1st Place: NickelCobalt by Paul Johnson
Author: Paul Johnson
Final Score: 91%
Description: So NickelCobalt. Together, the two elements often show up in various exotic super-alloys, doing wild and wonderful, presumably enjoyable techy things that they'd never ever get to do on their own. Separately, well... nickel is an unassuming, nearly valueless, muted silvery metal with nothing better to do than fill up that compartment under the armrest between the front seats in your car. Cobalt at least gets used in the making glass of the dark royal blue so popular in kitchen stores a couple years ago. So, you know, I thought "NickelCobalt" might make a decent, if a little awkward and not at all catchy or exciting-sounding, name for yet another metal and blue glassy theme. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get the chance to convert this raw material into something useful.
Biography: Back in the day I used to wrestle with Kaleidoscope, but never succeeded in pulling a whole scheme together from scratch—whole lotta half-bake ideas and "improving" other people's schemes, you know. Poor Ric Zito shouldn't have encouraged me; I'm still bugging the guy some eight odd years later. But that was then, back when hard drives were tiny, upgrading your RAM cost about as much as the ten thousand-dollar Macs Gil was trying to sell us. I had more time than money, then, at a ratio of several thousand hours to the dollar. Now we have OSX, Steve Jobs, dirt cheap components, screamin' G5s, and shiny new theming tools–and *sigh* full time jobs that eat hobbies like... hobby-eating, monster... jobs... or something.
So the fact is, I haven't ever even used an OSX theme, much less tried to make one. But news of a contest brought back fond memories of Kaleidoscope and floppy disks and A/V IO on stock Macs... well, ok, floppies always sucked, but Kaleidoscope was fun. At any rate, thanks to the friendly folks at MacThemes, I can go hog-wild with all sorts of stuff that's is probably completely impossible to actually build, and then best of all get to duke it out with a bonafide OSX theme pro over just exactly what makes each crazy idea thoroughly un-themable in any known universe and what sort of crushing compromise might--MIGHT--accomplish some sad shadow of the original concept.
Comments
Posted by William Bart (Panel) at March 30, 2004 07:25 PM
Wow - I LOVE the inset buttons and tabs! The scrollbars and sliders rock hard as well... very consistent stroke and shadow work throughout. Not too sure about the titlebar widgets, but I really dig the blue inset selected menu title. Great tone and hey I just noticed the cool embossed markings. Very very nice :)
Posted by Harlan Lewis (Panel) at March 30, 2004 07:28 PM
The word "sleek" has been used to describe a lot of these mockups, but it might be best suited to this one. Instead of being just another grey mockup it has excellent blue highlights, and instead of being just another mostly-flat theme it has huge bevels that really set it apart as a unique theme. I'm a big fan of the wells that elements fall into, especially for Finder toolbar buttons and the scrollbar.
However, those bevels might not be possible in the exact way that they're intended. There isn't a whole lot of vertical space to work with for a lot of buttons, and they might get squished towards the middle a bit and make the text seem oversized.
All in all a clean, usable mockup that I could easily see being made into a theme.
Posted by Phillip Ryu (Panel) at March 30, 2004 07:34 PM
Awesome. Another entry that goes on the top of my list, this time for usability and aesthetics. I love how the scrollbar looks like it fits so snugly in its well, and the whole wells in general. I love the blue contrast against grey, and especially the lit up widgets (which annoyingly, aren't shown in the preview). This is another grey theme, but one with plenty of polish, and even some colors thrown in that make it one of the best entries I've seen. I also love the scan lines in the menubar and progress bar. Good job Paul! :)
Posted by Joe Kohlmann (Panel) at March 30, 2004 08:57 PM
Excellent graphic design and consistency. The embosses are beautiful and the smooth but not glossy appearance of the elements is very pleasing. It's amazing what Paul's come up with; the blue isn't very prominent in the pushable elements, but it's used prominently in the menus, which creates a beautiful balance of coloring. NickelCobalt definitely deserves one of the top spots in this contest. It's very apparent that a lot of time was spent developing the style of each element and I applaud Paul for going the extra mile with the aforementioned deep bevels. I can't wait to see this one on my desktop in full.
