Xanthic Unveils TiSkin - February 09, 2004
Xanthic has already made a name for himself in the Mac GUI community, with his popular TI CON icon sets, wallpapers, and beautiful website. In fact, he has even generated something of a community himself; his website hosts an active and popular message board. However, Xanthic has never released a full Mac OS X theme.
This is about to change. In this MacThemes.net Insider, we preview and reveal his upcoming TiSkin GUI, and interview Xanthic himself about what motivated himself to create the theme, his future plans, and his role in the rapidly growing Mac GUI community.
Aesthetics
The TiSkin GUI was created with usability first in mind, and for that reason, the theme is completely composed of grays, whites, and blacks. Nevertheless, for a theme that should be grounded by lack of color, TiSkin somehow manages to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing themes I have ever used.
What TiSkin amounts to is a very sleek, futuristic theme that looks like it was designed in a wind tunnel. The brushed metal windows are especially beautiful; they have a rounded, smooth look to them, somewhat reminiscent of NEOS, but with more grace. The smooth future metal surface is interrupted only when necessary by protruding buttons. Other elements such as the window widgets and scrollbars are recessed, black, and fashionably small, which ends up looking pretty fabulous. Even better, they are very press-able. The rubber surfaces makes you want to press them, even more so than glass or plastic, and their recessed state makes sense.
Many of us are probably bored by now of smooth gradients and bevels that are often overused in other themes, and this is another potential problem that Xanthic skirted and solved completely. While the smooth windows and menubar are very evidently smooth, even aerodynamically so, they are lit by a sharp light that produces a sharp and multi layered glare. The effect is a smooth surface that is at the same time sharp. These multiple layers of glare work like a charm to bring variety and interest to a theme that really could have spectacularly failed. TiSkin with its lack of color and clichéd future smooth look by all counts should have failed, but doesn't, thanks to Xanthic's expert handling. In fact, the result is one of OS X's most beautiful themes, by a rookie themer no less.
Usability
TiSkin was created from the start with usability in mind, and it really shows. While I can say with experience that TiSkin is so pretty it can be distracting in itself, the grays and blacks make this theme about as professional of an interface as you could get. Once you get over the glee of seeing and using TiSkin for the first time, the interface easily melts away, and becomes one of the most usable themes for OS X.
The only current usability problem comes with its use of slightly translucent black menus, which works most times, but turns pretty much invisible on dark desktops. This is the only usability problem that I could find after a week of joyful use, and it is a really excusable trade between usability and aesthetics. In fact, it's not even a real problem, as the contents of the menus are always perfectly visible, but it's the only usability "problem" I could even come up with. TiSkin's usability is that good.
Extras
So I've already praised TiSkin for it's rare and perfect merge of aesthetics and usability. Obviously, Xanthic's first theme has a glaring flaw somewhere, right?
Actually, it doesn't. Xanthic's extras are comprehensive, diverse, and probably the best collection that any theme has yet to offer. There are currently 10 desktops, each completely different and equally beautiful, with several colorful photoshop works, the standard simple gray desktop with logo, and even a few beautiful photos. The utter diversity of these desktops, and the fact that TiSkin works well with them all, is really a testament to its great design.
Furthermore, TiSkin was designed with Xanthic's mature, top notch icon collection in mind. This means that the theme probably comes with the best, most complete, and most fitting icon set that any theme has ever come with. Furthermore, Xanthic plans to offer a few theme variants for release, along with a possible cursor set and the ubiquitous Safari Skin.
So, now that Xanthic has successfully created possibly the best OS X theme of all time, questions naturally arise. Let's end this preview by checking out a screenshot. For the second part of this Insider, MacThemes.net interviews Xanthic.
MacThemes.net: Your graphical accomplishments here and previously are beautiful. Is this testament of a career as a professional artist?
Thanks. I've been doing art for about as long as I can remember. I come from a family of artists, and grew up in art schools, so I have a good eye for what works in a design I guess. Doing art on the computer was just a natural next step, and was and still kind of is a hobby of mine. But I am working towards getting my degree in graphic design so that I can make a professional career out of it.
