I've been subscribed to this list for a few months now, and have been slightly disappointed at how things are progressing. I have seen quite a lot of good ideas go by, with people saying 'yes, I like that' and then it disappears into history and someone else posts something and it all starts again. There seems to be a mockup->post->dissappear cycle.
I think it's the result of their being no actual official input, and no officially managed archive of contributions. There is the wiki, but each entry could be anything from a photograph of a sketch to a complete mockup. It's also hard to know when anything new has been added without checking each link individually each day. At this point I think what is really needed is an official voice to have a look at all the contributions, group all the viable ideas in one place and then say why each idea is good/bad and what the official opinion on it 'making it' as the default theme is. It would provide an excellent reference point on whats already been done, and what is being looked for in an official theme. I like to think I am fairly good at design but I have no idea if my current mockup is anything like anything that could be official. I cannot work on problems and refine it to meet the specifications if I have no idea what they are and I see this symptom in quite a lot of posts - the designer simply stops due to a lack of direction. I do not think it would take much to refine the wiki slightly with the current potential candidates and run them past Mark, or at least someone official so they can say a bit about each one and what is liked/disliked. At the least it would spur people on to improve on things and respond to the comments. One of the most important parts of a design brief in my opinion is a: the brief, and b: liasing with the clients at various stages to make sure things are going the way they like. We just seem to be missing both of these and seem to be just spinning our wheels. There is a lot of talent on this list and the wiki, and its a shame to see it under-utilised. :( -- ubuntu-art mailing list ubuntu-art@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art