Disingenuous, Susumu Yoshida’s latest venture in theming, released last week on his website, abandoned the colors and gloss of themes like Cats and Eternal and instead adopted an all-grey appearance. As a long-time MacThemes resident artist, everyone expects high quality in the aesthetics department of his themes and icons- but is Disingenuous a unique release, and does it attract appeal from users of themes like Cats?

Aesthetics
Disingenuous might be familiar to long-time fans of Susumu’s creations, and for good reason- fans of works like TRUTH, LIE or UMASO will recognize some of the styles used, such as the engraved glyphs or distinct titlebar buttons. It’s not to say Disingenuous is unoriginal, but it’s certainly “inspired”- the good news is that each and every element seems refined and revisited, certainly welcomed on my part.

So let’s start with the windows. Right off the bat, Aqua and Metal windows gain the same appearance- a gray metal color just slightly darker than standard Aqua metal- and use the same corner radius and bevel as standard Aqua, too. Tabs, wearing a lighter gray, sport beautiful gradients and silky-smooth shadows, using a simple inner shadow to present feedback. Buttons are the perfect example of Susumu’s talent in refinement, though: any newcomer to theming might write off these controls as iTunes-inspired, but the addition of strokes, drop and inner shadows make the buttons uniquely his, and even the smaller buttons are beautifully redrawn in this style.

The menu bar looks decent, using the plain-jane gradient found in the windows with a simple, white-on-black text change when clicked. Menu items themselves feel pleasantly “retro”- as if pulled from Platinum or Windows Classic- and while it’s not particularly original, it’s certainly not ugly, and most definitely fits in with the look and feel of the theme.

Scrollbars, using a light gray scroller against a dark gray track, and the arrow buttons, perhaps inspired by iTunes’ signature purple scroll arrows, take on a simple darkening when clicked. Progress bars seem to match the scroll track, sporting a “black Aqua” fill and then distinct barbershop-pole lines for indeterminate bars.

But the titlebar buttons will likely be debated by users for their aesthetics, sporting large, black buttons with shrunken glyphs sitting on the inside. Personally, I was a fan of the shrunken glyphs, but the black circles seems out of place- as if they should have been inset like their metal tab brethren.

Even if the titlebar buttons aren’t enough stir up debate, perhaps the overall feel of the theme is. Disingenuous is, indeed, beautifully crafted, but it is worth noting that color is completely nonexistent, certainly a potential turnoff for users; however, if you frequently use apps like Final Cut Pro or Aperture- or are in front of your screen for hours-on-end- this will mean nothing to you; indeed, if there’s any word that describes Disingenuous best, it’s “professional”.

Usability

Despite the fact that Disingenuous is a dark-gray theme, Susumu has made it wonderfully usable. Element feedback- particularly the buttons- is extremely well thought-out and feels quite natural. Text is easy to read, virtually unchanged from the defaults (with the exception of iTunes, quite notably). The only outstanding issue for some people will be the size of the titlebar glyphs, constricted in no more than six or seven pixels. If you can learn to ignore them, you won’t have a problem; but those who use them will have trouble adjusting to the microscopic size.

However, Susumu’s crowning usability jewel is not feedback or readability, but rather uniformity. Seldom will you find an element of Disingenuous that doesn’t fit in with its pack- buttons, menus, checkboxes, tabs, progress bars- even scrollbars to a certain extent- are all in tune with each other aesthetically, sporting identical gradients, strokes and drop shadows (even the feedback is consistent). While the unknowing skeptic would write this off as boring, it’s hardly the case, and using Disingenuous would allow anyone to work hours on end without the strains of Aqua’s bright colors.

Extras
Disingenuous is, sadly, somewhat bare on the extras front, and does not include icons or desktops; you’ll need to weed through the forums to find a solution.

As far as application skins go, it’s got the good and the bad. Just from first glance, Mail, Safari, iTunes, DVD Player, Font Book, VLC and QuickTime Player are all skinned (beautifully), but even some basic ones like Address Book, iCal, and Camino are not included. This doesn’t render it completely unusable, but it’s annoying to see an Aqua- or Graphite- element get in the way of beautiful Disingenuous.

Luckily, there is at least one redeeming factor, and that’s the two variants. Two guiKits- one for sunken buttons and one for raised- come with the download, both equally appealing.

Conclusion
Susumu’s releases have always been marked with positive response, high quality aesthetics and careful attention to usability, and this release is no different. Disingenuous is a very solid theme, incorporating a professional tone while still making it fun enough for anyone willing to give it a try. And while the lack of color won’t make it the “it” theme for everyone (as well as the lack of app skins), it’s definitely worth downloading and taking out for a spin.