[nycdunz]

any ideas on how much longer? hehe i cant wait to see what he has in store for us, i keep updating mmicons.com to see if it has been updated, please let us know something!

[TheIceMan]

Originally posted by nycdunz:
any ideas on how much longer? hehe i cant wait to see what he has in store for us, i keep updating mmicons.com to see if it has been updated, please let us know something!

I know the feeling. I check mmicons.com as well as bbxstudio
about 3-4 times a day. I'm so excited about the upcoming Miraikane (futuremetal in Japanese according to mmicons.com).

[fourstarcltv]

just checked out mmicons.com... now you have me hooked !

sounds amazing. can't wait.

[TheIceMan]

Originally posted by fourstarcltv:
just checked out mmicons.com... now you have me hooked!sounds amazing. can't wait.

I know. MMicons was where I got all those cool icons! Mikkel Madsen did an EXCELLENT job on those beauties.

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
I know the feeling. I check mmicons.com as well as bbxstudio
about 3-4 times a day. I'm so excited about the upcoming Miraikane (futuremetal in Japanese according to mmicons.com).

Gee, how am I ever going to live up to the hype on this one? Checking BBXstudio 3-4 times a day? I better get off my ass and finish getting it up and running then, huh? A better alternative would be to join the BBX mailing list - then you'd get sneak peeks, test builds and new releases before anybody else Just send me an email (billyb@bbxstudio.com) and you'll be on the list. That's where the first releases and screenshots will be, not on MacNN, BBXstudio or MMicons...

I can't show you anything yet (that would ruin the surprise), but I can describe the new stuff briefly - imagine Aqua wrapped in an Audi TT, segmented injection-moulded silver plates with tight black rubber seams... sculpted in the vertical (horizontal edges are hard to come by in OSX) with a totally new soft metallic environment map (whereas Mercury was glossy silver, this new stuff is softer but very realistic)... clean new-style BBX 'glyphs' replace many of the candy-assed Aqua widgets (and toolbar items). I'm trying real hard to balance slick and futuristic with clean and simple while making the most of (and trying to compensate for) Aqua's retarded proportions and limitations (not easy)... but it's slow-going at this stage as there's a lot of bounce back and revisions going on while I try and integrate all of the different elements into a cohesive visual whole.

A lot of the 'window dressing' and flash is taking place on the icon side of the fence, where Mikkel is hard at work developing a deeply integrated icon system based on our new glyph-based vocabulary... these things are going to be solid and very cool We'll also be releasing a 'construction set' for creative types who want to build into the ever-growing 'official' pantheon of BBX for OSX icons.

I'm working on it as much as I can whenever I can, but sometimes I have to step away for a few days and look at it with fresh eyes because it all becomes a blur and I'll start to question the bits I've designated 'written-in-stone'... so I try to work on it only when inspired and full of good ideas. This won't be the end-all-and-be-all by any means - we're learning as we go along and are really laying the foundations and concepts for a whole slew of derivative designs at the same time. Things like this new-style BBX glyph system and silver metallic environment map will likely carry through all of our future OSX designs. There are actually 2 or 3 derivative designs (including Miraikane) being developed simultaneously from our BBX futuremetal master... so you'll likely see a family of metal BBX releases throughout 2003.

Thanks for the interest guys! Hope we don't disappoint

[TheIceMan]

Originally posted by bbxstudio:
There are actually 2 or 3 derivative designs (including Miraikane) being developed simultaneously from our BBX futuremetal master... so you'll likely see a family of metal BBX releases throughout 2003.

Thanks for the interest guys! Hope we don't disappoint

Billy, man that sounds REALLY REALLY nice. Thanks for the update. Wow, so there's even more designs to look forward to. Hmmm...Aqua wrapped in an Audi TT huh? I LIKE IT!

[nycdunz]

damn william sounds amazing to me! i love the audi tt, my future car! hehe, can't wait to see this theme, its really making my mouth water right now from that description you gave us, good luck and happy new years to you, let the new year bring you some more inspiration to creating a nice clean slick UI for OS X!

[Mike S.]

I've been waiting patiently to see what this "future metal" theme is all about since last year. It's now been almost two months...

Any new info on this? Scrapped project? Just haven't had the time?

[TheIceMan]

Originally posted by Mike S.:
I've been waiting patiently to see what this "future metal" theme is all about since last year. It's now been almost two months...

Any new info on this? Scrapped project? Just haven't had the time?

I'm still checking 3-4 times each day. And I'm also on the list to be a beta tester. I have not heard or gotten any emails from Billy. I'm pretty sure that it's not scrap, since he did say that there will be "2 or 3 derivative designs (including Miraikane) being developed simultaneously from our BBX futuremetal master... so you'll likely see a family of metal BBX releases throughout 2003."

So keep checking. I'll post whenever I hear anything. Hopefully, Billy will post and let us know the progress he and his team are making.

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
I'm still checking 3-4 times each day. And I'm also on the list to be a beta tester. I have not heard or gotten any emails from Billy. I'm pretty sure that it's not scrap, since he did say that there will be "2 or 3 derivative designs (including Miraikane) being developed simultaneously from our BBX futuremetal master... so you'll likely see a family of metal BBX releases throughout 2003."

So keep checking. I'll post whenever I hear anything. Hopefully, Billy will post and let us know the progress he and his team are making.

3 or 4 times a day is a bit much, I think Don't worry, if you're on the mailing list, you see something as soon as I have something to show.

Reasons for the delays are many at this point - I'm just swamped with too much paying work, a very pregnant wife and having to learn new applications (one of which is Zbrush - man, this is the coolest program I've ever used) ... I'll be the first to admit I was maybe jumping the gun a bit on announcing the new stuff when I did , but I really did think I'd have much more time on my hands than I've actually been able to muster - these past couple of months have been brutal - like 70+ hours of work per week on average. I'm hoping to have much more free time in the near future so I can get steamrolling.

As for a theme-specific update, I've been getting sidetracked with exciting new developments and discoveries... as I tweak and refine the master design It tends to branch off in a new directions which pull be ever-closer to 'the one true overriding design'. I'm being super-anal about what gets in and what doesn't at this point, but it all makes for a better experience for everybody in the end. I'm also struggling to keep proportion and visual balance very tight... this thing fits Aqua like a glove, but with the countless hours of tweaking and balancing it will seem like a totally independant entity with it's own proportions and rules... it really looks like a totally different OS there are also some really neat tricks in there too, so I think people will be pleasantly surprised. It may not be as 'flashy' as my other metal stuff, but it's actually far more realistic in terms of surfacing effects and color... the goal here is to come up with something slick and futursitic but subtle and usable for the long-term. You'll see...

I really think you should stop checking the site 3-4 times a day, though... it'll be a little while yet Plus there should be a mailing list preview before you see anything up online. On average I release 1 or 2 really good ones a year - just been a bit longer this time because I had to learn the ins and outs of a new system, develop a style consistent with its shortcomings (no borders, grrrr) and dream up a decent metal successor to BBX Mercury. Once they start coming it'll be hot and heavy, I promise.

[TheIceMan]

bbxstudio
Thanks for the update. Yes, definitely your wife and family should be first and foremost in your life. I'll try to cut down on the 3-4 times a day to maybe just 1-2 times. I'm joking of course. Yes, I must learn that all good things come to those who wait. Best of luck to you and your wife.