5th Place: Simple Grey by Ric Zito
Author: Ric Zito
Final Score: 83%
Description: The keywords here are "subdued", "usable" and "integrated". The Theme attempts to create a restful, professional environment, using only shades of blue-grey, and limiting the use of textures to simply-rendered gloss plastic. As little eye-candy as possible. Whilst not claiming to be particularly original, I have tried to include some innovative touches, such as the shape of the windows, and the grouped widget and button treatments.
There are undoubtedly some errors in the Theme, due to my lack of intimate knowledge of what ShapeShifter can and cannot do. There are also a few things planned that cannot be seen in the previews, such as various pressed and rollover states, as well as the animated throbbing effect for the main buttons.
Anyway, I hope you like it. It was fun to dabble again... :-)
Biography: I'm a Paris-based graphic designer, specialised in web design. I'm married, with two kids. My work website is at Pixelligence.
I've been using a Mac since 1993 and am currently on my 6th machine, a beautiful G5Dual 2Ghz, running Panther. I've done a fair bit of GUI work for the Mac, mainly schemes for Kaleidoscope v1.x, but I stopped when v2 was released. They can still be downloaded here.
Since then, I dabbled in skin designs for Panic's Audion, and released three skins, "f1", "f2" and Light Alloy Ultra with Paul Johnson, which can be found here.
This contest is the first thing I've done, GUI-wise, for a couple of years.
Comments
Posted by Phillip Ryu (Panel) at March 28, 2004 10:39 PM
Hey Ric! Looks like your colleague, Paul Johnson, has also submitted an idea :)
Simple Grey is a pretty generic idea - this is one of perhaps 10 similar entries that we have in this contest. However, it is also one of the best made, so in terms of artistic sense and execution, this mockup is two thumbs up. (Though the progress bar seems in a slightly different style from the other elements.) Simple Grey is something I would definitely use, and I'd love to see it turned into a theme some day!
Posted by Harlan Lewis (Panel) at March 29, 2004 12:31 AM
I generally dislike "pro" themes, as I find them quite boring. Simple Grey, while not jumping in your face with flashy graphics, nevertheless seems exceptionally well made. I particularly like the scroll bar, but there are many other things that are great about this mockup. The subtle backgrounds behind Finder toolbar buttons and window widgets, the selected menubar item, the popup and radio buttons... There's a lot for me to like here.
The only thing preventing me from really going crazy for Simple Grey is that it is, well, another grey theme. There are a lot of good grey themes out there already. This one has been made about as well as one can be, though.
Posted by Kevin Husted (Panel) at March 29, 2004 09:22 AM
Was the word "sexy" in the contest requirements?
It could have been because here is another one. The neutrality of this theme(though I can definietly see its not gray) with its beautifully sublte reflections makes it a great design. This is one of those GUI's that would make me customize the rest of my system around it.
Posted by William Bart (Panel) at March 29, 2004 11:25 AM
Ric Zito is one of my heroes! If this guy gets building OSX themes, he'll own us all. Love the sculpted insets surrounding the controls, but some of the stroke work on the rounded elements in particular seems a bit fuzzy/heavy. Very attractive color (or lack thereof) scheme :)
Posted by Max Rudberg (Panel) at March 29, 2004 12:00 PM
I would imagine that fans of Studio Pro and Aqua Pro would like this theme, however I think it's too similar to aqua, although that is not such a bad thing.
Posted by Joe Kohlmann (Panel) at March 29, 2004 01:29 PM
This design is very unique in of itself, which is great to see. We've seen gray themes before, but I think the color scheme of Simple Grey nails usability. This is one of the better neutral mockups I've seen in this contest, but there are some inconsistencies in the design. I can see about three different styles of aqua gloss in there. There's also the matter of the recessed window widgets, segment tabs, checkboxes, and radio buttons, but why aren't the buttons like this? Some of the inconsistencies in there puzzle me. Other than that, I like the idea of a "grey Aqua" that Ric presented in this mockup. Consistencies aside, the best thing this mockup has going for itself is the neutral color scheme.
Posted by Angel Rendon at March 31, 2004 12:20 AM
Those widgets rock my face off. This theme makes me think of a better version of aqua pro.
Posted by Holigen at March 31, 2004 01:28 AM
Wow, what an amazing theme... Keep up the great work!
