One of the most common traits associated with blue themes is that most share the same roots- adopting Aqua’s characteristics and good parts, and ridding of the bad parts; Canum, released by Resident Artist Toner, takes a different perspective with blue themes, using an unorthodox Aqualess appearance. But does it achieve elegance through its originality?

Aesthetics

Once Canum loads on the desktop, the common Aqua (or Aqua variant) user might be surprised at Canum’s lack of Aqua influences; gone are the Finder’s familiar brushed metal, traffic lights and lickable widgets, superseded by smooth, gray windows and strikes of warm blue throughout the interface. It is, indeed, a beauty to look at, quiet and elegant compared to the “business” of the former. And the increased definition and feedback of the unified gray elements serves as the perfect way to keep Canum from resembling iTunes 7 (a welcomed contribution).

Canum’s other elements retain this overall consistency- titlebar buttons are small yet distinct, removing the distraction usually associated with Aqua’s traffic lights and giving them a high level of visual feedback; radio buttons and checkboxes provide the perfect balance of color and contrast between the box and glyph, be it checked or unchecked; push buttons, with their high amount of feedback, are quick to appreciate but perhaps too much for beginners only starting their journey away from Aqua, and the blue scroll bars fit well with Canum’s distinguishable iTunes 7 track (though perhaps a pixel too much).

The menubar, doing away with the glass and pinstripes in Aqua and Aqua themes, manages to accomplish the same amount of detail through, again, its careful use of color; the light gray gradient is soft and eye-pleasing- perhaps reminiscent of NickelCobalt- the “Canum Blue” item selection is well-done and gives it a more professional accent, and the small touches- the sunken Apple logo or rounded-rectangular selections- further help it in accomplishing a simple, elegant feel.

In general, Canum’s aesthetic plusses greatly outweigh the minuses, and the niche few who can pick out the microscopic problems won’t at all feel a disruption in the theme’s flow.

Usability

Just how usable is Canum? Consider, for example, the capsule-size titlebar widgets, which stay out of your way until you need them, then providing just enough feedback to recognize you’re rolling over them; or the radio buttons and checkboxes only changing the color of the glyph and not the entire element; it’s Toner’s high attention to detail that make you realize how “loud” Aqua can be (in some places), and the places where the feedback isn’t as soft- the push buttons and their sudden color change, for example- aren’t bothersome anyway.

As mentioned before, Canum accomplishes making elements look less busy- popup menus don’t jump out of a window as much; push buttons and tabs are sunken into the window; the latter elements are now unified, with depth no longer having an identity crises (tabs standing out, or tabs sunken in?!?); the glyphs are now smaller and less distracting; but the icing on the cake? Consistency throughout the look.

Extras

Canum’s lack of variants (who needs them when it’s so beautiful?) is made up for by including a plethora of extras. 21 application skins- all of them meticulously crafted by Toner- beautiful matching wallpapers (I prefer using my normal choices, but to each his own), a welcomed Adium skin (who would use the default Aqualicious with a theme like this?), and an iTunes color hack, an uncharacteristic inclusion by any means. A set of matching icons is, sadly, not included with the guiKit, though fortunately enough alternatives exist that it’s not a dealbreaker for those who desire complete uniformity in their system’s appearance.

Conclusion

Overall, Canum is a beautiful piece of work, original and creative and yet stunningly usable. The attention to detail is in high regard, and consistency is one of its strongest points. For a theme featuring blue accents, one might incorrectly relate it to Aqua, when it is in fact completely independent to the busy, glossy father of OS X themes. And despite some small inspirations and a couple of pixelphile-par bugs, Toner’s work is a complete and elegant solution for those looking for a new face for OS X.

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