[ubuntu-art] Impression Alpha 5

[Joseph]

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 7:01 AM, Joseph <yharrow at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 9:44 PM, John Baer <baerjj at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 2009-03-01 at 06:54 +0000, Jonathan Blackhall wrote:
>>
>> > Pardon my ignorance, but I don't quite "get" the circles.  What do
>> > they tell
>> > me about their purpose?  If I didn't already know what the 3 buttons
>> > at the
>> > top right of the screen did, I wouldn't know what these buttons do.
>> > Isn't
>> > the purpose of the buttons to be at least loosely descriptive of what
>> > the
>> > user can expect when they press them?  I'm also not familiar with OS
>> > X, so I
>> > have the same trouble with their red, yellow and green.
>> >
>> > I'm not normally a fan of the "Ubuntu should not try to be like OS X"
>> > argument, but I think in this case it's relevant.  Why are you trying
>> > to
>> > mimic what I'd consider to be a poor design choice?
>>
>> Jonathan,
>>
>> Thank you for the question. The desire to use circles for frame control
>> widgets is not from OSX. The symbolism comes from the Ubuntu logo. As
>> the Impression theme design is based on Ubuntu, IMO it makes sense.
>>
>> As the widgets are small it is difficult to craft icons which display
>> detail. However, if you hover your mouse over the widget a description
>> is display which should novice users.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>> --
>> ubuntu-art mailing list
>> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
>>
>
> Hi, I'd like to chime in here. I understand both sides of the "don't be
> like like OSX" argument and say that I beleive that we should at least to
> some extent attempt to differentiate ourselves from OSX and other OS'es as
> well, to create a unique branding, rather than come off as "copycats".
> Although, if we are able to take the 3 circle theme and "make it ours" then
> we are just as well off. My only question is whether we will be able to pull
> that off or whether people will always associate the 3 circles with OSX,
> rather than Ubuntu.
>
> As far as usability goes, I beleive that the colors themselves convey the
> use. Which unfortunately means that it will not be very accessible to color
> blind people. For Macintosh, who's market is mainly artists, this is not a
> huge problem. But for Ubuntu, who prides itself on "accessibility to all",
> this could pose a significant issue. I'm not sure that "hovering to find the
> use" is a very convenient idea. Since color blind folks may not remember it
> anyways if they can't tell the diffrenece between yellow and orange.
>
> Just my 2¢


Ok, I presented a problem. Now here is my solution. There are 2 ways to make
visual components accessible to everyone: through use of color profiles, or
use of shapes. Implementing color profiles for our purposes, will most
likely be rather complicated. So the easiest idea seems to be changing the
shapes of the buttons.

Before we decide which shapes to use, let us consider the anatomy of window
manager buttons. What do I mean by this? I mean that IMHO each of the 3
window manager buttons have their own visual cue words which may be
associated with them.

Maximize = exanding, increasing, moving
Minimize = shrinking, decreasing, slowing
Close = closing, bold/strong, stopping

So how can we express these visual cues, without sacrificing our idea of
colored circles? Well, the first way is by placing shapes within circles,
which many will automatically people will shake their heads at, due to the
complexity of such a design. So my solution is as follows: change the
*outline thickness* of the circles to reflect the action that it represents.
For example:

Maximize = bold outline
Minimize = thin outline
Close = filled cirlce or very thick outline
(see attached picture for details)

I beleive that this solution will allow us to retain our original color cues
and basic shapes, as well as create a unique branding that may only be
associated with Ubuntu.

Please let me hear your feedback! :)
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