Posted by Sage at March 31, 2004 01:32 AM
I like. Simple, out of the way, liveable, yet still has a nice face.
Posted by ric zito at March 31, 2004 04:09 AM
Thanks to all of you. I've taken on board all the helpful comments, particularly William's (who's one of MY heroes :), and I'll be reworking the psd files. This theme was done in a day or so, which explains why some of the elements are a bit rough.
Whatever happens, I'd like to see this theme built. If it doesn't happen through the contest, then I'll try my hand at building it myself. Expect a release somewhere around 2020... :-)
Posted by Mark Seifert at March 31, 2004 07:13 AM
Surprisingly, at least the windows in this design have a very "William Bartish" rather than a "Zitoesk" touch.. The colours made me think about recalibrating my monitor, because Ric used to create so shiny designs back in the Kaleidoscope days. Perhaps this is what You referred to as the "overall contrast level". I'd love to see colour/contrast variations of this one - although I realize that the intention behind this theme mockup was to be as undisturbing as possible. Maybe it's because I am not a Pro that I want it "louder" ;-)
Posted by 3nzo at March 31, 2004 08:42 AM
Mark likes to get his point across ;)
This theme looks great...superb quality and design...aside from the round finder toolbar buttons...they seem like a throwback to Jaguar..and the menubar and menu selections seem a bit out of place.
I really like how the window bevels alternate from round to square :)
Posted by FB Eye™ at March 31, 2004 12:11 PM
Oh my goodness!!! Like BBX said: if Ric Zito starts making X themes, your asses will be owned : ))
Some of the stars schemers are indeed sadly missed on the X side of things...
Posted by Elizabeth at March 31, 2004 12:27 PM
Definitely the best of the grey/neutral themes. This has just enough detail to make it interesting, yet still meet Ric's goals. I like the rounded menu selections; they fit in well with Panther's Finder. I also love the window shape. I hope this gets realized...I look forward to having it on my desktop.
Posted by Ari at March 31, 2004 02:01 PM
It's really cool but I fail to see how it is original since it looks like a replica of AquaPro and iStyle.
Posted by sb at March 31, 2004 02:43 PM
The best of the solid grey themes so far. Unfortunately, solid grey themes suck.
SB
Posted by Jason Williams at March 31, 2004 02:48 PM
I love this! This has a nice pro feeling to it, and I love a professional feel.
Posted by rhodiad at March 31, 2004 03:24 PM
Brilliant! ... in a perfectly gentile, understated way.
This design makes me wish there were categories in this contest--just two: wild/in-your-face/razzmatazz, and usable/integrated/non-fatiguing. The form vs. function debate will never end, but this design offers the best no-compromise compromise, IMO.
You've got my vote, Ric.
Posted by Paul Johnson at March 31, 2004 07:08 PM
Some damn fine work, Ric. And I'm not just saying that because of all the lovely complements you paid me in the comments over on my entry page. ... well, ok, maybe just a little bit because of that, but that doesn't mean that Simple Grey isn't a fantastic design, or that it isn't my favorite of the whole bunch, because... it is!! (shh) Not to mention the fact that I probably wouldn't have ever gotten into interface design at all if it hadn't been for your inspiration and encouragement. Like Billy Bart said, you're a hero to many of us, and if this contest gets you back into interface design, the world will be a better place. Now I better stop before this turns into a general love free-for-all.
Here's to Ric, five stars for a five-star star!
PS. You still have Albie's address? We should bring back all the K greats!
Posted by Telcontar at March 31, 2004 10:48 PM
mm, I like this. It's nice to see a "grey" theme with a blue tint, as the blue gives it a bit of an edge over plain grey. I used to run Windows this sort of colour, and the best I've managed in Mac OS is to tint my iCab windows blue-grey :)
Ultimately, my preference for a skin goes to something subtle, and Simple Grey is a nice combination of subtlety and something nicer than plain grey.
Posted by Carbon at April 1, 2004 12:30 AM
Gorgeous pro design, would love to see it hit production...
That said, I didn't see any mention of the two design "flaws" I noticed:
1) the bottom right corner of the Aqua window... last I checked we still can't mod these (i.e. make them rounded as in this mockup)
2) like many of the other mockups entered, the Aqua window titlebar lacks a defining bottom edge/stroke -- while this looks great w/o the stroke when it is against the toolbar PPAT or top fill of the tab pane, it will not look so hot when the titlebar is just flying solo.
