[ubuntu-art] Impression Alpha 5

[Joseph]

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 8:22 AM, Joseph <yharrow at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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! :)
>
>

Here's the SVG I created, for all those looking to play around and make
their own mockups.
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