January 22, 2008

Blue Front On

I found something interesting while perusing the Finder resources one day- a strange folder design, one I assume was scrapped during Leopard's production:

Prototype Leopard folder design.

As you can see, the pinstripes that were so prominent in earlier versions of OS X still stand, given a refresh during the creation stages (perhaps added before the 10.5 Aqua aesthetics were established). It's like a hybrid between the original design and the newer, texturized Leopard version: an iota of a glimpse into a possible creative direction for OS X.

Generally speaking, I wish Apple's team would have continued this way. Though the pinstripes are a little dated, but they do feel much more Leopard-like, and comparatively less alien to the OS than the paper look. Still, it's kind of fascinating to see the different phases of the design process; an artist (or design team) can go through a lot of prototyping and mockup work before they finally settle on something.

1 For the really nerdy out there, you can find the folder in System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Resources/bluefronton.png.

2 ...and, if you want this look for your own use, Jonas Rask's Maji iconset is a coincidental beauty.