Posted by Sam Vermette at March 31, 2004 12:06 AM
Holy crap this theme rocks.
Posted by Angel Rendon at March 31, 2004 12:08 AM
Wow, very very nice--one of the best so far.
Posted by Sage at March 31, 2004 12:20 AM
Love it, love it, love it. The embossing is absolutely gorgeous, and the blue is too cool. Definitely should be a winner.
Posted by NetworkShadow at March 31, 2004 12:27 AM
I don't know how easy it will be to make the bevels on everything, but a well executed mockup.
Posted by Charley Newcomer at March 31, 2004 12:36 AM
Wonderful Theme.
Posted by walkingmac at March 31, 2004 01:52 AM
YES... definitely a GREAT mock-up. Love the bevels and inset title bar widgets. I would almost like to see the blue a little lighter... but just personal perf... GREAT CONCEPT.. hope we can see it in SS soon!
Posted by Max Rudberg (Panel) at March 31, 2004 05:01 AM
Very futuristic and sleek. I especially love the metal window, really cool! It might be though to make it work in a real theme, but I'm sure it can be done to some extent. Might also be hard to fit the bevels for many of the buttons. But I love the mockup, great job!
Posted by [ idle. ] at March 31, 2004 06:01 AM
awesome, Paul.
This is actually one of the best futuristic themes (mockups) i've ever seen. You deserve a prize.
[ idle. ]
Posted by Michael Salbato at March 31, 2004 06:41 AM
I thought this one looked "good" until I saw the metal window - then I was totally sold. I'm sure the bevels can be accomplished to some extent, because that just looks great. Between the nice bevel work, excellent use of blue (nice menus!), and yes, that scrollbar, I dig it. It's technically fancy, but still subtle enough to not get in the way, as a theme should be.
Posted by Andrew Shuttleworth at March 31, 2004 08:15 AM
The bevels around all the widgets actually are my least favourite part of the mockup, so I have no problem if they never find it into the final theme. I do, however, have a problem if this mockup never finds ITS way into a theme! ;-)
Posted by at March 31, 2004 09:49 AM
It looks nice. The brushed metal window is very, very hot: I love the depressed button sets and the line between them, and the general brushed look is just plain sexy. I generally like the depressed interface elements, and love the way most of the theme looks. Bringing the menu/widget color scheme down into the window proper doesn't do it for me, but that's a minor thing.
Posted by MacDog at March 31, 2004 10:01 AM
IMO, this is the BEST theme in the contest - by FAR! I love that the artist didn't make it so grey as to completely wash it out and make it flat and boring. Adding the little bit (but not too much color) was done perfectly. The widgets are very cool and I can almost see them lighting up as I mouse over or click.
If this theme doesn't win 1st prize, I'm going to kick a puppy and steal its bones when it's down!!! (well, not really... but I'll be upset!)
Posted by eyevaan at March 31, 2004 11:00 AM
bangin'! Holy smokes me friends!
That is an amazing, completed concept. I hope you win an opportunity to bring that to the rest of us.
Amusing bio too.
Posted by Ben at March 31, 2004 11:16 AM
The titlebar widgets don't quite seem consistent with the rest of the theme, but the rest of the theme ROCKS!!
Posted by Cody Walton at March 31, 2004 11:32 AM
I'd have to say this is my favorite of the contest. It's really sleek and cool, yet completely unobtrusive and usable at the same time. bravo.
Posted by Elizabeth at March 31, 2004 12:11 PM
Just have to say that this is my favorite by far. Attractive and innovative, yet still very usable. Especially love the scrollwell, menus, and widgets. Excellent work!
Posted by SoulRocka Nasty Nene at March 31, 2004 01:56 PM
Off the HOOK!!
