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Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

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Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#71

Post by ahartmetz »

mr_toad wrote: post #32
wuliwong wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've actually never even tried to understand people's issue with tables. I think there are important places to take stands in my life and I guess that isn't one of them. I'm more of a "generalist" than a front-end dev but that being said, I would guess that you would have more control for responsive layouts with bootstrap's grid system than using HTML tables. If I'm using table cells I can have them stretch or squeez…

The argument was/is that ‘table’ should have semantic meaning; you use it for tabulation of facts. Most people were using it to create arbitrary containers. Some people have taken it too far, and refuse to use tables even for representing actual tables of data.

I believe it's a weird kind of misunderstanding. Tables were declared bad when the rule was still "mark up meaning, not physical look".

Today, websites are mostly designed in a fixed layout (well, two - desktop and mobile), so the argument against tables makes no sense anymore.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#72

Post by AstralStorm »

Please don't. Skeuomorphism always lies to the user.

That button? Does not really depress and definitely does not act immediately.

Knob you're turning? It is not analogue nor you can really use a true turning gesture.

And why do you have to use one when you have a touch screen to draw the result on?

Computer desktop is not a desk top, items do not obstruct each other.

A file folder has no pages.

Ebook only has them because someone thought it needs to. I'd welcome infinite scrolling in these.

Non-flat is not the same as skeuomorphic. Hopefully.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#73

Post by AstralStorm »

gfosco wrote: post #2

I like it, it's very tasteful... I hope it does come back, because I find the flat / whitespace / no decoration UI craze to be boring.

This point is mostly about looks, not skeuomorphism.

You do not have to model real items to have them look good and be recognisable and the functionality being relatively obvious.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#74

Post by AstralStorm »

mdip wrote: post #35

Amen. I'll be the first to admit that "you don't want me doing your UX design"[0], but I found the whole violent shift from skeuomorphic to flat to be too much. Almost over night we went from nearly cartoonish to IRS forms "with color". As a non-designer, I was happy -- finally, I could hit up a web site for a reasonable color palette, grab a popular font from Google and have a design that almost passed as typical. A…

My playlist does not look like a collection of CDs nor like a plain text list. It does look like a spiffy and specific list - and different from image gallery too.

(Using PowerAmp, not affiliated.)

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#75

Post by AstralStorm »

sago wrote: post #45
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 peopl…

And I really don't like knobs on my synthesizer, they're a total pain to set right. (But I do like the lamps and VU meters, nice labels and a bit of distinct look.)

Nor the pages as I have to tap in addition to scrolling. There is a reason to have scroll bars, but not a good reason to have pages especially when they don't fit the screen size.

There is minimalism and then there is skeuomorphism. And the entirely different thing is functionality. Looks are only tangentially related...

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#76

Post by AstralStorm »

jbob2000 wrote: post #38

No, the reason we got rid of it was that it was impractical for like 90% of software. Skeuomorphism works for calendars and notepads, that's it. That's why those are always the examples you see for them. There's no such thing as skeuomorphism for a chat app or a social media site - there's no analog comparison to take design cues from, they're inherently a digital thing. So what you end up doing is wrapping digital t…

For games, both approaches work well. Very weird is fun. Immersion (of which skeuomorphism is a part) can be fun too.

I'd rather not want my phone apps try to be immersive rather than get the job done.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#77

Post by AstralStorm »

nradov wrote: post #43
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.

Some software use the standard icon for storage instead - looks like a stack of hard disks.

And then you also get the folder icons with arrows on Windows, not floppies.

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#78

Post by timrichard »

ascorbic wrote: post #54
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,…

It makes sense in places where the UI is still based on a physical item, such as the calculator and calendar, and many icons. Apple took it too far by removing almost all gradients and shadows. It just looks boring. The icons of iOS default apps are particularly dull and ugly. Material Design is a nice balance, with the clean lines of a flat UI, but with just enough detail to give it depth. The article also mentions…

I got 'forbidden' for your image too...

But just out of interest, I think you'd really like the skeumorphic design of the Waves J37 tape machine and Abbey Road Vinyl plugins.

https://youtu.be/b1kWHwDNw6Y

https://youtu.be/f_HZ3YQWeXw

Re: Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

#80

Post by ASalazarMX »

knolan wrote: post #11
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,…

The current iOS calculator app is atrocious looking. However I usually use use spotlight for my calculations but that’s been hidden several swipes away if you’re in an app. Where’s the minimalism in the amount of touch input needed? Replying to emails in Mail is a chore of taps.

What infuriates me most about minimalism is when attempt an action, and the UI accepts your input but does nothing. No error message, no hint as to what you did wrong, because that wouldn't be minimalist.

Minimalism these days imitates half-finished.

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