All people want to express themselves. Mobile phone users can do that easily with themes, which let them change the on-screen look and feel of their phones. That's why themes are among the most popular types of mobile device media.
For graphic designers and artists, themes offer some of the easiest and potentially most lucrative ways to enter the mobile market. It's easy to create themes by using Carbide.ui in conjunction with any bitmap, vector graphics, and audio editors.
What is a theme?
A theme is a package of graphics and audio that replaces the default look and sound of the UI on a Symbian or Series 40 phone. Themes may modify almost all visual and aural aspects of the UI. Visual changes range from colour adjustment to the addition of animated graphics for backgrounds and icons. Audio may be attached to events such as alarms, and it can be created in any format supported by Symbian or the Series 40 platform.
As a designer, you can use themes to create many interface possibilities. For instance, you can use items such as virtual buttons and scroll bars, and you can dim lists and menu screens in the UI of Series 40 phones. For the latest Nokia Symbian and Series 40 phones, Carbide.ui plug-ins offer such new theme elements as the home screen, e-mail pop-up, and enhanced calendar features.
Why should I create themes?
The market for mobile content is expanding rapidly as consumers seek more personalisation options for their mobile phones. Themes enable users to publicly declare their passions: The possibilities — such as displaying a beautiful image or showing support for a favourite sports team — are bounded only by the imagination.
For businesses, themes offer opportunities for promotion and building brand awareness. A theme can be used to create a fully branded user experience, in which corporate identity permeates all aspects of a consumer's mobile phone use.
It's easy to start creating themes. Theme creation requires very little new learning — if you already create digital content, you have the skills to create impressive graphics and audio for themes. Best of all, both versions of the Carbide.ui tool, which are used to create theme packages, are available free of charge.
How do I create themes?
Creating themes is straightforward with the right version of Carbide.ui, which enables you to add graphics, colours, and sounds to Symbian and Series 40 UIs.
To make things easier, you can link your favourite tools for editing bitmap graphics, SVGT graphics, and audio with Carbide.ui. Carbide.ui includes a QuickStart guide and tutorials to help you get started.
