skeuomorph (redirected from skeuomorphic)

skeuomorph

A design feature that is carried forth from the original version of a product in order to make people feel comfortable with the new device. For example, the click sound that is heard when taking a picture with a digital camera comes from an audio clip; however, the sound originally came from the actual shutter opening and closing.

Before computers, the term originally referred to decorative elements in Greek architecture that came from earlier structures. For example, a stone carving might replicate an earlier wooden form that was structural and necessary, but the stone carving was merely decorative. In this same context, spokes on hub caps are merely decorative, whereas spokes on early automobile wheels were structural. Pronounced "skew-uh-morf," the word comes from "skeuos" and "morph," which are Greek for "tool" and "shape."