Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > GUI Customization > [ANN] UnityGK-1.0 GUI Makeover Kit.

[ANN] UnityGK-1.0 GUI Makeover Kit.
Thread Tools
siMac
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:01 PM
 
I am pleased to announce the release of my first theme, the UnityGK-1.0 GUI Makeover kit!



Unity
is constructed from a dark grey, matte finish, thermoplastic polymer resin and features recessed interface items with white neon accenting. Default buttons gently pulse and active symbols emit a soft glow to alert the user to their presence.

UnityGK-1.0 features app skins for Address Book, Calculator, Font Book, Help Viewer, iCal, iChat, iPhoto, iTunes, Mail, Preview, Safari and VLC, plus icons by Laurent Baumann and two minimalist desktops.

To download the guiKit plus extras, visit:

www.unitygk.com

UnityGK-1.0 Lite will be available via the Shapeshifter download tab soon.

Enjoy!

siMac
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
Komisar
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Semi-Posting Retirement
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:03 PM
 
It was fun as hell beta testing this theme, it is by far my favorite black theme. For the record i was joking around today! I hope you all enjoy this, cause i did.
     
silencedge
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:08 PM
 
Had been nice beta-testing this dark theme. Great work!!

And fun to play along too.
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:09 PM
 
I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the MacNN'ers who have been helping to test this theme: bluevertical, Dave-o�, Jaos, Komisar, Silencedge and Stuphalina.

Thanks again to Laurent Baumann for allowing me to distribute this theme with his amazing Flat White Bezel icons, and thank you to the folks at ambitiouslemon for the website hosting.

|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
SafariX
Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:15 PM
 
Nice work siMac.

     
Holigen
Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: In Your Computer
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:18 PM
 
Wha...? Im so confused

Wow, looks great though.

So lets see here, youve gone from LordSith to SiMac to UnityGK? Pretty crazy man.

.: 15" PowerBook G4 - 1.5 GHz - 512 MB RAM - ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB VRAM - 80 GB HD @ 5400 rpm :.
     
bluevertical
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: seattle
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:21 PM
 
siMac.

great job on the theme. wonderful attention to detail!

peace.
bv.
blueverticalstudio_ boston new york los angeles
www.blueverticalstudio.com
www.theblogproject.com
     
Holigen
Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: In Your Computer
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:23 PM
 
Oh, and before anyone starts to complain: the reason that iTunes is a bit lighter than the rest of the theme is because iTunes cant be skinned any darker than the way simac has done. The resource (1024) that controls the color of the background is black in this case, pure black. In the default iTunes skin, it is a light grey with the brushed texture. So all of you who are complaining about how this skin isnt up to snuff, complain to the Apple Engineers who havent taken the time to implement the system-wide stuff into iTunes.

.: 15" PowerBook G4 - 1.5 GHz - 512 MB RAM - ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB VRAM - 80 GB HD @ 5400 rpm :.
     
Komisar
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Semi-Posting Retirement
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:24 PM
 
Originally posted by Holigen:
Wha...? Im so confused

Wow, looks great though.

So lets see here, youve gone from LordSith to SiMac to UnityGK? Pretty crazy man.
Umm.. No he was never lord sith and unity-gk1 was just a name to mess around with to get the hype up
     
Holigen
Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: In Your Computer
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:27 PM
 
Originally posted by Komisar:
Umm.. No he was never lord sith and unity-gk1 was just a name to mess around with to get the hype up
You sure? I coulda sworn he changed his name a while ago to SiMac...

I thought he was the one with the heavily modded xanthic theme (name escapes me now) and the Jet Black folders to go with. If not then I can just blame it on finals coming up and my brain being filled with so much other stuff

.: 15" PowerBook G4 - 1.5 GHz - 512 MB RAM - ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB VRAM - 80 GB HD @ 5400 rpm :.
     
Tarambana
Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Madrid, Spain
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:29 PM
 
Very nice theme, indeed.
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:29 PM
 
Originally posted by Holigen:
Wha...? Im so confused

Wow, looks great though.

