ProLCD - July 13, 2004
Author: Harlan Lewis & Harold Harmon
Version: 1.2
Reviewed by: Dave Thomson
User Rating: 
66%
ProLCD is the first in a series of themes created as a result of the MacThemes design contest. The preview picture from the contest made me think that the theme had a lot of potential, but even with high expectations I was amazed at the quality of the release copy. If you haven't tried ProLCD yet, it's definitely worth checking out.
Aesthetics
ProLCD successfully combines the clean, simple look of an LCD display with an elegant high-tech feel. It's easy on the eyes and great to work with. The LCD look is built into the buttons, menus, checkboxes, scroll bars, etc., while the menu, windows and title bars have a metallic plastic look. It may not be a unique look but I haven't seen it before in an OS X theme. The style is also unobtrusive, which is one of the first, most important things that I look for in a theme.
While I feel that the blue version is superior to the original, that's a matter of preference. Both look great. I was a big fan of brown variant (arguably the true LCD color) until the blue one was released. Theme designers take note, this is a great example of how simple change in color can really add to a theme. Somehow the change really works for me. I also appreciate the new menu and title bar combinations; between the color choices and the menu and title bar styles, ProLCD has many options.
Over time I found ProLCD to be too dim for my taste though. I can't put my finger on it, but after using it for a while I feel the need to add some bright flowering potted plant to my desk to brighten the place up a bit, a brighter bulb in my desk lamp perhaps, something. Lifeless is a harsh description, but a look at my tattered thesaurus didn't reveal anything more appropriate. I suppose a bright desktop pic would help but I couldn't find one that looked appropriate. However, ProLCD is just so polished and clean that I can live with some dim.
Usability
One of the more complete themes to come out, Pro LCD includes 15 application skins (Address Book, Camino, Font Book, Help Viewer, iChat, Installer, iPhoto, iSync, iTunes, Mail, Preview, Safari, Sherlock, QuickTime, and VLC). Therefore, though the theme is quite different from Aqua, it works well with just about any application. My computer needs don't require much heavy lifting by my mac. For the most part, I write emails, browse the web, listen to music, and create documents. It's a great theme for any and all of these activities. In my experiments with Photoshop, MS Office 2004, Mail.app, iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, and a whole slew of the cocoa apps, I found that they all looked and worked great. Even the lowly TextEdit, which does not have a custom app skin, looks so good with ProLCD that it appears to have one.
Extras
ProLCD is extremely complete and a variety of extras are designed for it. The extras include an Adium skin by James Meister, Desktops, and cursors for Mighty Mouse, all available for download from DigitalRamen. The desktops -- 15 of them -- were created by Harlan Lewis, Harold Harmon, Ric Zito, Roderick van der Steen, digitaljames, and ZachRL.
When I mentioned that there are 15 app skins above I did not go into just how nice some of them are. I really couldn't be more impressed with the quality of the work. Safari's skin is fantastic, but it's hard to focus on just that one since the iTunes skin is also a stand out (especially the cool equalizer). They're all well extremely well done, and they all fit perfectly with the theme.
I never found an icon set that fit 'just so' with this theme. The best choice seemed to be SNOW.E by RAD.E8 Design, the icons shown in ProLCD's preview pic. There a other icons collections that also look good with this theme, but if you're looking to further change the look of your mac using icons, SNOW.E is a good place to start. I've also heard that the creators are planning an icon set for the future.
Conclusion
With its fusion of aesthetics and usability, plus some great new releases, this is an impressive theme. ProLCD became available quickly after the MacThemes contest ended, perhaps a month later, and has already had a few revisions and additions since then. It was one of my top picks in the contest, and it's a great to see the concept fully realized. Harold Harmon's design and Harlan Lewis' theme creation skills combined to create something unique and special.
Editors Note: While our new review policy has wrapped the "Extras" category into "Reviewer's Weight", Dave requested the addition of the category for this particular review.