MacThemes.net: You've been a fixture in the Mac GUI community for several years now. What motivated you to create your first theme?
Mainly the site guests. They've been contacting me, asking for a theme ever since I started making OSX icons. But I didn't consider it, mainly because making a theme really is hard work, especially your first one. That was until I made the TiCons set of icons, which simply demanded a matching theme. :)
MacThemes.net: Where did the overall look and concept of TiSkin come from? Was it a labor of tweaks and slow improvement, or the result of a flash of inspiration?
The look was a progression from the icon set's style and design. The TiCons are sleek, simplistic and have a 3D look to them, and I tried to keep that look with the theme. The theme was also heavily inspired by the titanium Powerbooks. The theme's metal surface resembles the outside surface of the powerbooks. And the black and rubber rubber elements in the theme were inspired by the dark keyboards on the titanium PowerBooks. There is a nice integration of dark and light tones in the styling of the titanium PowerBooks, and that is something that I tried to carry into the theme design.
MacThemes.net: How did you create such a beautiful, usable, and complete theme for your very first 1.0 release?
Basically, I thought of everything that I myself desired in an OSX theme. I wanted something very simple, easy to use and sleek. Something that was somewhat eye-catching, yet would not get in the way of my everyday work. I also thought about what it was about other themes out there that was preventing me from using them for extended periods of time... I always seemed to be reverting to Aqua at some point with other themes, and thought that I should try my best to make TiSkin an environment that a user would feel comfortable in for long periods of time.
As for the completeness of TiSkin, I had a pretty good headstart I guess. I already had a pretty complete collection of icons to include in the extras, and the wallpapers were a no brainer since wallpapers are my expertise.
MacThemes.net: How long did it take for TiSkin to progress from original conception to its current nearly finished form?
Overall, it has taken almost a year from concept to where it is now. I worked heavily on it for a while in the beginning, but hit a few snags and decided that skinning OSX was too hard to do. I also didn't want to add to the amount of support emails I would be getting if I were to release a theme. However, my interest in making the theme a reality was re-ignited when I read about ShapeShifter, since it is such a cool app and since it makes themes much more safe, thus reducing the amount of support a themer has to do.
MacThemes.net: Do you have any advice for other first themers?
Try not to get intimidated when you first look inside ThemePark and see the amount of resources that need to be changed. :) Also, set up a good set of actions in Photoshop, they speed up the process of making different button variations such as the selected and inactive states. And lastly, pay attention to extras, they really do make a difference and help complete the GUI modding experience.
MacThemes.net: TiSkin is nearly finished, but you mentioned planned variations. Do you have any details for our readers?
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Comments
Posted by Phillip Ryu at February 9, 2004 03:59 PM | Edit | Delete
Due to time constraints this article was posted about 99% finished. I'll post here later with more details about a release date, and perhaps an image or two of the announced variations.
Posted by Oliver at February 9, 2004 04:18 PM | Edit | Delete
Is that line in the menu gonna be in the final? It looks outa place.
Posted by Xanthic at February 9, 2004 04:19 PM | Edit | Delete
yeah, there are still a few more sneak peeks, so stay tuned. ;D as for the release date, if i continue working on it throughout this week, and work a lot on it this coming weekend, i'd say possibly mid next week or maybe the beginning of the week after. the biggest thing holding me back are premultiplication issues with many of my inactive state images. so i'd say that its safe to say the release will be sometime within the next two weeks.
Posted by Xanthic at February 9, 2004 04:26 PM | Edit | Delete
oliver: the line towards the bottom of the menu bar, or the divider lines in the menu drop downs? if you're talking about the line at the bottom of the menu bar, yeah thats staying. it adds to the sense of slight 3D throughout the whole theme. it also looks and works better when the actual theme is in use.
Posted by at February 9, 2004 04:29 PM | Edit | Delete
I hope you're right about those lines, they look like mistakes or maybe compression problems with the images..they're very distracting.
Posted by NetworkShadow at February 9, 2004 04:35 PM | Edit | Delete
The line in the menu looks nice, it's a hi-light to provide a 3d look on the very small space that is allowed.
