Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

phillryu · Mar 31, 2004, 12:27 AM

MacThemes.net has been running a theme mockup contest for the past month. Starting Wednesday, users will be able to vote for their favorites, and view the submissions for the first time. Out of this contest, six winners will receive a total of over a thousand dollars worth of prizes, and have their great designs made into real themes by professional themers. Here is our press release:

"The OS X GUI has always been notoriously difficult to skin. Over the past year, perhaps a few dozen full themes have been released for the Mac, and most of them by highly experienced themers. Today, MacThemes.net is proud to announce that over 45 artists submitted entries to our Theme Mockup Contest, of which the top six will be created into actual themes by established themers. Prizes of over a thousand dollars of software and cash are also rewarded, but the real result will be six great themes for the GUI customization community.

Now, the most important stage has come. From Wednesday to this Sunday, readers and visitors are asked to visit our entries archive and vote for the submissions out of five stars. Comments are also open for discussion, feedback, critique, and praise. If you are an avid GUI customization fan, your vote will be greatly appreciated. Winners are expected to be announced Monday, April 5th."

http://www.macthemes.net/contest/

http://www.macthemes.net/contest/entries.php

Enjoy, play by the rules, and again, have fun

Oh, and use this comment to feedback on the contest, not the entries. Comments for entries should go in the comments section for each, provided at the site. Thanks everyone for entering, and hopefully voting!

mac15 · Mar 31, 2004, 12:29 AM

Well let the games begin! There are alot good entries and only a few bad ones. Seeing all the themes early ruined the wow factor for me. But hey thats my fault

Best of luck to all who entered and vote fair.

JoE950 · Mar 31, 2004, 12:30 AM

here we go!

Sage · Mar 31, 2004, 12:31 AM

I just finished looking at the first page, and I'm very impressed.

Boy, this is fun!

Fluid · Mar 31, 2004, 12:33 AM

:: Vote for Protean!

:: Fluid

Lateralus · Mar 31, 2004, 12:48 AM

I voted for Mac-A-Be.

phillryu · Mar 31, 2004, 12:49 AM

You know, you can vote for all of them. So go, and by all means, give Sweet Slumber, Half Life, Calabi, and those other deserving entries a perfect score. -cough-

NetworkShadow · Mar 31, 2004, 12:58 AM

wow why do all the minimal themes that look like every other theme we already have get most of the votes? (though it's early in the vote) Really there are a few themes that look like Milk and GUIpod. A few like chosen OS and FatalE. I'd think it would be better to vote for originality and quality than minimal interfaces that look like every other minimal interface.

Just my 2�

orangep0ny · Mar 31, 2004, 01:02 AM

Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
wow why do all the minimal themes that look like every other theme we already have get most of the votes? (though it's early in the vote) Really there are a few themes that look like Milk and GUIpod. A few like chosen OS and FatalE. I'd think it would be better to vote for originality and quality than minimal interfaces that look like every other minimal interface.

Just my 2�

its better to vote for what you like. most people really love minimalistic interfaces, I one of them. Vote for what you like.

Sage · Mar 31, 2004, 01:17 AM

I agree... I quite like minimal themes, though not minimal-minimal - I still like it to be interesting to look at.

But to be honest, I'm not one for hugely original themes, simply because I want themes that I will want to use forever (Aluminum Alloy's one of those special themes that's quite original, but has lasting power

).

Lateralus · Mar 31, 2004, 01:23 AM

If you guys wanna see the single most nasty theme ever distributed for OS X, scroll down on this page and look at '1947'.

Vote for the opposite of that... please.

TheIceMan · Mar 31, 2004, 01:29 AM

The mockups I gave the highest ratings to were Calabi by Sascha and Pro LCD by Harold Harmon. I would love to see the Pro LCD mockup turn into a theme.

MacDog · Mar 31, 2004, 01:35 AM

Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
wow why do all the minimal themes that look like every other theme we already have get most of the votes? ... I'd think it would be better to vote for originality and quality than minimal interfaces that look like every other minimal interface.

