Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

JoE950 · Dec 22, 2003, 05:17 PM

themes to be made based on the Lord of the Rings films and other fantasy works.

benign · Dec 22, 2003, 05:35 PM

Welcome to the marvelous
world of Kaleidoscope.

olorin15 · Dec 22, 2003, 05:46 PM

Originally posted by benign:
Welcome to the marvelous
world of Kaleidoscope.

what the hell is that supposed to mean?

JoE - these look amazing!!! Hope they come out soon.

Sage · Dec 22, 2003, 05:52 PM

Gorgeous, just gorgeous! (Just don't mind benign... there's a cynic if I ever saw one).

BTW, just a suggestion more than anything � Maybe rename Black Glass to something else, because people might confuse it with NetworkShadow's "Dark Glass" theme. Not anything life-threatening, but I just thought I'd bring it up.

FB Eye · Dec 22, 2003, 05:55 PM

How about renaming Black Glass to Mount Doom? Just a thought...

Frisbee · Dec 22, 2003, 05:56 PM

All very, very nice, but I can't say that I like the brown background of shire more than I did the original "puke green," or the greener green from the shire thread. The puke green, while by itself is probably one ugly color, just goes well with shire. Yet, the brown just doesn't go. The progress bars also need some work, like many have said. The dark one is nice, but possibly make a less orange variant or replacement to satisfy dark theme lovers. VERY nice work altogether, I always liked [f]p as well.

JoE950 · Dec 22, 2003, 05:57 PM

a good suggestion, but since the entire theme (once released as a complete set) will be titled "Middle Earth", and "Black Glass" will only be as state of that, so I really see no reason to change the name unless NetworkShadow requests i change it. i just dont feel it will have any mind share with his theme since mine will be in a package, and his is stand alone.

Hi I'm Mike · Dec 22, 2003, 06:16 PM

Originally posted by JoE950:
a good suggestion, but since the entire theme (once released as a complete set) will be titled "Middle Earth", and "Black Glass" will only be as state of that, so I really see no reason to change the name unless NetworkShadow requests i change it. i just dont feel it will have any mind share with his theme since mine will be in a package, and his is stand alone.

I was thinking black glass wouldnt work. but if we make any variations on dark glass it will me like light glass and all that. dont think we will go color naming. love the elvish one. it's my fav

JoE950 · Dec 22, 2003, 06:22 PM

im including all the "shire" backgrounds ive done. i might separate them from the main set to save on download time. but all in all dont worry frisbee, the green will be avaliable!

NetworkShadow · Dec 22, 2003, 06:26 PM

Don't worry about the BlackGlass name, if anything I might update DarkGlass but I doubt I'll make any variations.

I do think I'll use Elvish, it's very nice.

brazil · Dec 22, 2003, 06:32 PM

I need em' soon - They look very well done . I am looking forward to them all . Thanks for working them up . Very refreshing ---

smeger · Dec 22, 2003, 07:17 PM

These look absolutely superb! I can't wait to try them!

codywalton · Dec 22, 2003, 08:12 PM

Very cool!

My only suggestion would be to add a small bit of differing texture to each one, instead of just color changes. Perhaps "The Shire" could have a leaf texture background, "Black Glass" should have a cracked volcanic rock texture, and "Elvish" should look like perl and ivory.

Fonzie · Dec 22, 2003, 08:28 PM

now let's see the caption buttons, please

Tulkas · Dec 22, 2003, 08:42 PM

Awesome theme, very earthy...

Phoenix1701 · Dec 22, 2003, 09:31 PM

Very nifty, all of them. I'm a little worried about the text color of Elvish though; the tab pane background is light with dark text, but the window background is dark, so it'd need light text. I think you may find that's difficult or impossible to do consistently.

Oh, by the way, if you're curious or want to include this in the theme somewhere, here's what "Elvish" looks like in Elvish*:

-----
*Specifically, for all you Tolkien geeks out there, this is the Quenya word for "Elvish", or "of the Elves", rendered into the Tengwar using the Classical mode. Figuring out what the word actually is is left as an exercise for the reader.

Phoenix1701 · Dec 22, 2003, 09:34 PM

By the way, I find it exceedingly amusing that Tulkas and Ol�rin have already checked in on this theme. I think you may be creating a monster.

keston · Dec 22, 2003, 10:30 PM

Could you also post a preview of what the MENUBAR/MENUS look like?... that is also a very important part of the UI.

phillryu · Dec 22, 2003, 11:06 PM

This looks very interesting and refreshing... I hope you are considering an accompanying icon set, aqua icons would just look plain out of place with these antique, natural themes.

