Thoughts on Ubuntu brown and MS/Mac blue

[rosslaird]

I've seen a few posts on the forum about the choice of Ubuntu to use a brown palette in the general theme of the gnome desktop. While I have no actual idea why this path was chosen, I suspect it may be due to a general trend in interface design that is moving away from the blue palette that Microsoft and Apple have been tweaking for almost twenty years now. Blue has been done to death -- and besides, it's a cold palette, and renders the desktop with a kind of formality and corporateness that's at odds with the personal nature of computing today.

Brown (and shades edging up toward amber) and green (olive green in particular), are currently the leading edge of visual design. These colors are organic, relaxed, and accessible. Perhaps you've noticed that the default icon themes in applications like Thunderbird and Firefox are generous with sandy colors and browns, and stingy with blue. You can see the cutting edge of this type of design on the site of Jon Hicks (http://hicksdesign.co.uk/) , who was involved in the development of the Firefox/Thunderbird themes. (You can check out his icon designs for Thunderbird/Firefox here (http://hicksdesign.co.uk/portfolio/523/mozilla-logos).

Firefox and Thunderbird are two examples of leading edge design. Another example -- this time web design -- can be found at Dave Shea's, site (http://www.brightcreative.com/) (a palette of sand and red). Dave is the author of the new book "The Zen of CSS design."

Both on the web and in all kinds of leading edge applications, brown and green are the new blues. (I use a green and amber palette on my own site (http://www.rosslaird.info).)

Ubuntu is on the right track with their choice of palette. But a default palette is necessarily bland: it has to be simple and eye-candy-less, so that the average user is not going to be scared away. Hence the default chocolate wallpaper, and the Windows-like window controls (familiar to immigrants from the world of Microsoft, who comprise a large segment of new Ubuntu users). Many users will eventually be interested in tweaking their desktops, however. They will likely seek other, richer combinations of themes and hues.

Here are a few options:

Window Borders and Controls
(Change by selecting Desktop/Preferences/Theme/Theme Details/Window Border)

You know the function of the buttons at the top right of each window. You probably don't need each button to indicate its job. So why not use a more uniform set of window buttons that also matches the Ubuntu palette?

Install the H2Oridium theme from here (http://art.gnome.org/themes/metacity/438/). It's simply a matter of downloading the archive, browsing with the theme manager ("Install theme") and clicking on the file. You may or not have to close and then re-open the theme manager to see H2Oridium as a choice under "Window Border". It comes with several flavors, but the one relevant to Ubuntu is H2oridium-Amber, which will give you nice amber buttons.

Icons
The best icons for the Ubuntu palette (in my view) are the suede icons, which have been updated and adapted for Ubuntu by Nikola ("Ubuntu Guru"..). You can find them here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=467).

Wallpaper
If you're adventurous, the Buddha wallpaper posted by Jakeslife is great. It's available near the bottom on this (http://www.jakeslife.net/ubuntu/) page.
If you're not quite so adventurous, look at the aesthetic wallpaper set created by Jose Rangel. You can find quite a few of Jose's wallpapers here (http://www.gnome-look.org/usermanager/search.php?page=2&username=jrangels). The "Ubuntu dance" wallpapers are excellent.

Login Theme
For a visually exceptional GDM theme, check out fabiand's Tobacco Sky (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=18178).

When you put all this together, you'll have a very organic and stylish desktop. Your friends on the Mac and in Windows fill feel envious (and maybe some of them will switch...)

[Yukonjack]

Nice little article and you do make a good point 8-)
Thanks

[mike998]

Nice article.

I have posted an example of my desktop as it stands now in another post. I like my wallpaper, as it fades into the background. I don't often see it. Somebody today saw my "home" wallpaper (I change my wallpaper to a less risque version when my laptop is brought into work) and it took me a few seconds to realise what they were talking about.

I do have a highly coloured icon theme which is fairly easy on the eyes, but it is a little "window XP cartoon-ish" (the Ewegant icon theme). The icons should really be drawing my eye, hence the more colourful icon theme.

