Tubist
Author: Paul Armstrong
Final Score: 53%
Description: The idea comes from an old Kaleidoscope them called "Cubist" that I used way back in the day. I always wanted to change it from using cubes to "tubes". This was done pretty quickly and would definitely spend more time on it for a final product.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Here's a few questions that many people have been asking, that I will try to head off here.
I can't change pages after I vote!
This was a pretty serious problem, but it has now been fixed, so the page links will now work consistently. Sorry for the bug!
Can I update my entry?
No, the entry images are final. However, biographical and theme description info, as well as contact info, can definitely be updated by emailing us at contest@macthemes.net with the requested changes.
Why are the ratings so low?
I believe this to be the result of a lack of weighting. What's going to happen is, I will curve the scores at the end of the user voting period to make the highest rated entry have a score of a 100. At the moment, this looks to be around a 15 point curve.
Where can I download these themes?
This is a mockup contest, which means that the images shown are artistic representations of ideas, and not completed guiKits. Check back within the next month or two, as the 6 winning mockups will be constructed into actual themes.
Have any other questions? Post a comment, and I'll try to answer it as best as I can.
User Voting Begins!
Yes, the news you have all been waiting for. User voting guidelines are now up!
"Your user votes will affect each mockup's score tremendously, as that portion will count as 50% of an entry's final score. We recommend that you go through each page clicking the expanded preview, carefully judging each entry's aesthetics and usability, (is it pretty? would you use it?) and then command click a star to rate the entry in a new tab. A score of 5 should represent that you believe an entry belongs in the top 6 winners. A score of 1 should represent that you believe the entry is the worst an entry could be. Please do not abuse this system to attempt to sway the score. Thanks for reading this, enjoy, and discussions in our comments system is always welcome!"
Enjoy. Oh, and one more thing. Now that you've read the voting guidelines, I recommend you click the ballot box to start the user voting process. It's going to take a while, since there's 45 entries to wade (or gleefully skip) through, so try to have fun!
Twilight Aqua
Author: Joseph Kurtin
Final Score: 46%
Description: This is what one of my friends had to say about Twilight Aqua. "Smooth and deep, richly dark but luminescent, bright, glowing, serene and active at the same time. The blue is calm and beautiful, but the white glow is alive, without being overpowering. It looks kind of spacey, but not in that generic - 'ooh look at the neat spaceship control panel theme i made' - sort of way." That's a much more descriptive description than what I could think up. :).
LustRazor
Author: Tom Riedel
Final Score: 67%
Description: A theme idea to match the icon set. Find it here.
Hyper.OSX (BubbleGum Edition)
Author: Hal Saville
Final Score: 56%
Description: A mix of windows Luna and Apple's Aqua. Called bubblegum for it's poppy color and contrasting hue's.
Forty-Five
Author: Étienne Després
Final Score: 51%
Description: An experiment with grays and 45° angles.
Mac-A-Be
Author: Noah Wiswell
Final Score: 70%
Description: A fusion of the Classic Mac OS and Be OS (Hence the Name), with a little Redhat 9 thrown in for good measure. Designed to be non-distracting, simple to use, yet pleasant to look at.
Boneyard
Author: Laura Natcher
Final Score: 63%
Description: Adorn your desktop with the bones of Windows users, who just could not overcome the blue screen of death! This theme was inspired by an idea from Phillip (who made me enter this contest with many threats), that I kind of took off on my own with. It probably is no where near what he had envisioned, but I like the way it turned out. It's a neutral gray all around with bright red buttons, which look good in many other colors, especially blue. Unlike many other themes, it's a high contrast, sketchy, unique theme which takes a break from the average gradient/filter abused ones. If you're ready to take a walk on the bold and dark side, then Boneyard is the theme for you.
GABAT
Author: Daniel Gasco Rodriguez
Final Score: 48%
Description: This theme is for all the people that likes apple interface and want a different theme for theirs Mac´s. This Theme will be distributed with an icon pack.
Mjolnir
Author: Nathaniel Daught
Final Score: 70%
Description: Design bases closely on the "Mjolnir armor" and other related technology form the popular game Halo. Attention to the original game design was the first concern under usability for a true Halo theme.
Unsanity Donates More Prizes!
