[ubuntu-art] Where's the official proposed theme idea?

[Kenneth Wimer]

Hi Ken,

I really dig the ideas shown in your mockup. Using a bit of color in the 
windows seems like a great idea to me - I was actually working on some ideas 
along these lines). The thing that strikes me most is that the brown seems to 
be used too much. In the past we have stuck to brown with light brown and 
then perhaps orange highlights on some things) which really doesn't work well 
and seems to give people the impression that brown=poop.

I think that using a complimentary color would help a lot. Have you thought 
about using a gradient from brown to grey in the windows? It might lighten 
things up a bit, and in addition to using a compliment in the wallpaper (and 
perhaps some highlights or such) would make things much livelier I think.

I would be really interested in seeing some variations of your theme idea, 
perhaps with a dark grey and light grey to show something more along the 
lines of what people are used to seeing.

I'll be posting some color palette ideas *really* soon (like tomorrow or so), 
along with some basic things that we are looking for.

--
Ken (kwwii)

On Thursday 20 December 2007 00:05:31 Ken Vermette wrote:
> I want to have at least 3 alternative colour variations in the end when all
> this is done and over with; Nobody said some of them couldn't have
> different buttons. Either way, it's easily doable, but first I want the
> main theme to get up-and-running before I make other flavors.
>
> Also: Linux works on tablet PC's? Well, I think I know what I'll be picking
> up when I have the chance. :)
>
> On Dec 19, 2007 1:54 PM, George Brooke <solar.george at googlemail.com> wrote:
> >  I guess it's just a matter of personal preference. Also I mainly use a
> > tablet pc so its easier to click on enclosed buttons than when using a
> > mouse. Maybe someone could create an alternative controls (is that
> > correct ?) theme for people who prefer rounded buttons.
> >
> >
> > solar.george
> >
> > Ken Vermette wrote:
> >
> > One thing I need to say about Vista is they did good with the window
> > buttons. I'll give em credit where credit is due.
> >
> > A few weeks before I started this theme I read as many reviews and
> > interface guidelines as I could, and one was a review on GUI aspects of
> > Vista and OSX. While they come a dime a dozen, this one was
> > (surprisingly) neutral.
> >
> > Anyway, when it was on topic about window buttons, one thing it mentioned
> > constantly was "slamming", where users will slam the mouse onto one edge
> > of the screen. So, as long as an element touches an edge or a corner
> > (which is why I'm tempted to make the X cover the complete corner of the
> > window) the user doesn't need to bother with carefully positioning the
> > mouse over the button.
> >
> > While it doesn't sound like a big deal, it's just another thing to look
> > at. If I rounded the corner then the button would need to be 1 or 2
> > pixels lower to accommodate the top-edge, breaking the users ability to
> > slam.
> >
> > --Ken Vermette
> >
> > On Dec 19, 2007 6:28 AM, George Brooke <solar.george at googlemail.com>
> >
> > wrote:
> > > How about making the window close minimise ect. icons rounded off at
> > > the top rather like the main menu.
> > >
> > > solar.george
> > >
> > > Ken Vermette wrote:
> > >
> > > It's kind of like a mold... Like it or not, it kind grows on you. I
> > > hated my windows when I made them, and I have a gallery of hideous
> > > window ideas that I hope will never see the light of day.
> > >
> > > Orange is really just a highlight colour in this theme, so it'll
> > > proballbly look odd on the theme until some widgets are added. When
> > > they get added though, hopefully the additional orange in the theme
> > > will make it feel more balanced. I lightened up the brown and slightly
> > > altered the orange - so it should hopefully be a bit better. I can't
> > > really use any other colours (even if I think they'll look better)
> > > because I want to stick to the official Ubuntu colour pallet.
> > >
> > > I'm actively planning a small set of variations in popular colours; I
> > > don't think there will be a way to change the colours via the colour
> > > menu - unless there's a hue-shifting algorithm involved (similar to the
> > > one implemented in Vista or Windowblinds).
> > >
> > > Anyway, there's another update up on the wiki:
> > > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/Hardy/Alternate/BasicIdeals?ac
> > >tion=AttachFile&do=view&target=fulldesk%28svg%29_v3_2.jpg
> > >
> > >
> > > the XCF and SVG sources have been updated aswell; the XCF actually has
> > > everything in it now, I uploaded a half-finished XCF file on the first
> > > version, but the new one will be much better for people who want to use
> > > or edit content because it's complete. For anyone wanting to make a