Posted by at March 31, 2004 02:36 PM
I like it a lot. The blue and grey are mixed very well together. My only complaint would be the second (lower) loading bar, The dots seem kinda weird
Posted by Bill Snebold at March 31, 2004 03:29 PM
Beautiful! Love the inset buttons.
Posted by Paul Johnson at March 31, 2004 03:50 PM
Thanks so much to everyone for the comments and critiques! Keep them coming. This design will certainly continue to evolve, and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure the spirit of the concept makes it through the hacking and dicing that will inevitably happen come time to make it into a functional theme.
I'm especially unsatisfied with the bottom of the metal window (just plain too roundy) and the progress bar treatment. I'm taking votes here for the progress bar treatment, so let me hear from you:
[ ] blue menu/widget treatment to contrast and coordinate rather than match, or
[ ] metal treatment to better match and conform to other elements and reduce unnecessary contrast
Either way, they will be improved. But boy-oh-boy do I ever miss Kaleidoscope's endcaps on these progress bars!! I can dream of rounded ends, but I know it's not currently possible.
Thanks again to everyone for the astounding amount of positive response. Very gratifying, if a little embarrassing. :)
Posted by Tom Riedel at March 31, 2004 04:35 PM
This theme is excellent! It deserves the top spot, IMHO.
The only gripes I could give this are the funky shading of the bottom corner of the background window, and the menu bar shading. The grey part of the menu bar should either be more polished in its current rounded look, or flattened like the windows.
Many of the mockups in this competition look like themes I've seen before. This one manages to have a sleek, clean design, AND be different from existing themes.
Great job! I can't wait to start using this one. When you get it made into a theme, it would be awesome to have multiple versions for each color of the rainbow.
Posted by Dave-o™ at March 31, 2004 04:48 PM
Paul, very nice work.. it would work well here in my design studio for sure!! (On all the Macs)
I do post a thought to you, What about adding a small amount of blue to the scroll bars? I like to use my scroll bars as reference points when i'm zoomed in on a piece of work, and the touch of blue would surely help???
Posted by Luke Shuman at March 31, 2004 05:05 PM
Best theme, period.
$175 for sure.
Posted by Harold Harmon at March 31, 2004 05:15 PM
I really like this mockup, definitely a favorite for me. I hope this gets made into a theme and that permission is given to port to Windows. It's one I would like to run on my PC.
Posted by ric zito at March 31, 2004 06:11 PM
Paul's a terrific artist, with great taste and an enviable mastery of Photoshop. But what separates him from us mere mortals is that he has a unique way of thinking around limitations. Pushing the envelope, thinking laterally, and taking themes and skins to places they were never meant to go. Having worked with him, I hope I'm well placed to comment.
He did it with his Audion faces, and he's done it again here. This theme is *full* of tiny but significant innovations : his scrollbar endcap is an invisible mask, his use of the Apple horizontal gradient overlaying his vertical one, to create that fat, 3D look on the metal window, the beautiful grouped button recesses. Brilliant, and subtle.
This theme should win just for that factor. But on top of all that, he's turned this innovation into something slick and beautiful to look at. Oh, and it's *useable* too, very much so.
Anyone who says this is just another grey theme isn't looking hard enough.
Bravo Paul. 5 stars from me.
Posted by David Knuth at March 31, 2004 07:02 PM
Moo. It rocks. I'd use it.
Yes.
Dave
Posted by NetworkShadow at March 31, 2004 07:49 PM
4th place maybe... at the most. It's some what bland and the bevels would be hard to pull-off as a real theme.
Posted by Ryan Gray at March 31, 2004 11:28 PM
This is a really great theme. The look reminds me of some sort of appliance - but in a good way - it seems more like a real surface with real buttons. The horizontal line even helps this illusion that looks like a seam. It makes it look like it's a solid thing put together. Very cool. I do wonder if it would be better or not if the splash of color was not concentrated in the window button corner, but spread around the other controls a bit - like a subtle blue tint to the buttons - but that would really be another theme.