My window borders are SlateNG which is XP-ish in it's design but dark so it doesn't really pull much attention to itself when I am working.

My GDM theme is the "Ubuntu Circle of Friends" which I quite like and am not too worried about as it's something that's not often seen.

I personally found the official browns of the Ubuntu default theme to be too brown for my tastes, too much pull on my eye. However, that's my personal opinion (my girlfriend's Ubuntu PC was set up by myself to resemble an XP box - talk about cartoon blue.) and everyone is entitled to thier own. The blues tend to fade into the background for me, and be less noticible.

Ahhh... Linux where you are free to change the look of your desktop to go any way you want!

[daniels]

We considered all kinds of colours, but settled on brown as it was a rather 'earthy' kind of colour, and evoked all sorts of human imagery, which has obviously been consistent throughout the distribution (whether this is occasionally to its detriment or not is another matter ...).

Blue is the traditional colour of 'thinking', and it's been done by Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and in fact, just about everyone. In the end, we decided to not go with the blue (good as the connotations are), and instead run with earthy colours that evoke human imagery.

[bvc]

great post and I agree
while 'brown' is not what I do not like, the palette chosen is

yes blue has been done by everyone under the sun but there's a good reason. everyone can deal with or likes blue, but that is not the case with brown

[rosslaird]

I forgot one thing: if you want to go all out, you can also install a matching cursor theme. The yellow dot cursor theme (available here (http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=5475)), will do nicely.

[jnoreiko]

There are good reasons for the brown, as stated above: it's neutral and calm.

But as a novice user, I found the desktop colour to be a break in continuity with the strong graphic identity Ubuntu has built up. (see this thread in Chat (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=14192))

I think either the orange or the yellow from the Ubuntu logo would be better to greet new users.

[fu.]

=D>excellent post ross,

i agree with your observations on enhncing ubuntu's interface, and i also think that the royalty-free image of the 3 people holding hands in a circle shoud be dissapeared from any future releases.

i recently recieved some ubuntu CDs and while giving them out to friends and collegues, everyone agreed that this photo just doesn't cut it for an OS...it's like a CK ad for underwear..

[jnoreiko]

..it's like a CK ad for underwear..

True...
but it nicely echoes the Ubuntu logo.
It makes Ubuntu look accessible and friendly.

Any chance of remaking it with more clothes on?

[HungSquirrel]

I couldn't agree more! I am so tired of seeing blue everywhere. Brown, yellow, orange, and especially green are growing on me. When I first installed Ubuntu, I was quite pleased with Human.

[fu.]

True...
but it nicely echoes the Ubuntu logo.
It makes Ubuntu look accessible and friendly.

Any chance of remaking it with more clothes on?

i'm not so sure about that jnoreiko, i'd say that it just conrtadicts the warmness of the ubuntu concept, this image is really cold, take a peek at the people's gaze: it's so neutral, it could be used for advertising anything from underwear to Kleenex i think...

just my $0.02

[shimon]

But brown looks like poo...

[jnoreiko]

i'm not so sure about that jnoreiko, i'd say that it just contradicts the warmness of the ubuntu concept, this image is really cold, take a peek at the people's gaze: it's so neutral, it could be used for advertising anything from underwear to Kleenex i think...

I'd better explain better what I mean... :)

I like the photo from a graphic design aspect: the image of three people holding hands in a circle echoes the Ubuntu logo (which is a stylized version of just that, it seems to me). the placement of the image on the CD cover with the logo behind is really nicely done.
And having people is a good thing in general -- it goes well with the 'linux for human beings' tagline.

Now the particular execution of this concept... on reflection, I agree with you -- it's a bit samey, underwear advert. bit too trendy.

(we're heading off-topic here I'm afraid...)

[fu.]

got you!

(that was crystal-clear :-))

[Buffalo Soldier]

Thanks for the info on Jakeslife wallpapers. Really like it.

