[ubuntu-art] Windows? Mac? Gnome? KDE?

[Julian Oliver]

..on or around Fri, May 09, 2008 at 10:04:15AM -0500, Seth Rattan said:
> I completely agree.  We should pick an idea/concept and use that for the
> basis of all specific design decisions.  Whether that idea is to work with
> specific visual elements (glass effects, gradients, window borders) or to
> pursue an overall visual idea, we need something to guide our work besides
> "this needs to be more macish" or "this looks like windows vista." We need
> to build our own ideas, from the ground up, instead of defining ourselves by
> the arbitrary and often unimaginative interfaces present on closed operating
> systems.

sure, but as a group we could take years deciding such things, if at
all. 

IMO it's best to simply start making themes in small groups based on
your own ideas with the intent of them being tested in the wild and
(ideally) improved as a result. 

perhaps then - after all this process - Mark will become aware of the
theme, decide he likes it and make it the default. if not, perhaps it'll
be shipped anyway as part of a theme pack.

strong and unique ideas are often (not always) one of the first
casualties of a collaborative design process; the process of seeking
agreement in groups often results in the generalisation of design
proposals in order to fit the many varying interests of all group
members. what otherwise gave those original ideas a strong identity is,
by this process, averaged into mediocrity and those that contributed the
strong ideas lose motivation having seen this identity dissolved.

for this reason i think it's best to create prototype implementations
(even mockups) of good designs alone with the ends of inspiring
collaborators to improve that implementation. 

the New Wave theme group are a good example of this process in action,
so far. IMO this approach has the best chance of success, most things
considered.

cheers,

-- 
julian oliver
http://julianoliver.com
http://selectparks.net
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