Designing Interfaces

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR DESKTOP APPLICATIONS

Those of you who work on web sites might already be familiar with everything discussed so far. People expect web sites—and by extension, web applications—to have strong graphic styling, and you will rarely find them looking completely plain and neutral.

But what if you work on desktop applications? If you try to apply these principles just to the controls' look-and-feel—how the controls are drawn—you don't have many choices. Java applications get to choose from a few look-and-feel options, most of which are native looking or fairly neutral (like Swing's Metal look-and-feel). Linux applications have some nice choices, too, such as GNOME's application themes. But native Windows or Mac applications generally use the standard platform look-and-feel, unless you're willing to work hard to develop a custom one.

Given the situation, you can be forgiven for just using the platform look-and-feel standards, and concentrating your graphic design attentions elsewhere.

But some applications now look more "webbish" or "designery" than they used to, and they generally look better for it. Microsoft Money 2000 was one of the first mainstream applications to break the mold. Its designers chose to use background images in the top margins, gradient fills, anti-aliased headline fonts, and an unusual color scheme. Other applications have since done similar things. Winamp, as another example, has used creatively-designed skins for a long time; now most other media ...