Was a bit uneasy with the default ubuntu background and brown theme at first. But after few months, growing to like brown human theme, but still on changing my background. (but avoiding the whole blue-look nowadays)

[shimon]

brown is still an uglay color.... thats why poo is that color... but a yellow brown is ok

[chrisw]

brown is still an uglay color.... thats why poo is that color... but a yellow brown is ok
I like the layout and the colour scheme...... very easy to use for extended periods with out becoming tiring.

I also like the Ubuntu logo and photo, it may come across a little contrived and marketed but does look like a polished product unlike some of the more established distro's << although I realy like the Debian swirl ;)

[Cossins]

I got tired of the brown colour the minute I saw it, so I quickly changed to something dark-blue.

Yellow is officially an ugly colour. :-)
(believe me, I'm gay ;-))

If Ubuntu wants to use a different and more 'humane' colour than blue, I would think green would be a better choice. Eventually a combination of a light green and the brown one (earth and trees). Brown is just so... 70'ies. :D

What I really don't understand is the people calling the Ubuntu logo-thing with the three people "pornography" :shock:
I mean, come on, sure the guy doesn't wear a shirt, but you gotta be kidding me if you've never seen a guy without his shirt on, and if you consider that pr0n you ain't seen nothin' yet...

- Simon

[HungSquirrel]

While you may not understand where the people who think the three people are a bit too scantily-clad, consider this: in many more conservative cultures (especially Muslim ones), a woman as scantily-clad as they are is extremely taboo. Also, a woman wearing a tank top and having her "high beams on" may be considered NSFW depending on the workplace. Ubuntu is designed to be friendly to people of many cultures as a desktop/workstation OS. What isn't offensive to you or me may be offensive in Muslim countries or in many workplaces in todays era of sexual harassment lawsuits.

[psychic]

While you may not understand where the people who think the three people are a bit too scantily-clad, consider this: in many more conservative cultures (especially Muslim ones), a woman as scantily-clad as they are is extremely taboo. Also, a woman wearing a tank top and having her "high beams on" may be considered NSFW depending on the workplace. Ubuntu is designed to be friendly to people of many cultures as a desktop/workstation OS. What isn't offensive to you or me may be offensive in Muslim countries or in many workplaces in todays era of sexual harassment lawsuits.
The human theme is very nice indeed (makes me feel warm an fuzzy inside :p), perhaps themes with a slim modification (like a navy-blue and olive-green alternative) could be added next to it.

Because some people like one of those colors more then brown.

i will see what i can do for you there :)

[edit]
removed navy-style preview (dont wanna get hopes up, lost color-code :( stupid me)

[psychic]

http://membrane.darkwired.org/~psychic/ubuntu-olive.png
the second one, in olive green.

Tell me if you like it, i am happy to share it with you, but i just wanna make sure there are no flaws in it before i post it.

[Cossins]

http://membrane.darkwired.org/~psychic/ubuntu-olive.png
the second one, in olive green.

Tell me if you like it, i am happy to share it with you, but i just wanna make sure there are no flaws in it before i post it.
That looks great! Good work. I'd like to see the Navy blue as well.

- Simon

[redneckr1]

but with the flexibility of gnome who cares if they dont like a colour, wasnt it originally designed for adaptability so you can chop and change to your own personal taste?


sorry for the accusational sound. im a law student :/ :-({|=

[mike998]

I'm not sure if it's polite to re-post about something like this especially after I have changed my mind.

Yep - I've changed my mind. I have decided that brown is good. Ubunchie is partly responsible (I kept on going back to that forum post at first out of horror and then out of affection). I built my theme around him using the gnant icon theme, the Phacile brown window theme. It took some getting used to - after using Windows' blue themes for so long I guess I just felt that blue was the way to go. After seeing the posts above I might just have to try giving Phacile green a go.

I still stand by my original post that the deep chocolate brown of the default Ubuntu theme is too much and is very hard on the eyes, but if a lighter brown was used, it would be easier to use. Even a green-y theme would be better. This was all discussed in another forum though, so I'm not going to repeat what was said there...

So, rosslaird I guess I'm a convert, even if only in part.

And lastly I hate to say this (DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS!) but some of the posts here are a little annoying in their immaturity.

