By accident or by design, Growl is most likely installed on your machine; if it isn’t, you should probably look into it. Many applications offer support for it and some even come bundled with it. Growl is one of those applications that one thinks should be native to OS X, but sadly, it isn’t. Though as Mountain Lion rolls out its own notification system, the future of Growl seems to be precarious. We’re still huge fans though and thought you’d enjoy a nice big dose of Growl goodness.
Here we have a group of sexy, sleek, and shiny Growl themes ready for you to download, install, and use at your discretion. At the bottom of the article, there are a few extra Growl notification styles that have not been coded. You can use these as inspiration. If you keep an eye on them, the designers may end up coding them.
iOS 5 Notification
If you like the fairly new iOS 5 banner notification style, you are in for a treat. This Growl style is sexy, cool, and it comes in two different flavors. This style also has the same animation as iOS notifications.
Black Glass
Black Glass is a black notification, but this one has a sweet animation that just makes it “pop.” Very sleek if you ask me; this is the one I currently use.
Engage Growl Style
This one is a well maintained Growl style that is highly compatible with OS X Lion. Many of these black styles are similar, but they have subtle differences. In this one, the icon image is pressed into the notification window.
Hud Grow Theme
This style also comes in a dark tone. However, it resembles a piece of metal, rather than just another transparent black style.
GrowlingLion
If you love Lion, this theme will feel like a native function of your system. GrowlingLion has a very minimalistic feel to it with a dividing line that keeps icon and text well separated.
Nucleic Growl Theme
Although this one looks plain, the subtlety on it makes it a sweet addition to your desktop. This theme comes with a sweet CSS3 animation that’ll make your notifications look classy and clean.
Portal Growl Style
The cake is real ladies and gentlemen, the cake is real! This growl style goes above and beyond the call and delivers a great animation that any Portal player will love. Heck, even if you aren’t one you will enjoy this one. It comes in three different flavors, so check it out.
SnowBezel
This one is just gorgeous. The background of the icon side looks elevated as if it were a button, while the other side has a clean glass look. This theme may have a few problems in Snow Leopard, but keep checking the creator’s page for updates.
Smokestack
Smokestack comes in various different flavors. It is pretty simple in design, but it offers a sweet glow if you like glowing notifications.
Sticky Growl Theme
Sticky is a nice take on Growl styles as it goes away from the darker tone and takes on the look of a sticky note. This style also has a nice subtle CSS transition.
Valet Display
If minimalism and subtlety is your thing, these two sweet styles are for you to take home. They are quite simple, but they look amazingly stunning.
PremiumPixels’ Growl Style
I had this one as my default for a while. The look of it is great, and it really makes those notifications pop. This one doesn’t have a crazy animation though.
Morning and Evening Growl Styles
These two styles are very simple but pack a nice design punch. The arrow adds a small speech bubble effect. The pack comes with two variants: one evening, one morning. The lighter one pops up in the left, while the darker one pops in the right accordingly.
Chromic Growl Theme
Chromic is just awesome. Although it has a transparent dark look to it, the lighter tone up-top makes it look superb. Check out the animation on it as well. This one is a keeper.
iOS Notification Popup
If you are not a fan of the iPhone banner notification style and rather have the alert notification style, this theme has your back. It mimics the look of your iPhone’s alert popup with great detail.
Metal Frame Growl Theme
Rasmus’ Growl style is super attractive. This is a very different take on a darker-tone style as it frames the dark part with a metallic border. Quite the looker.
Cloud for Growl
This style is from the same creator of Chromic. He feels that there isn’t enough white Growl themes, and he is right. This theme shines the light on this issue and delivers a stylish theme for Growl.
Wood Growl Theme
Style your Growl notifications with this beautiful wood finish. This style will not stain when you leave your cold glass of water on top of it and it will display the notification’s text on a dazzling letterpress style.
