Rugcore
Rugcore is a term coined by Charlotte Fang in May 2023 to describe the distinctive aesthetic of failed or low-effort NFT projects—collections often characterized by crude design, broken promises, and abandoned Discord servers. The name combines “rug pull,” a crypto slang term for project collapse or fraud, with the “-core” suffix used for internet aesthetic movements.
While the term originated as a humorous observation, it quickly took on broader significance within the Remilia Corporation ecosystem as an ironic but affectionate aesthetic category, celebrating the sincerity and naïve charm of the NFT market’s “rugged” underclass.
Origin
Fang first used the term on **May 3, 2023**, in a tweet reflecting on the strange appeal of cheap, defunct profile picture collections:
> “People say the more expensive their NFTs get the more good they look but I’m ngl now that Remilia inherited the whole market I’m starting to grow fond of the generic rugcore pfpNFTs sitting at zero. They’re more sincerely retarded jit made than we could ever hope to be.” > — Charlotte Fang, Twitter (X), May 3, 2023
The phrase “rugcore” immediately caught on within Remilia circles as shorthand for the distinct look of Fiverr-quality, mass-minted NFTs—collections with garish color palettes, unrefined trait layering, and clumsy typographic logos.
In a later post on **May 22, 2023**, Fang expanded the term’s meaning:
> “This week in the Remilia workshop we’re studying rugcore, thanks for asking. Past net artists liked to ‘critique’ market-driven aesthetics by pilfering in its ugliness, but beauty can be found in everything when you have faith, and the challenge far more rewarding—markets are populist & fueled by hope, how can you hate it?”
This statement reframed rugcore not only as an aesthetic description but as a philosophical stance—seeing beauty and hope even in commercial and failed creative attempts.
Definition and Aesthetic
Rugcore refers to the naïve, often accidental aesthetic produced by underfunded or hastily made NFT collections. Its characteristics include:
- **Low-effort generative design** — Overused templates, awkward traits, and inconsistent layering.
- **Bright but unrefined color palettes** — The exaggerated vibrancy of amateur digital art tools.
- **Earnest branding** — Grandiose slogans and roadmaps that belie obvious technical inexperience.
- **Market collapse as genre** — The aesthetic of abandonment: half-finished websites, inactive Discords, and vanished developers.
Though the term began as light mockery, within the Remilia framework it also became a form of *post-ironic admiration*—a recognition of the “sincerity in failure” that defines crypto’s populist creativity. Rugcore represents the raw material of NFT culture, unmediated by institutions or artistic pretension.
Interpretation
In Remilia’s discourse, rugcore is both **satirical and spiritual**: a joke about failed projects that doubles as a gesture of faith in the internet’s capacity for beauty, even at its lowest resolution. Fang’s later comments positioned it as a playful inversion of post-internet cynicism: where earlier net artists mocked capitalist aesthetics, rugcore finds affection in them.
This aligns with New Net Art principles of abundance, sincerity, and aesthetic freedom—treating even the “rugs” of the NFT ecosystem as part of a living folk art of digital markets.
Legacy
Rugcore has remained a minor but persistent term in Remilia-adjacent discussions, used to describe both ironic appreciation of bad NFT art and genuine aesthetic fascination with the ecosystem’s failed projects. Its usage often blurs sincerity and mockery—embodying the Remilia ethos that beauty can emerge anywhere, even in collapse.
See Also
References
- Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). “People say the more expensive their NFTs get…” Twitter (X), May 3, 2023. https://archive.is/7FDEW
- Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). “This week in the Remilia workshop we’re studying rugcore…” Twitter (X), May 22, 2023. https://archive.is/OA0n6