Unsanity, creator of ShapeShifter and many other GUI software, was so impressed by the turnout (over 40 great entries!) that they are now donating an additional $200 for the cash prizes! I know we've been having so many changes to the prizes recently (though always for the better) so let me clarify what the winners will receive.
Grand Prize
- $175
- GUI software kit (full list)
- Mockup realized into a theme by Max Rudberg
- A MacThemes.net Insider Edition
- An Unsanity t-shirt
2nd Place
- $125
- GUI software kit (full list)
- Mockup realized into a theme by Harlan Lewis
- An Unsanity t-shirt
3rd Place
- $50
- GUI software kit (full list)
- Mockup realized into a theme by Joe Kohlmann
- An Unsanity t-shirt
4th-6th Place
- A theme development software kit (full list)
- Mockup realized into a theme by Mike of GuiStain, Kevin of Swizcore Studio, or Joe of [fear]platinum.
Thanks everyone for entering. We're still plugging away at entries, but hopefully user voting will start tomorrow night!
sleekStyle
Author: Eric Sarmany
Final Score: 74%
Description: sleekStyle is a clean, simple theme designed for Mac OS X. Its color scheme is easy on the eyes and it blends well with many different styles of desktop wallpapers. It took many different color variations and styles before the final layout and scheme was decided upon, but in the end I believe this version to be quite distinctive without the common over-exaggerated graphics found in themes (and as such, it's not lacking in usability). I hope you enjoy the theme, and feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have.
zandrOS
Author: Alexander Palmo
Final Score: 74%
Description: The ZandrOS theme is meant to evoke the image of a shiny, red, fast car (or motorcycle is you prefer.) The styled window-bar looks kind of like a futuristic muffler or something. "Screws" are tastefully sprinkled throughout the interface.
Wood
Author: Luke Shuman
Final Score: 67%
Description: A Theme inspired by the desk it was created on. Granted, INSPIRED. It's not meant to be photorealistic. Instead, the colors, highlights, and shapes are meant to create usability and look be pleasing to the eye. Ignore the finder toolbar buttons, as they've been commented on numerous times, and i realize that was quite an error on my part.
Wireframe
Author: Chase Slabaugh
Final Score: 34%
Description: A green-ish theme thats kinda camo/wireframe.
The Kingpin's Office
Author: Zachary Lutterman
Final Score: 42%
Description: Plays well with the Aqua icons and general style but this goes much more subtle hopefully more classy.
Terra Cotta
Author: Colin Oettle
Final Score: 46%
Description: Inspired by both the existing theme "Milk" and the new zelda game for gamecube, my goal was to create a cell shaded terra cotta theme. I like the simple yet effective qualities of this form of shading, and thus I kept 3D and lighting effects to a minimum. The red and brown shades seen in the terra cotta form of the theme were my first choice because of their pleasant balance of brightness, allowing the theme to stay "out of your face," yet remain bright enough to stimulate the eyes. Though blues and darker shaded versions of this theme would be very possible to make, I prefer brown/red terracotta shades that maintain "happier" color tones on the mac.
VIVIsectVI
Author: Andrew Vallance
Final Score: 71%
Description: Based on a variety of themes that have been released. Trying to bring dark, metal, plastic, and shine all together into one beast. Giving an almost futuristic feel to this theme, but not so much that it's cumbersome to use.
TK-421
Author: John Cody Walton
Final Score: 61%
Description: When Swiz released JetBlack, the first thing I thought was ,"Damn, that looks like Vader's armor. Cool!" Unfortuately, JetBlack is mired with usability issues surrounding text color. This gave me the idea of creating an theme as the inverse of JetBlack. So this theme is designed to look like Imperial Stormtrooper (Clonetrooper) armor. It's made of hard white plastic using sharp highlights, combined with soft black rubber. Hope you like it.
Storm
Author: Ian Black
Final Score: 53%
Description: Inspired by the StarWars Stormtrooper body armour.
Silver 1.0
Author: Mackie
Final Score: 50%
Description: This theme is based upon the Apple "Ink" look, which I liked so much, I decided to make a whole theme with it. I used Photoshop 7 and Mac OS 10.2 to create the theme widgets and tidbits.
