New Apple HI Guidelines
<a href="http://www.macslash.org"; target="_blank">MacSlash</a> is reporting that a new revision of the Aqua HI Guidelines is available from the ADC site. It reportedly covers such interesting tidbits as a chapter on speech and guidelines for the brushed metal appearance. However, I haven't found this document if it exists for general consumption yet. Oh, well. I'm too lazy to bother signing up for an ADC account for the sake of idle curiosity. <a href="http://www.macslash.org/comments.pl?sid=02/07/29/0547256&threshold=0&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid= 1" target="_blank">Some posts</a> (I'd rather link than rip off the quotes) on MacSlash quote parts of the document at least. Has anyone else found any interesting new in the revised guidelines?
Comments
This appearance may also be appropriate for applications that strive to re-create a familiar physical device?the Calculator application, for example. Avoid using the textured window appearance in applications or utilities that are unrelated to digital peripherals or to the data associated with these devices.
Within an application, the textured window appearance should be limited to the primary application window. Supporting windows, such as preferences and other dialogs, should not use the textured window appearance. It is acceptable to have a mix of standard Aqua windows and textured windows within an application.
If a textured window has a drawer or a toolbar, they automatically inherit the textured appearance. Sheets, however, maintain the standard Aqua appearance.
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Now hold on. Brushed metal is either for virtual real-world devices (ie Address Book) or Digital Peripheral related.
How does QuickTime fit these categories?
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How does QuickTime fit these categories?</strong><hr></blockquote>
umm...VCR thingy maybe?
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How does QuickTime fit these categories?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Hmmm, dunno, maybe they class the QT Player as a familar physical device like a TV or something?
J :cool:
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umm...VCR thingy maybe?
Yeah, QT6 attempts to represent a real-world interface (the hydra-like console of aCD/DVD/video cassette player) so there it goes into the Textured category.
It definitely feels like Apple made the Textured UI first, then constructed some loose HUI to go along to fit them.
Which... let's face it... is what they did.
I've two opinions about this. [diatribe]
1. Real-world interfaces can be unimaginably awful, (see <a href="http://www.iarchitect.com/mshame.htm"; target="_blank">Isys' Interface Hall o' Shame</a>), and, yes QT4's UI was smudgy and unhelpful and just not good. But Apple has learned, and QT5/6 work pretty well, and are distinctive and attractive, I think. So considering how atrocious the R-W UI can get, Apple has actually done some pretty tasteful, careful work here.
2. All the hullabaloo about Textured windows screwing up the purity of the Aqua guidelines and the hallowed consistency of the Mac UI is a bit... much. From the beginning, the Mac UI has featured a number of UI styles. Just look at the Classic Calculator for example. Black title bar, rounded window edges... How is this classic Mac HUI, exactly? I can recall four or five different visual styles offered in the Mac Toolbox, and some were just for visual differentation. Not to mention AppleCD and AppleDVD -- and groundbreaking apps like Hypercard -- and many other examples.
Anyway, my point is that Textured is that it's not the heretical break with Apple tradition that some have made it out to be. I can't say I'm thoroughly comfortable with Apple's ad hoc rules for when it should be applied, and I'm sorry for those that hate it (although apparently in 10.2 there's one simple .nib file you have to adjust and poof! it's gone). But I think we'll survive.
[/diatribe]
[ 07-31-2002: Message edited by: Hobbes ]</p>
A new section on Speech that's rather pie-in-the-sky, wildly optimistic.