So lets see here, youve gone from LordSith to SiMac to UnityGK? Pretty crazy man.
My turn:

Wha...?

I'm not Lord Sith. You crazy.
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
Holigen
Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: In Your Computer
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:31 PM
 
Originally posted by siMac:
My turn:

Wha...?

I'm not Lord Sith. You crazy.
Ok, well then its definitely the finals getting to me...

Sorry about that.

Anyways, back to more important stuffs...

.: 15" PowerBook G4 - 1.5 GHz - 512 MB RAM - ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB VRAM - 80 GB HD @ 5400 rpm :.
     
Jaos
Forum Regular
Join Date: Oct 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:31 PM
 
This was a very nice theme to test and it's my fav dark theme and I use it on a CRT monitor
     
VxWolfxV
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Sunshine State
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:32 PM
 
Great Theme

Even though you recommend an LCD, i still find it to be very good on a CRT. Much more usable than other dark themes i've tried...
     
CreepingDeth
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Interstellar Overdrive
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 08:51 PM
 
Why the hell wasn't I told about this?!

Great job siMac. Mybe if I was a lil more keen, I would've noticed your new sig.
Tis a pretty one.

Now get working on some of those MM themes.

Now, for the usability test.
     
WICKEDfour
Forum Regular
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:10 PM
 
Dang siMac, no menu extras? You almost had me considering Unity for full-time use! Please please add some white menu extras.

Other than that, great. It seems pretty usable. One thing I simply have to mention is that some parts look suspiciously similar to Cathode.
[addition]However, that's like saying, "oh, well, this theme's black, so it must be a ripoff of JetBlack" or something. I'm not accusing siMac of ripping off anything. Unity seems to be quite usable for being so dark because of siMac's original designing. Great job, man.

Themer | Metroid 2002 Supporter | Switchboard Operator | A Special K | Professional Lurker
     
digitaljames
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Cupertino
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:16 PM
 
Originally posted by WICKEDfour:
Dang siMac, no menu extras? You almost had me considering Unity for full-time use! Please please add some white menu extras.

Other than that, great. It seems pretty usable. One thing I simply have to mention is that some parts look suspiciously similar to Cathode.
[addition]However, that's like saying, "oh, well, this theme's black, so it must be a ripoff of JetBlack" or something. I'm not accusing siMac of ripping off anything. Unity seems to be quite usable for being so dark because of siMac's original designing. Great job, man.
Mine is showing white menu extras....my only niggle is the way Mail looks....first rate dark theme none the less! Awesome work Sir!
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:17 PM
 
Originally posted by WICKEDfour:
Dang siMac, no menu extras? You almost had me considering Unity for full-time use! Please please add some white menu extras.

Other than that, great. It seems pretty usable. One thing I simply have to mention is that some parts look suspiciously similar to Cathode.
I thought all the menu extras in ThemePark where white, I'll check though. Which ones in particular?

And which parts look suspiciously similar to an unreleased theme I've never seen?
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:20 PM
 
Originally posted by digitaljames:
Mine is showing white menu extras....my only niggle is the way Mail looks....first rate dark theme none the less! Awesome work Sir!
Yeah, the status text under the toolbar and the Activity Monitor background are unthemeable (as far as I know).
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
Holigen
Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: In Your Computer
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:26 PM
 
Originally posted by WICKEDfour:
Dang siMac, no menu extras? You almost had me considering Unity for full-time use! Please please add some white menu extras.

Other than that, great. It seems pretty usable. One thing I simply have to mention is that some parts look suspiciously similar to Cathode.
[addition]However, that's like saying, "oh, well, this theme's black, so it must be a ripoff of JetBlack" or something. I'm not accusing siMac of ripping off anything. Unity seems to be quite usable for being so dark because of siMac's original designing. Great job, man.
Look white to me...

Might want to try logging in/out again.

.: 15" PowerBook G4 - 1.5 GHz - 512 MB RAM - ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB VRAM - 80 GB HD @ 5400 rpm :.
     
fireside
Professional Poster
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Floreeda
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:26 PM
 
Originally posted by Holigen:
Ok, well then its definitely the finals getting to me...

