[Tango-artists] Glossy folders

[Tuomas Kuosmanen]

On Sat, 2005-11-26 at 06:05 +0100, sascha brossmann wrote:
> It's in a way like they were constantly yelling at my face without
> communicating anything but their mere presence. ;-) Not quite what the
> doctor ordered. Consequently I suggest to leave the stronger spectrum of
> signals to elements which actually *do* signal something.

I think it is important to make folders easily distinguishable from
files thouhg. The blue works quite well for that. I mean, at least to
me, it makes navigating a folder tree much easier when I can spot the
folders better. I do agree with your idea about keeping colors as
"signals", but I dont think this is a huge problem in this case, as
there is a reason for "marking" folders.

The style is new and weird at first, but can we try to live with it a
bit, to see how we like it, say, in two weeks time? First reactions
usually tend to be quite strong even thouhg most of it might be from the
fact it simply is *different*, regardless of whether the change is for
good or bad.

> Also, i would like to suggest to further reduce the tell-tale details
> which are still omnipresent present in many of the icons (though,
> fortunately, to a lesser degree than currently common), amongst those
> e.g. 'video-x-generic' and 'emblem-fotos'. I might sound like some
> die-hard 1950s/1960s functionalist (which i am ultimately not), but
> let's not forget that icons and other interface elements are not
> sitting in their environment for decoration purposes but to effectively
> communicate something to the user which the latter can act upon. And
> while "pleasant to behold" definitely is a necessary part of this
> effectiveness, "as simple, as possible, but no simpler" is it much as
> well.

This is a good point. Can you try to create an example video icon in the
style that shows your point of view better? Please do not worry if it is
not "pretty", if you dont have time to make a very nice one - what I am
more interested in here is the metaphor and the general visual idea.

> And while i'm already at it: the vast issues concerning the free
> desktop's interface don't solely stem from a lack of unity in
> appearance. In my eyes, the actual problem lies much deeper: it is
> a lack of _visual_ _patterns_ as a consequence of the multitude of
> _behavioural_ _patterns_ (i.e. their absence).

Yes. That is one of the big tasks we need to fix on the free desktop.
Tango is just one part of the effort. Also, even if one is not
"artistic", contributing good ideas for metaphors is very important and
valuable help.

> * I'd like to see more differentiation between objects (e.g.
> applications and other files) and predicates (functions/actions, e.g.
> most toolbar stuff). Due to the abstract nature of predicates it
> would make much sense to me, to convey this with a significantly more
> symbolic, sign-like rendering style: Much flatter, more graphical, more
> contrast, less 3d realism, less colour shades etc. Just an idea, there
> are more possibilities for sure.
> 
> * Files and applications should be easy to tell apart, which currently
> with the exception of the obvious paper-document metaphor is impossible.
> Amongst others, using a distinct common perspective for all members of
> one class could help to achieve this. e.g. files in a flat top-down
> perspective (which also maximises usable space) and applications in a
> frontal perspective, turned inwards to a certain degree ( similar to the
> folder as they are no.w)
> 
> * Propably this will need more conceptualisation to get it right. I
> think it is important to construct some context (storyboard-like, not
> mock-ups) to get to sensible solutions.

Yeah. We are all ears and eyes if you want to sketch up things!

> * The colour palette is too saturated on the whole and should also
> contain less dominant shades. Especially for larger areas, which
> should *not* be drawn in highly saturated colours. Otherwise you will
> have a hard time drawing attention to smaller areas of interest.

Again, feel free to make a proposal here, with preferably some examples.

> If we happen to be able to make the transition from _style_ to a visual
> _language_ the impact could be much deeper and rewarding. This might be
> one of the best opportunities in a long time. I can smell significant
> change ahead, i hope it's not just my nose playing tricks on me. ;-)

Yep. Show your mind in vector format and we can see how it looks :)
(I am starting to repeat myself here, I guess :))

> p.s.: i will try to contribute something more downright practical ;-)
> as well, but i'm currently starting to dive into my MFA thesis and
> might not act overly reliable and responsive during the next months.

Yeah. It would be very helpful if you could try to give us some concrete
examples - pictures speak a lot more. I hope you can find the time.

You do really have a good chance to be heard, but the more icons we do,
the more work it takes to keep things consistend and the harder it is to
change the style down the road. Luckily we seem to have succeeded in
creating an easily adaptable technique and style with Tango and
inkscape, so contributing appears to be a LOT easier than when I look at
the icon effort of Gnome desktop I and Jakub have been involved in
before. Its great to see other people pick up the style quickly and it
is nice to get more contributions!

Best,

Tuomas