[ubuntu-art] Hardy GTK Theme

[Corey Woodworth]

Aurora looks good in lighter colors as well, but it may come off as too
glossy. Dark themes do have their problems too. I do hate it when all my
text boxes in webpages use a dark theme when the page design expected them
to be white. Here is a pic of Aurora in lighter colors, but keeping with the
Orange:

http://www.milkstreetmedia.com/misc/aurora2.png

I really like use of orange on the buttons and the tabs in this theme. If we
were to go with a light theme still, I think I may rather prefer the
HumanFancyCandy, based on the murrina engine.

http://www.milkstreetmedia.com/misc/fancyhuman.png

I'm a sucker for that menu bar texture, and the glossiness in this theme
seems really subdued by the fact that the theme doesn't use rounded corners,
and gradients in the toolbars.

Maybe a light aurora theme with dark rubberized grips would be the way to
go. Especially if we can get rid of the glossy gradient toolbars. I'm
totally new to theming GTK but it is something I want to learn, and will be
using these as a base to learn from. I do hope to make something that'll be,
at least, in the running for default hardy theme.

Oh and Steven, the Dock is the Avant Window Navigator. It's in the gutsy
repos and here on launchpad:

https://launchpad.net/awn

Corey

On 11/1/07, Dylan McCall <dylanmccall at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> That screenshot with Aurora is definitely nice, Corey (I was looking for
> that one, actually!). I particular like the slightly darker handle widgets.
> Something about dark themes strikes me as uncommon and maybe a bit of a
> niche, though. I could be mistaken, but lighter colours seem to me to give
> natural reading, with a more paper-like feel. With that in mind, the very
> orange orange that we use at the moment would feel much more natural with a
> lighter, browner colour. Yes, I just suggested brown. Light brown, mind;
> there's a very particular colour I am thinking...
> Darker elements could be an interesting thing to ponder, though. I am not
> sure where they would fit, but some variety could help to give other widgets
> more prominence.
> The darker colours bring out images, definitely, and I think that's where
> they fit in well. That is why it works really well in Ubuntu Studio, and why
> I was playing with dark themes while toying with F-Spot, then back to a
> light theme as soon as I started doing my usual stuff. Worth considering
> that IDEs tend to have white backgrounds, and so do text editors. That
> reflects my own experiences quite well: it is definitely easier to see black
> on white than tiny white writing on black (or dark grey).
> I am willing to bet that the majority of users do texty stuff as opposed
> to graphical, artistic stuff. (Which is why we have Ubuntu Studio for the
> others!)
>
> Another thing I have against black / orange was also something that
> bothered me with OpenMoko's earlier interface. (You will notice at this
> point, with the 2007.2 interface, that it has a prevalence of white in the
> main interface details, with dark colours just on the edges. Very
> attractive). Orange is a harsh colour, and one which begs for attention
> against a dark background like that. However, in this case and the case of
> OpenMoko's earlier interface, it becomes a regular colour! The only
> particularly intense colours we have left are white (used for text, maybe
> artsy icons) and varying shades of red. Orange is pretty red already, so
> red's prominence is not going to be very prominent; it blends in with the
> rest, feeling more normal. As well as being a potential issue with
> immediately recognizing UI elements, it also means less variety in the
> theme. Most of these colours are dwarfed by the dark backgrounds, so they
> have less impact and less meaning.
>
> Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit (a lot), orange isn't overused or anything.
> However, there is method to my madness: A black background requires harsh
> colours to stand out against, whereas a white one is gentle, leaving more
> room for the other colours. The grey background is a neat in-between zone,
> but as we've seen (*cough*Windows95), lighter greys look very bad in large
> quantities.
>
> Still, I like the darker handles in your screenshot. Feels like
> high-friction rubber pads, which is quite intuitive. A good reflection of
> what the widget means...
>
>
> Bye,
> -Dylan McCall
>
>
> On 11/1/07, Corey Woodworth <coreywoodworth at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I think a dark theme with orange highlights would be a great new
> > direction to go in. A dark theme is working out great for Ubuntu studio. If
> > we do decide to go that route, I think we should definitely consider the
> > Aurora GTK engine. It looks great with dark color schemes, and is currently
> > the highest rated GTK engine on www.gnome-look.org  . I whipped up a
> > quick screenshot of aurora-looks with colors from the proposed Hardy palette
> > here:
> > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/HardyDesign
> >
> > Here is my screenshot:
> > http://www.milkstreetmedia.com/misc/aurora.png
> >
> > It certainly still needs some work, but I'd be willing to pursue it if
> > there is interest.
> >
> > Corey
> >
> > --
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> > ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
> > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
> >
> >
>
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