Polymorphia - Last chance

If you would like to see our Polymorphia exhibition you only have a few days left.

We will be closing our doors from Tuesday 30th September whilst we change our displays to the new exhibition which opens on Friday 3rd October.

Is that Plastic? skeuomorphs and metaphors in design

skeuomorph

An object or feature which imitates the design of a similar artefact made from another material: the pottery box with a square lid is a skeuomorph of a twilled basketry container

Computing - An element of a graphical user interface which mimics a physical object: note-taking apps offer skeuomorphs of yellow legal pads, squared paper, ring binders, etc. when you first load up the app, you’ll be presented with a skeuomorph of a photo album.

metaphor

A thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/

Plastics are a group of materials with no intrinsic shape or colour, this gives designers free reign to exploit their unashamed ability to imitate other materials. This exhibition explores how designers and manufacturers use plastics to create illusions by mimicking the patterns, processes, and physicality of other materials such as ceramics, glass, and fine metals. Plastics provide a less expensive, lighter, whimsical, or more robust alternative.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)