Both rather minor, and not justification for marking the mockup down.
//Carbon
Posted by ric zito at April 1, 2004 02:21 AM
Carbon said :
1) the bottom right corner of the Aqua window... last I checked we still can't mod these (i.e. make them rounded as in this mockup)
Oh no!!!!! Is that true?? If so, that's a real shame.
That's it. I'm switching to Windows.
:-)
Seriously though - that is a shame, because the window shape was one of the first, defining ideas behind the mockup. Perhaps one can cheat by using a square growbox with a rounded alpha mask or something? Although this might create problems with the dropshadow. Hmmm.
I'll look into this. thanks for the heads-up!
Posted by 3nzo at April 1, 2004 03:03 AM
You could just have the rounded right bottom corner on metal windows..like the Finder window...and just round the top left title bar edge on aqua windows...would still look fairly consistent.
Posted by ren at April 1, 2004 03:38 AM
Sorry if this is a repeat remark (just skimmed the comments).
I think this is one of the technically 'tight' ones here, but I just can't give it a high score because is so resembles Maggra, which is one of my all time faves. Really, I hope you do realize this theme- it's just that it fills a particular aesthetic that already has a home in my theme library.
Posted by XiAP at April 1, 2004 05:17 AM
Hey Ric, if your mock-up doesn't make to the top 6, I'll help you building it ;-) ( french connection ).. Contact me if you're interested.
Posted by ric zito at April 1, 2004 06:19 AM
ren : what is maggra? I can't find anything about it.
XiAP : thanks for the offer! I'll bear it in mind.
Anyone who's interested in seeing how this theme has developed since I entered it, can go here :
http://www.riczito.com/composite.jpg
It's moved on quite a lot. :)
Posted by FB Eye™ at April 1, 2004 09:46 AM
Putaing Ric!!! Ce thème est génial, j'ai presque envie de toucher mon écran :)
J'adore la texture que tu as ajouté sur les boutons... C'est le retour de l'enfant prodigue!!!
Posted by Heiesuke at April 1, 2004 10:04 AM
1st thing popped in my head was this is a Pro Theme, made by a Pro for Pros. I like it
Posted by Harlan Lewis (Panel) at April 1, 2004 03:24 PM
Oooh, I like the improvements a lot in that new mockup. Of course I'm not allowed to let that influence my judging, but this mockup is looking even better than it did before.
Well done.
Posted by ren at April 1, 2004 04:29 PM
Ric, You can check out Maggra at Resexcellence under the 10.2.8 theme section.
Posted by A Zimmerman at April 3, 2004 07:38 PM
I like grey themes, but I wish the text contrast was a little higher. I'm also not a fan on the pill-shaped highlight in the drop down menus.
Still, I think this is a great theme.
Posted by Harold Harmon at April 4, 2004 07:23 PM
Congratulations Ric, this is a great theme. Definitely one of my favorites. I can't wait to see the final result. Hopefully this will also be ported to windows so us lowly PC users can enjoy it as well.
Posted by Daniel Goffin at April 4, 2004 08:07 PM
Grey usually doesn't do for me and to tell you the truth it always gives me a funny feeling. Nevertheless you are a well deserved winner and judging on the progress this has made since it entry (the screenshot you posted) this will surely become a highquality theme. Maybe you're even going to be the first to get me hooked to grey, who knows... ;) Congratulations, Ric, good job.
Posted by Philip Beck at April 4, 2004 09:12 PM
Congratulations on your win. However, I'm surprised at this one as there are so many grey themes out there (Aqua Pro is great) and other contest entries that were more compelling than this. Capsule, 45, Mac a bee, Neutrality and especially sleekStyle were more nteresting
Posted by Paul Johnson at April 4, 2004 09:14 PM
Big congrats on pushing a "plain" gray design into the winners! Considering the fine improvements you've already made, (updated design image) I can only assume it will get even better on it's way to becoming real.
Congrats again, and thanks for making usability and low-fatigue design cool enough to win contests!
Posted by Max Rudberg (Panel) at April 5, 2004 11:29 AM
Congratulations Ric!
Posted by Ryan Butler at April 9, 2004 08:45 AM
You clearly put good effort in it... but it's too boring and low contrast for me.
Posted by durable at May 3, 2004 08:58 AM
this looks fantastic. when can i download it, ah?
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