top | item 31651680

(no title)

ByteWelder | 3 years ago

For those (like me) being stuck on "skeuomorphic" in the second sentence:

> A skeuomorph is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were necessary in the original. Skeuomorphs are typically used to make something new feel familiar in an effort to speed understanding and acclimation. They employ elements that, while essential to the original object, serve no pragmatic purpose in the new system. Examples include pottery embellished with imitation rivets reminiscent of similar pots made of metal and a software calendar that imitates the appearance of binding on a paper desk calendar.

(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph)

discuss

order

MrLeap|3 years ago

If I may, I'd like to mention a text editor that I am making as an example of relevant skeuomorphism. It's called Tentacle Typer.

It makes regular ol' .txt files in mostly the traditional way, but you write text documents as an eldritch tentacle monster with a magic mechanical typewriter inside a steampunk sandbox.

https://twitter.com/LeapJosh/status/1469737611824713739

wiz21c|3 years ago

That some serious... hem... serious... well, I'm not sure of what I've seen but that's really serious ! :-)

DiggyJohnson|3 years ago

As a person who collects text editors:

Wow. Thanks for sharing.

AndrewOMartin|3 years ago

For those (like me) who couldn't go a day without seeing a dozen articles about skeuomorphism just a few years ago. I'm here for you.

(I don't mean to detract from the parent comment, which is helpfully defining an unintuitive term, I'm just happy to see the conversation has moved on!)

avgcorrection|3 years ago

> > Skeuomorphs are typically used to make something new feel familiar in an effort to speed understanding and acclimation.

Oh my goodness this word applies to a lot of mainstream programming language design.

malnourish|3 years ago

Skeuomorphic was quite the buzzword back near the dawn of the iPhone

totetsu|3 years ago

The classic example being the Banana shaped phone receiver icon on android and ios. There are People alive today only know that shape as the call icon and never use that type of land line.

cafard|3 years ago

At the moment of posting, I am alive, and not only know the shape as that of the handset I grew up using, but have such a phone in my kitchen.

smitty1e|3 years ago

So, onomatopoeia for the UI?

Cerium|3 years ago

Not quite? Skeuomorphism is the usage of design elements that in the past were necessary. Many people know the word now due to the UI interface trend in the early 2000s. Skeuomorphism has meaning outside of UIs though. You can see it in your daily life. Common examples are laminate doors that have fake joinery, rivet patterns on a ceramic flower pot, or the lattice of a French window.

rgoulter|3 years ago

Sortof?

I think keyboards on smartphones are an example: they tend to resemble regular, physical desktop keyboards, rather than just a grid of letters. It seems like that's the main reason for the 'A' to be offset from the 'Q'. (Whereas, say, a Blackberry's keyboard was a grid of keys; and entering the symbol mode of smartphone keyboards is also a grid).

chewyland|3 years ago

Salivatingly fascinating.

tetris11|3 years ago

Well, colour me sproused.