Forwarding this email exchange with Mark. Please CC me as I am no longer a subscriber.
On 9/10/06, Mark Shuttleworth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Corey Burger wrote: > I wanted to raise some issues I have seen with the current artwork in > Edgy. I have been speaking with Troy Sobotka and he mentioned that > the artwork is largely being driven by you, as has always been the > case. I wanted to raise a few specific points, mostly related to > marketing: > > During the Edgy cycle we decided to build a community structure that could > help with artwork in Ubuntu. Until now, the artwork has been commissioned > directly from professional artists, with me guiding them and making the > final selection. I'm still very closely involved, but given the desire that > we have to build a real community team, I'm treading a little bit carefully. > I don't particularly like the current state of things, but I think it's good > that "community art" is landing in Edgy to get widespread review (and > acclaim or criticism as the case may be). > > > > 1. The largest complaint, beyond that we are brown (something I don't > much care about), is that the current Ubuntu themes are very dark. > Much too dark, even. > > I do have a personal preference for darker desktops. This reduces eyestrain > substantially, and allows documents, icons etc on the desktop to stand out > much more dramatically. We have a policy of keeping the desktop clean and > out of the way. Choosing abstract images that do not have a lot of sharp > contrast has been part of the way we've tried to achieve that. > > > > 2. Our dapper and earlier login screen is very bright, much in > contrast with the rest of the theme. It has become one of the > recognizable elements of Ubuntu, as any machine without anybody at it > becomes an instant billboard for Ubuntu. Thus the design for the login > screen must be considered very carefully, as it no longer truly an > artwork exercise. > > Corey, I produced our longstanding GDM login image personally, I do care > deeply and won't let it get screwed up ;-) > > The login can be a lot lighter than the desktop, because you're never > really *studying* it. you either see it in a room (bright is good) or, when > you use it, it disappears very quickly. So, yes, the login needs to be > bright, bold, very strongly branded, etc. I WILL NOT CHANGE IT unless I > think the change is an improvement in this regard. > > > > 3. The new Edgy login screen is very dark and not an iteration on the > old screen, which is an issue in my books. I understand what Troy has > been saying with palettes, but there is a happy medium. The dappling > effect also looks very mottled at a distance and thus not great. I > propose we lighten the tone, to some point between the old login and > the new one and go back to a more solid tone, without the dappling. > > Read my mails on the list if you want to see what I think. > > The current attempt will not make it through to final. There's some very > nice concepts that were in the early brainstorming of the community, > particularly from Troy, and I think those could really enhance the login > screen. But the current version is a regression. > > > > 4. The new background is just as dark as before. One of the other > shipped backgrounds for dapper was about 2 tones lighter, something > which makes the desktop seem much lighter. You can see the effect > here: > http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=718&slide=14 > (also, this is one of the few times OSDir has actually changed the > desktop background during a screenshto series) > I don't advocate we use that exact background, but something in the same > tone. > > I'm afraid I'm usually offline when reading email on the road, so you might > want to send that to me in an email. > > > > > 5. The splash should reflect these other changes. > > Yes. The Dapper splash is my reference point for Edgy artwork, and so far > we are not coming particularly close. > > Corey, this mail would be better used if it had been sent to the ubuntu-art > mailing list! Please consider forwarding your mail and my response there. > > Mark > -- ubuntu-art mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
