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They are legit going backwards with their design language. It looks like circa 2000.

I do branding and design for a living so maybe I've oversensitive to it, but I find the fact that they are doing this worrisome as it feels regressive and 'un-Apple' to me....
I do not do design for a living but I have the same feeling as you about this. I hope the new aesthetics does not take over the macOS interface.
 
Very Big sur-esque expect iOS 15 to have icons that look exactly like this

View attachment 964103

Overall I like the blending of simple shapes with more complex gradients and shadows in Big Sur (if not the exact implementation in this version), but as this photo example demonstrates the stuff built on the "inset" look like Music, Books, etc. just looks weird and clashes with the look of everything else if that's how they're going to go with the look. I really hope they'd revise those ones as well (even apps like Safari and Photos look weird because they are defined by much harder-edged shadows.)
 
Please Apple, fix the web version of App Store Connect! So many errors all the time :(
 
Fund raise: please raise some money to buy Cooke a whip (not for wall decoration).

And if he doesn't dare whip some common sense into his employees, then he should use it on himself...
 
We know from working with some of our clients in the past that often the corp decision-makers who are involved have no sense of, or understanding for, design. So ideas and executions that degrade the brand get green lit and actioned. Amazing to think that could happen at Apple, but clearly it is happening...

There's something elegant and consistent around the flat style they developed, which to me feels like an expression of brand. I am not looking forward to seeing these types of icons emerge onto my phone homescreen. it just feels more 'junky'.
 
When I anticipated the end of flat design... I wasn't expecting we are heading for 2010 photoshop bevel & emboss effects that every newbie could do in the first tutorial...
 
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It actually is worse as 'icon size' levels.

The example shot here is large and I thought, OK, maybe down at 'user' resolution.

NOPE

There are literally a dozen transition points where the shadow rounds which creates. It completely lacks stability/focus.

It is just janky all around.

Also, for all of you saying you think it is "skeumorphic" please tell me what it's counterpart actually is …
 
Apple's UI team needs to be culled. This is fugly beyond belief. iOS style icons violate almost every tenet of effective icon design. I hate where Apple is going with icons, dumbing everything down into iOS-style squares that are difficult to distinguish. Shape is one of the most important differentiating aspects of icons and now they are all the same. Instead of quickly identifying icons by shape, which is intrinsic, now we are confronted with a bunch of squares—all the same shape—and we must evaluate what's inside the square to determine what it is.

Apple, please get your act together. Applying an "inside bevel" effect in Photoshop does not constitute good icon design!
 
Wow, lots of hate here. I think the new icon is interesting. Remember, when in use, it won’t be bigger than your thumbnail, rather than filling the screen. IMHO, Apple went *too* flat with their design language. Adding a little depth will make things more distinctive, and a little easier to pick out when surrounded by other icons.

Or do you just have one giant icon on your home screen?
 
Eesh, if I didn't know any better I would think the 'old' icon was the newer one... looks way cleaner.
You know what would look even clearer? A featureless white icon. We could have a whole screen full, of them. Now if only we could figure out to turn off that pesky text below each icon...
 
Well, that's... awful. It looks like someone was just messing around on Blender and hasn't quite figured out how to use it properly yet.

I get that people were tired of flat design, but surely they can't think that this is a better solution.
 
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When I anticipated the end of flat design... I wasn't expecting we are heading for 2010 photoshop bevel & emboss effects that every newbie could do in the first tutorial...

This is not 2010.

If I remember correctly, the Effects option with the Inner shadow was introduced in 2000 with Adobe Photoshop 6.0.

Attention, this is not the Creative Suite version! That was only Photoshop 8.0!
The actual Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud) 2020 is at version 21.0. In September 2020 there was an update to 21.2.3.
 
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