I agree. I'll go one step further and say this:

Most themes we have NOW are either completely ugly, or absolutely beautiful but totally unusable (like Jet Black for instance, it's gorgeous but so contrasty that you simply can't look at the black theme next to a white MSWord file, finder window or web page for more than a few minutes). We have about a handful of themes that are actually tolerable for any amount of time.

The themes in the contest fit into the same categories. Most are horribly, well, horrible. Some are boring looking, and the rest are beautiful but not very practical.

So what to vote for? Well, I see some that while I wouldn't use them for more time than it takes to launch Photoshop, they are clever, ORIGINAL, and well done. So I guess I'll vote for originality and quality of graphics, rather than usability.

Weezer · Mar 31, 2004, 01:47 AM

Im not gonna lie, Im a little disappointed. There is some cool stuff, but a lot of "more of the same."

Synotic · Mar 31, 2004, 01:51 AM

Some really excellent themes on there. My only complaint is the voting

Having to click on the stars on each theme and then having it either open a new window or change the current page is obnoxious. The process is way too slow. I was also hoping that I could quickly comment on each one as well. Another problem is that it can be hard to remember the last one you voted for. It almost makes me not want to vote/comment on the themes

Hopefully for the next contest there could be just one page with a picture of each theme followed by some radio buttons for stars and comment boxes. The only problem I foresee with that is you'd have 45 entries in one page and accidentally closing a page could be disaster. In that case it might be better to split it up into maybe 5-8 stages, depending on how many themes there are.

Despite that, these are some great mockups, I'm looking forward to seeing the winners, but I think that the race will be way too close. Hopefully with more publicity and votes it should all even out though. Also I hope that some of the themes that just escape the 6th place should be made as well. Heck, I like some of the themes on there that have like 35%, I might get back into the game and try my hand at turning some of these into reality

P.S. there seems to be a bug where after you vote for any theme.. the page 2, 3 links don't work...

P.P.S. sorry for the rambling.. it's late

NetworkShadow · Mar 31, 2004, 01:57 AM

Originally posted by Weezer:
Im not gonna lie, Im a little disappointed. There is some cool stuff, but a lot of "more of the same."

Exactly. Though the good ones are good!

OwlBoy · Mar 31, 2004, 02:09 AM

Be nice to mine

-Owl

revmitcz · Mar 31, 2004, 02:21 AM

Am I alone in thining that some of these themes are doing things that are (as of right now) impossible? I've seen a few already that have windows with a beveled look - where the gradient sort of fades from the edges of the window in - and some with "stylized" borders.

I could be wrong here, of course, and probably am - since I've yet to design a theme (or even a mockup) myself. I just looked through them and thought "a lot of these are very original - some are just insanely different from the current offerings, and there must be a technical reason for that".

all in all, however, I'm quite impressed with the entries. Only a few are effectively unusable by my standards.

realmeatychunks · Mar 31, 2004, 02:23 AM

I thought BBX was entering a mockup?

I see that he's on the panel now, though.

OwlBoy · Mar 31, 2004, 02:27 AM

Anyone else feel that some of these entries would work very well with some elbow grease and a themer who knows how to clean it up?

I hope that this contest is not the end for most of the mock-ups.

-Owl

Holigen · Mar 31, 2004, 02:35 AM

Woohoo, great job getting this all together Phill.

Thank you

revmitcz · Mar 31, 2004, 02:36 AM

Originally posted by OwlBoy:
Anyone else feel that some of these entries would work very well with some elbow grease and a themer who knows how to clean it up?

I hope that this contest is not the end for most of the mock-ups.

-Owl

I hear ya on that one. There were a few that, while not necessarily my faves, looked pretty good in the thumbnail preview - but in full preview it looked like they just went "and.... that'll do it - brushed metal for the rest of it". Also, there were definitely a few that could use some better contrast, slightly better color combinations, etc.