[amoser]

I like the Brown theme for the most part, but it does need some work. I think that some splashed (small) of color, would change the feel of it in good way. I was thinking that maybe a splash of green and blue (off the Ubunut palate) here and there would be great. But that is just me.

~Alan

P.S. do you guys know any good tutoral on how to make GTK themes?

[bvc]

~Alan

P.S. do you guys know any good tutoral on how to make GTK themes?http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=14925&highlight=gtk

[psychic]

but with the flexibility of gnome who cares if they dont like a colour, wasnt it originally designed for adaptability so you can chop and change to your own personal taste?


sorry for the accusational sound. im a law student :/ :-({|=
You are right, to make these two changes i only had to change a color in the gtk-theme. But for some ppl that can be very difficult. (like, not knowing what a color-code is for example). Though such things seem very basic (or even short on basic) even to the lesser skilled ppl around here. There are still people that can't do stuff like that because they do not have the time or will to learn or to do it.

Therefore, a request for a theme in another color (when done with respect to those who made the original) is not such a strange thing.

[kassetra]

I like the Brown theme for the most part, but it does need some work. I think that some splashed (small) of color, would change the feel of it in good way. I was thinking that maybe a splash of green and blue (off the Ubunut palate) here and there would be great. But that is just me.


I love the brown schemes of Ubuntu. I like seeing professional organizations use warmer colors (Blue is COLD! Not to mention WAY overdone) ...

I was thinking of that splash of color you were wanting... Blue & Brown is a *HOT* color combination right now in the design world, and I have to admit, I love those two colors together...

That would be a fun theme... blue & brown. I have one, but it's hello kitty-based, and uhhh... I don't think most people would want it. heh.

[psychic]

i get the impression Human is based on glider. is it?

[psychic]

ehhm... i did not find any copyright-notice or licence with Human, just a list of authors.
because ubuntu is gpl i assumed the theme is too, but is it?

[johnwlittle]

Brown was my least favorite color....until Ubuntu. With SUSE I was a UI tweaking madman but I haven't done a thing to my Ubuntu defaults. It's strange.

I'll probably start tweaking at some point but one of the reason Ubuntu appealed to me was the focus on GNOME and the slick integration with Ubuntu. It's hard to pin it down but Ubuntu just feels tighter out of the box than most of the other distros I've tried.

From a branding standpoint I think it was a pretty brilliant move. A stock Ubuntu desktop is instantly recognizable. OSX, XP, and a lot of Linux desktops are recycling blues and greens and are almost indistinguishable in many cases. The Ubuntu look reinfoces the feeling that you're doing something different. That's probably a plus for a lot of new linux users.

I'm sure that plenty of people don't like it but this is Linux and they're free to do whatever they want.

Now, if you could just lose the shirtless bald dude I'll be 100% satisfied with Ubuntu :D

[fu.]

(we're heading off-topic here I'm afraid...)

..true!

..this thread is way off-topic now... :?:

[kassetra]

Now, if you could just lose the shirtless bald dude I'll be 100% satisfied with Ubuntu :D

Hey now... some of us *LIKE* the shirtless guy... oooh baby.

[JayCnrs]

The buttons for the top of the Windows was the only thing that was keeping me use an Aqua inspired theme, thanks for the link to the H2Oridium window border.

[Cossins]

Hey now... some of us *LIKE* the shirtless guy... oooh baby.
You got it, baby! :D

[latrine]

Great post!

Can someone just put here a desktop photo with the tips ross gave us? just to see his final idea?!?

i don't have a ubuntu installation available to do so... I am waiting for hoary...

Thx

Latz

[rosslaird]

Here's a screenshot from my desktop (http://www.rosslaird.info/images/snapshot1.png).

(And a closeup (http://www.rosslaird.info/images/snapshot2.png) of the window buttons and icons).

I'm still looking for decent brown/green Firefox and OOWriter icons. And it would be nice to be able to change the gnome dictionary icon (probably there's a way, but I haven't looked into it).

Cheers.

