Windows 7 Accessible Aero theme

1 June 2010, 20:32

Hello, friends!

I am a happy Windows 7 x64 user since 1st of January 2010. Although, since day one I wasn't happy about the default Aero theme, because it is too transparent and the titlebars texts are not visible on dark wallpapers and such. So, last week I thought of doing something different. Here's a Windows accessible Aero theme done by me, based on the default Aero theme. I just changed what I thought it lacks contrast. I've searched online for such themes, but I liked none of them. As such, I publish this theme for others who might need such a theme.  

For easeness, I prepared several screenshots portraying the difference between my theme (Accessible Aero) and the default Aero theme. These screenshots are a mashup of different Windows elements, in Basic and Aero modes.

 

 

 

If you like what you see, download the Accessible Aero theme here.

Here is a round-up of what this theme features:

• considerably less transparent glass, dark glass
• white text title bars with black glows, so they are readable irrespective of the background of the window
• increased contrast in the title bars for the Basic mode, when not using Aero and I also adjusted the caption buttons accordingly by enhancing the contrast between the glyphs and the buttons
• a much darker taskbar in Basic mode, making the clock and popup titles of the applications running much more readable
• a darker Start menu in Basic mode
• increased contrast for the Alt-Tab application switcher in Basic mode
• added a strong white glow to Alt-Tab app switcher to make the the title visible
• made text fields slightly more visible
• defined a clear difference between active and inactive text fields, making the borders thicker
• a more visible highlighting color for menus, popups menus, while trying to maintain the default look
• file column headers in Explorer or other applications, are enhanced as well; more visible and a more clear border between them
• changed the gray text color of tooltips to black for increased readability
• added dark glow to application titles in task bar and in the thumbnails to avoid situations when the titles are unreadable
• made the address bar, search field and the whole breadcrumb much more readable; brighter background and darker texts
• more visible separator in unlocked taskbar and other types of separators or window resize grippers
• bigger close button in taskbar pop-up thumbnails
• made the taskbar icons less wide, more ergonomic, both in Basic and Aero modes
• made more visible the MDI window buttons: close, minimize and restore/maximize
• restyled the whole taskbar to my personal taste

  By now, it is clear what is my main purpose with this theme: readability, accessibility, hence the title. So, it is not about eye-candy, fancy designs, or not even originality. I also published this theme on deviantart.com, for those using dA.

Feel free to send me comments to improve this theme.

Published in: aero, interfaces, themes, windows.

Cinema 4D colour theme

23 March 2007, 03:03

Hello!

Incredible, but this post is in english ;).

I've decided to publish the colour theme I made for Cinema 4D R10. I didn't like the default one because the colours were too dark for my taste and the overall scheme lacked good contrast between the elements (checkboxes, buttons, little switches, etc). For this theme I've changed some buttons to fit with my colours. As you noticed, I am fond of the Windows's colours, so I want my applications to have a consistency in the interface. Most importantly, perhaps, it's that I changed the little tiny dots in the Object Manager. I've made the different states on/off/default very clear and easy to remember.

Hope you like it.

If you like the screenshot, you may click here to download the file (RAR). Just extract the files in your \%Cinema 4D installation folder%\resource\schemes\ and run C4D R10 :).  

P.S. Don't worry about the french GUI.

Published in: 3d, cinema 4d, interfaces, themes.