Posted by Jason Williams at February 9, 2004 05:12 PM | Edit | Delete
I'm looking forward to this :-D
Posted by Johan Sahlén at February 9, 2004 05:34 PM | Edit | Delete
Looks very interesting. I'll be keeping my eyes on this.
Posted by Daniel Grenell at February 9, 2004 06:46 PM | Edit | Delete
this theme is simply beautiful.
Posted by SoulRocka Nasty Nene at February 9, 2004 06:48 PM | Edit | Delete
I don't have Panther yet....will this theme also come for Jaguar 10.2.8 version?
Your theme looks crazy hot!
Posted by n00b at February 9, 2004 08:19 PM | Edit | Delete
I don't have a Mac yet, will this theme come wiht a msstyles verion?
j/k ;)
Posted by C. Bolt at February 9, 2004 08:40 PM | Edit | Delete
Oh dear n00b! You are going to need a lot more than a theme (even this one) to make your system look good. Good luck on finding a Mac. Try the 17inch iMacs. The displays are incredible! This theme is going to put the icing on the cake for me. Can't Wait.
Posted by MacGizmo at February 9, 2004 09:47 PM | Edit | Delete
Lookin good. Hopefully I can add this theme to the list of long-term, usable themes - which consists only of Max's Brushed theme.
Posted by mdc at February 9, 2004 10:02 PM | Edit | Delete
looks amazing. it might actually take me away from aqua. i am looking forward to the light variation.
Posted by Daniel Grenell at February 9, 2004 10:34 PM | Edit | Delete
for your colored variation, may i suggest a blue metal?
Posted by Daniel Grenell at February 9, 2004 10:46 PM | Edit | Delete
did anyone else notice the "Random Crap" folder on the desktop in the screenshot? i dunno, just made me chuckle a little. and again, amazing theme
Posted by Xanthic at February 9, 2004 10:55 PM | Edit | Delete
soul rocka: for now, it will only be for 10.3. it runs on jaguar, but has a few issues which at the moment i cannot effectively resolve due to the fact that i don't have jaguar installed anymore. i will try my best once the initial release is over with, to fix whatever i can fix, but for now it seems as if it will only be 10.3.
noob: i am looking into getting it ported once it is completed. i'd rather have someone like kol, who has done a great job of porting other themes, rather than have some random person do a halfassed unauthorized port.
daniel: yeah, for the colored versions i am definitely considering blue. i am thinking of doing two or three total color variants. blue being one of them. not sure about the other two, but am open to suggestions. lol, yeah, my random crap folder... great for doing quick desktop cleanups ;)
and thanks everyone for the great positive feedback. :)
Posted by JoE950 at February 10, 2004 06:29 AM | Edit | Delete
ahh the "random crap" folder.. aka "desktop shit" folder on my system.. the lazy themer's "tuck everything under the bed" mechanism. where would we be without it Xanthic?
Posted by Dave-ø™ at February 10, 2004 08:21 AM | Edit | Delete
Xanthic: might i suggest an odd color for the variants? Yellow, orange, or something of the likes? Might want to look at a Pantone color guide in the 448-587 range.. Just a designers thought :D
Posted by Gramage at February 10, 2004 09:43 AM | Edit | Delete
*drool*
A theme that knows how to get out of the way, and yet avoids being horribly boring. Sweeet.
Coupled with a complete iconset, wallpapers, and safari skin, this should be one awesome makeover.
IDEA: Perhaps a dark version? The original is mostly light grey with black here and there, so maybe switch it up, with black the main color and light grey here and there.
Just a thought.
Your first theme, and allready you're up there with Max and Swiz. Supacongrats!
Posted by Brian at February 10, 2004 11:38 AM | Edit | Delete
I too think a dark version would be gorgeous.
What really bothers me is that most of the buttons aren't quite symmetrical from top to bottom. They almost are, and so it feels like they're supposed to be, but they're clearly not. Distracts me.
Posted by Daniel Grenell at February 10, 2004 05:22 PM | Edit | Delete
dave, i agree, i love yellow and black combos, like the nissan extera was promoted.
Posted by Daniel Grenell at February 10, 2004 05:31 PM | Edit | Delete
dave, i agree, i love yellow and black combos, like the nissan extera was promoted.
