On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 8:22 AM, Joseph <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 7:01 AM, Joseph <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 9:44 PM, John Baer <[email protected]> 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 >>> [email protected] >>> 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 2ยข > > > 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! :) > >
Here's the SVG I created, for all those looking to play around and make their own mockups.
<<attachment: window-button-concept.svg>>
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