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Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

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Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#41

Post by avn2109 »

RachelF wrote: post #18

Please do bring it back. In my opinion, it looks better than the flat modern interfaces that everybody now uses. Starting with Windows 8 phone minimalism has made computer interfaces uglier, and harder to use. It seems like UI designers are just as fashion concious as clothes fashion designers, and also have less concern for the comfort/usability of their product. [1]

>> "...UI designers are just as fashion concious as clothes fashion designers..."

UI designers in general would be fashion designers if they could; they mostly went to the same school, had the same interests, are influenced by the same ideas etc.

The main difference is that one group needed real jobs and the other found a way to get by without them.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#42

Post by egd »

tomc1985 wrote: post #24
RachelF wrote: post #18

Please do bring it back. In my opinion, it looks better than the flat modern interfaces that everybody now uses. Starting with Windows 8 phone minimalism has made computer interfaces uglier, and harder to use. It seems like UI designers are just as fashion concious as clothes fashion designers, and also have less concern for the comfort/usability of their product. [1]

Fashion really has no place in computing. These are tools and we should treat them as such "The reaction, as all reactionary trends, was to throw out everything that came before and fully embrace this new direction of minimalist ui, white space layouts and magazine typesetting. Some argue that it was a timely change to meet the demands of the increasing complexities of the interface. That we had grown out of the need…

> Fashion really has no place in computing. These are tools and we should treat them as such

This is a remarkably limited perspective on a set of devices that people spend almost every waking hour using.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#43

Post by nradov »

zer00eyz wrote: post #14

I have mixed feelings about this. Lets take something that most on here probably remember, the floppy disk. It is still a common sight as a save icon, but my youngest children have never USED a floppy. I don't mind the concept, as long as the concept isn't sacrificing functionality, and astethics for the sake of nostalgia.

Right we should use a Zip disk icon instead. Much more modern.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#44

Post by userbinator »

IMHO the most important skeuomorphic thing in UI is to make buttons actually look like buttons, i.e. they are obviously meant to be pressed. Far too much time has been wasted on trying to learn UIs where buttons are virtually indistinguishable from static text. Borderless buttons are particularly frustrating, especially when there's multiple of them next to each other.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#45

Post by sago »

stephencoyner wrote: post #36

I agree that most UI is the same these days and some change from the norm should be encouraged, but I don't think that UI with actual real world things like binder clips is needed. Mobile apps don't need clips to keep pages together, so lets not bring new constraints into a field that already has it's own to work with. I love how Google is updating material design to have more aggressive shadows and bring in elements…

My car doesn't need leather seats, carbon fibre, or chrome bumpers. My watch doesn't need numbers as well as hour markers. My seafood dinner doesn't need the milk crisp arranging like a sail. My jeans don't need rivets. My pen pot doesn't need to be wrapped in leather. I don't need wood panelling on the walls.

I could live in a sterile utilitarian whiteness, where the only things that exist have a purpose. Some people do. I prefer plants, and colours, and textures, and art on the wall.

I like knobs on my virtual synthesiser. I like pages in my e-book. If I had an app where I could clip together a series of documents, I'd rather it displayed this with a binder clip than a message or an abstract icon.

Extreme minimalism is, and has always been, soulless imho. Even the Farnsworth House used woodgrain and leather, curtains act as fabric wallhangings, textured concrete is prominently featured. Falling Water is practically a skeuomorphic paradise.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#46

Post by jsjohnst »

akuma73 wrote: post #8
et-al wrote: post #5

Yes please. Apple had a good balance between skeuomorphism and minimalism a few years ago, but as Jony Ive & Co. strip out decoration for flatness, iOS 11 almost looks unfinished. Case in point: the PIN screen and the calculator app. Lock screen: https://file.mockplus.com/image/2017/10/5627bfee-8dbf-44b4-9... Calculator: http://cdn.iphonehacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/iOS-10... I live in an old Victorian house,…

Bring back more interesting logos: https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/26-february-4-march-2018...

I’m half kidding saying this, but I still stand behind the fact Yahoo! officially died when it changed its logo. It was the final nail in the coffin and where they conclusively proved they had lost their soul.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#47

Post by wildrhythms »

stephencoyner wrote: post #36

I agree that most UI is the same these days and some change from the norm should be encouraged, but I don't think that UI with actual real world things like binder clips is needed. Mobile apps don't need clips to keep pages together, so lets not bring new constraints into a field that already has it's own to work with. I love how Google is updating material design to have more aggressive shadows and bring in elements…

When every app looks and acts the same, why have different apps at all? What I want is one single mega app that does everything. At least then I can rest peacefully knowing that the interfaces between all of my digital playspaces are consistent. Think of how wonderful it will be when I can open my phone and not be surprised by what a designer has carefully crafted. This excites you too, doesn't it?

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#49

Post by stephencoyner »

wildrhythms wrote: post #47
stephencoyner wrote: post #36

I agree that most UI is the same these days and some change from the norm should be encouraged, but I don't think that UI with actual real world things like binder clips is needed. Mobile apps don't need clips to keep pages together, so lets not bring new constraints into a field that already has it's own to work with. I love how Google is updating material design to have more aggressive shadows and bring in elements…

When every app looks and acts the same, why have different apps at all? What I want is one single mega app that does everything. At least then I can rest peacefully knowing that the interfaces between all of my digital playspaces are consistent. Think of how wonderful it will be when I can open my phone and not be surprised by what a designer has carefully crafted. This excites you too, doesn't it?

I'm not saying everything should be the same, my first sentence said quite the opposite. I'm just saying let's not bring the constraints of the physical world into mobile app design, let's get a little more creative.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#50

Post by chrismcb »

et-al wrote: post #5

Yes please. Apple had a good balance between skeuomorphism and minimalism a few years ago, but as Jony Ive & Co. strip out decoration for flatness, iOS 11 almost looks unfinished. Case in point: the PIN screen and the calculator app. Lock screen: https://file.mockplus.com/image/2017/10/5627bfee-8dbf-44b4-9... Calculator: http://cdn.iphonehacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/iOS-10... I live in an old Victorian house,…

I'm missing your case in point. Based on the images you provided I can't tell which one is iOS 11. It's like 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The calculator is a little bit different between the trip, but I wouldn't say either one is unfinished, kit is either one better than the other.
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