I foresee a lot of partnerships between "the greats" (max, swiz, bbx, et al) and the artists of some of the more original themes (which I'm seeing aren't getting as high of votes as they should, IMHO) sometime in the near future.

OwlBoy · Mar 31, 2004, 02:39 AM

Anyone else sad that Martha Royer did not enter?

http://www.gate.net/~royerm/index2.html

Also, the comment system seems to have crashed... I get a 404 when trying to post.

-Owl

Sage · Mar 31, 2004, 02:41 AM

Originally posted by OwlBoy:
Anyone else feel that some of these entries would work very well with some elbow grease and a themer who knows how to clean it up?

I hope that this contest is not the end for most of the mock-ups.

I totally agree.

Only a small handful are truly refined (Sasha's comes to mind), and most of them need a bit of tweaking. Still, a very good showing.

I wish I could've gotten mine in time though.

Dace · Mar 31, 2004, 02:45 AM

ProLCD reminds me of my Co-Pilot theme mock-up

OwlBoy · Mar 31, 2004, 02:48 AM

Your right. It definetly was inspired by CO-Pilot.

-Owl

revmitcz · Mar 31, 2004, 02:50 AM

Originally posted by Dace:
ProLCD reminds me of my Co-Pilot theme mock-up

funny.. VIVIsectVI reminds me of the original Co-Pilot. Since I don't know anyone on here's "real" name, I kinda figured that was your final realization of your theme mock-up.

OwlBoy · Mar 31, 2004, 02:53 AM

Originally posted by revmitcz:
funny.. VIVIsectVI reminds me of the original Co-Pilot. Since I don't know anyone on here's "real" name, I kinda figured that was your final realization of your theme mock-up.

Good point. Can some of you say what these is yours? <Cough>NetworkShadow<cough>. I am sorry if it is obvious, but I just can't put 2 and 2 together.

-Owl

Holigen · Mar 31, 2004, 02:54 AM

Ya, same as what the other dude above posted...

Holigen · Mar 31, 2004, 02:55 AM

No, not Owlboy the other one above him...

Owlboy is on a posting rampage

OwlBoy · Mar 31, 2004, 02:57 AM

Originally posted by Holigen:
No, not Owlboy the other one above him...

Owlboy is on a posting rampage

::Stomp Stomp::

-Owl

Holigen · Mar 31, 2004, 02:59 AM

Calm down dude! I really like Sascha's theme. Probably my favorite. Mjolnir, Im sorry NS, didnt really do it for me. It lacks cohesiveness. The green and black clash terribly and although I like how true it stays to MC's armor, I doubt it would ever make a good theme.

COBRAHQ · Mar 31, 2004, 03:16 AM

Originally posted by revmitcz:
funny.. VIVIsectVI reminds me of the original Co-Pilot. Since I don't know anyone on here's "real" name, I kinda figured that was your final realization of your theme mock-up.

That one is mine actually, I was planning on working on it a while ago, got lazy... then the theme contest showed up and I figured I'd work on it a bit.

I think all the mockups are good in their own right, some people worked hard, some didn't, but it's a big step when someone throws their creation into the public eye to be scrutinized by some who are VERY picky (and some who are so picky, nothing satisfies them). It's intimidating.

There's plenty more I'd love to have done on mine, but making a theme isnt my top priority most days.

I just thought it'd be fun, why the hell not?

quandarry · Mar 31, 2004, 03:44 AM

i'm posting my top choices in alpha order...

first i wanna say anything flat or near flat got an instantaneous 1 star...most of the rest received 2 to 3 stars.

i had the time so i spent about two hours going over the mock ups...well it was slow loading and i did a lot of page switching.

these were my top 6 choices and each received five stars:

Boneyard. most original and best by far...of course modifications would be needed for it to be assembled. usability, go use aqua this would be a fun theme.

Halflife. anything rhyme with orange

Pro LCD. yup, pro it is.