Ross

[kassetra]

I'm still looking for decent brown/green Firefox and OOWriter icons. And it would be nice to be able to change the gnome dictionary icon (probably there's a way, but I haven't looked into it).

Cheers.

Ross

Ross: I have a gorilla-styled green firefox theme (mostly complete) ... but it doesn't work in 1.0, I can give it to you if you want to tinker with it.

Gnome dictionary icon replacement: you either put an icon in /usr/share/pixmaps called gdict.png or you add an icon called gdict.svg/gdict.png into your favorite theme in /usr/share/icons/FAV_THEME/SIZE/apps.

[rosslaird]

Thanks for the icon tip, kassetra. It seems very straightforward.
As for the Firefox theme, I'd be happy to take a look at it, though I'm not a theme expert. You can reach me at ross at rosslaird dot info.

Cheers.

Ross

[ThePainter]

Hi,
I prefer the more organic colours on my screen, they are relaxing and I find bright colours give me a headache after a while.

I dual boot XP.

In UBUNTU I use the basic Human theme and icons.

In XP I use either the generic Olive Green or the Licorice (slatey warm blue) theme from the cough drop msstyle that comes with StyleXP, which is a theme handler.
Although I find The Olive Green a bit bright and Licorice a bit cold, Im happier with Human Ubuntu.

[Glanz]

I suspect it may be due to a general trend in interface design that is moving away from the blue palette that Microsoft and Apple have been tweaking for almost twenty years now. Blue has been done to death --
I agree with you 100% about the Windows Blue and Mac Baby Boy Blue colors having been explored and stuffed down users eyeballs ad nauseum. I do much math (because of my profession) and much coding (because of my vocation) with my machine and believe me, the last color one wants to see in the middle of the night is corporate baby blue. Also, as a fellow Kanookian, I can appreciate natural colors. I find them soothing and a far cry from the usual Barby (eye) candy one finds on most Windows machines (or KDE) for that matter. Just looking at that stuff gives me a toothache. MS's idea of "natural", for example, was (and still is) that horrible tellytubbyesque vomit green field crowned by a power blue sky.

[helmoltz]

I choose color background of enlightenment for my desktop wallpaper. It's so calm and linked to trees and musk.
Ciao :razz:
I'm italian

[basse1989]

I reallt like the ubuntu human theme.

The things I don't like are:
-The bright field around the username/password box in GDM.
-The splashscreen showing up during gnome start.
-The ubuntu backgrounds which are too brown.
-There are to many themes shipped with ubuntu. Human is enough, and I would
welcome Human green and navy blue to be official alternatives to the brown.
-The "ubuntu-calendar" should be backgrounds like the standard one, not photos.

But hey, who cares? (read my sign).

[bvc]

disable the splash
gconf-editor>gnome-session>options

[josiah]

I reallt like the ubuntu human theme.
The things I don't like are:
[...]
-The "ubuntu-calendar" should be backgrounds like the standard one, not photos.

This matter of the ubuntu-calendar backgrounds is a subject that has been beaten into the ground. The fact that it is called ubuntu-calendar (rather than just included as the default background) is a compromise between the people who like having artistic human bodies on their computers and the people who don't want to see (or been seen with) naked bodies on their computers. If you type apt-cache show ubuntu-calendar
in a terminal window, you will see that the package is optional, with the following description:
The Ubuntu Calendar is a set of wallpapers and themes that are updated every month. The selection of art photography includes some semi-nude models and artistic portrayals of people from diverse ethnic groups. You can select a single image as your desktop or have your desktop wallpaper updated automatically every month. You don't need to install it, you don't need to look at it, and you have fair warning about what is there should you decide to install it. The calendar photos are provided in an attempt at making an artistic statement. If you don't like the art (or the statement), don't hang it on your walls.

Sorry that I've gone so far off topic; feel free to resume the original discussion.

[kassetra]

I reallt like the ubuntu human theme.

