The special functions of surface morphology in nature have attracted many scholars' interest, and the control of soft-rigid composites has become a hotspot in recent years. The common soft material surface morphological formation methods, including pre-stretched method, heat treating method and swelling method, were introduced in this paper and a way for the generation of surface morphology was provided. The application of surface morphology in engineering including fluid dynamics, optics, and other fields were introduced, and some ideas for reference in wide engineering application were provided. On the basis of this, the development trend of the active control and generation method of the surface morphology was prospected.