[ubuntu-art] Itrepid theme inspiration ?

[Sumit Agarwal]

Now that I think about it, you are very right that there is a troubling 
(yes, not just curious, but troubling) conservatism to Ubuntu art. The 
attitude with Ubuntu/GNOME seems to be: if we change it more than a 
little bit, certain segments of both new and long-time users will leave 
Ubuntu in droves. This is nonsense. Windows XP (Luna style was shocking 
for its time! And it is still garishly blue!), Windows Vista, Mac OS 10, 
and Mac Leopard all made very dramatic visual departures from their 
predecessors. Far more dramatic than Human, even. These did not result 
in a downturn in user base, with the possible exception of Vista (and we 
all know that in Vista's case it wasn't because of the look!).

Lets be bold. Lets be visionary. And in the process, lets build Ubuntu's 
halo. It really is one of the most effective ways to build attention, 
and thus users.

-Sumit

Julian Oliver wrote:
> ..on or around Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 05:14:22PM +0100, Sumit Agarwal said:
>   
>> I think both mock-up links presented (the Windows one and the Ubuntu 
>> one) are really great examples, though they may be a touch too dark for 
>> mainstream tastes (maybe I'm wrong. 
>>     
>
> Human is already too /caramel/ for many tastes..
>
> there is a curious conservatism at work i think here in Ubuntu Art.
> Human was a risky design idea, that half-worked. the relative success of
> this theme leaves Ubuntu Art leaders afraid of taking further design
> risks. as a result, the graphical presentation of Ubuntu is stagnating
> in its own prior bravery.
>
> for the next release i think we'd all be wise to not cower away from the
> possibility of widespread disappointment at shipping a radically new
> theme - just as Human was when it was introduced. surely it cannot be
> worse than promising great changes, as we all did, only to default back
> to the known (for an LTS release). 
>
> moreso, i think it's safe to generalise that people appreciate attempts
> at improvement, being often far more generous in this respect than fear
> would advise.
>
> oh, i like both mockups.
>
> cheers,
>
>