Sweet Slumber. indeed and very original too.

Three. neoesque but not black (black sucks on mac).

zandrOS. coolio with the red bar.

these are imho.

yours may vary greatly.

kmkkid · Mar 31, 2004, 03:59 AM

I didnt see anything that tickled my fancy, and to be quite honest the vast majority were poorly done and were not refined at all.

Chris

phillryu · Mar 31, 2004, 07:25 AM

I figured some of you would still be disappointed. I'm hoping that's not the majority though

My personal favorites are...

For the unique:
Half-Life
Sweet Slumber
Calabi

For the usable:
Simple Grey
NickelCobalt
ProLCD

I wish there was room for Paper & Plastic and a few others, but w/e. I gave them fives anyway.

Anyway, I don't know if I mentioned this anywhere, but I am very happy with the turnout. When Jan and I had first discussed this contest, we didn't even have any mockups being made. That turned to the winner, then the top 3, then the top 4, then the top 6, etc.

. I just never expected this kind of a response. Thanks everyone

Patcarla · Mar 31, 2004, 07:48 AM

Here are my favorites so far:
Calabi: By far the best in my opinion, simply beautiful.
Pro LCD: pretty cool, needs a bit of refinement in some elements and it will be great
NickelCobalt : I like this one, a little too much with the bevels though.
Mjolnir: I like the color and the gradient of this one. Well done NS
Pure Vinil: This one is nice too but I think that the elements (button, etc..)
design is really close to some existing themes (

)
Rawhide: Joe is a really really good designer in my opinion.
This theme is not something I would use everyday but the whole thing is technically great and consistent.

idle · Mar 31, 2004, 08:23 AM

my favourites (in no particular order)

Calabi (Sascha, anything left to say?)
Half Life (indeed)
Nickel Cobalt (oh so clean and still very creative)
Pro LCD (i cant get over that retro feel)
RawHide (awesome job JoE)

and my own of course

hehe. Sweet Slumber.

[ idle. ]

phillryu · Mar 31, 2004, 08:39 AM

Originally posted by idle:
my favourites (in no particular order)

Calabi (Sascha, anything left to say?)
Half Life (indeed)
Nickel Cobalt (oh so clean and still very creative)
Pro LCD (i cant get over that retro feel)
RawHide (awesome job JoE)

and my own of course hehe. Sweet Slumber.

[ idle. ]

Idle, your entry deserves a top six spot. I know it may not be the most usable theme, but it is by far the coolest unique one out there, and one of the aims of this contest was to create a few of those. I know you have my vote as a paneler.

bluevertical · Mar 31, 2004, 08:49 AM

hmmm

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Mar 31, 2004, 09:05 AM

Originally posted by phillryu:
You know, you can vote for all of them. So go, and by all means, give Sweet Slumber, Half Life, Calabi, and those other deserving entries a perfect score. -cough-

I'm not sure it's very ethical of you, as the host of the contest, to be making personal comments about the entries, and looking to sway opinion on them?

justinp · Mar 31, 2004, 09:56 AM

Originally posted by MacDog:
(like Jet Black for instance, it's gorgeous but so contrasty that you simply can't look at the black theme next to a white MSWord file, finder window or web page for more than a few minutes)

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you.

Since its release, JetBlack has been the only theme I have used. I really don't mind white webpages and chat windows next to black everything else.

justinp · Mar 31, 2004, 09:58 AM

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
I'm not sure it's very ethical of you, as the host of the contest, to be making personal comments about the entries, and looking to sway opinion on them?

How is it not ethical? Granted, I personally wouldn't have said anything, but he's still only posting his opinion. This contest is about personal taste, not what phillryu likes.

angelmb · Mar 31, 2004, 10:15 AM

I find nice Pencil Neck and Pro LCD.

u2zoo · Mar 31, 2004, 10:18 AM

In most cases it is best that the contest promoter merely pimps out information to the content itself and stays away from making pro/negative comments about the entries themselves. In essence: the contest promoter should not also be a panelist/judge.

