# this site could look better



## habilis (Jan 14, 2003)

I know it's just a board. I know it's just a forum. But the Mac is also the industry standard machine used by designers and graphic artists worldwide. I think it would be cool if this site reflected that as well with some spruced up, modern, Sci-Fi Channel style design elements.


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## wiz (Jan 15, 2003)

true


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## Giaguara (Jan 15, 2003)

Or there could be at least different color schemes to which choose from .... letting a few problems still 1 ) the clickable items (smiles and postrepys etc) are only 1 set = those should look good on all schemes.. 2) the banners are on the same server than the rest of images = smiles and postreplys etc.. so trying to make the site better looking not seeing the banners will block also all smiles and otehr gifs. Maybe the logo and the darkest brown could be different.. Besides ... OS X does not run on Lisa ...


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## habilis (Jan 15, 2003)

I would love to see this site, and well it should be, in a style like this: http://www.dnastudio.com/ or this: http://www.droppod.com

Mac people are graphically advanced.


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## edX (Jan 15, 2003)

not that i am the one who handles this dept, but i wan to say that i would never want a forum to look anything like those. content is the most important part of a forum. i'm using dsl and i had to wait for grapics content to load on those sites. i can imagine how 56k users would experience them. and i never ever want to hear sound when i come to a forum.
personally the current theme is my favorite of all ScottW has done since i've been here. it's simple, easy on the eyes and loads reasonably fast. the color scheme is that of jaguar and the graphics are retro - bringing the past and present together nicely.

i've been to forums where the site owners wanted to show off their graphics abilities and i didn't really like the looks. for instance i wouldn't want the sci-fi theme suggested earlier. i'm not that into sci-fi and this certainly isn't a sci-fi site. better to be a bit bland and find something tolerable and functional for all then to try and be too much and end up with too little.


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## Giaguara (Jan 15, 2003)

... are those flash ones suggestions? i closed the pages in 4 seconds each .. i dont want to wait to see what a flahs site can offer to COLORS...


flashs are slow, they are besides in the wrong contest in a forum. But ... having a couple of color schmes as alternatives would probably not be bad. E.g - having EXACTLY the same as current but an orange instead of the dark brown could look different (and the icons and other colors would still fit to the rest) - and then maybe some kind of turqueise (chinish blue?) and some kind of light but toned blue could do as well ... = different themes changing only that dark brown  up and down in the page.

[nothing more. i played with some templates once .. actually only added smiles and had to switch all colors to fit the new smiles.. intelligently messing 2 and half days with the main template. never do that]


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## habilis (Jan 15, 2003)

GRRRRR. I'm not saying this site needs Flash per say. It doesn't need Flash at all. It was that design style that I'm talking about. It's called future-beautiful, it's cutting edge, it's clean, crisp and bright. macosx.com can be cutting edge without being too complex looking or too slow-loading. 

I like giaguara's idea of fully customizable colors. That would make this site really fun to look at. why not?

The main problem would be finding someone with enough spare time, top-notch design skills, and deadication to work pro bono.


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## Giaguara (Jan 15, 2003)

Hey, to change *ONE* colour in the schemes does not take long! the longest thing it takes is to find the hexa color that looks good!  Orange would look nice and not being bad with the rest of the current theme (i am suppsosing the logo, banners, icons, smiles etc remain as they are)  - and also some other colors ... maybe even grey apart from those above mentioned... once the hexacodes are known, just log in to admin panel, there styles / templates (i guess, i've done this only in woltlab .. more or less should be same); create new styles (or templates); copy the previous exactly there, and then change only the head color (err, how is that called in there ..  and probably the backgr. of tables (in case they are those thin lines separating fields, they would look nive on the other color too) ; .. and then save with appropriate names like "orange" "turquoise" "green" "blue" "grey" .. i could search for some tonalities that would fit otherwise in the theme sooner or later, i'd just like to see a bit more orange [oh yes, the Californian sun is a much better choise I know.. ]


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## wiz (Jan 15, 2003)

speaking of cool sites check this one out...

http://generals.ea.com/

can't wait for feb 11, if only they made a port to macs , i got a pc though


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## Cheryl (Jan 17, 2003)

Too busy for a forum.  I want to read, not watch animation.  