Raaarr
If you are gonna growl, try Raaarr. This simple style has a different take on the subtle differences amongst all these Growl styles. This theme looks sweet on any desktop.
GlassFruit
GlassFruit is just plain beautiful. It is perhaps my love for sexy looking tech, but this style feels like, well, a sexy piece of tech. The dot at the bottom as well as the reflection makes the theme for me.
AirMail Classic
You’re probably looking at that picture thinking: “that is one classy theme.” That’s because it is! Actually, you probably looked at the picture and immediately clicked the link to download it. That’s because you should. This theme looks amazing.
Daryl Ginn’s Growl Style
You just can’t go wrong with this one. The minimalism is there, and so is the awesome factor.
Daryl Ginn’s Growl Theme 2
This one is darker than the previous one, but sleek nonetheless. Ginn surely knows how to create amazing themes. Give it a try to see which of the designs fits you.
Dribbble Growl Style
If you like to dribble, or dribbble for that matter, you should definitely check out this theme. Inspired by Dribbble, this style comes to life with a nice border and a sweet shape.
Solid
The name says it all! With a nice subtle gradient and a thin border, this style is a solid addition to your desktop. You can never go wrong with a subtle black gradient.
Slimbox and VoxGrowl
This package is a must-have for music lovers. The design looks stunning, especially when your music plays. Give it a try for yourself.
M.4 Growl Style
These two styles are fairly different, but you can’t argue with their slick, platinum, metallic look. They both look great while displaying your song’s album.
Skinotronic
Ever wanted a Growl style that is huge? You have stumbled upon “the one.” This style goes across your entire screen letting you see your notifications no matter where you are in your room or office.
SquareOne
This theme is a bit different than the others. The notification’s height is 26 pixels and it pops up with a rough and bouncy animation.
Linen Growl Style
This iOS 5 inspired style is a great way to display your notifications. The pressed look of it is probably what makes it so attractive. Give this one a try.
MobileMe
MobileMe, as the name describes, is a Growl style that mimics MobileMe. While simple, this style offers a fantastic look for your desktop.
Mono 2.0, Eleven, and Basics 1.3
These three themes, albeit similar to other dark themes, offer an alluring difference that captivates the eye. Mono is fully compatible with Lion, but the others should work as well.
360PSD Growl Theme
This theme here looks great for anyone who likes smooth backgrounds. It also sports some nice rounded corners.
Ribbon Growl Theme
Ribbon Growl Theme is a good example of how Growl themes can differentiate themselves from all other themes out there. If you are tired of the dark-toned themes, try this one out.
Slick
This one puts us back into the darker-theme category. However, it to not only look great on any background, but it also does a good job at not being too dark. The transparency on it lets your wallpaper shine through. Check it out.
Cloud Growl Theme
With this theme, the title says it all. If you like clouds, that is what you will get. It comes with a few variations, so try them out and see which one you like the best.
Growl Style Design Inspiration
Growl Notification by Jeff Broderick
This is another great dark Growl notification. I can assure you that if anyone codes this one, many will download it.
Think Outside the Box Growl Theme
The designers here wanted to create something that was not the norm for Growl notifications. As you can probably see, most are dark styles. This would make a pretty sweet Growl theme.
Growl Ticket
If you like Tickets, you’re gonna love this one. Just look at the detail here. If someone codes this one, I’ll take a copy myself.
Custom Growl Style by Dave Yoon
This style here is awesome. The 3D feel that it has would look phenomenal on any desktop. The designer should code this one!
Growl Shelf
Growl Shelf looks like your notifications wanted to have the cool factor of your 3D dock. To answer the creator’s question, yes, yes I would totally download this!
Which Growl Style Do You Use?
As promised, these Growl styles are sexy, sleek, and shiny. It is a shame that the last ones are not coded (at least not yet), otherwise they would be some of the best styles for Growl out there. We hope you enjoyed looking and using these stunning themes. If you have some of your own that you would like to share, leave a comment below.