Discussing older Mac OS X Design Language

[trs96]

The design language of OS X / macOS has changed significantly since 2014 when Yosemite gave us our first OS X version to borrow heavily from iOS. The dock went from 3D to 2D and became flat again, some icons changed completely, moving away from the abundant skeuomorphism in past OS X versions. In this thread you can voice your opinions about what you like from past versions compared to what we have now in Monterey/Ventura.

This iTunes 12.2 color gradient icon (with a slanted beamed eighth note) is my favorite iTunes icon of all time. Now it's just red, kind of like the 2014 12.0 version but in the "rounded square" treatement that all of them get today.

They got rid of the CD icon many years ago. Around 2010.

Here's how it looks in the Mavericks 3D dock. Simply perfect in my opinion.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

This iTunes 12.2 icon with the color gradient is my favorite of all time. Now it's just red kind of like the 2014 12.0 version but in the "rounded square" treatement that all of them get today.

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Was glad when they got rid of the CD icon many years ago.

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I've just spotted the "Front Row" icon in the Mavericks photo. Considering people do use their Macs as media-players it's a pity the remote was dropped. I even built an external IR dongle-thing to mimic a Mac's built-in receiver. I suppose their iPhones do the job now.

Funny how over the years Macs and the OS have "shrunk", dropping so much clever stuff. Even the iWorks apps have dumbed-down.

 

[Nodarkthings]

What is happening here? A rush of 10.9 nostalgia?
I still have an iMac G5 with its remote, I haven't used it extensively but yes it was useful for some tasks... I still use the remote to shutdown the iMac (that I use to play music as an alarm clock ) as it has no keyboard attached to it.
As for 10.9, it was the OS I kept the longest time — actually, I still use it for audio software. I only switched to 10.11 for my daily use when too many apps dropped 10.9...

 

[Nodarkthings]

Funny how over the years Macs and the OS have "shrunk", dropping so much clever stuff. Even the iWorks apps have dumbed-down.

Absolutely (and sadly) true!

 

[trs96]

What is happening here? A rush of 10.9 nostalgia?

It was the last OS X version before Sir Jony Ive declared, "Henceforth all Mac icons shall be flat, boring and look as though they were created by fifth graders." His idea was that they should all be like those on the iPhone and iPad. Today they are practically exactly the same across iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

It was the last OS X version before Sir Jony Ive declared, "Henceforth all Mac icons shall be flat, boring and look as though they were created by imbeciles." His idea was that they should all be like those on the iPhone and iPad. Today they are practically exactly the same across iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

Ive was clearly a hardware design engineer and innovator, but I agree, that didn't also mean he was a graphic-artist.

HID is the key here. It's all too easy to get confused by a mass of low-contrast flatness when trying to use tech. Less is *not* more in this case. At least Mavericks had easily recognisable functionality included in its icons.

 

[trs96]

I was able to find an iTunes icon that fits in with the Big Sur and Monterey "rounded square" design. Yet still has the color gradient. Not perfect but better. The artist is Bowz from macosicons.com

 

[trs96]

Ive was clearly a hardware design engineer and innovator.

I agree, he was a genius in those areas. Without him laptops today might still weigh in at 7+ pounds. We wouldn't have had the Mac mini to enjoy. He started the AIO PC trend with the iMac. All our PCs might still be beige boxes too. Why he had to get involved with graphic design elements in Mac OS X I'll never know.

Edit: Almost forgot, he and SJ were the reason Apple got away from using all the plastics and acrylics in laptops and desktops. They were responsible for the brushed Aluminium Macs that so many people have and love today.

 

[craighazan]

Why he had to get involved with graphic design elements in Mac OS X I'll never know.

He's a designer, consistency, consistency across the board. Both Steve Jobs and Sir Jony Ive knew/know the power of typography in strengthening a brand, also they hired an in-house Typography Designer a few years ago. Mainly because once Apple started upping the pixel density on their screens everyone else's Fonts would look awful and pixelated on anything Apple.

 

[trs96]

consistency, consistency across the board.

Would have been nice if they offered multiple icon sets that the end user could choose from and deploy with a few clicks. I know, they can't keep everyone happy.