But I must admit it is good for some one who is use to playing games.


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## seann (Jan 17, 2003)

I'd prefer if the system was Slashcode based.
I look around the web, and I hate "bulitin boards" or "blogs"
Nested comments, moderation, etc. is the way to go.
but I survive.


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## Giaguara (Jan 17, 2003)

Slashdot way? *ohno*


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## ScottW (Jan 18, 2003)

First off, the above picture on our site is not a Mac Lisa, it's a Mac Plus/SE whatever. 

Secondly, what annoys me about Mac sites is they all look alike. I realize we are all members of this big cult and everything, but Steve says, "Think Different" and that is what this theme is about.

Best of all, it captures our beige history, with the name of the site being the current and future OS for Mac... so it provides a nice contrast.

I might do some tweaking of colors one of these days, but it will be very minimal and will not vary from this color scheme very much.

Scott


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## Giaguara (Jan 18, 2003)

LIKE THIS????


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## ScottW (Jan 18, 2003)

Yea, just like that.


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## Giaguara (Jan 18, 2003)

OR THIS???  

OR THIS?? 

OR THIS 

actually, i do like this (Apart from icons)


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## habilis (Jan 19, 2003)

I think I found a style that we could all agree on (yeah right). No seriously though I really like that blue scheme that Giaguara made. but if you take a look at the image, see how the boxes have a diagonal 'cut' on them. A simple little addition like that could make this site more distinguished from the millions of other forums out there.


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## JetwingX (Jan 20, 2003)

i think i am the only person who liked the last theme (the deep blue one) because i was the only one who could read it 

maybe we could do the dark side of aqua kind of theme?


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## tamma (Feb 10, 2003)

I will admit that the site does not have a lot of bells and whistles but i see nothing wrong with it. It is simple and to the point.


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## superfula (Feb 22, 2003)

Why don't the admins install different themes and let us choose what we want?  Quite a few of the forums around have an option in the users preferences to change the theme on their own.


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## ScottW (Feb 22, 2003)

Last I checked I had nothing better to do but sit around and come up with 20 some themes for you all to use.

I think McDonalds should have optional "themes" for their cups, I think we should be able to choose which cup design we get with a matching bag, tray, straw and of course, color matching fries.

ME


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## fryke (Feb 22, 2003)

Hmm... I don't think the site needs 100 designers and twenty moderators plus admins and site owners to discuss a future theme to the pixel. 

Yet I answer. Strange. 

Okay, here's my suggestion, and this is difficult for me as a designer (I mean, not to design something but rather just suggest in words):

I think the brownish, rusty theme is just too far away from Mac OS X. I'm not a fan of "Make it AQUA!", but I think a theme for macosx.com should definitely make use of white and blue, OR fit Safari, as I think soon enough Macs will come with Safari as the bundled standard browser.

A lightweight white and light blue theme can be seen on my comments' forum for macnews.net.tc: http://icity.net.tc ...


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## ScottW (Feb 22, 2003)

Oh yea, lets just copy Apple...

Think Different


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## fryke (Feb 22, 2003)

Just did something interesting. I happen to like the shapes macosx.com is using (that's the default vBulletin buttons and stuff, right?), I just think the colour scheme should be different... I copied some and played with the saturation/colour... This is what I got:

*try again fryke with different forums  * (ed)

And I think it wouldn't be too bad for macosx.com to go in the direction of gray/blue...


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## ScottW (Feb 22, 2003)

Or perhaps?


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## Giaguara (Feb 22, 2003)

Would these 3 look too aqua or girly -as colors- ? Nothing seemed to work after changing icons in a woltlab bb.


