Sacha Greif on the highly-textured iOS user interface:
With the iPhone, designers were suddenly offered a platform with a single rendering engine, fixed dimensions, and a much higher limit on asset weight (not to mention a great display with vibrant colors). Is it any wonder some of us went a little overboard?
Greif nicely describes the difference between realism and skeuomorphism (currently an overused word). Realism versus flat design is at the heart of the argument. Given the popularity of recent Google apps and games like Letterpress, Greif places his bets on flat design. Is flat design better? I’m not so sure it’s “better” rather than it’s a breath of fresh air for a six-year-old platform.