Sera
Author: Alex Stevens (fireside)
Final Score: 40%
Description: I created this theme because I wanted a minimalistic feel for OS X, not that there aren't any already from Swiz and Carbon ;) I'm not sure where I got the inspiration, but overall I'm satisfied with what I have created. If themeing is half this hard, than I don't want to theme ;) good luck to all of the theme mockup-ers, and may the best theme mockup win! Special thanks to Swiz for being a pal. he knows what I'm talking about ;)
Pure Vinil
Author: Alfredo Santa Maria Cortez
Final Score: 64%
Description: Intense red windows, bluish black buttons, imagine some 80's Audio hardware... reminds me of spider-man, don't know why :)
Pencil Neck
Author: Joshua Dickens
Final Score: 57%
Description: Giving a hand-made feel to OSX, as if it were sketched and torn from rag paper. Decidedly low-tech.
Orange Ghost
Author: Peter Lammertzen
Final Score: 33%
Description: I really didn't notice the contest until the 14th of March. Had some ideas, but not much time I thought. I consider myself to be a heavy graphical user and I LOVE to switch themes now and then. For me a big problem is that some themes are really fantastic looking, but are not really usable. If I take a look at my screen I want to be able to concentrate on my workspace and not be confronted with too much 'noise'. Usually this noise comes from inconsistencies in the interface. In my opinion, the regular Aqua interface has too much contrast and too much color differences in the interface.
Odysseus
Author: Arvin Zohrabian
Final Score: 43%
Description: I really wanted to try and work out a blue theme. There's a few blue themes out there but I wanted to go for something that was on the border of being a midnight blue/water like theme. Odysseus is just the right of blue to not affect or annoy someone; I've tested it on several backgrounds and it seems to be quite legible in that respect. There's a hint of blueish chrome in there as well, but they are subtle in places that won't be too distracting to the eye.
Karbon Step 2
Author: Yom
Final Score: 43%
Description: I first found "Aqua" very exciting, but on an every day use now I think it is not very usable, mainly because it is very white and bright. So I tend to look for dark themes, but I still did not find the "perfect" one. And like many I am stopped by the amount of work involved in making a theme... So I find your contest very exciting !
Of course I went for a rather dark theme, and I tried to find an original texture. I ended up with carbon. And I put a lot of metal piece that stand from this background. As a result this theme might not be very usable, but could be fun on a "leisure" machine.
One of the only "surprise" would be the widget: from a slick metal piece as a normal state, you would see "windows" we the mouse is over.
Gung Ho
Author: Rick Leong
Final Score: 46%
Description: ¬ Camo pattern over brushed metal.
¬ Reminiscent of military vehicles.
¬ Blue and green variations.
¬ Blaqua tabs, buttons, etc.
CAPSULE
Author: Brian Adducci
Final Score: 67%
Description: The CAPSULE theme was designed to reflect a clean, simple and elegant personality. One that is both easy to the eye and practical for every day use.
Garnet
Author: Bryan Bortz
Final Score: 57%
Description: When starting this mockup I thought about old classic kaleidoscope schemes. Antique by Arlo Rose stuck out in my mind. I also enjoyed the style of the theme mock-up "Guidelines". So I basically merged that and Antique's Color scheme and squareness. The result is a basic Theme that I feel is useable while unique.
Futura Tech
Author: Ernest Liu
Final Score: 70%
Description: Futura Tech combines the aqua style with a mettalic look. Aiming at the high-tech vision, most elements of the theme resemble something tangible.
Equestrian
Author: Ossian Borén
Final Score: 60%
Description: I've been trying to make OS 10 themes for a while by now, but ThemePark is just too much to handle, and I usually haven't the time to make the things I want to. But this mockup is one oppurtunity to get something done. It was greatly inspired by my father's sculptures and paintings (he's an artist) and this years May 1st Reboot (may1reboot.com) design.
The name "Equestrian" means "rider" and was chosen because it looks good and fits the kinda robust feeling of the mockup. I wish myself and this mockup good luck!
Dynamica
Author: Mikhail Fedoseev
Final Score: 61%
Description: I've done this theme on my PC. It's called Dynamica, since it's supposed to be dynamic and modern, slick and speedy. I tried to get rid of most of the dull-looking square shapes. I wanted to make it more plastic-like at first, but when I got the glossy stuff look decent, and put that LED-like blue lighting all over, I stuck to it.
