Re: [Ayatana] Software center icon needs designers minds, and new humanity desktop methafor.

["gespertino@xxxxxxxxx" <gespertino@xxxxxxxxx>]

First: who is "people"? You need to define an audience.
Do you assume that newcomers are people who come from Android phones
to a desktop OS?
If Ubuntu's audience is computer literate people with smartphones and
previous experience with appstores that use a shopping bag as an icon,
then great. We're all set.

But if your audience is regular people from any part of the globe,
coming from windows (where they're trying to sell you programs all the
time you have to surf the web for freebies), then things are
different.
As far as I can remember Ubuntu motto is "linux for human beings" and
the CD envelopes used to have a nice multi-racial circle of friends,
aiming to be inclusive and bring this operating system to anyone.
And if you ask me, the shopping bag icon isn't that.
If the audience is people who own a smartphone, then you're leaving
most of the humanity out of the frame.
Think what does a shopping bag mean to a third world country and
probably you'll get what I mean.
Forget the shopping bag became an icon for "acquiring goods". A
shopping bag is a shopping bag. If in this part of the world that icon
is familiar it's because we're used to buy things instead of just
getting them.

Using the same shopping bag used by Android and Microsoft, Ubuntu only
shows it can't go beyond copying a "successful" model. It's not
original, it's not completely pertinent and it even doesn't look good
when it is reduced.


2011/9/6 Ian Santopietro <isantop@xxxxxxxxx>:
> I don't think people necessarily associate shopping bags with paid apps.
> People using Android (Which uses a bag as it's icon) tend to get more free
> apps than paid ones. They still use the Market icon, which looks like a
> shopping bag. I very rarely see any Android users opening up the browser to
> go to the internet and look for some free .apks.
>
> On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 18:40, gespertino@xxxxxxxxx <gespertino@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>>
>> 2011/9/6 Eylem Koca <eylemkoca@xxxxxxxxx>:
>> > How about putting the U with the downward arrow
>> > (http://ubuntuone.com/30SgZIkoCLbxKWGhS2CUpY) on the side of the bag?
>>
>> Don't. Please.
>> I pointed an alternative to show that it is possible to come up with
>> something different than a shopping bag in a simple, readable manner.
>> Stuffing this simpler idea on an already cluttered icon with serious
>> problems in small sizes won't help.
>> If the meaning of the bag alone isn't enough to communicate the idea,
>> then it's not matter of adding elements to the bag, but to think a
>> difference alternative.
>> Remember that an icon needs to be as clear as possible to communicate
>> its function in different sizes. Simplicity favours that.
>> I'm so against the bag icon not because I think commerce is bad. I'm
>> against it because shopping apps ISN'T the primary function of our
>> software centre.
>> Other appstores have a strong commercial presence with several
>> freebies. Our "store" is quite different: we have lots of free
>> applications and very few commercial ones.
>> This can change in the future, of course, but in the meantime, the
>> icon communicate "enter here to buy applications" when it's not the
>> case.
>> Without an explaination, people could dismiss that icon thinking "I
>> don't want to buy applications, I'll go to the internet and see where
>> I can get some free .exes" :-p
>>
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>
>
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> Ian Santopietro
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