JoE950 · Dec 22, 2003, 11:30 PM

what do you use to translate to elvish?

thanks for pointing out the elvish bacground issue.

i will post some titlebars as soon as i get them finished. i want to get the main elements out of the way first.

there are already a bunch of lotr icons out there. i might do some eventually. i may do the basic finder, trash can, folder at least for the release.

JoE950 · Dec 22, 2003, 11:50 PM

text color fixed, radio button and slider button tweaked. im starting on "Shire" now.

Phoenix1701 · Dec 23, 2003, 12:37 AM

Originally posted by JoE950:
what do you use to translate to elvish?

TextEdit and my own knowledge of the language, supplemented by the dictionaries available at the Ardalambion. For rendering into Tengwar, I use Dan Smith's Tengwar fonts, as well as some others by other people. (That snippet above was created using Tengwar Elfica, an especially nice face available at the latter link.) I made a PNG out of the text using a service installed by some random page layout program at some point, but you could just as easily take a screen shot and do a Photoshop trick to make the white areas transparent.

Originally posted by JoE950:
thanks for pointing out the elvish bacground issue.

No problem. Looks much better now, though I might suggest that you hue shift it a bit toward the blue; at lower brightness, that color looks nice, but when it gets that bright it's pretty violently purple.

I also don't picture the elves as a particularly saturated kind of people... maybe something like RGB(98,98,189)?

Originally posted by JoE950:
there are already a bunch of lotr icons out there. i might do some eventually. i may do the basic finder, trash can, folder at least for the release.

Ooh, really? I haven't come across any; or, rather, the only LotR icons I've come across were basically a bunch of images of the characters, often not even masked out of the backgrounds... could you point me at some decent ones?

JoE950 · Dec 23, 2003, 12:57 AM

the blue you suggested made the button look "inactive" so i went with a slightly darker version.

DigitalEl · Dec 23, 2003, 01:39 AM

I don't know anything about LOTR, but those look very interesting.

olorin15 · Dec 23, 2003, 03:00 AM

Originally posted by Phoenix1701:
By the way, I find it exceedingly amusing that Tulkas and Ol�rin have already checked in on this theme. I think you may be creating a monster.

this announcement totally made my day - I've been checking this thread every 10 minutes ...

I must say though, I'm ashamed to admit that I don't read or speak Elvish myself ... I used to know the alphabet, but can't recall it anymore.

-Olorin

andretan · Dec 23, 2003, 10:10 AM

OMG. Black Glass and Elvish is cool.

I'm assuming it's gonna be released for SS only?

memento · Dec 23, 2003, 10:40 AM

sweeet.

These are some of the best mockups I've seen in a while.

bOOzo · Dec 23, 2003, 12:31 PM

Very cool stuff! I dig the Shire and Black Glass. Except that I agree that Black Glass is not a suiting name. Mordor or Mount Doom would be cooler. And I also agree with a previous poster that mentioned that the Seg Tabs active and Inactive buttons should be reversed. But other than that, great job! I think it will work very well together with some cool desktop picture

brazil · Dec 23, 2003, 02:56 PM

I found some Icons that I think would do very nicely ,,, .here

NetworkShadow · Dec 23, 2003, 08:31 PM

Originally posted by JoE950:
text color fixed, radio button and slider button tweaked. im starting on "Shire" now.

Dude you should start with Elvish first since everyone seems to be really psyched about it.

JoE950 · Dec 23, 2003, 08:56 PM

NS thats probably the most constructive comment ive had yet!

chezpaul · Dec 24, 2003, 11:03 AM

Very nice themes..

If U really care to hear my opinion, I prefered when the text was black in Elvish. But that's just me I guess... ;-)

Holigen · Dec 24, 2003, 02:11 PM

I really like Elvish, but the others just dont do it for me. I think a lot of other people feel the same way.

honz · Dec 24, 2003, 02:22 PM

Elvish is cool and I like it, but it's quite similar to loads of other themes already available (mainly because of the silver/gray appearance)
I personally prefer Shire because it's so unique.
That said... I suppose Elvish is more of an every-day-use theme than Shire.
Black Glass is a poor name (imho) and deserves something more sinister.

