfort.