GarageBand Previewed - January 07, 2004
On January 6th, Steve Jobs announced the newest addition to iLife: GarageBand, a music recording and creation application for pros and consumers alike. GarageBand is currently available for $50 at the Apple store included in iLife '04 bundle.
For the first part of this Insider feature, MacThemes interviews Kevin Husted of Swizcore Studio about his planned OS X theme based on Apple's upcoming GarageBand application, his previous experiences porting Apple's pro interfaces, and his overall thoughts about the interface. Then, MacThemes analyzes GarageBand's interface on its own, taking a detailed look on its looks, it's usability, and how it fits in with Apple's other offerings. Come on in and take a closer look at what Apple claims will turn your mac into a full blown recording studio.
MacThemes Interviews Kevin Husted
MT: Apple recently introduced GarageBand, the newest addition to iLife, with a brand new interface: seemingly a merge of wood and darkened brushed metal. What are your feelings on this?
I can see where they were coming from with the idea of using a classical wood grain in the interface to echo back to the days of mahogany styled instruments and the like, but as is usual with Apple, it is horribly incomplete. Of course I haven't seen the complete interface yet but assuming that the vertical interface borders are the only wood pieces, shame on them. The slick look of the rest of the interface including the dark or light are great UI's in their own right and do a nice job of complementing each other and creating a hierarchy. The dark interface feels like an appropriate middle-ground between the Pro AppKit interface and the Aqua norm.
Obviously there are still mahogany styled instruments today, but including them in the interface is an attempt on Apple part, I think, to show that Piano players and such from the classical genres will feel at home within GB as well.
MT: Do you have any quick thoughts about the aesthetics, usability, and quality of this interface compared to Apple's previous works? (including Aqua and Brushed Metal)
I think Apple took more chances with this UI than with Aqua or Brushed. It uses a wider palette of colors and element styles than Aqua or Brushed. I think they pulled it off wonderfully. Aside from the wood grain, the hierarchy in this interface created by colors and element aesthetics is superb. Aqua is a universal GUI which 90% of Apple users will never abandon; its that good. (The idea more so than the execution, look to Max for proper execution.)
With GarageBand's interface though, I see that Apple is breaking the mold of the overly consistent GUI. Instead of everything looking like everything else they are getting deeper into the actual "feel" of a GUI and using more treatments to create a more thoughtful and productive GUI which I find very refreshing.
I can see this GUI shifting the future of original GUI design on OSX and beyond.
MT: Your last Apple conversion, "Studio Pro" came with both a version accurate to Apple's interface, and one with custom, more consistent elements. Are you planning to do the same with your work on this theme?
Thats always my plan. I like to do a version which is fully true to the Interface I am recreating. During this process I take notes on any inconsistencies I find and apply them to the "SS" (Swiz Style) version. Aside from the wood grain side window borders in GB I can't foresee anything yet that would demand an SS version of GB. And since window borders aren't a part of the OSX UI I will not need to deal with it at all until ShapeShifter allows this (if ever).
So you're not planning to implement GarageBand's unique wooden side panels?
Nope.
MT: Is a theme completely accurate to the GarageBand even possible with Aqua's current limitations?
Until I actually get into GB and tool around the UI and see all of its elements I cant say for certain. At this point I know of a few things which will not be possible or need to be compromised.
MT: Could these compromises be removed in future updates, as the next generation of theme formats evolves?
With the current state of OSX themeing contrasting where it was when I started I think the sky is the limit. Its all about reverse engineering the GUI and I know the developers are moving mountains for us.
MT: Have your previous conversions generally been more difficult or easier to complete than original creations?
It depends on the complexity of the GUI. The Final Cut Pro theme was pretty easy to do since it is really a flat, almost cartoony GUI. Studio Pro was much more laborious though because it emulates lighting effects and such. Original works are much more open to interpretation since it all comes from my own vision as opposed to redoing an already public GUI which has set standards in place to adhere to.
MT: What difficulties did you experience when working on StudioPro? What major elements did you have to create or update to make the theme complete?
