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Skeuomorphism 0:51
A 51-second explainer of Skeuomorphism, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Skeuomorphism demo
What this video covers
Skeuomorphism is design that imitates real-world objects - the leather-stitched diary, the felt poker table, the push-button with a bevel and a shadow. Its purpose was never decoration for its own sake: by borrowing the look of physical things, it borrows their affordances, so a control looks pressable, draggable or turnable before anyone explains it.
The skeuomorphic switch looked like something you could physically flip - raised, shadowed, obviously throwable - so you knew what to do without a word. The flat one was cleaner, but for a beat you weren't sure it was a control at all. Realism cost clutter; flatness cost a cue. The art is keeping the cue without the clutter.
