[ubuntu-art] Where's the official proposed theme idea?
Andrew Laignel
a.laignel at ukdotcafe.com
Thu Dec 20 12:48:31 GMT 2007
Adobe provide an amazing resource for creating and picking colour
palettes at http://kuler.adobe.com/ Just typing 'brown' into the search
box gets some quite nice pre-made selections for colourschemes. It's
Flash 9 only though :(
I do agree with the thoughts on the brown usage being a bit full on. I
think a very light potentially cream or white wallpaper with a nice
light hint colour used throughout the theme would help temper the
intensity somewhat and provide some welcome contrast.
Kenneth Wimer wrote:
> 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
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> ubuntu-art mailing list
>>>>>> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
>>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> ubuntu-art mailing list
>>>>> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> -Ken Vermette
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> ubuntu-art mailing list
>>>> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
>>>>
>>> --
>>> -Ken Vermette
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> ubuntu-art mailing list
>>> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
>>>
>
>
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