Sorry about that.

Anyways, back to more important stuffs...
you're thinking of .saNNic.
     
Holigen
Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: In Your Computer
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:29 PM
 
Oh ya, thanks

.: 15" PowerBook G4 - 1.5 GHz - 512 MB RAM - ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB VRAM - 80 GB HD @ 5400 rpm :.
     
Komisar
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Semi-Posting Retirement
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:36 PM
 
joe like everyone else said make sure that you log out and in because some times the menu extras don't get re-applied when you change themes.. (at least it happens to me)
     
WICKEDfour
Forum Regular
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:41 PM
 
Ya, I got my spiffy menu extras now .

Anyway, there are some similarities, but on the whole, Cathode and Unity are very different designs. Sorry to put you on the spot, siMac.

Themer | Metroid 2002 Supporter | Switchboard Operator | A Special K | Professional Lurker
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 09:53 PM
 
Originally posted by WICKEDfour:
Anyway, there are some similarities, but on the whole, Cathode and Unity are very different designs. Sorry to put you on the spot, siMac.
No problem. I think both owe more to SIRO than to each other.

I'm happy to admit that SIRO was a major influence on this theme as you can no doubt tell. That and the keypad of this rather swanky phone.
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
idle
Forum Regular
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Kassel, Germany
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 10:38 PM
 
Nice. Indeed very nice. The only thing that bugs me a bit is the size of the sliders. Great Job.

     
Stuphalina
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Missing, presumed fed.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 10:58 PM
 
Glad to be of service and it was hard to keep quiet about all the confusion...

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!
     
kwyjiboy
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Space.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 11:36 PM
 
Who's the hot guy in the top right of the Zinc screenshot?
Septuple post! Quadruple word score!
     
MacMan4000
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 12, 2004, 11:37 PM
 
this theme is amazing! I love it!
Nice site too. How did you get the text to have that nifty halo effect on rollover? CSS i imagine. I REALLY need to learn CSS.
     
NetworkShadow
Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2002
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 01:31 AM
 
Quite impressed. Thank you for another wonderful dark theme. There still aren't enough of them btw.
click one
     
Makki
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: At Home
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 01:32 AM
 
Shw33333333333333333tttttttttttt

Makki
     
RimshotDesign
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: France
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 02:01 AM
 
cool

nice work
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 07:06 AM
 
Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
There still aren't enough of them btw.
Try making one, then you'll understand why.

By the way, UnityGK-1.0 Lite is now available via your SS downloads pane!

( Last edited by siMac; Dec 13, 2004 at 07:20 AM. )
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
mugget
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: May 2004
Location: BrisVegas, Australia
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 07:26 AM
 
very nice!

a very nice theme... not too dark that it will obscure already dark fonts... like in some apps. i was using Dreamweaver today with another dark theme and notcied this. we'll see how UnityGk goes with this...

but great stuff.
     
Altix
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Whadya wanna know?
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 09:26 AM
 
This is one of the coolest themes I've seen in a while, the first dark one I'll definitely us.

I love the buttons, pop-up buttons, etc, so sweet.

The matte black look is great.

Well done.
"Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like tea. Now you put tea into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put tea into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now tea can flow, or it can crash... Be tea my Friend..." -Bruce Lee and Erilaz
     
Altix
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Whadya wanna know?
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 09:33 AM
 
One other thing, the icons are friggin brilliant.
"Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like tea. Now you put tea into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put tea into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now tea can flow, or it can crash... Be tea my Friend..." -Bruce Lee and Erilaz
     
Altix
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Whadya wanna know?
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 09:38 AM
 
One other thing, the icons are friggin brilliant.
"Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like tea. Now you put tea into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put tea into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now tea can flow, or it can crash... Be tea my Friend..." -Bruce Lee and Erilaz
     
Gerrit Vanoppen
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 10:14 AM
 
To siMac and all others involved in the making of both the UnityGK theme and the hype around it, I'd like to say thanks for sharing your work (it's a true challenge to make a dark theme) - and also thanks for your + postings. Great sense of humour, people
     
blikum
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 12:15 PM
 
Awesome theme! Question: Maybe this is obvious, but how do you or is it possible to export these cool icons from this theme?
     
