Sunday, January 27. 2008
"Graywolf", a proposed new look
In collaboration with Lee Olson, I have been trying to come up with a new svg theme for Amarok 2 with the working title of "Graywolf".
The main issue we are facing is that Amarok 2, being cross platform, will run on a multitude of different setups each with their own look and color scheme. Unfortunately, this makes it very hard to do svg files that will look good on all platforms, as the colors might be way off.
This new theme attempts to address this by not using very much color at all in the basic svgs. The current idea is to attempt to programatically tint these svgs with the dominant color scheme color, if it is very pronounced ( and non gray ).
The really great thing about this new theme is, that for the first time, we actually have a set of svgs that all look like they belong together. And even though the theme itself does not have much color, Amarok 2 will most likely not be dull as there will be context applets and album covers shown all over the place.
Anyway, I just finished the very initial integration of Lee's new svgs and added some supporting code, and thought I would show it off, even though it still needs quite a bit of work.
And yes, I know some of you will notice right away, but I am having issues with anti aliasing under KDE4 at the moment, so a lot of the text looks like crap!
So without further ado, I give you, "Graywolf"
The main issue we are facing is that Amarok 2, being cross platform, will run on a multitude of different setups each with their own look and color scheme. Unfortunately, this makes it very hard to do svg files that will look good on all platforms, as the colors might be way off.
This new theme attempts to address this by not using very much color at all in the basic svgs. The current idea is to attempt to programatically tint these svgs with the dominant color scheme color, if it is very pronounced ( and non gray ).
The really great thing about this new theme is, that for the first time, we actually have a set of svgs that all look like they belong together. And even though the theme itself does not have much color, Amarok 2 will most likely not be dull as there will be context applets and album covers shown all over the place.
Anyway, I just finished the very initial integration of Lee's new svgs and added some supporting code, and thought I would show it off, even though it still needs quite a bit of work.
And yes, I know some of you will notice right away, but I am having issues with anti aliasing under KDE4 at the moment, so a lot of the text looks like crap!
So without further ado, I give you, "Graywolf"
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Hi!
The theme looks great. Very consistent, and I think ideal for a pub-mode. Congratulations!
The theme looks great. Very consistent, and I think ideal for a pub-mode. Congratulations!
Switch your font from "Sans Serif" to "Nimbus Sans L" and turn on Antialiasing.
For me it worked
For me it worked
Looks very consistent! I dislike only the border around the play/stop buttons (compared to the previous one).
I don't like the stary stuff, but seeing as its an svg theme, I'm guessing we can customize it to suit our needs.
Looks great! And not dull at all - actually, because there are colour icons and CD covers everywhere, I wouldn't say, that this is grey theme 
If I can have one small complaint: stars don't look good to me :/
If I can have one small complaint: stars don't look good to me :/
I think the stars are just a Desktop wallpaper shining trough.
If you look closely, there is also a text from a Terminal.
If you look closely, there is also a text from a Terminal.
Nope, they are indeed part of the theme - and it's one of the things that's already known to be a bit wonky and in need of fixing 
No, as far as the contextview background and the toolbar, the stars are there. The idea was to make something that fit together naturally with the full moon. But the stars have had quite a rough reception, so I am thinking we might have to come up with something else...
I kind of like them actually. At least they do a good job of breaking up the grey. But perhaps with more plasmoids there that won't be an issue
In my opinion the stars are okay, but their ration should be 1:1 and the background could be a tad darker.
I'm not so sure about the grey look...
However, if you choose to stick with it, here are some things that I would definitely change:
1. The now playing-panel in the middle is a huge waste of space. Also, it doesn't go well with the rest of the theme.
2. The shadows are not consistent (sidebar/middle pane).
3. The stars are unnecessary. Really.
4. The Play/Next/Stop buttons and the thing that surrounds it are hideous. Should this part of the window have a Background at all?
Ok, I didn't want to be harsh, but the design is pretty bad right now
However, if you choose to stick with it, here are some things that I would definitely change:
1. The now playing-panel in the middle is a huge waste of space. Also, it doesn't go well with the rest of the theme.
2. The shadows are not consistent (sidebar/middle pane).
3. The stars are unnecessary. Really.
4. The Play/Next/Stop buttons and the thing that surrounds it are hideous. Should this part of the window have a Background at all?
Ok, I didn't want to be harsh, but the design is pretty bad right now
Sorry but I'm not a fan of the new theme either. It doesn't look "sharp" enough. Sure, this is just a 'preview', but overall I didn't like the gray background plus stars.
I started to make a mockup of a black theme, but soon realized what people would think: Vista/WMP copy (note that I've never used neither
)
I started to make a mockup of a black theme, but soon realized what people would think: Vista/WMP copy (note that I've never used neither
)
Why not just make different default themes for Linux, Windows and OS X?
