this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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Is it just me or do you guys miss these type of skeuomorphic icons? (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) by generaledelsud@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I don't know about all of you, I don't like these new flat icons that everyone is using. What ever happened to the old icons, like on iPhone and Samsung they used to have them years ago. Those were good times. Now it is always these stupid boring cartoonish designed icons. Side note: Somebody please update this icon pack. I am trying to use it on xfce on arch but some of the icons aren't working properly because it hasn't been updated in a while. I'll donate to you right away if you do it. Link to the repo: https://github.com/madmaxms/iconpack-obsidian

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[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 1 points 4 minutes ago

I miss UIs having lines and clear separations between elements. I loath this new flat style that everything has to have now, where you can't tell when one thing stops and another starts.

[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 2 points 38 minutes ago

I miss being able to use bitmapped fonts back in the Gnome 1.x days.

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 1 points 51 minutes ago

God, no!

Though these do look pretty, they don't look like the buttons in Windows 95/XP and maybe that's a good thing.

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yeah, I do miss that, but idk how much of it is nostalgia and how much is an absolute aesthetic preference. I think the main reason for the change though is Microsoft trying to make Windows work well on mobile devices though, meaning forgoing the aero and more expensive VFX.

Wish some DEs would make their default style more like a win7 era style. Would be nice to have the variety.

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 3 points 41 minutes ago

No reason they wouldn't work on a small phone, especially back then

photograph of the iPhone 2 with its skeuomorphic icons

[–] Matriks404@lemmy.world 23 points 5 hours ago

I miss the time when not all icons were a rectangle or a circle.

[–] EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

It is by no means just you. I really hate how everything has to be so flat and shadow-less nowadays. I'm not at the point of shaking my fist at clouds yet or anything, but I really miss skeuomorphism in general!

[–] deafboy@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Way beyond fist shaking here. My brain simply doesn't process the trendy flat UX. It looks like when my kitchen garbage can tips over. A piece of carrot here, empty milk crate over there, sprinkled with onion peels, and some unidentified goop that I only discover later in the evening, using my bare feet, while getting a cup of water...

What's weird though is that I similarly hate the circle android icons. They all kinda blend together like a bowl of skittles. Make them squircle though... instantly recognizable!

[–] eatham@aussie.zone 1 points 1 hour ago

I've only used OneUI, on other skins can you not make it that shape?

[–] NoLifeGaming@lemmy.world 17 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I am a papirus man

[–] kautau@lemmy.world 9 points 5 hours ago

For those who haven’t seen snl’s papyrus skit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVhlJNJopOQ

Or papyrus 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PdffUfoF0

A couple of the best sketches SNL has ever done

[–] blazera@lemmy.world 10 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

This is the first time Ive ever seen those vowels together

[–] Allero@lemmy.today -2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

If I understood it correctly, in this context it means that the icons normally retain the original logo and color scheme, while incorporating them into a single style.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 26 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (3 children)

a skeuomorph (from greek, "tool/container-shape") is something that retains the characteristics of another thing that it is based on, even though those characteristics are no longer useful. think lamps shaped like candles, or the floppy disk save icon, or media player programs with volume knobs.

skeuomorphic UX is a good way to get users comfortable with a system by using designs they are already familiar with, and the original iphone used this to great effect.

This is a good example of skeuomorphic UI: skeuomorph

all to say, I'm not entirely sure these icons are skeuomorphs. they're just glossy.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 hours ago

Wow that is a gorgeous image

[–] stellargmite@lemmy.world 8 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Yeh the files being little pieces of paper, and the folders being old office folios are skeumorphic. Skeumorphic was (or is?) sometimes used more generically for ui elements made to look physical so perhaps the pseudo 3D shading, dropshadows, bevels and highlights qualify much of OPs examples, though they aren't representing any specific type of physical object necessarily. Just objects to be grabbed and used (clicked).

I’m sure trends will bring us back to a similar style at some point like they often do.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 7 points 5 hours ago

it's weird that. it's obviously possible to have a flat-shaded skeuomorph, just look at basically all of windows 95, but for some reason we connect them to this particular graphical style. files and folders are both part of the old classic "desktop metaphor", so they basically have to be skeuomorphs. but like, the application icons are basically just mosaic tiles of the normal icons.

a proper skeuomorph would indicate what the program is for. krita and whatever map software that is are both good, if a little flat. but the libreoffice suite just being squares with a letter on them? have them be like, a spreadsheet for calc, a stack of cards for impress, and a printed page for write.

remember all the icons for windows 95 network utilities that have people in them? those are also (attempts at) skeumorphs because they're trying to communicate what the program does.

