Overall, the S&S mouse pad looks very simple because the pad is entirely black and the only other visual attraction is the tiny logo of Steelpad at the bottom left corner. The mouse pad is made of plastic with a rubberized base that is compatible with all type of mice including optical and ball mice. The bottom of the S&S mouse pad is shiny with some randomly spread rubber on it. The function of the randomly spread rubber is to secure the pad firmly on the desk surface which I might add, it did very nicely. The purpose of the design is to improve the mouse pad surface area for higher accuracy and responsiveness to your mouse movements.