[ubuntu-art] Matte for the next release?

[Álvaro Medina Ballester]

I'm agree with Who again. Agree in all points, but I want to add one
more. Shinnyness should be on app icons. Why? Simple, apps should be easy to
recognize, should be distinct than the other kind of icons (mimetypes,
devices, etc.).
Mimetypes should be matte with some drawings inside, to recognize their
function. Folders, etc. should have the same matte colour with good designed
emblems to easily recognize their content. Notification area should have 2
or 3 colours, no more. Sometimes it seems that your notification area is
your icon area on the top panel. And those 2 or 3 colours should be matte,
of course.

And lyrae has the greatests themes I've ever seen on linux. Simple, clean,
great choice of colours, and great fonts. It would be amazing that he/she
could join ubuntu art team.

Cheers.


2007/11/22, Who <mailforwho at googlemail.com>:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Seeing as Kenneth says that this is the time to suggest ideas to be
> taken in to account when the final artwork direction is decided I
> would like to start some discussion of the merits of using a matte
> theme (with small glossy elements/highlights) for the next release of
> Ubuntu
>
> I'd love anyone who has ideas on why this is a good or bad idea to
> chime in. I'll list a few of my own to get discussion started
>
> I'm suggesting it, so I'll list why I think it's a good idea to go mainly
> matte.
>
> Problems with Glossyness:
> 1. It's been DONE (by Ubuntu and by everyone else)
> --- Shiny themes have been done and are everywhere now. Ubuntu's
> design wants to STAND OUT, and we want to make a new chapter in
> Ubuntu's design! OsX used to be king of gloss, but in Leopard we see
> Apple shifting away from it  (but admittedly not quite being able to
> let go).
>
> 2. It's DISTRACTING
> --- Shinnyness is _distracting_ from the what you are working on.
> GNOME is designed not to get in your way while you do your work, but
> shinny things that cry out for your attention minimise it's
> effectiveness in doing this
>
> 3. It's not (very) TANGO Compliant
> --- Tango guidelines ask only for things that are glossy in real life
> to be glossy. Given that more and more applications are adopting Tango
> icons we are giving ourselves a much larger job if we create a theme
> that Tango doesn't fit in to, because for total consistency we have to
> re-theme all the applications.
>
> 4. It feels LESS REALISTIC
> --- As Tango guidelines point out, real surfaces are rarely glossy...
> Using icons that represent real objects helps people intuitively use
> applications and understand icons, adding gloss somewhat detracts from
> this. It leads to 'cartoon' design in many cases.
>
> Nice things about matte themes
> 1. They can be SOFTER
> --- contrast in a matte theme can be lower, so the whole set of
> widgets is easier to look at ('easier on the eyes'). It makes the
> interface feel more human, to me...
>
> 2. BROWN and Matte > Brown and glossy
> --- One of the contradictions in Ubuntu UI policy seems to be the
> difficulty of brown vs orange. One of the reasons we have this is
> becasue brown does not look good glossy, and orange does! If Ubuntu is
> going to stay brown using a matte theme allows the designers more
> scope and allows for greater colour consistency. Brown isn't a very
> glossy colour
>
> 3. Textures are often matte
> -- Elephants, for example ;)
>
>
> There are some really original ones around (yes, so I'm sure there are
> orignal glossy ones around too, please post them if you find them :)
>
> After some trawling, here we go
> Just the _buttons_ on this theme are beautiful:
> http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Aurora+Sand?content=69773
> Someone called 'Lyrae' has a whole host of similar (awesome and
> original) matte/square themes:
> http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Reuben?content=55876
> http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Nova?content=57310
> http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Fawn?content=58426
> http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Calla?content=52297
>
> This 'wooden' is kind cool
> http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Muku+GTK?content=59034
>
> So is the Clearlooks theme from Breezy
> http://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=218&image=ubuntu_breezyc2_14_lrg
>
> Nodoka, is a nice theme engine to use
> http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Nodoka+GTK%2B+Engine?content=64604
>
> So, let's have a discussion about it - what do people think?
>
> --
> ubuntu-art mailing list
> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
>



-- 
Álvaro.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-art/attachments/20071122/f8f6b252/attachment.htm