unity-design team mailing list archive

[Ian Santopietro <isantop@xxxxxxxxx>]

I see.

While this has merit, I don't think it's entirely relevant. What if I
have two web browsers on my launcher? What if I don't have a default
specified. The concept of differentiating an app as default is broken.
There shouldn't be a default web browser, since it really doesn't
matter. Opening a file from the file browser should follow the last
used app.

On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 16:27, frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx
<frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 00:48, Ian Santopietro <isantop@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> This seems more like a theme question then, rather than a UI one. A
>> custom theme is better suited to solving the issue in your particular
>> case.
>
>
> Theming is an excellent approach towards gaining something from this topic,
> yes.
> It's just that the consumer in me expects to find a theme to be available
> and only a few clicks away.. not that i'd have to create it myself.
>
>> Removing all but one color from an icon by default is a bad idea,
>> unless the icon is supposed to be that way. Even these exceptions
>> should be kept to a minimum. The issue that arises is that there are
>> two main characteristics people use when quickly identifying an icon:
>> color and shape. If we make all the icons one color, then this
>> distinction is lost, and we must rely on shape alone, which isn't idea
>> for many people. This is the exact inverse of a theme like faenza,
>> where all the icons are the same shape (you lose the differences in
>> shape, then you only have color left).
>
>
> perhaps my wording was ambiguous or unclear, i mean to suggest the
> introduction of symbols instead of branding icons into the launcher.
> does canonical want app developers to develop their UI or does Ayatana aim
> at developing it themselves?
> I think Ayatana should come up with symbols for the Unity UI, including
> launcher SYMBOLS for default webbrowser, default email UI, default IM UI and
> default file management UI.
>
> Ayatana aka Canonical also came up with symbols for workspace switcher,
> trash and Dash, so it is not far fetched to do the same for default apps
> such as firefox and thunderbird, empathy and totem, gnome-terminal,
> gnome-calculator, [skype,] gnome-terminal and USC.
>
> symbolic icons, not desaturated corporate branding icons.
>
>>
>>
>> I will admit that monochrome icon sets have their artistic merits, but
>> functionally, they're a nightmare. Form is nice, but not at the sake
>> of function.
>>
>> Besides, the only other major OS that uses Monochrome app icons is
>> Windows Phone 7, and it's not particularly popular with consumers.
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 16:12, frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx
>> <frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 23:57, Ian Santopietro <isantop@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> The indicators work well monochrome because they were designed from
>> >> the start to be Monochrome, and include only simple shapes and
>> >> outlines. Regular icons do not work this way.
>> >>
>> >> Perhaps an option to desaturate the launcher icons, or a Unity plugin
>> >> if we get a plugin framework. But using this as default is a huge step
>> >> backward in usability for most people, particularly those with vision
>> >> loss, as the icons will blend into the launcher.
>> >
>> >
>> > "No, I disagree!
>> >
>> > Some OS designers or theme designers may disagree with this basic
>> > premise.
>> > Or artists may not have time to produce symbolic variations of all the
>> > icons
>> > for which software developers desire them. Therefore, there should be a
>> > mechanism for developers to request a symbolic variation of an icon,
>> > such
>> > that it will gracefully fall back to the non-symbolic equivalent if —
>> > whether intentionally or unintentionally — no symbolic variation has
>> > been
>> > provided."
>> >
>> >
>> > (from http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/SymbolicIcons ;)
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Ian Santopietro
>>
>> Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
>> See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
>>
>> "Eala Earendel enlga beorohtast
>>  Ofer middangeard monnum sended"
>>
>> Pa gur yv y porthaur?
>>
>> Public GPG key (RSA):
>>
>> http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x412F52DB1BBF1234
>
>



-- 
Ian Santopietro

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

"Eala Earendel enlga beorohtast
 Ofer middangeard monnum sended"

Pa gur yv y porthaur?

Public GPG key (RSA):
http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x412F52DB1BBF1234