Posted by crezo at April 1, 2004 05:14 AM
this is without a doubt one of the best themes I've seen, and not just in the competition. The beveled sections are sexy as hell, and as far as I'm concerned MAKE the theme (don't get me wrong, the rest of it is class A!). But if these got lost in the actual theme I'd be gutted!
Would be graet to see in possibly a few colour varients (as in the blue bit)... but I'm just fussy. And as said before, the blue backgrounds on the window links (drives etc) look to harsh and stuck on for such a smooth and stylish theme. Using a simple faded blue shade would blend much better.
And one LAST thing... the bevel on the title bar is sexy as f! Love it.
This has to win. pure and simple!
Posted by Ady Pratioto at April 1, 2004 09:18 AM
Very nice from Paul!! Where can I donwload it? =)
Posted by Heiesuke at April 1, 2004 09:55 AM
WOW this is a theme, i want this one....…wow again, 5 stars
Posted by Allan Nyholm Nielsen at April 1, 2004 02:52 PM
This theme is among my favorites if not the one I like the best. A very futuristic theme imho. gave it 5 stars.
Posted by keith at April 1, 2004 03:42 PM
MMmmm... super-cool chic look. I like it a lot... I want it...
Posted by Mica at April 1, 2004 05:18 PM
Is this from Apple? --------Absolutely AMAZING!! It's even much better than Apple's own Aqua GUI.
I hope this theme will be realized soon.
Posted by keith at April 1, 2004 10:49 PM
Aaaah! There's an impostor 2 posts up! :O ;)
Posted by Dan at April 2, 2004 02:31 AM
Out of all the entries, this one MUST be made so I can USE IT!!
Posted by Entropy at April 2, 2004 06:40 PM
Awesome!
Posted by Peter Lloyd at April 2, 2004 07:12 PM
I like the feeling of three dimensions. I also like the muted colours (colors). Very good work.
Posted by Blacktiger at April 2, 2004 09:29 PM
Paul, I think making the center of the slider the same light blue color as the progress bars would be sweet. Make it look lit up and active. You might also consider that for the check and radio boxes.
Posted by Ernest Liu at April 3, 2004 01:47 AM
Wow... so many people like this... including me! I agree with William Bart, the widgets aren't TOO great, but not bad. The menu design is unique and well done. Maybe the apple menu could be sparkled up just a bit, but no realy complaint. Seems that so much of the panal likes it, and so do the users! I can bet money that this will end up in the top 6. Well done!
Posted by at April 3, 2004 03:52 AM
very very very nice, very pleasant on the senses. i could use this everyday.
extremely well thought-out design. really superb UI design. subtle and classy.
ps. cobalt is also used in radar systems
Posted by Rhythmic Moose at April 3, 2004 10:57 AM
At first I wasn't really seeing it. Now I'm practically drooling over it. This is by far the cleanest, most professionally styled and constructed mockup in the entire contest. The bevels could be a little smaller, and I'm not quite sure how the scrollbar is going to work in an actual window, but aside from that I have no complaints about this mockup. I can't wait until the color variants are released, but you an Max definitely need to get this out the door ASAP. ;-)
Posted by 3nzo at April 3, 2004 11:47 AM
I find myself trying to click and drag the scroll bar and sliders in the preview jpg :) It just looks that good and realistic.
My vote on the progress bar treatment is some sort of blue treatment to contrast the metal.
I also agree with Blacktiger that making the center of the slider (and maybe some other arrows, radio buttons) the light blue color would be awesome. Maybe the active/selected state of the inside of the Finder toolbar buttons as well?
From a theme user's perspective...this looks very promising and I can't wait to use this theme :)
Posted by Hal! at April 3, 2004 06:18 PM
Very slick theme.
It is beautifully rendered, and an amazing contrast to the mainstream (ie, glass, dark, etc. themes).
Well done.
Good luck and all the best, H!
Posted by Harold Harmon at April 4, 2004 07:46 PM
Congratulations Paul. This is a great design. Definitely my favorite entry.. Yes I like it more than my own :). I can't wait to see the final result.
