Re: [libreoffice-design] MimeType icons - template

Hi Mirek, all!

Thanks for the feedback ... you may add some more, please :-)

Am Donnerstag, den 06.01.2011, 19:35 +0100 schrieb Mirek M.:
> 2011/1/6 Christoph Noack <christoph@dogmatux.com>
[...]
> > What do you think, might that work?
>
> Here's my feedback:
> I really like the colors in this iteration -- much more calming and refined
> than initially. I also love the template symbolism.

Thanks - especially in this case it seems, that some more people (and
thus, some more iterations) really help to improve the outcome.

> The document symbolism I'm not so sure about -- the more complex and less
> distinct these symbols get, the less quickly a user can distinguish between
> them (just compare the icons for Adobe's CS 2 and CS 3). But as long as the
> other icons stay relatively simple and distinctive enough, this change is
> okay.

Phew, I've never worked with Adobe CS products - so I searched for some
examples how the icons look like. For CS2, most of the icons are very
similar ... unbelievable.

Concerning the idea / thoughts of the symbolism: Initially, I thought we
can simply re-use the established items of the Galaxy MIME type icons -
but then it looks rather strange for larger icons (e.g. the Draw
symbol). On the other hand, the ODF icons are very subtle and detailed -
so (in my opinion) they lack some good differentiation. Consequently, in
my proposals, I tried to balance these requirements.

> From my point-of-view, the best size to work / analyze the symbolism are
the 32px and 16px versions. The "upscaled" versions are simply enhanced
by some more detail ... although the current LibreOffice branding tries
to be rather clean and simple (even having some strong strokes, ...).

Although I am not fully happy with it, here is a the Calc version:
http://luxate.blogspot.com/2011/01/icon-as-con-i-can-2.html

> One thing that I would rather do without is the shadow below the icon (in
> the default icons). Most operating systems add their own shadows and/or
> reflections to icons, and when these icons have their own shadows too, it
> just adds to the mess of effects that there are.

Mmh, to be honest, I simply re-used what I knew about the Tango
Icons ... usually they add some subtle shadow below the icons. But this
may be wrong, although it (already) would cause a lot of effort to
remove it.

What kind of operating systems might be problematic - Windows, Mac, ...

> Another thing: the text in
> the default icons seems a bit crammed at the bottom, perhaps because of the
> shadow below the icon or the margin, as the high contrast icons don't seem
> to have this problem.

Good observation :-) The HC icons are not that problematic here, since
I've enlarged them a bit to the bottom (instead of using a shadow -
doesn't make much sense for HC icons). Thus, we've gained a bit space
that helps to let the symbols "breathe" a bit.

Removing the other shadows, by preserving the currently used area for
the symbols might solve this issue.

> Lastly, it'd be great if the smaller default icons
> lost the landscape symbol, just like the high contrast icons do, because at
> these small sizes, it loses both its meaning and its charm.

Well, it seems like a 50:50 decision ;-) In my original design, there
wasn#t a landscape picture, but Jaron worked out a good counter
proposal ... I simply adapted my set for the default color set, but that
won't work (probably) for the HC version. It's easy to rework that ...

Here was the initial set I was working on:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8QbNNW6T8I9QGW7bls2JTg?feat=directlink

> Anyway, great work. It's nice to see the icons progress so well.
> > Anybody who might join to bring some life to the rest (quite some
> > number) of icons?

Mirek, thanks for the great feedback ... since I know your great designs
(Citrus & Co.) is there a chance that you might join. There is still a
bit hope (for me) that we might have something for the LibO 3.3 release.
I heard that almost all blockers for the release are resolved, so time
is running ... I'm currently on vacation, but I'm unable to deliver more
than one iteration per day (having some other duties as well).

Shamelessly, I also BCC Thorsten and Nik - I'm not sure whether they are
aware of the current discussion. It would also be great to hear their
opinions, and maybe we can join all the forces :-)


Oh, I totally forgot about that ... I reworked the wiki page a bit and
also added the current (messy draft) source file there. The next step is
to sum up some of the "what symbol metaphor to use" discussions ... I
hope there will be something before I go to bed (and there is not much
"today" left *g*).

Cheers,
Christoph


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