Posted by miSka at February 10, 2004 06:04 PM | Edit | Delete
So nice for the first one. I'll sure try this as soon as I get my first Mac this May!
May I offer another idea: titlebar widgets to light up as traffic-colored LEDs? That might add to the usability, as people are used to traffic stuff all over...
Posted by Gramage at February 10, 2004 07:01 PM | Edit | Delete
Why doesn't Apple hire people like Xanthic and Max and Swiz and the likes to design the official GUI? Compared to stuff like this and Alluminum Alloy and SS Power Metal, Aqua is kinda, well, lame.
Posted by Gramage at February 10, 2004 07:02 PM | Edit | Delete
And I must say, I like the way the buttons aren't 100% symmetrical. Nice touch.
I promise to stop commenting now. It's just this theme is so good...
Posted by Crassworm at February 10, 2004 08:33 PM | Edit | Delete
Yo Gramage.
:D
Sweet theme... I love the dark and bright contrasts over everything...
The close/minimize/resize buttons look small though.....
Posted by Tilman at February 11, 2004 06:16 AM | Edit | Delete
Great theme, but when and where will it be available? i dont want to look at other peoples desktops, i want to use that beauty!
Posted by Makki at February 11, 2004 04:01 PM | Edit | Delete
Wow Xanthic does it again. This theme looks so Awesome. Man i looking forward to this one.
Grats Xanthic its awesome looking.
Posted by Omey at February 11, 2004 06:23 PM | Edit | Delete
I like the theme idea, but I am confused. The menu's seem to have a line near the middle-top. Also is the inactive text in the menu's opaque? The screen shot shows the text a little green. Also the text does not look crisp in the Screen Shot. Maybe the quality of the SS's have something to do with these things?
Posted by Gramage at February 11, 2004 10:50 PM | Edit | Delete
Omey: I think the screenshots aren't full quality. I can see some fuzzy artifacts around the text and stuff. As for the green text, make a box around some text with your fingers, so you can't see any of the green desktop. The text is indeed black. Must be an optical illusion or somethin'.
Oh, and hey Crassworm :D
(jeez, I promised to stop commenting, didn't I? My bad...)
Posted by David Knuth at February 13, 2004 12:14 AM | Edit | Delete
when is it going to be available?
Dave
Posted by Dave-ø™ at February 13, 2004 08:15 AM | Edit | Delete
Xan said in 2 -3 weeks most likely..
Posted by Joe Buhler at February 16, 2004 08:42 PM | Edit | Delete
This is going to be a beauty. Can't wait. Great aesthetics and well matched with the icon set.
Posted by bystander at February 19, 2004 09:13 PM | Edit | Delete
Mole. Moooole. Nice to mooooole you. Mooooooooole.
Posted by bluevertical at February 20, 2004 05:54 AM | Edit | Delete
looks like it's coming today! just saw it posted on macnn 1:00am hst. i guess i'll set it up with my coffee in the morning. cya
Posted by Question... at February 21, 2004 04:44 PM | Edit | Delete
Does anybody know what's going on with Mikkel Madsen's homepage (www.mmicons.com)??? It's been like that for quite a while. One other concern, do William Bart and Mikkel Madsen ever team up for designs? They share the same logo/sign (sphere with an engraved "M"). Anyone know? Please answer. I am indeed confused. Thanks.
Posted by Jamie Hoover at February 22, 2004 01:28 PM | Edit | Delete
"... one of the most usable themes for OS X."
How can this statement possibly be true when the close, minimize, and maximize buttons are identical?
Xanthic, please address this usability issue on your otherwise flawless theme. Users should not have to memorize through trial and error which button does what.
Posted by Gramage at February 22, 2004 06:32 PM | Edit | Delete
If you've been using OS X for even a week, you should know which button does what...
Posted by David Ingadafdidinga at March 11, 2004 12:37 PM | Edit | Delete
This is a great skin. I love it it looks great on my desktop.
Posted by outsider at February 4, 2006 07:01 AM | Edit | Delete
po
Posted by outsider at February 4, 2006 10:57 AM | Edit | Delete
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