Sorry, but I don't find it that consistent. It has a couple of color schemes in one window:
- left - white and light gray
- center - dark gray and black
- right - white and dark gray
- top - light gray only
There are to many borders and edges.
Why don't you ask the Oxygen guys to make a theme?
Cheers!
- left - white and light gray
- center - dark gray and black
- right - white and dark gray
- top - light gray only
There are to many borders and edges.
Why don't you ask the Oxygen guys to make a theme?
Cheers!
That looks realy good. I like the grey. But I think that the interface itself could be a little more clean and the progress bar of the track might be a little unprectical since you have to scroll a long way to get to the right position of the track.
I think the progress bar and the buttons (and volume control) should be in the middle and behave like a kicker panel.
I feel that this design, while decent isn't completely perfect. While it does provide consistency, it fails to provide any sort of color contrast. The blue center of previous screenshots actually looked perfect, and blended with the gray beautifully. It is color contrast like that, that becomes necessary in design to provide a vibrant, yet still elegant feel.
Also, the buttons on the left are not consistent with the rest of the oxygen theme, I actually feel that they are too "windows"-y. Furthermore, The idea of vertical buttons is not good. Humans are trained to read from left to right in most countries, sometimes right to left. On a vertical button, you're forcing our eyes to do something we aren't used to.
Also, I'd like to point out that the shadows are not consistent with a common light source therefore they look a little bit strange.
If you're going to argue color on other platforms, you should realize that iTunes doesn't even look like a windows app on windows.
An idea: In order to get that color contrast, you could tint only certain areas, such as the background of the plasmoid viewing section, and the music control area. Also, make their default grey colors a little lighter so the tinting is easier, and don't make the tint subtle, make it powerful. We can't have contrast if the contrast doesn't really show.
Also, one last thing: left pane object colors are not consistent with right pane object colors, this gives a feel of huge inconsistency, and makes the overall quality of the product suffer.
Also, the buttons on the left are not consistent with the rest of the oxygen theme, I actually feel that they are too "windows"-y. Furthermore, The idea of vertical buttons is not good. Humans are trained to read from left to right in most countries, sometimes right to left. On a vertical button, you're forcing our eyes to do something we aren't used to.
Also, I'd like to point out that the shadows are not consistent with a common light source therefore they look a little bit strange.
If you're going to argue color on other platforms, you should realize that iTunes doesn't even look like a windows app on windows.
An idea: In order to get that color contrast, you could tint only certain areas, such as the background of the plasmoid viewing section, and the music control area. Also, make their default grey colors a little lighter so the tinting is easier, and don't make the tint subtle, make it powerful. We can't have contrast if the contrast doesn't really show.
Also, one last thing: left pane object colors are not consistent with right pane object colors, this gives a feel of huge inconsistency, and makes the overall quality of the product suffer.
Thanks for the feedback BTW, if you're an artist yourself, we'd love to get help. Always looking for new contributors.
BTW, if you're an artist yourself, we'd love to get help. Always looking for new contributors.
Im sorry to say it but it looks bad.
There is to litle contrast, the background is very poor.
Its clutered and empty at the same time..
I am aware this is no easy task but plese redo it from scratch.
There is to litle contrast, the background is very poor.
Its clutered and empty at the same time..
I am aware this is no easy task but plese redo it from scratch.
Is the location of the buttons configurable?
It strikes me that when the Prev / Play/Pause / Next buttons are on top, I'll have to move my mouse a longer distance after having restored Amarok from the taskbar.
It strikes me that when the Prev / Play/Pause / Next buttons are on top, I'll have to move my mouse a longer distance after having restored Amarok from the taskbar.
No, but the "next", "previous" and "pause" functions are also available by right clicking the system tray icon.
This way, you have access to the controls both at the top and bottom of the screen.
This way, you have access to the controls both at the top and bottom of the screen.
To the ones saying "the shadows are not consistent"..I think that having a different shadow for the tabs on the left is ok. Previously they had a top to bottom gradient and in my opinion looked way worse than in this screenshot. To heavy in the bottom of each tab..Or maybe a top to bottom gradient could be used but much smoother than the previous one.
Sorry, but this theme sucks.
It's too contrast and will look foreign on any environment. Why make it ugly for everyone, because some alternative-blessed users can't configure color schemes on their systems?
It's too contrast and will look foreign on any environment. Why make it ugly for everyone, because some alternative-blessed users can't configure color schemes on their systems?
How very grey and fluffy! I hope the colours will get tweaked for the final version, but generally speaking it looks pretty goo-ood! Rooo.
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