Experimental Theme Mockup 5

[thorwil]

Some of you might remember 1 to 4 from the "Develop Defualt (sic) skin" thread


1280 x 1024 pixel

More Info

Please think of this as a concept car being worked on; it has rough edges and is not meant to go into production 1:1, if at all
So no need to bring up the same old arguments as had in the mentioned thread and many others

What I would like to hear is what people like or dislike, down to details. Also suggestions and related ideas.

[oomingmak]

Impressive! (and that's coming from someone who is one picky bas***d).



I'm not too sure what's going on with that rounded thorwil tab in the 'task bar' (can't remember what it's called in Linux - is it Window List or something?). It's difficult to determine its function from a static screenshot. The rounded edges against a squarer background look odd though.

The scroll bars (despite their pretty weird appearance) look fine aesthetically, but I think I'd find them annoying to actually use (because they don't visually represent their function). They look more like progress bars (or capacity meters) that are have no user interactivity, rather than something that the user should manipulate (i.e. grab and drag).

I don't like the triangle in the 'Name' column of the file browser (presumably denoting column sort order). It just looks like a graphical glitch (like the rendering has gone wrong).

I really like the tabs. A pet hate of mine is systems that don't properly distinguish between active and inactive tabs. The 3d sunken effect of the tab 'button' makes the state very clear, and I imagine that it would be very satisfying to use when switching tabs.

I'm not keen on the graduation / fade effect on the active tab though (and I absolutely hate the fade / grad effects that's been added in the new Gnome). In your example, it's not quite as bad as Gnome's, but it does still disjoint the tab 'button' from the rest of the tab that actually holds the contents. I think it might be worth removing fade and the bevelled line underneath the active tab button (so that it becomes joined to the rest of tab page as a single entity) just to see what it looks like. It may not end up quite as pretty, but I think it would make more sense from a UI perspective.

Overall the palette is pretty good. There is no sense of claustrophobia due to overuse of certain shades. However, there are some slightly uncomfortable warm / cold shifts in some of the hues (for example the warm reddish coppery colour of the active window task bar button next to the cooler brown of the inactive window task bar buttons). Also the removable drives dialog is quite peach / tangerine compared to the more pink / coffee-cream colour of the File management tab (I don't know whether that is by design or not).

Overall, I'd say it's definitely one of the better mockups that I have seen. Stylish and easy on the eye.

Of course, all the above is just my personal opinion. Feel free to ignore as necessary.

[thorwil]

Impressive! (and that's coming from someone who is one picky bas***d).

Hey, thank you!

I'm not too sure what's going on with that rounded thorwil tab in the 'task bar'

It's a minimized window and meant to look a bit like a playing card. So that tab 'is' the window, while all non-minimized windows have 2 representations.

The scroll bars (despite their pretty weird appearance) look fine aesthetically, but I think I'd find them annoying to actually use (because they don't visually represent their function). They look more like progress bars (or capacity meters) that are have no user interactivity, rather than something that the user should manipulate (i.e. grab and drag).

Hmm ... the relief on them is meant to show they allow dragging. I'm confident their position and some action on hover would make it clear enough. Also see Scrollbars with popups

I don't like the triangle in the 'Name' column of the file browser (presumably denoting column sort order). It just looks like a graphical glitch (like the rendering has gone wrong).

It's sort order and active column in one without moving the label.

I really like the tabs. A pet hate of mine is systems that don't properly distinguish between active and inactive tabs. The 3d sunken effect of the tab 'button' makes the state very clear, and I imagine that it would be very satisfying to use when switching tabs.

Cool

I'm not keen on the graduation / fade effect on the active tab though (and I absolutely hate the fade / grad effects that's been added in the new Gnome). In your example, it's not quite as bad as Gnome's, but it does still disjoint the tab 'button' from the rest of the tab that actually holds the contents. I think it might be worth removing fade and the bevelled line underneath the active tab button (so that it becomes joined to the rest of tab page as a single entity) just to see what it looks like. It may not end up quite as pretty, but I think it would make more sense from a UI perspective.

The gradient is meant to make it look more like a depressed button. But if you see it as gradient by itself, it's probably too strong. The line below it is also about it's buttoness
I actually tried going without gradient and division. Doesn't look bad, but I wanted a more "physical" feel. Well, maybe I switch for the next update.

Also the removable drives dialog is quite peach / tangerine compared to the more pink / coffee-cream colour of the File management tab (I don't know whether that is by design or not).

It has focuse. More saturation and lighter colours for the focused window ...

Overall, I'd say it's definitely one of the better mockups that I have seen. Stylish and easy on the eye.

Thank you! Your comments are exactly in the style I'm looking for

[screaminj3sus]

I love the colors and the window list buttons, very nice.

[pain of salvation]

The colors are great, but I think you should make it simplier, like clearlooks, human etc. It is too "robotic"

[jr.gotti]

I love the "robotic" feel. Probably the best mock-up I've seen. Produce this one!

[thorwil]

Thanks screaminj3sus, pain of salvation, jr.gotti.

Not sure I understand what's meant with robotic, but I for sure want clean and simple

[jr.gotti]

Thanks screaminj3sus, pain of salvation, jr.gotti.

Not sure I understand what's meant with robotic, but I for sure want clean and simple

Well, by robotic I meant clean cut and orderly. Veryyy nice looking. It's a compliment...trust me

[aimran]

Please! Make this theme ASAP! BEST THEME SO FAR. Looks complete and not drawn together from random themes.

Good work mate =)

Edit: Mini/Maxi/Exit buttons look pixellated

[thorwil]

Hey, thank you aimran! Parts of this would require changes in the WM and GTK, so it's not happening any time soon.

Oh yes, I will fix the buttons for the next. thanks!