JetBlack - March 03, 2004
Author: Swizcore Studio
Version: 1.0
Reviewed by: Phillip Ryu
User Rating: 
61%
There is absolutely nothing else like JetBlack, and partly due to the fact that this is a Swizcore Studio production, innovation is a good thing. The first truly dark theme is in good hands, and though JetBlack is marred by severe usability problems, the degree of polish and completeness makes it nevertheless a compelling theme to use.
Aesthetics
JetBlack is truly the first dark theme, succeeding in pushing the interface further along in a direction that Shinobi, NEOS, and others pioneered. However, unlike its colleagues, there are no compromises in JetBlack. The theme is truly black, at least as dark as Milk is white, and the overall effect is pretty stunning.
JetBlack is constructed from a glossy, black plastic with bright, lavender tinted interiors and accents. I say constructed, as the theme wouldn't feel out of place on a stealth jet. The high contrast of white (really lavender, but I'm calling it white) on black gives JetBlack class, especially as Swiz uses these elements selectively and pretty rarely. A good example of said contrast at work are the beautiful menu selections, which look like they are being lighted by x-rays, and are probably my favorite parts of the theme. (On a related note, double height menus such as the Fast User Switching menu needs a bit of fixing.) Scrollbars are also pretty and very grabbable, with white socketed inside a black shell exterior, and window widgets have a very unique feel to them, due to the high contrast. Mousing over window widgets have a very pleasurable snap to them, something that I have never felt before. This is probably the theme of choice for Mac using CIA operatives. (Jack Bauer and Sydney Bristow come to mind.)
Usability
Now, the unfortunate. JetBlack is not an especially usable theme. This is really too bad for Swiz, JetBlack users, and any theme enthusiast, as the problem is not due to a half hearted attempt, but a result of Aqua's tight limitations. That means that selected text labels in the Finder are barely readable, and much text in dialogue boxes are black on black. It means that Photoshop and Microsoft Word have unreadable toolbars, and custom black elements designed to work on white stripes don't show up at all. Unlike other themes where these specific Apps have similar problems, JetBlack's unique darkness means pretty much illegible interfaces in many cases. I love the theme, but to use it full time, usability must be compromised. Hopefully some of these issues will be able to be fixed by future versions of ShapeShifter, which promises to unlock some of Aqua's bounds. For now, users can opt to disable certain applications using ShapeShifter's exclude function.
Extras
The good news is that Swiz has included a set of extras that pretty much blows the competition away, and helps make JetBlack more usable than it should have been. In a trend that bodes extremely well for theme users, JetBlack's extras are custom made, of high quality, and very complete. There is of course the expected Safari skin, but also a Synergy menu icon set. The desktops are numerous, all dark, and all very beautiful. Most of them display stylized Jets on a dark gradient, and they all work very well with the theme. (The 3D rendered jet looks fantastic!) Then, there is of course a fairly complete iContainer full of goodies, including the aforementioned jet engines for your hard-drive, folder icon replacements, and more. The set is not fully complete yet, but still adds a lot to the experience. Additionally, Swiz has included thoroughly modded menu widgets, which show his dedication, but he didn't succeed perfectly. The fuzzy airport widget definitely needs help. Personally, I would prefer color shifted versions of Apple's much sharper widgets, but Swiz's generally do the job.
Finally, a nice surprise that has never been done before, ever, is a JetBlack cursor set for use with Geekspiff's MightyMouse. The cursors are smooth, slick, and lavender. Yummy. An iTunes skin is requested, as Swiz seems prepared to go the extra mile, but these extras are already pretty amazing.
JetBlack is too pretty and unique to skip over, so give it a try, and make sure to install all the extras before you give its usability a judgment. It's truly unfortunate that the theme is marred by serious usability problems, but for the dedicated, JetBlack can still be used, and used with pleasure. This theme has definitely taken its place among other top notch Swizcore offerings. Try the Snow.E icon set for some extra high contrast goodness.
Comments
Posted by Steve at March 3, 2004 11:13 AM | Edit | Delete
It's a OK theme. I like the icons better than the theme. I give this theme on a scale from 1 to 10 a 5 for style. Honestly after 5 minutes using Jetblack I got tired of it and went back to using the Giggle theme. NO MORE BLACK AND GREY THEMES! Give it a break already
Steve :)
Posted by Mushu at March 3, 2004 11:55 AM | Edit | Delete
Dude, JetBlack owns TiSkin, but you said TiSkin was better. JetBlack's font color problems will be fixed in the next version, so there's nothing to complain about. I give it a 9.9. So there.
Posted by dv8 at March 3, 2004 12:32 PM | Edit | Delete
Keep going with black & grey themes! Don't listen to the nay-sayers. Grey rules! And... they're generally usable... which is the point.
That said... I still want to see a port of the old BeOS interface.
Posted by Steve at March 3, 2004 12:35 PM | Edit | Delete
Hey Mushu
I have a right to say a opinion. If my opinion bothered you or offends anybody else, then don't read the comment section. And what you talking about jetblack owns Tiskin and Tiskin was better???
First of all I mention the GIGGLE theme by Shiocop.
Second I didn't even mention the word BETTER.
so
that leads to you the only dude that's complaining and whining. And I still give it a 5.
So there you go. ( kids )
Posted by swiz at March 3, 2004 02:34 PM | Edit | Delete
I thought the giggle theme was a joke. Its not?
