Old 06-10-2020, 05:50 AM   #1
Chimpscookie
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Default Material Design Theme for Reaper?

I know a lot of people won't like material design. But if a reaper theme based on it exists, or something close to it, please let me know. Personally, i like MD.
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Old 06-10-2020, 11:21 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by Chimpscookie View Post
I know a lot of people won't like material design. But if a reaper theme based on it exists, or something close to it, please let me know. Personally, i like MD.
it would be helpful if you posted an example or two of 'material design' to give us an idea what you are looking for.

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Old 06-11-2020, 02:16 PM   #3
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Material design language was made for and is suitable for mobile apps and web pages with text/images content as the main element, not for technical UIs with lots of tools, functions, modifiers, and other specific elements. Its a different game altogether.

LE: but yeah, i would advocate for a RDL - Reaper design language = a set of usability rules and best practices to assist theme designers to make better choices in terms of size, spacing, skeumorphism/flat consistency, contrast, accessibility, dynamic content, and so on.

So far almost everyone (including default theme) plays a game of lets make things look "cool" sometimes at the expense of balance, failing to getting the interface out of the way so to speak. There are some themes who do that though, like janne's, ilogic, clearview, but even those suffer from the partial theming ability and have an "unfinished and unpolished" vibe to them because of that.

Last edited by lerian; 06-11-2020 at 02:39 PM.
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Old 06-11-2020, 03:02 PM   #4
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Here's an example: It basically means flat design

https://cdn0.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/b...rialdesign.jpg

Also I agree with Ierian, a RDL would be a good thing.
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Old 06-11-2020, 03:09 PM   #5
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The closest to the example you posted is probably this: https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/2500/I...ReaperThemeZip

Or maybe not.....check it out either way.
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Old 06-17-2020, 05:52 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by lerian View Post
Material design language was made for and is suitable for mobile apps and web pages with text/images content as the main element, not for technical UIs with lots of tools, functions, modifiers, and other specific elements. Its a different game altogether.

Logic Pro seems to have a very clean and flat UI similar to material design and still function as a full DAW, though not exactly as broad as reaper.

I know lots of people won't like flat UIs, it was only popular these last few years and many still prefer skeuomorphism design. Perhaps when i learn to create my own theme..
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Old 06-17-2020, 09:06 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Chimpscookie View Post
Logic Pro seems to have a very clean and flat UI similar to material design and still function as a full DAW, though not exactly as broad as reaper.

I know lots of people won't like flat UIs, it was only popular these last few years and many still prefer skeuomorphism design. Perhaps when i learn to create my own theme..
Yes, Logic Pro X have one of the best UI among DAWs but its not fully flat, just almost flat. The same almost flat design you can find in my theme ClearView

https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/2449/ClearView

My day job is UX designer and i have studied this for a while. Skeumorphism have its role in UI design, and so does flat design. Its a combination of both that makes a good design nowadays, especially in heavily populated (pro) interfaces. If you look at Photoshop, Affinity, Logic, FL Studio, Cubase, and even one of the most flat out there DaVinci Resolve, they all have elements with a small (1px) skeumorphism to them. And there's a reason for that, it helps with the focus and findability of certain elements. The only 100% flat design that i know of is Ableton Live, but personally i find it to be way too minimal and you have to know a lot of keyboard shortcuts to get the most of it. That means a steep learning curve which basically means bad design because good design is self-explanatory.

So flat for the sake of being flat is not really a good design choice, unless you have a minimalist interface. The more heavy it gets, the more the designer needs to use some kind of trickery to make the UI easy to navigate in a cluttered working environment. The best interface is the one that gets out of the way of creation and that's why many pro programs (including operating systems) lean towards a more flat approach, but not fully flat.
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Old 10-13-2020, 09:10 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lerian View Post
Yes, Logic Pro X have one of the best UI among DAWs but its not fully flat, just almost flat. The same almost flat design you can find in my theme ClearView

https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/2449/ClearView

My day job is UX designer and i have studied this for a while. Skeumorphism have its role in UI design, and so does flat design. Its a combination of both that makes a good design nowadays, especially in heavily populated (pro) interfaces. If you look at Photoshop, Affinity, Logic, FL Studio, Cubase, and even one of the most flat out there DaVinci Resolve, they all have elements with a small (1px) skeumorphism to them. And there's a reason for that, it helps with the focus and findability of certain elements. The only 100% flat design that i know of is Ableton Live, but personally i find it to be way too minimal and you have to know a lot of keyboard shortcuts to get the most of it. That means a steep learning curve which basically means bad design because good design is self-explanatory.

