Plasma Active looks so nice in so many of the details, but there is one place that sticks out like sore thumb an which we really haven't been able to get replacement artwork for: those icons in the upper right corner.
The Home icon is nice enough and looks like it belongs. It won't be there on all Plasma Active devices either: on Spark we have a Home hardware key and so will probably be using that exclusively instead of an icon in the panel.
However, the Share, Like and Connect buttons are what we call "developer art". They were three icons chosen nearly at random from the default Oxygen icon set and re-purposed for this use case, even though they are not really designed for it at all. Every time I see them, I figure Nuno is off somewhere cursing me. And so he should. ;)
So here's a call to participation for all the artistic people out there: can you create three beautiful icons that look like they belong in the Plasma Active panel and communicate the concepts of Share, Like and Connect?
On IRC, Stecchino pointed me to this example of the apparently(?) universal symbol for share. So there are good starting points for inspiration.
Send your concepts and proposed icons to the Plasma Active development mailing list: active at kde dot org. (Oh, and don't let the term "develpoment" fool you: it's where the programmers, UI designers, artists, packagers and testers all hang out and work.)
17 comments:
Wow. Aaron, did you know that those "tree branches" are super negative? I can almost feel them piercing me right through. I think that's a pretty aggressive picture, making people feel uneasy, NOT to mention that the lines of the picture are all, well, non-even and look like they're simply badly drawn. Please, consider choosing a different background. :) No trolling here, not all the devs do pay attention to this kind of stuff - that's why there are artists and marketing guys out there.
(Same for the default KDE 4.8 wallpaper - *nothing* should point to the left! Only RIGHT an UP. Read up on the Emotion Matrix if you got a spare minute ;) )
I am assuming Spark does not come with a stylus, so how about figuring out proper sizes for all these buttons before calling for artwork?
As for artwork, it would be nice to have proper contrast by breaking the habit of adding shiny (read: blurry, gray) fill in the icons (e.g. visible in tray icons). This is one of the contributions of Nuno that do not make me to excited.
@Ignat: 'Wow. Aaron, did you know that those "tree branches" are super negative?'
have you tested this position by putting the picture in people's hands in context?
remember: this is not a billboard selling drinks or a logo trying to trick-inspire people. the goal is not even "selling positivity" but "providing background serenity".
also, please feel free to work on a better background, keeping in mind the goals.
(as for the 4.8 wallpaper, i wasn't involved with that and i agree that it may have worked a lot better flipped)
and .. i think we lost the topic at hand, no?
@jstaniek: "how about figuring out proper sizes for all these buttons before calling for artwork?"
the size variance involved will not affect the content of these icons. we're not talking about the difference between, say 24px and 256px here. :)
the artwork should not contain design elements that would be sensitive to the small size variance between the panel on 7" versus 10" tablets.
it is evident from the use case that the icon needs to be expressive at relatively small sizes. that's all the constraint that should be required for first stage design.
Icons from thenounproject.com might be a source of inspiration as well, e.g.
http://thenounproject.com/tag/share/
http://thenounproject.com/tag/like/
http://thenounproject.com/noun/upload/#icon-No463
http://thenounproject.com/noun/approve/#icon-No330
http://thenounproject.com/noun/community/#icon-No288
Hey Aaron, as I preordered a Spark tablet myself and am really excited about it, I'm still looking for more information. In the shownotes for the Linux Action Show - episode with you talking about Spark - is a link to the article.
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Will-the-Spark-Tablet-Ignite-a-FOSS-Fire-74350.html
Take a look at paragraphs 4-7 (those in bold). A lot of "tech people" critisize Spark for being much overpriced and hardware itself for being not even average. One blogger even stated - "the software is absolute trash". I'm not going to comment myself as I'd like you to try and adress/counter those arguments presented in the article and defend your product, if it's possible. :) Thanks in advance, I'd really like to know what you have to say on that.
@james: check out my blog entry on the economics of spark from the other day.
http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2012/02/on-economics-of-spark.html
the bottom lie is that you get an open device with sources and a user experience that does not treat you as a consumer but as a human.
granted, not everyone cares about that. moreover, there will always be 'haters'.
we (the community) know why we are doing this and what we want ferom it. that is our value. and many many others agree.
we have done market reserch as well :)
the best way to show them, however, is to just make it a success. and this is what we plan on doing ... one step at a tome.
thanks for your help and supportt btw. :)
The contrast between text/icons and the bar on the top is very bad, e.g. the time is almost invisible.
I think the bar or the icons should to be darker.
on Spark we have a Home hardware key and so will probably be using that exclusively instead of an icon in the panel.
It would be nice to make it configurable. For example some prefer not to use hardware buttons, and to use touch screen in most interactions (even though hardware buttons might be available). I.e. if you take away some touchscreen functionality, there should be a way to bring it back for those who still want it.
@Aaron that's fair enough, thanks for the quick response. :) Surely we can show haters that Spark can be a success and it both the system and UI will grow, and of course that more devices are released. One of the mentioned bloggers wrote: "it's a safe bet there won't be enough pre-orders to actually put the Spark into production" - well she lost that bet quite fast, we already prove haters wrong. :)
When that blogger wrote "the software is absolute trash" she already lost credibility.
"Plasma Active looks so nice in so many of the details, but there is one place that sticks out like sore thumb [...]: those icons in the upper right corner."
I was thinking the exact same thing, and I do have some ideas for it in my head.
In fact I already planned to try and come up with some mockups for a visual redesign for that whole share-like-connect area in the UI, and submit it to the Plasma Active team as a suggestion.
How quickly do you need to get this finished, though?
I won't be able to do any design work within the next 12 days, due to an upcoming exam.
So if it can't wait, I could (if appreciated) at least verbally express my ideas for consideration by those who are working on it.
(PS: I'm not a professional artist, but I do have some experience with visual design. And I would really like to help make Plasma Active succeed... :-)
Cheers,
smls
I agree with Shmerl that the home button should be kept, and I can add a use case as well:
If I plug in an external keyboard and mouse/touchpad I certainly *don't* want to have to move my hand from the mouse/touchpad to the device to go to the home screen.
Share: I checked the gallery application on my telephone and it uses a similar symbol, but with arrows pointing upwards (to the left and right) and a circle at the bottom. If you have access to a Galaxy S2 you can check it yourself. Perhaps it is standard in Android, I wouldn't know.
Like: Unless it is protected in some way the "thumbs up" should be reckognizable to a lot of people. There's a difference between love and like :-)
However, the thumbs up symbol is old, and that means it has different traditional meanings around the world. In the Middle East it could be interpreted as "up yours" instead of "good one". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbs_signal
Would a smiling face be a better choice? It should at least not have any negative connotations.
Connect: How about the symbol used in flowchart applications, two circles connected by a line. Or perhaps one circle could be replaced by something representing an activity.
Unfortunately I can't contribute anything but thoughts - I was told already in grade school that I am not very good at drawing :-)
with a keyboard plugged in you have alt+tab (along with the windowstrip as well, of course)
It doesn't need to be an explicit virtual home button, but there should be some method to get to the home screen without using the hardware tablet button (gesture, some UI element etc.). Harmattan/N9 is a good example of that kind of interaction.
I'll make something. Also, if I am available to contribute time to design and artwork, is there a forum I should join or something?
Also, where can I get high resolution screen shots to make sure it all fits together?
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