CreepingDeth
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Interstellar Overdrive
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 12:51 PM
 
Too bad PS is unusable.
Smeger, we need to be able to apply two different themes! One for global, and the other for specific apps...like PS.
     
Stuphalina
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Missing, presumed fed.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 12:58 PM
 
Originally posted by CreepingDeth:
Too bad PS is unusable.
Smeger, we need to be able to apply two different themes! One for global, and the other for specific apps...like PS.
For sure, or, similarly, have only the menubar themed for certain apps, and leave all other elements untouched. Although I doubt that is even feasible.

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!
     
Mike S.
Senior User
Join Date: Jun 2002
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 01:07 PM
 
This is the first black theme I'll probably use for a while.

It's really slick though I'll second that Mail is a bit hard to read with this theme...

I'm also noticing a funky issue with OmniWeb 5.1 beta. At another forum I frequent, the text input box is black on white but after I preview the input box changes to light grey on white making it hard to deal with; thank goodness for the fly out window. (it's doing it here too...)

I really appreciate the way you kept this theme quiet until it was ready; it's just a pleasant surprise to see a new theme pop up, ready to use instead of this whole pre-announce and wait... wait... keep waiting... almost ready... here's another preview... game we seem to have to deal with all the time; especially when so many of those themes never happen (no, I'm not pointing at BBX... it's the community that keeps bringing his stuff up, not him.)

Nice job!

If it's at all possible to tweak Mail in an updated version then that would be great but don't sweat it.
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 01:10 PM
 
Originally posted by CreepingDeth:
Too bad PS is unusable.
Smeger, we need to be able to apply two different themes! One for global, and the other for specific apps...like PS.
IIRC, smeger said that this is currently possible, but that it's a real hack job. I had a look to see if I could figure it out but I guess I'm just not smart enough.

Oh, how I wish I could use UnityGK-1.0 for my main theme and SIRO for the Adobe/Macromedia apps!

Maybe SS 2.5 (pleeeease smeger!)?
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 01:18 PM
 
Originally posted by blikum:
Awesome theme! Question: Maybe this is obvious, but how do you or is it possible to export these cool icons from this theme?
You can download them from:

http://cepophan.com/themes/
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 01:21 PM
 
Originally posted by Mike S.:
If it's at all possible to tweak Mail in an updated version then that would be great but don't sweat it.
If you mean the status text just under the toolbar and the Activity Viewer text there's nothing I can do about it for the moment I'm afraid.

If you're referring to somewhere else, could you post a quick pic and I'll see what I can do?
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
siMac  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 01:45 PM
 
Originally posted by MacMan4000:
this theme is amazing! I love it!
Nice site too. How did you get the text to have that nifty halo effect on rollover? CSS i imagine. I REALLY need to learn CSS.
Yes, that would be CSS. I'm still learning XHTML and CSS, but they wipe the floor with the old tables system.

Unfortunately that glow effect is a new CSS technique and only works with browsers that comply with the latest web standards, ie. Safari.
|\|0\/\/ 15 7|-|3 71|\/|3
     
silencedge
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 02:12 PM
 
Mate, YOU'RE THE BEST.
     
Me0ni6
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 04:36 PM
 
Great ! Really. Thanks for this work. I used SIRO for 6 months now, and it's the first theme, i will replace it with.

     
CreepingDeth
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Interstellar Overdrive
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 13, 2004, 05:37 PM
 
Originally posted by siMac:
IIRC, smeger said that this is currently possible, but that it's a real hack job. I had a look to see if I could figure it out but I guess I'm just not smart enough.

Oh, how I wish I could use UnityGK-1.0 for my main theme and SIRO for the Adobe/Macromedia apps!

Maybe SS 2.5 (pleeeease smeger!)?
How bad could it be?
     
 
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:48 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,