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Rather than spreading things out across several threads, I'm going to consolidate all my premium themes in one place. Hopefully that will make updates easier, and provide a quick overview of my portfolio.
Those of you who know my themes know I started with leebo, which I then ported to OS6. My approach to theming is referred to as minimalism - I want as little clutter on the screen as possible. Sometimes that's to show off my wallpaper. Most times it's just to avoid headaches when trying to focus, at a glance, on what matters in what seems like a sea of information.
I stick with pretty straight-forward navigation in terms of home screen scrolling. I always have an off-screen button so I can completely remove the highlight cursors. That button typically launches the first application on the app screen. Where I have a weather slot visible, the off-screen button launches the second application on the app screen.
I include banner hotspots: the signal meter will open Manage Connections, the time will open Clock. My home screen banners are identical to the app screen banner, so transitions are fluid and the theme feels like a natural part of the OS.
I'm also big on using hotkeys. The BlackBerry OS comes with several shortcut keys pre-assigned: A for Address Book (now Contacts); B for Browser, and so on. But not all the keys are pre-assigned. I use those "empty" keys for frequently-used apps. My common assignments are:
F = Facebook
S = Universal Search
Z = Clock
0 = Profiles (that's a zero)
$ = SMS/MMS
ideal
My first premium theme is called ideal. I really wanted to make something special, and I think I did an alright job.
ideal features my signature Today panels. The unread notification area is a clickable hotspot that brings up the Control Center and the first Today panel. The Today panels are Message Center (Messages, Text Messages, Missed Calls); Organizer (Calendar, Tasks, Memos); and Networking (Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger, Twitter). when you scroll down from the notification area, you can scroll between the three Control Center buttons to select different Today panels. All of the Today panels are scrollable and clickable as well. The Today panels will disappear when you hit Escape or scroll back up to the notification area.
CrackBerry AppStore
Blackberry AppWorld (link coming soon)
sophie
My second premium theme is a more professional variation of ideal, called sophie. I think sophie is ideal's sophisticated cousin. Same Today panels and Control Center as ideal, but all of the highlights throughout the system are a deeper, more subtle dark blue. I also included some newer icons for several applications.
CrackBerry AppStore
Blackberry AppWorld
blnk
My latest premium theme is called blnk. I refer to it as a 'nihilist' theme, not a 'minimalist' theme. blnk lets you completely remove all home screen clutter, so all you're left with is your magnificent wallpaper. Oh, and all the functionality of my hotkeys and hotspots. A weather slot can be toggled on and off with the W/Alt+W keys. The banner, similarly, can be toggled on and off with Y/Alt+Y keys. When the banner is visible, my usual navigation is available. I trimmed down the Today screen on this one to the bare essentials: Messages, Text Messages, and Calendar. The weather slot disappears when you open the Today screen to avoid screen clutter. Hitting W will bring it back.
CrackBerry AppStore
Blackberry AppWorld
Attribution: All of these themes use Windows 7 Indicators which were created by MattG from Blackberry Theme Lab.Last edited by wu-wei; 07-06-11 at 04:35 PM. Reason: Updated links
06-30-11 01:36 AM