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## ScottW (Feb 22, 2003)

Pull out the dresses folks...


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## Ricky (Feb 22, 2003)

I liked the deep blue theme.  Too bad it didn't stay for too long.
However, this theme is great for now.    Much better than I could ever do, since I can't ever see the big picture clearly.
Why not go green?


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## RPS (Feb 22, 2003)

> _Originally posted by fryke _
> *Just did something interesting. I happen to like the shapes macosx.com is using (that's the default vBulletin buttons and stuff, right?), I just think the colour scheme should be different... I copied some and played with the saturation/colour... This is what I got:
> 
> fryke's image
> ...



Along with the currect scheme and the one before this one, this scheme I could get used to, too. I like it.


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## edX (Feb 22, 2003)

well, personally this is my favorite theme of any i've ever run across!! and i don't see how you could make it any more like jaguar and still be readable. this site is jag colored as is.

the blue is ok, but seems like a step backwards. the flourescent orange hurt my eyes. bright colors might appeal to some people but they really aren't very healthy. all i need is one more cause for a headache. 

this theme has only been up for 3 mos. how about we keep it for a while longer?


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## ScottW (Feb 22, 2003)

My color theme suggestion was in jest.


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## edX (Feb 22, 2003)

thank God


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## habilis (Feb 22, 2003)

fryke, that duotone version was real cool. I don't want this to turn into a graphics bashing thread, I love this site, but I do agree with the fact that the color scheme here is not representative of osx or Apple style and could really look cool if some time was spent on it. 

We graphic design people come from a different half of the brain, we are heavily visual. We are used to seeing STUNNING VISUALS like http://www.showlogic.com/ and http://www.2advanced.com/ and http://www.highersourcemusic.com/index2_withintro.htm and http://www.droppod.com/ and http://www.vulcan.com/index.asp and finally http://www.westonfl.org/

so this site, compared to those, doesn't compare. No offense to the AWESOME content and people here. =)


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## Giaguara (Feb 22, 2003)

Okay. 

GREEN BLUE NEGA

The attachment is a simulation of what I suggested before. More themes = _you decide how you want to feel and see the site._  How about creating _ 4 - 5 styles - only difference  the brown header being in different than brown _ .. Sorry for the rainbow style but .. 1 pic, just a lot of alternatives.

[Edit: the attachment  cleaned here. ]


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## fryke (Feb 22, 2003)

Thanks, Ed. 







A bit too bright this time, but it's late night here, so... 

The idea is to use gray and blueish colours in the colour scheme in order to kinda fade into the background. Would promote the ads better (*grin*) and of course the content and avatars...


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## edX (Feb 22, 2003)

maybe scott didn't make himself clear - he's not really interested in doing all the work involved in maintaining a variety of styles to choose from for a site that he pays the bills on and we use for free.

as for visually stunning sites, they're great for visual stimulation. they're overwhelming for forums. we are not an art site. we're a tech help site at heart. everything else is just extras.


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## fryke (Feb 22, 2003)

That's what I thought I supported...


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## Ricky (Feb 22, 2003)

> _Originally posted by ScottW _
> *My color theme suggestion was in jest. *


I know...


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## JetwingX (Feb 22, 2003)

maybe we could make this a yearly thing where we change the colors? (ed and scott are right i mean we have only had this theme for 3 months)


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## habilis (Feb 22, 2003)

I understand the rediculous ammounts of time maintaing a site can consume, Especially anything on a graphic level. The only way it could happen is if some talented graphic person with plenty of free time(definately not me) was able to put in the time to assist Scott or whoever.

The payoff would be worth it though. Personally (and I don't believe I'm alone), I would be more enticed to come back to this site if there were more graphic customiztions to explore.

I know full well all this graphics hub-bub is cheesy and unneccesary for the content and programming purists, but I like cheese. Especially Muenster.


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