April 29, 2004
Mystery Photo #3
;)
Last week's answer is Microwave. Some of you stared at them too long enough to get some cancer. Let me know if it tastes better than TV Dinner :)
Panic Software's Stattoo
Stattoo is pretty cool even though it's basically feature-less at this time. I like it over Konfabulator. Here's what I like/dislike about Stattoo:
- Better consistency (same skin, preferences panes)
- Very OS X-like
- Icons that actually look nice and make sense
- Interface-wise, it makes more sense (everything in one row)
- Stattoo's few included stattooes are pretty useful
- Background color is weak. White text with shadow on a light background doesn't work that well
- Icons on top-left corner feel a little awkwarding
- Very limited customization for each stattooes
- Cannot change skin to something of your liking
April 28, 2004
Stripped Desktop BG
If you want to modify the color, etc., here's a Photoshop file.
April 25, 2004
Toolbar icons on Brushed Metal Window..
There are some people who think that Toolbar icons and Brushed Metal Window absolutely doesn't go together, I do agree with them but after some playing with toolbar icons for my client's upcoming application, it's possible for them to look good together by changing the shadow setting. Instead of using standard floor shadow, I used back shadow to help create a depth between icon and Brushed Metal Window.
Another way would be insetting them like Safari's toolbar controls but it will not works for some icons such as Manage Filters icon on Fig. 1.
Apple should address this problem in their Human Interface Guidelines if they're going to leave Toolbar support for Brushed Metal Window.
April 23, 2004
Pixels on LCD Monitor
(note: enlarged image is 1600x1500 and 1.2 MB)
It's pretty interesting to see what LCD pixels look like when zoomed in and macro’d with digital camera.
Each pixel is consisted of three colors (RGB). I think this may be the reason why CMYK looked so crappy on LCD monitors (even with modified ColorSync setting). I usually do all of my CMYK works on secondary monitor (CRT).
I think LCD is better than CRT even though it’s not good at CMYK. It doesn't make my eyes strain, color overall look more vibrant, save electronic, etc. The only things that annoyed me the most is ghosting problem and screen burn-in. If you leave a white window untouched for a several minutes, it will "print" on the screen and take a while for it to return to correct color. This happens even with top-of-the-line LCDs.
If you plan to buy a LCD soon, make sure it is from quality brand name such as Apple, Sony, Viewsonic, etc with long warranty. Cheap LCD usually has the worst refresh rate (you’ll need to call GhostBusters for this) and high numbers of dead pixels.
For more info about LCD, go here [Howstuffworks.com]
April 22, 2004
Mystery Photo #2
;)
Last week's answer is CD Case. It's the left black border that holds front plastic cover. You Music Collectors should have known better :)
April 21, 2004
MacThemes.net - Updated Design
Jan and I've made several adjustment to the design and it should address some of the biggest complaints such as IE compatibility, navbar with current page status (note the blue pin underneath Themes), and several others.
I added a corkboard and darker blue grid to improve the contrast of the design. You can feel free to play with the pins but just be careful with them. You know, they could kill baby kittens :(
The site will hopefully be ready by tonight.
April 18, 2004
Apple Motion
"Motion is a completely new take on motion graphics for film, TV, video and DVDs. Motion brings together design, productivity and industrial-strength output in one comprehensive package." – Apple Motion
I'm so drooling at this! This is exactly what I've been needing for DVD Multimedia, TV commercials, etc. I'll buy two licenses once it's out, one for me and one for my brother.
This ought to teach Adobe some lesson for not paying close attention to AE on Mac. It's a Bad Carbon Port™. AE's performance is terrible and the GUI is so 1990s.
April 15, 2004
Mystery Photo #1
Guess what it is. Answer will be posted with next Mystery Photo.
April 14, 2004
Replacement icons for Flash/Fireworks
More replacement icons to kick the balls (Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for any damages done to the balls)
Download Flash/Fireworks MX 2004 Icons
All Applications Document Icons are also included in the package.
Icons for FreeHand, Contribute, Cold Fusion and Director will be next. Is there any other Macromedia Apps (for Mac) that I missed?
BTW, if you have one of those three apps (Contribute, Cold Fusion and Director), could you send me all of the icons resources (.icns) from Content>Resources folder? That would be helpful :)
April 12, 2004
Worst Apple-Designed Icons?
If I have to choose one, it's FontBook. Easily the worst icon because it's so stale looking and aperture width is too strong.
They need to add some colors to difference it from Utilities Apps and reduce the aperture width. The type blocks need to go because it has nothing to relate with the notebook. Some contrast would help it to stand out more in the Dock.
The only thing I like about it is gradients. It's nicely done.
What's your most dislike Apple-designed icon?
April 07, 2004
Replacement icon for Dreamweaver MX
The sound of balls of steel hitting each other is getting really annoying, not to mention that it's ugly and bloated.
The logo they used for splash screen is pretty nice and should be used as an icon instead. Why they didn't do this is beyond me.
Say good-bye to those balls of steel. They'll be rollin' away!
April 05, 2004
Trophy Graphics for MacThemes.net
;)
I ordered several trophies and plaques yesterday and got them in today via UPS (United Pixel Shipping). The total weight of the package is around 100MB.
The models were made in Cinema 4D then brought to Photoshop for some touching up (Cinema 4D isn't that great at rendering vibrant colors, IMO). All of the texts were done in Photoshop because I want to put some emphasis on them. They'll look crappy if used with real shadowing.
April 01, 2004
Shuttle in NYC
;)
Four years ago when I was an amateur at Photoshop, I've wanted to make something cool for April Fool Day and came up with Shuttle launching in New York City. It's purely experimental and have no hidden meaning.
I used Lens Flare and Burn Tool to achieve the look.
