Drew Ink The year

Skeuomorphism

Drawing a control as the physical object it replaces, so that a note-taking app is a legal pad and a switch is a switch.

Skeuomorphism: a phone note-taking app drawn as a physical object. A grained leather header saddle-stitched along both edges carries the app's name stamped into the hide and one raised leather cap with a nib cut into it; below it the torn remnant of the previous page, then ruled cream paper with a red margin rule, a date, a list written on the lines and a soft crease across it; a leather strip at the foot carries four marks cut into the hide, a bin, an envelope and two page chevrons.
Skeuomorphism, a Drew Ink notepad, Drew Ink. Drawn 2026-09-11.

Near it

NeumorphismGlassmorphismFlat designAquaClaymorphism

What it is made of

texturea photographic or drawn material: leather, linen, felt, brushed metal
lighta consistent implied source, usually top or top-left, expressed as bevels and drop shadows
the argument for itit teaches an unfamiliar control by borrowing a familiar one
the argument against itonce the control is familiar, the costume is only weight

Where it came from

From the Greek skeuos, a vessel or tool, and morphe, shape. The word comes from archaeology, where it names an ornament that survives from an older material, long before anyone applied it to a screen. In interfaces it is the register of Mac OS X and of iOS up to version 6.