That said - phillyru has already gone through every theme and left a comment about them, so I think he already made a decision about how far he would distance himself from the entries. At this point, I do not see a lot of harm being done if he promotes his favorites in the forums.

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Mar 31, 2004, 11:31 AM

Originally posted by justinp:
How is it not ethical? Granted, I personally wouldn't have said anything, but he's still only posting his opinion. This contest is about personal taste, not what phillryu likes.

He is hosting the contest. There are prizes with cash value. It's unethical, period. He should absolutely stay out of making public comments about the relative merits of entries until the contest is over. It's not fair to the contestants. If I had submitted a theme I would be pissed off.

You don't see the folks at Iconfactory doing this with Pixelpalooza. They know how to run a contest.

At this point, I do not see a lot of harm being done if he promotes his favorites in the forums.

I disagree. The people in this forum are the ones casting votes. If you don't think his public opinion, as host of the site and contest effect the outcome, you're wrong. The process has been tainted. Phil really should have exercised better judgment.

Holigen · Mar 31, 2004, 11:46 AM

I think that Phill is doing a great service to the themeing community. Not only is he giving the end-users more themes to play around with, but also allowing newer artists to get in on the fun in a very easy way. By telling JoE, idle, and others that he likes their themes, yes, he is expressing his positive feelings about the theme, but he is also urging them to continue in designing.

Im extremely thankful for what Phill, Adam, Max and others have done to help this very small community.

Oh, ya, and I just noticed how the top of the ballet box reflects the things above... wow.

u2zoo · Mar 31, 2004, 11:48 AM

Silky, I think you misread my comments...

I agree entirely phillyru should have kept out of making comments what-so-ever. But he made his choice to do so and at this point if he wants to go around pimping themes left and right, I don't think there is much worse he can do. You can read the comments on each contest entry and know full well where phillyru stands, what he is going to say in the forums is merely an extension of that.

Frankly, I think he should have stayed out of commenting on the entries, but it was his choice to do so and I think that's that.

idle · Mar 31, 2004, 11:49 AM

Silky and u2zoo,

sorry but i respectfully disagree. even the folks at the iconfactory (the staff) judge the entries. and actually there are thousands! (really, believe me) that look at this contest and vote but do not post a comment. i can't really see why this would hurt anyone and if it did, well there is always a next time. everybody can mistakes especially if its the first time. Apart from that i can only admire the amount of work and dedication Phill has put into this so far (most of which you do not see).

[ idle. ]

Silky Voice of The Gorn · 12:21 PM

I think that Phill is doing a great service to the themeing community. ... By telling JoE, idle, and others that he likes their themes, yes, he is expressing his positive feelings about the theme, but he is also urging them to continue in designing.

And that's great, but there's no reason he couldn't hold his comments until AFTER the contest is over. Or issue a blanket "All the entries are great! Keep up the good work!". It's the SPECIFIC comments I have issue with.

Silky, I think you misread my comments... Frankly, I think he should have stayed out of commenting on the entries, but it was his choice to do so and I think that's that.

Sorry bout that. But yes, "that's that". A shame.

sorry but i respectfully disagree. even the folks at the iconfactory (the staff) judge the entries

Yes, they judge the entries. That's fine, of course. But they don't COMMENT on them publicly until the contest is OVER. If Phill is a judge in this contest, he should NOT be posting specific opinions about them until it is over.

Apart from that i can only admire the amount of work and dedication Phill has put into this so far (most of which you do not see).

I don't question the great work he's done; Merely the questionable decision to be so cavalier about posting his personal opinions before the contest is over.

i can't really see why this would hurt anyone and if it did, well there is always a next time.

On his site, Phill says "Please do not abuse this system to attempt to sway the score." yet Ironically, his public comments might do just that. Yes, perhaps next time he'll not make comments until the contest is over.