Skeuomorphic Realism
Controls built as lit objects: gloss on the top edge, shade at the bottom, and a texture in the material itself.
Construction · Skeuomorphic
Every surface is a lit object: gloss on the top edge, shade at the bottom, a real shadow underneath and a texture in the material.
Every style renders this same screen, so the only thing changing between two of them is the style. The component above is the file below, running.
Prompt
Design this interface in the Skeuomorphic Realism style. Every element is an object under a fixed light. Surfaces carry a gradient from lit top to shaded bottom, an inner highlight along the upper edge, a real shadow
The numbers in this prompt are printed from the tokens below, so it cannot drift from what the specimen renders.
What carries the look
- gradient from lit top to shaded bottom
- inner highlight along the upper edge
- real shadow underneath
- brushed material texture
What this style refuses
- flat single-color fills
- borderless surfaces
- shadows without a matching highlight
- cool flat greys
The refusals are the half that keeps generated interfaces from converging — a prompt that only says what to add gets the default look.
Tokens
Palette
#e8e2d6#17140f#f2ede2#211d17#b3a893#3d362b#241e16#f0eade#5c5346#a99e8c#2c6b46#5fae82#f7f4ec#0a1a10Shape and type
Measured contrast — body 12.8:1 light, 15.33:1 dark; secondary text 5.85:1 and 6.96:1. Every pair clears WCAG AA in both themes, checked on each build.
Specimen · Specimen.tsx
import type { CSSProperties } from "react";
/**
* Vibary · Skeuomorphic Realism
*
* Controls built as lit objects: gloss on the top edge, shade at the bottom, and a texture in the material itself.
*
* One complete product screen, rendered from the token object below —