[ubuntu-art] Styles/looks discussion

[Michiel Sikma]

Hello everybody,

Since the produce phase has now officially began, I think that it  
would be useful if we took the time to discuss with one another what  
we feel about the styles that have been outlined. This is purely for  
internal purposes, which is why I think the mailing list is useful  
for this purpose rather than the wiki or Launchpad.

The three styles that have been defined are:
  - Failsafe -- the original theme style that has been used since  
Ubuntu 4.10.
  - Rounded -- a more subtle version of failsafe with rounded corners.
  - Circles -- an ambitious redesign that incorporates circles rather  
than rectangles.

Then there are two "looks":
  - Matte and gloss -- glossy foreground elements with dim matte  
background elements.
  - All-out gloss -- glossy elements on both the foreground and  
background.

See the details at the propose phase results page: https:// 
wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Specs/EdgyArtworkPlan/Propose/Results

The easiest way to find out which style you will probably like best  
is by seeing which combination you intuitively would like to work for  
based on the knowledge that you can get from that page. Then you can  
begin to rationalize your thoughts and figure out what really is the  
reason why that combination seems good to you.

Personally, I haven't been very captivated by the "all-out gloss"  
look, simply because I believe in a firm and well-established  
contrast between foreground and background elements (granted, "matte  
and gloss" is also very low on contrast between foreground and  
background, but this would seem more easily fixable than in "all-out  
gloss"). Other than that, I have been thinking about continuing my  
contributions to the "failsafe" style, as I think it has already  
become a very distinctive style that no other distro seems to have so  
concisely. Just rounding the artwork seems like a novelty feature  
rather than a substantial design decision to me, while on the other  
hand, the circle look is interesting.

I think it's very beneficial to get this discussion going a little  
bit. What do you guys think about the styles and looks?

Regards,

Michiel Sikma
michiel at thingmajig.org