In the Brushed Metal Diaries, we take a look at one of Apple’s most unique — and most hated — user interface paradigms.
I’ve written about the awful Brushed Metal user interface theme a bunch over the years, but OS X isn’t the only place this scourge on design has left its mark.
Here are some other places where Brushed Metal (or one of its cousins) have popped up over the years:
In the Brushed Metal Diaries, we take a look at one of Apple’s most unique — and most hated — user interface paradigms.
For most Mac users in the early 2000s, the word “sync” conjured up visions of iPods and USB cables. However, while an Apple smartphone was years away, in 2002, Apple introduced a tool to sync contacts and calendar events to mobile phones: iSync.
Just check out all this brushed metal:
In the Brushed Metal Diaries, we take a look at one of Apple’s most unique — and most hated — user interface paradigms.
In our modern, always-on world, finding just about anything online is just a Google search away, that hasn’t always been the case. Today we’re looking at an old app that brought the Internet to Mac users the world over.
In October 1998, Apple shipped Mac OS 8.5. The first PowerPC-only release of the Mac OS came with a much simpler installer, an improved Help system and Sherlock:
Craig Hockenberry:
If Mavericks is Aqua becoming a grown up and mature operating system, brushed metal was the rebellious teenage years.
In the Brushed Metal Diaries, we take a look at one of Apple’s most unique — and most hated — user interface paradigms. While QuickTime 4 served as Apple’s Brushed Metal Trojan Horse, the most famous piece of software to wear the look is iTunes.
At MacWorld Expo in 2001, Apple introduced iTunes with its normal language:
Apple today introduced iTunes, the world’s best and easiest to use “jukebox” software that lets users create and manage their own music library on their Mac. iTunes lets Mac users import songs from their favorite CDs; compress them into the popular MP3 format and store them on their computer’s hard drive; organize their music using powerful searching, browsing and play list features; watch stunning visualizations on their computer screen; and burn their own audio CDs — all in one easy-to-use application.
Got a logo you like, but want to make way better? Add some Brushed Metal to it.
Here’s how to do it in Photoshop, courtesy of Brian Ashe:
And, poof: it’s the early 2000s, all over again:
This is the best thing I’ve read on interface design in a while.
via the comments on TUAW’s post linking to my post here.
While most people think of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther or some drunken loser when they hear the term “brushed metal” in the context of UI design, the interface is far older than either of those two things.
Think back to the summer of 1999. People were canning fruits and vegetables in preparation of Y2K, Cher was on the radio everywhere, and people could walk around in denim vests without living in fear of being punched in the face.