Skeuomorphic vs Flat Design?

The two are not mutually exclusive—I love both skeuomorphic and flat design alike, and it is possible to implement both successfully. Oh, you want an example? The Teenage Engineering OP-1. It's a music creation device slash design masterpiece that employs both of these design tropes successfully:

It's flat:

• You don't have textures/shading/etc traditionally associated with skeuomorphic design.
• The UI subsists mostly of simple and thin line work.

It's skeuomorphic:

• The UI is all about emulating real life interaction in a digital context.
• Many visualizations are actual real life objects: tape reels, knobs, drum sets, even a cow(!!)
• The numerical typography is made to evoke that of Nixie tubes.

I like both. If we consider these design trends on a timeline, the biggest loss in the flat design "era", in my opinion, is depth, which has fortunately been returning in recent years. I'm glad that design patterns are moving back to a hybrid of the two.

_{Yes, I dream of owning an OP-1 one day. One of these days.}