Posted by wibs at March 3, 2004 02:46 PM | Edit | Delete
The widgets are definitely cool, as are the icons, but everything either has so much contrast (the buttons, scrolls, menus, etc) or not enough (the text) for me to use it any longer than the 50 seconds or so after I downloaded it. I'm using a CRT though, rather than the recommended LCD, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Posted by paularms at March 3, 2004 05:15 PM | Edit | Delete
I must say that JetBlack is VERY well designed. It is very smooth and elegant and keeps to its style very consistently. The black may be too much for some people, but for those of us looking to keep our interface dark while we work on lots of graphics that need the right colors, this is a godsend... if only Photoshop were usable with the theme. I can't wait for the revision.
Posted by swiz at March 3, 2004 05:42 PM | Edit | Delete
Wibs,
I havent seen it on a CRT myself but the feedback I got from those who beta tested it on CRT's was glaringly different from those on LCD's. It reminded me of when I switched from CRT to LCD when developing my themes, I found so many flaws I had never seen when I was on CRT but at the same time, those themes which werent very detailed looked so much better because the CRT just kinda melded all the pixels together. Kind of a gaussian blur beautification. My eyes are so thankful for my LCD though now, especially when reading.
Posted by ah sa at March 3, 2004 06:00 PM | Edit | Delete
I liked the theme much until the moment I launched up Photoshop. Then I realised *so far* the theme is not gonna be usable unless ShapeShifter does something about those text. Black themes are great and these themers who dare to go the dark side deserve cookies.. but for now, all is none since I can't really *use* the theme. But nonetheless, good try swiz. This will look great in SS 1.5 that I am sure.
Really hope this can be addressed soon...
Posted by argus at March 3, 2004 06:11 PM | Edit | Delete
Quote - "The first theme to truly embrace the darkside."
Huh? What planet have you been on? Get it right or don't do it.
Bend over Swiz, Philly's driving.
Posted by wibs at March 3, 2004 06:22 PM | Edit | Delete
swiz,
That's funny that you prefer LCDs by so much. About half a year ago I traded mine to get the nice CRT I have now. The only thing I prefer about LCD is the footprint, when it comes to making things look nice I'm so thankful for my 70 pound CRT beast :). To each their own I guess.
It's interesting to know that attention should be payed to the type of screen... makes sense now that i think about it, but it just never occurred to me. I guess I need to round up some more LCD testers, heh.
Posted by Phillip Ryu at March 3, 2004 06:35 PM | Edit | Delete
Argus, what are you implying? If you know of any other truly black themes that were first, let me know.
Posted by jon at March 3, 2004 06:39 PM | Edit | Delete
this would be my exact review. I have been using JetBlack at work for about a week or so, and while it looks great, the text gets constantly lost. Third party menu items do as well.
Its a very complete theme though. good work swiz!
anyone have any screenshots of the mouse cursors? I don't have mightymouse so i haven't seen how they look.
Posted by jon at March 3, 2004 06:42 PM | Edit | Delete
hmmm, just saw what you guys said about the CRT vs. LCD, i use a studio display at home, and a CRT at work, i'll throw JetBlack on my apple lcd tonight and check it out... thanks!
Posted by sb at March 3, 2004 06:52 PM | Edit | Delete
It's beautiful, if you overlook that SS has limitations. I;m positive these will be updated once SS is...right Swiz??
As for PhotoShop and others, you do know that you can disable SS for whatever apps you want? Don't let one or two apps ruin your fun!
SB
Posted by argus at March 3, 2004 09:48 PM | Edit | Delete
tequa
dsx
dsx+
shinobi
neos
Xi-MK7
black aqua
In no particular order.
Now make your excuses for each one. I know you will.
More dark dark grey than black...has a white menu bar...
blah...blah...blah...
Posted by Jim Magacs at March 3, 2004 10:09 PM | Edit | Delete
argus, is tequa available as a .dlta or .guiKit. I would love to have that theme!
Posted by argus at March 3, 2004 11:19 PM | Edit | Delete
Jim
There hasn't been an update for tequa for panther that has been released yet...bout time to nudge the guy, i think.
It's still posted up at resex.
Posted by Heiesuke at March 4, 2004 05:10 AM | Edit | Delete
It's a kool theme, the Lavender throws it off just a little bit. I like TiSkin more than this becuz of Ti's Titanium like transparent black drop downs.
Posted by Steve at March 9, 2004 04:53 PM | Edit | Delete
Hey Swiz
The giggle theme is not a joke. Stop hating. You not the only one that could finese cool awsome themes among the others. Slow that ego down.
You should be more professional than that.
Posted by firefly at March 30, 2004 04:45 PM | Edit | Delete
can't read the text on the right, suggest making it grey.. otherwise it's a decent skin..
Posted by Ernest Liu at April 24, 2004 10:22 PM | Edit | Delete
Pretty good for a dark theme, and nice balance between light and dark. It looks like it might become a bit hard to use after a while, though.
Posted by Drifter at May 10, 2004 08:57 AM | Edit | Delete
Very nice, but I have found a way to make the text legibble in most, if not all apps (not as successfull with carbon though.)
There regular backgrounds have the text problem, so just metalfize everything. IT's not like ugly brushedmetal, it's a really nice black gradient, and usually works on most apps I've tried. Hopefully something good will happen to SS before 1.5 so this problem doesn't happen again.