Skeuomorphism – Best Designs Showcase

As a web designer, you know a lot of web design trends and most probably you know what skeuomorphism is. The main idea of this trend is to make new things look and feel like their real-world equivalents and usually what was an important feature in the original object becomes ornamental in the new design. So as you may guess, skeuomorphic interfaces tend to look familiar to the users.

Even today, with the increasing popularity of functional flat designs, there is still some place for skeuomorphism, maybe not in its pure form, but in some elements, like textures, shadows, gradients, etc. So, it’s too early to charge off the concept as outdated cause a metaphor can make your design inviting.

In fact, there are a few types of skeuomorphism: a visual skeuomorphism and an auditory skeuomorphism. The first one comes to using textures (wooden, leather, stone, paper, etc.) and other web design elements that emulate things from the real life. The second one imitates sounds to make the impression complete.
The given concept is frequently associated with Apple because the company is known for the wide usage of skeuomorphic designs in many applications. Of course, as any other trend, skeuomorphism has its fans and foes. Everything depends on a particular project, designer’s aesthetical taste, customer’s requirements, purpose, targeted audience and many other factors.

If you are willing to sort out the concept in details and make up your own opinion, then we suggest you to check an interactive infographic about skeuomorphic design. In short, the infographic offers tons of interesting facts on the history of skeuomorphism, its pros and cons, as well as shares resource where you can download free skeuomorphic textures. And now, at the end of our post, we’d like to list some great skeuomorphic websites for your visual delight and inspiration.