So flat for the sake of being flat is not really a good design choice, unless you have a minimalist interface. The more heavy it gets, the more the designer needs to use some kind of trickery to make the UI easy to navigate in a cluttered working environment. The best interface is the one that gets out of the way of creation and that's why many pro programs (including operating systems) lean towards a more flat approach, but not fully flat.
Hey lerian. Thanks for your insights. I liked your theme but i'm really starving for a light theme for reaper!

So in these past few months i tried understanding how reaper's theme works. Nope, i don't know how to code but i can somewhat understand repeating patterns and hex value of colors or whatever it is called. I picked up paulie theme as my empty slate then tried to make a light theme from it. I'd like to know what you think about this.

https://stash.reaper.fm/40467/Paulienesia.png

Edit: One reason i'm on a quest to find/create a light theme is because i gave up trying to reconcile reaper dark themes and windows10 because those FX chain windows and some others are still in blazing white even with Win10's supposedly dark mode, meh.

Last edited by Chimpscookie; 10-13-2020 at 09:26 PM.
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Old 10-14-2020, 02:47 AM   #9
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Very nice Theme, thank you !
I am also a lover of minimal , flat and light Reaper Themes, can't have them enough.
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Old 10-14-2020, 06:23 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimpscookie View Post
Hey lerian. Thanks for your insights. I liked your theme but i'm really starving for a light theme for reaper!

So in these past few months i tried understanding how reaper's theme works. Nope, i don't know how to code but i can somewhat understand repeating patterns and hex value of colors or whatever it is called. I picked up paulie theme as my empty slate then tried to make a light theme from it. I'd like to know what you think about this.

https://stash.reaper.fm/40467/Paulienesia.png

Edit: One reason i'm on a quest to find/create a light theme is because i gave up trying to reconcile reaper dark themes and windows10 because those FX chain windows and some others are still in blazing white even with Win10's supposedly dark mode, meh.
That Paulienesia theme looks nice. You should upload it when it's done.

Also, If you are looking for a light theme, Try my mod of the "Tracks" theme named "Tracks extended". It is as light as a theme can get. And you can download it by going to the link in my signature below.
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Old 10-14-2020, 02:57 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimpscookie View Post
... i'm really starving for a light theme for reaper!

Edit: One reason i'm on a quest to find/create a light theme is because i gave up trying to reconcile reaper dark themes and windows10 because those FX chain windows and some others are still in blazing white even with Win10's supposedly dark mode, meh.
Hi. Here's a theme I consider light (or semi-light, if you will)
because selected objects are darker than the rest and readable enough.
There are also links to dark themes for Windows.

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=243513

https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/2624/S...ReaperThemeZip

Last edited by Oleq; 10-15-2020 at 06:25 AM.
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Old 10-14-2020, 09:59 PM   #12
Chimpscookie
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That Paulienesia theme looks nice. You should upload it when it's done.
Thanks Jim! Loved the simplicity of your take on Tracks theme but it kinda looks 'gray' than 'light'.

Unfortunately, i don't know if my theme will work great for mac users. I created this for my personal use since i only have 1366x768 screen, everything is small and there's only 2 mixer layouts. And gosh, TCP is a mess when increasing height because i'm no programmer.

Maybe one of these days when i get enough free time i'll sit down and learn walter. Then i can create the theme i really want.
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Old 10-14-2020, 10:01 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by vanhaze View Post
Very nice Theme, thank you !
I am also a lover of minimal , flat and light Reaper Themes, can't have them enough.
Thanks man! I love your YouTube videos. Lots of tricks to learn from you.

I'll upload the theme once i think it's ready. Though not sure if it will work well with macs.
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