[bleachedsleet]

> And what's with all the flat design, we need skeumorphism and warmth back in industrial and UI design.

I’d be interested to know your general age group.

I have a theory that skeumorphism is a cross-generational design trend that serves a purpose to articulate a radical new technological paradigm in a language that makes sense to people that have never experienced it (i.e. A radio app that looks like an actual radio because that’s what everyone grew up using). I think once people are fully immersed and familiar with the tech, though, skeumorphism is limiting and ugly. We don’t need radio apps that look like radios anymore because everyone should now know how digital interfaces work. We can abstract away dials and knobs and make better use of the space for something that fits better with the constraints of a screen rather than the constraints of the physical world. This harkens back to the old discussions around the save icon and how there is an entire generation clicking an abstract symbol that holds no meaning to them while the generation prior comfortably recognized this symbol as “equivalent to archiving on my floppy disks.” Skeumorphism is really only intuitive to the first generation. Everyone that comes after just sees another (possibly ugly) abstraction that makes just as much sense as the next one. Screens don’t need metal dials, plush felts, and eye-popping gauges where a simple shadow would otherwise suffice.

I mean this with no disrespect. We all have our own sense of aesthetic. Just a thought I’ve been ruminating on. Personally I find neumorphism [1] to be a pleasing blend of the positives of both skeumorphism and flat design and I hope to see more of it going forward.

[1] https://uxplanet.org/neomorphism-the-hottest-design-trend-in...

[asimovfan]

I think skeumorphism is just laziness in design. there is already an accepted design, why risk anything new?

[mouzogu]

In my 30s. I agree in that it is part nostalgia but I find flat featureless design to be very bland and uninteresting, what's more is that it's everywhere. now. Design is a fashion and so follows cycles, so i hope whats old will soon be new again.

[thrashh]

How do you differentiate that opinion from “skeumorphism came first so we all collectively got bored of it” and we like the current designs more simply because they’re newer?