Posted by Daniel Goffin at April 4, 2004 07:51 PM
Let me add my congratulations aswell, Paul. This is one awesome entry and i can't wait to see it realized by you and Max. I can only second whats been said before... You really deserve this first place.
Posted by Paul Johnson at April 4, 2004 08:47 PM
Thanks everyone! And congrats to Harold, too.
I look forward to making this monster. Wish me luck! I'm going to be Max's worst nightmare for a few weeks here, so wish HIM luck! :)
Posted by Philip Beck at April 4, 2004 09:22 PM
Congratualtions - very well done. Thank god a usable theme! Looking forward to seeing this on my mac.
Posted by Elizabeth at April 4, 2004 09:45 PM
Again, congratulations!
I can't wait to see what you and Max come up with.
Posted by serg. at April 4, 2004 11:51 PM
congrats! *waits patiently*
Posted by yoxi at April 5, 2004 02:40 AM
Glad this won - thing of beauty (speaking subjectively...) I'm particularly looking forward to those times when I have to wait, because now I'll be able to watch the blue fireflies skitter across the message box...
Posted by Jason Harris (Panel) at April 5, 2004 02:58 AM
Okay. Hotttttttt. The big appeal here is obviously the bevelled and inset widgets. The effect is applied sparingly and subtly enough that it's not over-the-top. The total effect is extremely powerful.
I don't really see anything I don't like, so I'll just skip ahead to my various categories.
This mockup doesn't grab one's attention right off, but once it's got your attention, I think it'll hold it. I also don't think that it's particularly original, but it's a wonderful execution of an older idea. It's insanely aesthetically appealing and would be usable pretty much forever without getting old. It might be somewhat difficult to create a usable theme from the mockup since some of the elements are larger that expected due to the bevels.
Posted by R. Peter Clark at April 5, 2004 08:26 AM
Congratulations, this is damn sweet! It seemed unassuming to me at first but I can easily see this as something I would use daily. The insets and buttons are excellent and I really like the split line across the window menu. The blue titlebar area and selected menu title are my favorite aspects of this design. I agree the progress bar seems weak, but I'd definately keep it in the blue style.
Good job! :)
Posted by MacDog at April 5, 2004 10:33 AM
Congrats! This was the best theme in the contest... and I'm happy that, IMO, the best theme-maker in the biz will be creating it for you!
I eagerly await the download link!
Posted by Max Rudberg (Panel) at April 5, 2004 11:00 AM
Congratulations Paul! I sent you an email so we can get to work :)
Posted by fov at April 5, 2004 09:17 PM
why is there a blue corner?
Posted by merlin at April 6, 2004 06:29 AM
I love this sexy retro-futurist syle, I'm not surprised that it wins. So good.
The buttons are superslick, good work.
But will it looks good on a website for example, or somewhere with no grey background? mmm
I'm agree with the too much rounded finder window, keep it simple.
The menu bar is a bit over gradiented to me also.
Not sure if I'm a fan of x + - encapsuled thing.
mica fore sure it's better than aqua, you don't know how much I hate it. It's the designer's worst nightmare he he
Posted by at April 12, 2004 01:25 PM
gooooooood! d(~.~
Posted by Hank at April 13, 2004 04:57 PM
Nice work, but where can I download this wonderful theme?
Posted by Doom at April 18, 2004 02:05 PM
to hank: this is a mockup contest, so the theme has to be made first. this paticular theme is to be made by Max (i'm pretty sure it's him).
Posted by at May 26, 2004 07:18 AM
hi,
is this available for XP? its really cool1!!!!!!
Posted by david at June 22, 2004 09:21 PM
wow! how can i get it
Posted by mesothelioma at July 24, 2004 04:05 PM
nice site i like your stuff
Posted by Photoman at August 13, 2004 06:26 PM
I want this theme! I love it, is it avalible to download?
Posted by Robert Beverly at September 11, 2004 02:12 PM
nice site i really like it
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Posted by beejaybee at January 10, 2005 03:48 AM
I'm guessing the theme will never be completed, eh?
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