I created all elements from scratch. The hardest thing during this process as with all development processes was staying focused on keeping it consistent and not running with other ideas I came up with which I got excited about. That and needless to say the time involved in creating all of a themes elements. Its easy to lose enthusiasm when you work on something for so long. You just gotta keep telling yourself that no one else has seen it and as long as you stay focused and create a great final product it will keep the end user enthused.
MT: Are you excited about what is beyond GarageBand's interface? Do you personally plan to use it as a music tool?
Without a question. I have been hoping for Apple to release a tool like this for a long time. For a 1.0 release it does much more than I would expect it to, especially for an iLife app. The $50 price tag is a dream. I think people need to keep in mind that although it is in the iLife suite, it is not "iGarageband", so they shouldn't be afraid that it isn't a powerful tool. I'm just as excited about using it as I am about transferring its GUI to full scale OSX themes.
MT: Thanks for your time, we look forward to JetBlack and your interpretation of the GarageBand interface.
You bet, good luck with MacThemes. It's looking very nice.
MT Analysis of the GarageBand Interface
Already the opinion on the GarageBand interface is split, between those who instinctively hate the new look, and others that love the quirky wood interface. There is no disagreement, however, on the fact that Apple has done something beyond the ordinary with GarageBand, whether for better or for worse. The question is, is this GUI a success, or a failure?
The loudest complaints have been about the application's inconsistencies, both with the overall system interface and within GarageBand itself. Critics have targeted Apple's seemingly haphazard use of wood, a new dark brushed metal (or perhaps stained wood), aqua elements, and new buttons reminiscent of Max Rudberg's "Milk" theme. How does this fit with Aqua? What was Apple thinking?
GarageBand is indeed inconsistent; there is no doubt about that. The look is yet another new interface from Apple, one among at least four (Aqua, Brushed Metal, several Pro interfaces). What Apple seems to have done is created a new look, for the consumer-pro application. A careful look at the GarageBand interface reveals a merge of slick "Pro" elements, including the volume balance adjusters and the volume indicators, and the more consumer friendly brushed metal elements and aqua widgets. Though critics will continue to complain, GarageBand truly strikes a middle ground between Apple's consumer and professional apps, in both its form and function.
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Comments
Posted by Max Rudberg at January 8, 2004 08:19 AM | Edit | Delete
I'm impressed on how quickly this interview/analyse got out, and it's a good read!
For the interface, I think it's very fitting for this type of app and I like the wooden edges actually.
However, it feels very messy in parts. They still have 10.1 style volume sliders - why? They made this new quite cool volume sliders that are used in both iTunes and QT, why not just use that, perhaps a tad darker.
And if you look at the lower left corner of the app, it's not very nice to see all the mixed elements.. The plastic style view selection, the Aqua style popup button and these new milky buttons..
And the traffic buttons does not work very well with that dark background, I'm curious to see if they are hard coded into the app or if they are retrieved from the Extras.rsrc..
So I think the general idea for the app is great and it has got the right feel, but some stuff feels too mixed.
Posted by MacGizmo at January 8, 2004 09:09 AM | Edit | Delete
I agree with Max. It almost appears that Apple "ran out of time" when doing the GUI on this one and stopped working on the wood/charcoal colors, and just tossed in the Aqua look for what they hadn't completed.
It's too bad, because I like the look of the wood and black together - but all that "candy" mixed in just kills it.
Posted by JoE950 at January 8, 2004 10:11 AM | Edit | Delete
Woah... All the comments about the "wood inconstancy" are completely off base... Apple wasn't using a mahogany piano as a reference, rather they are mocking an old sound board. The sides of them were wood and the middle panel with all the knobs and sliders were black metal. I found a really good example here http://www.lucinda.net/wbo/graphics/board_op.jpg as you can see, this board is the perfect example of what apple is trying to modernize.
All that said I agree that there shouldn't have been any aqua.. It does look half finished lol..
Posted by Sage at January 8, 2004 11:52 AM | Edit | Delete
I think Max and Swiz hit it spot-on... it's quite a nice interface, with many good ideas behind it, but it falls down to the old cliché, "Good in concept; bad in execution". Well, okay, not necessarily BAD in execution, but it needs help.
More than anything, I have to wonder what the milky-like buttons are doing there... they don't seem to represent any real-life, um, element involved in music. And as stated before, Aqua just looks messy in there.