Anyway, this mockup is my first attempt at OS theming. If this stuff gets up to become an actual theme, I will add some color variations, like traffic, pink and green. And there's one more theme I will try to manage - Statica (Same glossy illuminated stuff, but with totally square windows and widgets).
Cold Chrome
Author: Jeremy Kanter
Final Score: 62%
Description: Sleek and shiny with clickable shapes. Inspired by a nearly-full iPod and a lengthy northeast driving trip.
XOSX
Author: David Escamilla Castillo
Final Score: 59%
Description: Inspired by (but not meant to represent) the XBox. It's black, green, sleek and in your face. Maybe not for professional users but I like it.
Three
Author: Brian Konar
Final Score: 62%
Description: Clean and simple, emphasizes subtlety and minimalism. I decided to go for the blue mainly because grey seems to be a bit "cliche" at the moment. i love grey and think people choose it because it works well and isn't distracting. with this in mind i tried to keep color to a minimum.
Patriotic
Author: Michael Martz
Final Score: 39%
Description: Show off your patriotism with this American Flag inspired theme!
Neutrality
Author: Patrick Bauer
Final Score: 63%
Description: I named the theme "Neutrality". I think the name fits good, because it is totally colorless. My aims for the theme had been: good usability, discreet and timeless design. I always liked grey themes like AlumiteX, TiSkin or Brushed etc. because they are 100 percent usable in apps like Photoshop or other publishing apps I have to work daily. My Quicksilver, the new G5, Apple's Aqua and themes like listed above influenced me a lot to realize this style.
Rawhide
Author: JoE950
Final Score: 71%
Description: A theme that sets the tone for anything western. Pop in a great old Clint Eastwood flick like, "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" [if you cant stand old movies, then just watch some Trigun. I think everyone likes Trigun..], download some pictures of cactus and barbed wire to use as background images, then download those cool animal skin hard disk icons, and test your trigger finger with some duck hunt in a cowboy hat. Yee-Haw! [NOTE: if you don't have duck hunt, turning off "block popups" in Safari and then trying to navigate out of adult sites will do just as well, assuming you are of legal age]
Paper & Plastic
Author: Mike Matas
Final Score: 77%
Description: A theme is not a theme unless it is usable. If it is not usable it is simply a cool drawing. When I went to design this theme I wanted one thing, usablity, something that would be able to stay on your system for more than 5 miniuntes. For me that meant no messing around, it had to be strait to the point simple, something that would get out of your way and let the content on your computer shine. Paper & Plastic uses depth very sparingly leaving your interface very simple and unintrusive. Instead of having regular aqua widgets be beveled and popping out of the UI I decided to keep them very flat. This lets the content shine rather than the buttons. I wanted people to think of windows as one of the only things on the computer screen that is a real object you can pick up. I decided to give windows a shiny beveled plastic texture that would contrast the flat paper look of the widgets.
Protean
Author: Terrence Scoville
Final Score: 73%
Description: A minmilistic pixeltastic theme with smooth gradients and high contrasting colors.
Slime
Author: Vernon Thommeret
Final Score: 52%
Description: Slime is an attempt to create a cohesive theme that uses an element like slime define and accent the theme without totally dominating it. Behind the slime are clean, black, highlighted buttons. Generally the point was to make an interesting theme that worked with Aqua's boundaries yet remained usable.
Some More News
Nope, the entries aren't viewable yet, since there's still a day left for people to submit :). However, in the meanwhile, we are working hard on processing the entries, and the site of course has gone under a facelift, thanks to Adam and Jan's hard work. The best part is, everything works now in IE 6, so Windows users should have no problem viewing their entries.
And that's not all. Kevin Husted of Swizcore Studio and Joe Loy of [fear]platinum have joined the contest, in addition to Max Rudberg, Joe Kohlmann, Harlan Lewis, and Mike to help create the winners, meaning that all six winners will now have the chance to make their ideas into reality!
Finally, I'm sure that many of you are anxiously awaiting the chance to see what's been entered so far. The schedule as of now is to process entries through Wednesday, then put up user voting that evening or the morning after. In the meanwhile, I will continue to post news as the contest progresses. (As you may have noticed, the contest page will be the site's home for the next week or so.) Yes, there are a few more days to wait, but it'll definitely be worth it.
- MacThemes.net Staff