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Thanks! Learning more every day

Also, beautiful design, and probably not bad for a touchscreen (terrible for mouse though)

[–] LeLachs@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Quick info, the link does not work. You need to put it in the address part aswell (like this [https://github.com/madmaxms/iconpack-obsidian](https://github.com/madmaxms/iconpack-obsidian) Here is a working one https://github.com/madmaxms/iconpack-obsidian

[–] generaledelsud@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

Okay thanks never made a post with a link

[–] vort3@lemmy.ml 62 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

Sometimes I think that I miss skeuomorphism, but then I realize it's not the skeuomorphism that I miss, but my childhood and days when the world was much simpler.

Would I like to bring back skeuomorphic UIs? Yes.

[–] TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org 15 points 9 hours ago

I'm too old to be nostalgic for skeuomorphism. But a retina-burning amber monochrome monitor, text mode, with menus and UIs built out of ASCII graphics, or at best, 640 x 480 CPU-driven graphics modes? Now you're talking.

From my perspective, the skeuomorphic era of the early-late 2000s is still "modern".

[–] generaledelsud@lemmy.world 5 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Ya I feel you, I remember I had an iPod when I was a kid with the icons I think it was iOS 6. Now when I try to find skeuomorphic icon packs on Linux it is almost impossibile and the ones you do find are abandoned ☹️

[–] SaltyIceteaMaker@lemmy.ml 7 points 8 hours ago

i actually hate icons with like shading or 3d look. but I don't really use icons anyway, the only icons i see are in my system tray and when i run wofi

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 3 points 6 hours ago

My plasma 6 desktop has absolutely stunning icons, and im like you - I like proper icons that look more interesting.

Try plasma 6, I'm sure those icon sets are also much more complete. :)

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 7 points 8 hours ago

I like how tidy it is. But I do prefer to be able to see icon shapes at a glance with my terrible eyesight as it helps identify.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 12 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

Personally I don't, I kinda hate old skeuomorphism 😅

Neo skeuomorphism has some neat novelty though.

Edit: this is just my personal aesthetic preference, I don't begrudge anyone their love of skeuomorphism, or nostalgia for it.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I think I’m in the same place. I really like the idea of icons having depth. Modern icons are very versatile, but lack personality. Having some depth gives them some weight, but never really liked the emphasis on curves and gradients. I think a mix of original Material design and just a hint more depth would be the perfect sweet spot.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 6 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

I'm curious how you feel about the GNOME application icons, they sound like they might be up your alley

Right now I generally have a preference for either weird stylized themed stuff I make myself, or very flat stuff like what android currently does for app icons, but I can certainly see the appeal of other stuff :)

I really like the application icons used in Gnome but I really like the consistent line weights and geometry of material symbolic icons so I'm still using a material icon pack on gnome

Edit: Here's a picture I grabbed of icons done in the adwaita style Gnome uses in case you don't use linux and aren't familiar with them. Its not a full sampling, but you get the idea :)

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Take these icons, add one more layer of simple gradient shading: perfection

For example, GIMP’s icon looks especially bad here to me. If it had just a hint of black shading, it would look massively better (imho).

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Interesting, thanks for sharing your perspective with me! ☺️

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Any time! I’m a graphic nerd with none of the book learning, but I do work at a screen printing shop, so I have some intuitive understanding of logo/icon design, but don’t have the theory to go with it.

In other words, I have wildly subjective opinions that I’ll randomly dig my heels in on. (Sometimes when I have no idea what I’m talking about ha!)

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Lol, I'm somewhat similar. I'm a big ui/ux nerd but don't have professional or academic experience other than some pro-bono work in high-school. But I love tinkering with my phone's homesceen and other similar little projects. I'm hoping to make a neocites page soon!

This is my previous phone's homescreen I posted a while back:

https://mastodon.online/@CrisColor/111440259435482295

I've gotten a new phone since then and am still getting it updated to fit properly on a new screen, so right now it looks a little jank 😅 but it's always interesting to hear how other people feel differently about aesthetics than yourself!