I'm really excited about the black interface though. History has shown that the iApps generally foreshadow future changes to the Mac OS GUI, so I'm really hoping that that will be a new look that Apple will bring in system-wide. :-)
Posted by Spaztik at January 8, 2004 12:20 PM | Edit | Delete
I wish Apple would just hire Max for their GUI projects... then Apple software wouldn't look all screwed up. Do any of us complain about inconsistancies and weirdness in Max's themes? Hell no.
Apple needs to get some better GUI people.
Posted by NetworkShadow at January 8, 2004 02:24 PM | Edit | Delete
Please kill the Aqua in it! It's ok if it had no Aqua.
Posted by mo at January 8, 2004 02:32 PM | Edit | Delete
I'm surprised how one can even *think* to judge an interface without actually having used the application.
You guys are talking about looks, yet an interface is so much more than that. You're talking about "GUI", but obviously don't know what you're talking about.
And while Max has proven to be able to release a consistent look with his themes, he has yet to release his first GUI, or did I miss something? Apple would -- sure enough -- benefit from his graphic skills, though...
Posted by Brian at January 8, 2004 03:47 PM | Edit | Delete
Aesthetics versus interface, right. We're mostly complaining about the aesthetics, which is in fact an important part of the interface. The interface to the interface, one might say.
Good to identify what we're actually talking about though.
In my opinion, Apple's interfaces are far superior to anything else out there, but we can still find glaring mistakes to complain about. They really do need better GUI people, for both the G and the UI.
Posted by David at January 8, 2004 05:45 PM | Edit | Delete
I think the Garage Band GUI looks great just as it is. Swiz, please don't kill the wood! Or at least make a version w/ the wood as well as one w/o.
Posted by swiz at January 8, 2004 09:13 PM | Edit | Delete
David,
If the theme tools are allowing us to do window borders at some point, the wood will be included.
Posted by David at January 8, 2004 09:53 PM | Edit | Delete
Swiz,
You're my hero!
David
Posted by stronghand at January 9, 2004 03:15 AM | Edit | Delete
JoE950,
Glad to see someone else recognized the wood sides and the black metal for what they are supposed to represent...I think most musicians would recognize this as well, so I think Apple was spot on with the original concept, but as others have mentioned there are some helter skelter aspects with the Aqua additions.
swiz,
Are you going to be releasing the true-to-original version of Studio Pro, and for that matter, any Final Cut theme for ShapeShifter? Keep up the nice work. You too Max.
Mike
Posted by swiz at January 9, 2004 07:26 PM | Edit | Delete
Mike, yes I am. Just been bogged down with freelance jobs and being sick. Yuck.
Posted by SalsaShark at January 15, 2004 01:50 PM | Edit | Delete
Just a note about the buttons. The headphone button on the instrument, if consistent with Soundtrack, is a "Solo" button, so you only hear that instrument when selected. In all, it's very similar to Soundtrack's interface, which is definitely a good thing. Now back to your regularly scheduled Logic Pro drooling...
Posted by Zachenstein at January 15, 2004 04:59 PM | Edit | Delete
Most themes share that same conclussion, they are much better ideas than they are usable interfaces. It's like the difference between a website navigation designs. If you plan it out and stick with the plan you end up with a very logical system that takes too many clicks to get to the most used things. You have to always have that end result in mind. Themers would do well to have constant feedback from objective sources as they build, and possibly more importantly they should swallow their pride and start teaming up. Anyone remember the Biolerplate scheme for Kaleidoscope? It was one of the most unique schemes I've ever seen. It was twice as good as any other scheme developed by either of the two guys had done on their own. But it probably won't happen again. Just like Apple including theme-friendliness in the next evolution of OS X, or making a 3 button mouse. People just get stubborn and proud and forget why they're doing what they do.
Posted by Drifter at January 19, 2004 12:02 PM | Edit | Delete
I think there is alot of potential, but I think you should look outside of the app itself. If anyone is a DVD nut like me, they noticed the black aqua buttons on the DVD remote in Panther. I say ditch the wood and white buttons, and make it more akin to a black brushed with those nice lil black buttons.
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