Automotive Skeuomorphs and why old things are new again
Have you ever sat in a brand new car, been overwhelmed by all the new buttons, icons and screens yet have managed to find your way around? You have Skeuomorphs to thank for that.A skeuomorph or skeuomorphism is a design term for when a new or updated object or action retains the original design cues from where it derived. We see them every day, especially on our smartphones with things like the clock, showing a traditional analog face (when the thing is digital), the calendar app showing the appearance of a bound paper desk flip calendar and even the email app using an envelope as its icon (when was the last time you put an envelope in the email?).
Skeuomorphs are typically used to make something new and unknown, such as an electric car or computer program feel familiar in an effort to speed up initial understanding and to help acclimatise the user to the new environment. This design ethos takes elements that were essential to the original object but now serve no pragmatic purpose.
This is most common in things like word processing and messaging applications, the use of cut (scissors) and paste (glue pot). Examples even include metal pots with imitation rivets that are reminiscent of traditional pottery with its handle and design embellishments.
These visual design shortcuts are all over your car and the automotive world, you just need to look at your keys to realise that the keyless fob and start are a skeuomorph in itself of a metal key and lock. Here are a few common skeuomorphisms from the automotive world.
Car Horn
That little horn symbol is an image of a bugle horn, used as a signalling instrument.
EV charging point
Funnily, EV charging points and stations have taken to using the old fuel pump icon but adding in a power plug rather than a nozzle.
Battery level
The world's most used and well-known battery is the AA cylindrical battery, EVs and even your smartphone have taken this image and used it to represent battery life.
Fuel gauge
Filling your car up at the servo, you may have seen a fuel bowser that looked like this over 30 years ago, but today they're much more high-tech. That doesn't stop the use of the old bowser and fuel nozzle for symbolising service stations and fuel use.
Oil level
No, it's not a genie lamp! Cars will display this old-fashioned oil can in the warning lights to let you know that there's an issue.
Lock/Unlock buttons
The padlock has become the skeuomorph to represent when something is locked or unlocked.
Car Servicing required or mechanical issue
To put a spanner in the works, you may need to get your car looked at. For most of us, we would not know what tools would be actually required to repair your engine but a spanner is universally known as a tool used to fix things. A hammer would just be silly...
Speed camera
In Australia, the traditional film camera with a flash is used to symbolise a digital speed camera that looks nothing like the sign. But you know exactly what it means.
Answer/hang up phone call
When was the last time you answered the phone on a landline? These days the phone receiver synonymous with the wired home phone is used to symbolise answering and hanging up a call.
Infotainment volume and tune selector dials
Believe it or not, the use of these two dials on the infotainment system is a skeuomorphism left over from the original in-car AM radios which had a volume dial and radio frequency selector. These days everything is touchscreen and voice-activated but the dials remain as a memory of a bygone era.
Related: Five motoring things we miss
Related: How seven car technologies we take for granted came to be
Related: We take a look back at who killed the car phone
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