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Right on. I’ve moved onto a dirty iPhone since, but here’s a screenshot of my super old Android setup back from when Material was new. After Android took out all the fun stuff custom ROMs could do, I sort of fell out of love with Android.

I had a cool feature at one point where it started out looking like this and unlocking it would make the circle expand and the background would show in full.

Man, I miss early KLWP

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

That looks awesome! I'm deeply nostalgic for that period of time, material design was the big thing when I was first getting into UI design and I was absolutely in love with it

Klwp and Kwgt are still a blast, that's what almost all of my stuff is made out of, but iOS has its pros as well :) from what I hear things are progressively getting a little more customizable, if still pretty locked down

At some point I'd like to get a little better at animations so I can make my setup feel a little more alive, but for the time being it's mostly just static elements

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

The thing I'm more nostalgic for was the time when everything had to be a glistening amorphous translucent blob, a bit like the Cingular Wireless logo or the MusicMatch Jukebox logo. And I'm in that era where you can just play MSN messenger sounds and you'll get an OH MY GOD out of me.

[–] Byter@lemmy.one 3 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Frutiger Aero, I think.

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 1 points 45 minutes ago

I miss the Vista tingle and shine, and the sounds it had

It seems Nintendo's consoles (Wii, DS, 3DS) were also more colourful and packed with music and sound then.

The Switch is so quiet. So... Dead?

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago

Sort of. What that page describes is in the same building as what I'm thinking about.

[–] Mugmoor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 9 hours ago

I've had the MSN message sound as my SMS Ringer for years now. The looks I get from people are fantastic.

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

No. Old UI is terrible. The newest UI with extremely rounded corners is bad too but I'd much rather use it than old stuff.

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 3 points 40 minutes ago* (last edited 40 minutes ago) (1 children)

How about flat, easy to recognise icons and straight, square windows and app designs?

Brutalism for your DE!

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 2 points 28 minutes ago

Another thing that's needed are icon labels or alternative text. Apps like LibreOffice suffer from icon-heavy UI which is hard to understand and remember for new users and even for me without any explanations.

[–] TootSweet@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

What icon pack? (Is this post supposed to be a link?)

Edit: Ah. Now there's an image.

[–] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 2 points 10 hours ago

I still have some screenshots from my old Android G1 that is skeuomorphism galore. It’s nostalgic.

[–] datendefekt@lemmy.ml -1 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Actually no, I hated the Vista era UI design. Linux themes were positively garish, add MacOS looked like a candy store. CDE greatly impressed me back then. It looked like it was made by adults for adults. Highly legible, and the pastel colors are being emulated by Solarized.

I'm sure that those UIs were a product of the times. The 90's and noughties were loud and colorful and exciting and everything looked like a comic. Now that we live in more depressing times, we can look to the science of perceptual psychology.

You see, we have an attention budget, we need to process what we see. Visually complex UIs need to be parsed, and that takes mental effort, and that robs us of mental energy to focus on our work. It's not a crippling effect, but it's there.

Look at street signs and corporate logos, they easily lodge in our mind. Effective advertising has a clear and simple visual language, and this is what UIs should strive for.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

You see, we have an attention budget, we need to process what we see. Visually complex UIs need to be parsed

One of the reasons i like interfaces with clear lines. But that doesn't fit icons, all-same-isch looking rectangles are not easier to parse than "objects". The mind is optimized for 3D, not for abstract icons.

[–] dgriffith@aussie.zone 6 points 6 hours ago

Effective advertising has a clear and simple visual language, and this is what UIs should strive for.

Interfaces can be needlessly complex regardless of being flat or skeuomorphic.

But flat interfaces still require mental effort to parse. Especially when the interface is complex and/or crowded and you're trying to pick out active UI elements amongst decorations like group boxes/panels.

Essentially, flat interfaces are currently popular because of touchscreen devices. Touchscreen devices have limited space and thus need simplistic UI elements that can be prodded by a fat finger on a small screen.

But I don't need a flat touchscreen-friendly interface on my non-touch dual 24" monitors with acres of screen real estate. I need an interface that nicely separates usable UI elements from the rest of the application window. That means 3D hints on a 2D screen, which allows my monkey-brain with five million years of evolved 3D vision the opportunity to run my "click the button" mental command as a background process.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 0 points 9 hours ago

Absolutely not.