Skeuomorphism

Skeuomorphism ( old Gr . Σκεῦος "container, tool" and μορφή "shape") is a style mainly in design in which objects imitate a different material or a shape of an older, familiar object without this being justified by their function .

Concept history

The term skeuomorphism in its English form has been skeuomorphic since 1890. While this was mainly used in the arts and crafts at the time, the term is mainly used today in the field of software development. Through its use in English, the term found its way into German as a neologism .

purpose

The purpose of skeuomorphism is to make objects look more familiar in their design or to make them appear more valuable than the original material actually allows. Examples of this are furniture made of imitation leather , foils that imitate wood, embossed seams on rubber soles of shoes or plastic objects injection-molded in one piece with imitation rivet or screw heads.

Classic kettle
Swan Electric Kettle , Museum of Liverpool, England
Chrysler Town & Country with imitation wood

In software interface design

In software design, the skeuomorphism should help to create a familiarity with the most realistic possible representation of the original real device, which enables the software to be handled as intuitively as possible. This gives the skeuomorphism almost a didactic function. Examples of this are the imitation of a notepad with virtual spiral binding in notebook applications , the bending of the sheet when turning the pages of many e-book readers or the arrangement of controls, channel strips or buttons on mixing consoles , pocket calculators and much more.

Flat design , which is characterized by a simplified, abstract design language, is often cited as the opposite of this style . Since the introduction of iOS 7, Apple's mobile operating system has also been using flat design, previously a lot of skeuomorphism was used. Examples can be found under iOS 6 on the calculator, the notes or the game center.

Dark-Wave Studio Drum Synthesizer
Redstair GEARcompressor AU plugin (OS X)

literature

Michael J. Vickers : Skeuomorphism or the art of making much out of little: (on the occasion of the Winckelmann celebration of the Archaeological Institute on December 10, 1999) . Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2637-8 .

Web links

Jan Sievers: Skeuomorphism. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .

Individual evidence

↑ George Basalla: The Evolution of Technology . In: George Basalla, William Coleman (Eds.): Cambridge Studies in the History of Science . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988, ISBN 978-0-521-29681-6 , pp. 107 ( 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. ).
^ Nicholas Gessler: Skeuomorphs and Cultural Algorithms . In: Evolutionary Programming VII (= Lecture Notes in Computer Science Volume ). tape 1447 . Springer Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-540-64891-7 , pp. 229-238 , doi : 10.1007 / BFb0040776 .
^ H. Colley March: In: Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society 1890, p. 187.

[Basalla_1988-1] George Basalla: The Evolution of Technology . In: George Basalla, William Coleman (Eds.): Cambridge Studies in the History of Science . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988, ISBN 978-0-521-29681-6 , pp. 107 ( 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. ).

[Gessler_1998-2] Nicholas Gessler: Skeuomorphs and Cultural Algorithms . In: Evolutionary Programming VII (= Lecture Notes in Computer Science Volume ). tape 1447 . Springer Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-540-64891-7 , pp. 229-238 , doi : 10.1007 / BFb0040776 .

[3] H. Colley March: In: Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society 1890, p. 187.