Word of the day : Skeuomorphic user interface

Slashdot taught me a new word today. At my age, that's not something that happens often, so I am happy!

 The article points out that Skeuomorphic Graphic User interfaces are  in fashion today, pointing to Apple's leather tooled 'stitched' look for iCal. 

 Skeuomorphic design  is defined as "an element of design or structure that serves little or no purpose in the artifact fashioned from the new material but was essential to the object made from the original material".

I found some interesting examples of skeuomorphic design when I looked at Pimp Your Screen, a popular screen saver/ wallpaper app for the iPad. Have a look at these designs for 'app shelves' (and the desire to arrange apps neatly on shelves is itself very skeuomorphic - if that's the right term)


Needless to say, the 'retro' look is part of this trend. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with apps. Beautiful design plays a big part in making you want to open and use apps. 

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