The things I don't like are:
-The bright field around the username/password box in GDM.
-The splashscreen showing up during gnome start.
-The ubuntu backgrounds which are too brown.
-There are to many themes shipped with ubuntu. Human is enough, and I would
welcome Human green and navy blue to be official alternatives to the brown.
-The "ubuntu-calendar" should be backgrounds like the standard one, not photos.

But hey, who cares? (read my sign).

1. Change the GDM to one you like.
2. See bvc's comment.
3. Those are ubuntu's corporate colors - it's not going to change - but you are free to change it personally.
4. Again, that is their choice, and you can remove them later.
5. A background is an image in a specific file format. In the case of most backgrounds for linux they are in the PNG file format. The PNG file format doesn't care if you have a photo or a plain color - it's all the same. So the "ubuntu-calendar" is a background and they are photos, just like the standard background.

[carlc]

The things I don't like are:
-The bright field around the username/password box in GDM.
-The splashscreen showing up during gnome start.

I am not crazy about the colors either. Here is an alternative slash screen:

Ubuntu-Smooth-Splash (http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=22030)

[jnoreiko]

3. Those are ubuntu's corporate colors - it's not going to change - but you are free to change it personally.

That ugly brown desktop doesn't seem like part of ubuntu's corporate colour. I can't find it anywhere on the CD pack or the site. Their corporate colours seem to be those from the logo - dark yellow, orange, red. Much nicer than brown!

[josiah]

That ugly brown desktop doesn't seem like part of ubuntu's corporate colour. I can't find it anywhere on the CD pack or the site. Their corporate colours seem to be those from the logo - dark yellow, orange, red. Much nicer than brown!
again, this matter of "brown is ugly! i want xyz color scheme!" is a tired and overdiscussed issue. it has been made very clear what the official color scheme is, and why. if you don't like it, you are encouraged to change it to something more to your liking (and it really is quite easy to change the color scheme). as i have expressed elsewhere, i like the browns: where some people make the association between brown and bodily waste, others (like me) associate brown with human coloration (the vast majority of the human species is colored in some shade between a light tan and dark brown) and plants. the scheme is easy on the eyes without being as stuffy as the NeXTSTEP grays and blacks.

[basse1989]

I am not crazy about the colors either. Here is an alternative slash screen:

Ubuntu-Smooth-Splash (http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=22030)
That one is quite nice, just that I don't like changing the theme. Feels... Well anyway, I like ubuntu as it is except some things that I described before.

again, this matter of "brown is ugly! i want xyz color scheme!" is a tired and overdiscussed issue. it has been made very clear what the official color scheme is, and why. if you don't like it, you are encouraged to change it to something more to your liking (and it really is quite easy to change the color scheme). as i have expressed elsewhere, i like the browns: where some people make the association between brown and bodily waste, others (like me) associate brown with human coloration (the vast majority of the human species is colored in some shade between a light tan and dark brown) and plants. the scheme is easy on the eyes without being as stuffy as the NeXTSTEP grays and blacks.
I have nothing against the human colot theme. It's just that I'd like some other shade of human as background. Even though the hoary background is way nicer than the warty one, it's still too dark brown. I'd prefer some brighter human colors. :)

My current background is a really nice picture of my dog, who is a golden retriver named Hobbe. :)

[kassetra]

That ugly brown desktop doesn't seem like part of ubuntu's corporate colour. I can't find it anywhere on the CD pack or the site. Their corporate colours seem to be those from the logo - dark yellow, orange, red. Much nicer than brown!

1. You personally may find it ugly, but many, many others do not.
2. It is part of Ubuntu's corporate color schemes. In fact, the exact term for their specific set of browns is "Human" ... as you can see in the Official Ubuntu Palette on their Website (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/UbuntuArtwork/view?searchterm=artwork). So no, the three colors that they have in the graphic logo are not their only nor their main corporate colors. The "Human" colors are their main color palette.

[carlc]

I would like to say that although I have said that I do not like Ubuntu's brown color scheme does not mean that I am slamming it. I know that people do like it and that a lot of work has went into it. If you are into the earthy colors then I am sure it is great. Also, it is nice to see an attempt at something different.