If you love lifelike textures, like linen or felt, then you may be in for a disappointment now that Jony Ive has taken over control of the user interfaces of iOS and OS X.
Scott Forstall was previously in charge of iOS software, but his departure from the company was announced this week, while Ive will serve as head of Apple’s Human Interface decision making. Forstall, along with late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was a strong advocate for skeuomorphism, which is a type of design that replicates real-world objects digitally.
Ive is said to not be a fan of skeuomorphist designs, so Apple’s software should have a significantly different look in the future.
“You can be sure that the next generation of iOS and OS X will have Jony’s industrial design aesthetic all over them,” one unnamed Apple designer told The New York Times. “Clean edges, flat surfaces will likely replace the textures that are all over the place right now.”
Some skeuomorphic designs, such as the trash bin in OS X, can be helpful to users, but other design choices such as the felt, casino style table top in Game Center, or the leather that appears in the Find My Friends or Calendar apps have been criticized both inside and outside the company.
Ive is a proponent of minimalist designs that place functionality above everything else. In his role as head of Human Interface at Apple, Ive is expected to eliminate much of the flourish found in some of the company’s current applications.