Comments
Posted by MaestroJAL at July 13, 2004 09:43 AM | Edit | Delete
I agree with the review. The blue variant is my favorite as well. I cannot leave it on my system for too long as I also need some more life on my desktop.
Posted by servo at July 13, 2004 10:52 AM | Edit | Delete
This is a great theme. It's one of those themes where the apps that are not skinned stick out like a sore thumb though unfortunately. I'd like to see iPhoto and iCal skinned, but that's just me. An icon set would also comlete things. Other than that this theme is great. Easily one of the best, most polished themes available.
Posted by justinp at July 13, 2004 11:04 AM | Edit | Delete
Why is the blue version never included in the preview animation?
Posted by Dave Thomson at July 13, 2004 12:24 PM | Edit | Delete
Somehow a preview of the blue version wasn't ready in time for the review. We're planning to add a blue image or two to it soon.
Posted by Angel Rendon at July 13, 2004 03:04 PM | Edit | Delete
I too favor the blue version of ProLCD. However, what I enjoy most about this theme endeavor is the dilligence that Harlan Lewis shows in his work on it. I think that every other themer out there should take notes from Harlan--he gets the job done when it needs to be done, quickly and expediently. Keep up the good work!
Posted by sb at July 13, 2004 03:11 PM | Edit | Delete
Good review, good theme. I too was taken by the blue variant, and it can be a tad dull, but it's one of the few I keep in rotation.
For me, the themes that I keep are tight, clean, and detail-oriented, and this falls into those slots nicely.
Right now, I'm using Metal-X, which is just a knockout on my 17" PowerBook.
SB
Posted by Justin at July 13, 2004 06:00 PM | Edit | Delete
This is definitely one of the best themes ever. I love the blue/metal variant. It just looks sooo good and so professional. =D
Posted by Dave at July 13, 2004 07:37 PM | Edit | Delete
For those of you who don't know, new desktops and cursors for the blue versions are available from http://digitalramen.com/
Posted by jebworks at July 13, 2004 08:09 PM | Edit | Delete
At the risk of sounding redundant, I totally agree with the reviewer. I've been using this theme - the blue version - the longest of any of the many themes and don't get tired of it at all. What I miss is some blue variant desktop picture that matches.
Posted by Heiesuke at July 14, 2004 04:55 PM | Edit | Delete
It's a really TIGHT theme!!! The blue variant is also my fave and it gets used a LOT!!!
Posted by Rashi at July 16, 2004 12:37 PM | Edit | Delete
The blue version has been my preferred theme ever since it was released, although the original is extremely classy as well. Is there a reason why the blue variant was released only in the "smooth metal" version? ProLCD and Cricket are my two favorite themes.
Posted by wibs at July 19, 2004 06:03 AM | Edit | Delete
Rashi, the latest version of ProLCD actually has 4 variants for both blue and the original. You can grab it at my site.
thanks everyone for the kind words, unfortunately harold harmon seems to have fallen off the face of the earth =-\. i'll direct him to all of this praise for his design as soon as I'm able to contact him.
Posted by resorce center at August 31, 2004 09:52 AM | Edit | Delete
Visit this resource center today
Posted by john bell at September 8, 2004 10:08 AM | Edit | Delete
submitting my site
Posted by Robert Lowell at September 11, 2004 09:49 AM | Edit | Delete
thanks this really agree with it
Posted by bland at April 28, 2005 03:37 AM | Edit | Delete
I prefer a neutral unobtrusive environment. My preferred desktop is plain grey (although I am currently using the padded titanium81 grey). So unlike others I find the LCD theme quite lively. I've tried all the neutral themes and I tire of them quickly but this LCD theme is the not only the most elegant and pleasant of themes with a wonderful understated nostalgia, but it looks and works really well with Photoshop® which is most important. The green LCD colour looks so good that I haven't been bothered to try the blue one yet though I'd probably prefer the green anyway.