[ubuntu-art] Stop kickin' the dead horse - Create a full Union GTK theme.

[xl cheese]

I'm going to try to mimick Ken's mockups as close as I can with a true gtk theme.  If anyone here would like to help out with it email and we can take it offline.  I'll start using the pixmap engine for things I can't get any current themes to make then attempt to alter some other engines to do it and replace the pixmap parts.
________________________________
> Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 22:52:09 -0500
> From: vermette at gmail.com
> To: ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
> Subject: Re: [ubuntu-art] Moving things forwards.
> 
> "Ooh, what's that one?"
> 
> OSX is long held as one of the boldest and most unique designs in the industry, when Windows was just toying with XP - Apple made the ultra-shiny, over-glossed look and threw in every effect they could think of and paired it with a pinstripe. If you look at OSX now, compared to when it was first demonstrated, it has toned down dramatically; no pinstripes, for example.
> 
> That being said, I'm a firm believer in designs that are both bold and unique. If it's unique, people will remember it. If it's bold, people will talk about it. When you see a desktop screen-shot of Vista, you know it's Vista. Vista is bold, unique. When you see OSX, you can see the dock - the signature - Unique to OSX. Apple has always been bold, and the big "X" on the box shouts at you. "Ooh, what's that one?"
> 
> If you want to make an argument for just being Unique - that bold should be beyond our users, then I would be tempted to present Amiga. There's an operating unique to itself, but there's no oomph in the design. I've only ever -heard- of these Amiga users, and I only hear that the Amiga users out there are the ones unwilling to let it go. I doubt anyone will walk by an Amiga in a store and be captured by it. It's unique, and users of Amiga reminisce about it - but it's not being talked about in anything other than fond memories.
> 
> Linux users have posted pictures of Vista-clone desktops, or OSX-like machines. You forget them, because it's not unique or ever as polished as the original. Linux/Ubuntu is not Vista, it's not OSX, it's not Amiga: Ubuntu needs to be Unique and bold - Capturing - Ubuntu. Ubuntu can be that, and be user-friendly at the same time. It doesn't need to be jet-black to be bold, bold isn't a colour or a specific design. It doesn't need to have patterns and pinstripes - it needs to stand out; "Ooh, what's that one?"
> 
> When 3 computers are lined up at computer store X - you don't want Ubuntu to be passed. If it makes the stand, people will notice it and be drawn to it for it's beauty - and stay for the amazing operating system it is. You want whoever passes that computer to say...
> 
> "Ooh, what's that one?"
> 
> On Jan 2, 2008 9:43 PM, Andrew Laignel <a.laignel at ukdotcafe.com> wrote:
> Who wrote:
>> How does a conventional 'vote for the one you like' allow us to see this?
>>
> Maybe you could vote 1...5 on each entry then look at the tally graphs
> for distribution?
>>> into love it/hate it camps which should be avoided at all cost.  Ideally
>>> a default theme should not be even noticed by the public - being neutral
>>> and innofensive as possible should be the goal.  A perfect demonstration
>>> of this is Apple, where the current theme for OSX is crips, clean,
>>> stylish and probably as neutral as you can get - no loud colours,
>>> drastic layouts or hard edges.
>>>
>>
>> AFAIK, this has never been the aim for the Ubuntu default theme - and
>> I don't think it ever will be. Sometimes going for love it or hate it
>> beats going for bland. At least then people see it!
>>
>> As long as I can remember the Ubuntu Theme has been part of the
>> branding, something that helps make Ubuntu known, something for people
>> to talk about. From this point of view, it has worked very well - if
>> you see a screenshot of linux and it is brown, you _know_ it is ubuntu
>> - if you see a blue distro.... who knows...
> I'm not saying don't be brown, or to lose the Ubuntu theme, but to avoid
> anything overly stylized.  Most people using a computer will never touch
> the default theme settings, and the less likely that a sizable
> percentage will be sitting in front of something they hate the better.
> If people want something really cool/different (ultra dark/steampunk
> etc) then maybe there should be some alternate themes shipped with it so
> if someone does have a look into the menus something is there.
> 
> Ulitmately if you really want a radical theme you can with very little
> effort.  The focus should be on giving the people who simply don't care
> about the subject as pleasant an experience as possible, rather than
> forcing them to change it because it's horrible (to them).
> 
> --
> ubuntu-art mailing list
> ubuntu-art at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
> 
> 
> 
> --
> -Ken Vermette

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