You may have learnt the art of adding little bits of information using GeekTool, but nothing puts music on your desktop like Bowtie. Developed by the 13Bold duo Matt Patenaude and Laurent Baumann, Bowtie is the most popular iTunes extender in the theming community.
Bowtie includes the standard features that any iTunes controller would be required to have, including global shortcuts, Last.fm scrobbling, and a universal music search. But what sets Bowtie apart is the easy theming system that allows anyone with knowledge of HTML and CSS to create themes. Here are just a few of the themes that are floating around the interweb.
Laurent’s Theme Pack
11 themes designed by the master himself. I should note that I couldn’t download the file properly so I didn’t really use these.
Rexcon 2
In my opinion the best of the grid based themes. Includes controls for playback as well as a slider for the current track position.
Zukunft
Awesome theme for GeekTooling around.
LJY
Very minimal yet fully functional. Comes in a white version as well.
iTunes Gr
For the classic block look. Comes in a nano version as well, if you need to save space.
Minimal
Beautifully crafted, where the track meter fills up as the song progresses. The controls are much like the iPhone headset clicker, with double click for next song and triple click for previous.
Typography Blurred
Goes really well on a GeekTool based desktop.
CD Jewel Case
Not the most exceptional one out there, but I’ve included it because it makes use of Safari 4’s CSS animations to spin the disc while switching tracks.
There’s a lot more themes on MacThemes2.net, DeviantArt.com and even on Flickr. If you have some awesome theme you want to share, please don’t feel shy.
