Friday, June 14, 2013

Apple's new iOS interface is "Flat"

Johnny Ives, the brains behind the revamp of Apple product design, has also now been placed in charge of software and interface design. And, sure enough, he thought that iOS was in dire need of a fresh new face. The new iOS aligns with his vision for the future of design. Sleek, minimalist and flat - the new design is a direct reflection of Ive's personality, as well as the future of Apple design from both a hardware and software perspective.

Watch the video here:


With this revamp, Ives specifically addresses the need for Apple to move away from the skeuomorphic elements that appear to have taken over many aspects of product, icon and interface design.

What does the word 'skeuomorphic' mean, you say? It is a style of design in which digital elements resembled real world objects that anyone could recognize. For Apple, it is the the recycle bin represented by the trash can icon, or the calendar app presented with leather binding, or iBooks designed to look like an actual bookshelf, or the Sticky Notes app, designed to mimic PostIt notes.

Steve Jobs was all about making computers so simple that anyone could use them, and skeuomorphism was therefore a huge part of Apple design. Well, Johnny Ives abhor's skeuomorphism and is taking design in the opposite direct: 'flat'. He is ditching the bells and whistles in favor of a no frills, minimalistic and flat approach. He believes that skeuomorphism is archaic, and that building skeuomorphic elements into everyday applications, such as the virtual 'turning of a page' in Contacts, is both, a drain on resources like battery life, as well as an impediment to efficiency and load times.

From a display media perspective, I agree with Ives' philosophy. Banner ads should avoid skeuomorphism not just for practical reasons, such as slower load times and drain on resources, but also because it can very easily come across as cheesy and gimmicky.

Lets leave the real world elements in the real world as we continue to venture deeper into the virtual world.

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