Juxtaposing Microsoft and Apple products the other day, I became fascinated by the difference between flat design and skeuomorphic design. Skeuomorphic design, which Apple has been known to embraces, shows an object as how we would see it in reality: for example, your calculator app on your iPhone depicts a physical calculator. Flat design, which is the highlight of Microsoft’s Windows 8, uses simple shapes and symbols to represent reality. Microsoft argues that skeuomorphic design is on its way out, and that like the continuing simplification of logos, people now desire an UI that uses flat design. If this were true, I am curious as to why hyperreal drawings are increasing in popularity. Artists like Dirk Dzimirsky are making headlines with pieces of art that could be passed as top-notch photography. What do you think is more desirable? Something that inexplicably and flawlessly mimics reality, or something that is simple and elegant?