Looking forward to these and I can't wait to see what you've got in mind for the titlebar and widgets.

eDave · Dec 24, 2003, 02:39 PM

I'm looking v. fwd to this set of themes, esp Shire. The "organic" look isn't done enough, in my opinion. While Elvish & the dark theme (I agree w/ the person -- was it Max? -- who suggested Mordor as a name) look great, Shire looks the most original. And since this is an entry in the Unsanity contest, I think original is important.

That being said, I'll be happy w/ whatever Joe releases and in whatever order!

olorin15 · Dec 24, 2003, 04:03 PM

My favourite is Shire, but all of them look great. I think the second one should be called the Palantir

I'm really looking forward to these - even got a nice DP ready.

Any estimate on the timeline?

JoE950 · Dec 24, 2003, 10:56 PM

not yet. when i geth through thesed damn holidays ill post a timeline. you all decide on what Black Glass should be called. and ill pick what i like.

phillryu · Dec 24, 2003, 11:09 PM

Originally posted by olorin15:
My favourite is Shire, but all of them look great. I think the second one should be called the Palantir I'm really looking forward to these - even got a nice DP ready. Any estimate on the timeline?

Go for Palantir... describes it perfectly.

JoE950 · Dec 24, 2003, 11:14 PM

then Palantir it is. i like it and it is pretty perfect. thanks for the suggestion!

kwyjiboy · Dec 25, 2003, 02:48 AM

Gorgeous!

I am partial to the neutral coloured one.. the elvish purple/blue hue. Easier for longterm eye use.

Nice.

olorin15 · Dec 25, 2003, 02:59 AM

Originally posted by JoE950:
then Palantir it is. i like it and it is pretty perfect. thanks for the suggestion!

it is after all Ol�rin's job to set people on the right path

NetworkShadow · Dec 25, 2003, 03:15 PM

Originally posted by phillryu:
Go for Palantir... describes it perfectly.

I was actually about to suggest that.

OwlBoy · Dec 25, 2003, 10:55 PM

Originally posted by benign:
Welcome to the marvelous
world of Kaleidoscope.

JoE950 · Dec 26, 2003, 09:49 AM

i like this for the progress bar better (the intermediate will go the opposite direction, or i will keep it the pulsing, but with chevron arrows instead of barber shop stripes):

Dave Brasgalla · Dec 26, 2003, 11:27 AM

Originally posted by JoE950:
then Palantir it is. i like it and it is pretty perfect. thanks for the suggestion!

Good choice! Don't forget to use the correct diacritical mark - the acute accent on the "i".

Thus: palant�r

If I remember correctly, the plural form is palant�ri (there were originally seven seeing-stones).

Hope this helps.

olorin15 · Dec 26, 2003, 02:42 PM

Originally posted by Dave Brasgalla:
Good choice! Don't forget to use the correct diacritical mark - the acute accent on the "i".

Thus: palant�r

If I remember correctly, the plural form is palant�ri (there were originally seven seeing-stones).

Hope this helps.

some peeps are so picky ...

Ozzpot · Dec 27, 2003, 12:09 AM

I like The Shire one the best, although all three are absolutely beautiful. I agree that the Black Glass one should be called Palantir, and preferred it with black text, although perhaps the purply - lilacy color would look nice on the menubar and menus etc. You'd know best.

Thank god something else has come along to take my mind off of Omega! ShapeShifter is starting to look like a real bargain now, now that wonderful themes like this are in the pipeline.

I hope it will be here by the end of January!

haley · Dec 27, 2003, 12:25 PM

I love these!

just a suggestion for Elvish though... make the inactive things a lighter color that is more like the background. Right now it looks like you could make either the active or the inactive buttons etc. active on their own. It's hard to tell which is which.

JoE950 · Dec 28, 2003, 03:50 AM

it is with great sadness that i post this, but im going to have to hold off on this project since i must sell my computer. i wont be able to continue on it until i can afford to replace it sometime in the future. i will be around for a couple more weeks. so when the time comes (it will be about seven months or so) i will be back filling your face with great stuff.

if ive pissed anyone off, id like to say im deeply sorry. i had hoped it wouldnt come to this. believe me, i didnt want it to.

well enough crying, i hope this stuff is still here when i get back!

bOOzo · Dec 28, 2003, 08:16 AM

Take your time!
Too many people expect a theme to be out a week after the preview. Good themes take time and your mockups are very promising!