[ubuntu-art] Impression Alpha 5

[Joseph]

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 9:28 PM, John Baer <baerjj at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 2009-03-05 at 14:38 +0000, Joseph wrote:
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 08:41:05 -0500
> > From: Joseph <yharrow at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [ubuntu-art] Impression Alpha 5
> > To: Discussion on Ubuntu artwork <ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com>
> > Message-ID:
> >         <e0587bcb0903050541r873662ax937da6111baf51d2 at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> > 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! :)
> > >
> > >
>
> Thanks for the feed back! I will give it a try this weekend.
>
> John
>
>
> --
> ubuntu-art mailing list
> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
>

Np John,

I was actually thinking of switching the minimize and maximize shapes, so
that the empty space inside the circle signifies the amount of window space
shown on the screen, with the close circle of course showing almost no empty
space or none at all.
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