> > > mockup using the files, the Mock-ups are first edited/rendered in
> > > InkScape, then are imported into the bottom layer of the XCF. You could
> > > delete the BG in inkscape and export a transparent PNG to create a
> > > render suitable for porting into other themes.
> > >
> > > Thanks as always,
> > > --Ken V
> > >
> > > On Dec 18, 2007 12:42 PM, Corey Woodworth <coreywoodworth at gmail.com>
> > >
> > > wrote:
> > > > At first I didn't like this theme, but it is really growing on me. Of
> > > > coarse there are things that still need work. The orange in the theme
> > > > feels out of place. It just doesn't fit it because of how heavy the
> > > > browns are. I think using white as the selected item color in the
> > > > menus would look a lot better. I also think that the notification
> > > > area needs to use different colors. It needs to stand out more. Now
> > > > it hardly stands out at all since it is the same color as the
> > > > background behind it, and of most windows. Speaking of the windows, I
> > > > really like the way the titlebar and menu bar are visuially connected
> > > > int the active window. In the unactive window where it looks like
> > > > just a gradient from brown to tan looks very ugly to me.
> > > >
> > > > I think this theme is about the prettiest a brown theme could be, but
> > > > we would still get a lot of flac from the brown haters if this were
> > > > default. I hope that it works well with the color options in the
> > > > appearence settings so that keeping the theme but using a different 
> > > > color is just a couple of clicks worth of work.
> > > >
> > > > Corey
> > > >
> > > > On Dec 17, 2007 9:30 PM, Ken Vermette <vermette at gmail.com > wrote:
> > > > > Got the link, and thanks to Racoqster for the quick post on the
> > > > > blog. I know about every language BUT python, so I can try to learn
> > > > > python this weekend and assist in coding later if absolutely
> > > > > necessary; Would it be possible to work without the configurator?
> > > > >
> > > > > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/Hardy/Alternate/BasicIdeal
> > > > >s
> > > > >
> > > > >  The Wiki has been updated to include a mockup with all current
> > > > > elements - and links to the SVG source and XCF source are directly
> > > > > below the image. I'll be downloading some themes that resemble mine
> > > > > (in their technical composition) and start to figure out how we
> > > > > could get this beast into a live environment! The XCF source is
> > > > > almost useless, but it can make life easy if anyone wants to make a
> > > > > mockup with icons & text.
> > > > >
> > > > > The large mockup doesn't include the most recent requests (several
> > > > > of which will be integrated), but it gives the closest impression
> > > > > to what a full desktop would look like right now - barring the lack
> > > > > of widgets.
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks all;
> > > > > -- Ken V
> > > > >
> > > > > On Dec 17, 2007 7:51 PM, Iacopo Masi <iacopo.masi.list at gmail.com >
> > > > >
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > On 12/17/07, Ken Vermette <vermette at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > > There's go GTK yet, currently most of the work is going into
> > > > > >
> > > > > > mockups. I need
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > to get ahold of the Murrine Developer Andrea Cimitan, and see
> > > > > >
> > > > > > about getting
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > information on the Transparent GTK tweaks before I start making
> > > > > >
> > > > > > the mockups
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > live graphics.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >  Cimi will release the code when a Murrine Configurator should be
> > > > > > available so we must work towards the murrine configurator in
> > > > > > pygtk.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > take a look at
> > > > > >
> > > > > > http://www.cimitan.com/blog/2007/12/16/searching-coders-for-the-m
> > > > > >urrine-configurator/
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > Iacopo Masi
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > >  ubuntu-art mailing list
> > > > > > ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
> > > > > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
> > > > >
> > > > > --
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> > > >
> > > > --
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> > > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
> > >
> > > --
> > > -Ken Vermette
> > >
> > >
> > > --
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> > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
> >
> > --
> > -Ken Vermette
> >
> >
> > --
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