Re: [libreoffice-design] MimeType icons - Base

Hi Ivan, Christoph, all,

Ivan M. schrieb:
> Hi Christoph, all,
>
> On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 12:14 PM, Christoph Noack
> <christoph@dogmatux.com>  wrote:
> > Hi all!
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > I tried to "play around" with the Base icon during the last two days,
> > but it is pretty difficult. I fell back to the original "stack" idea,
> > since it is rather hard to include all the database relations and the
> > objects and keeping a unique and easy-to-identify look.
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > Now, I'm curious how you perceive the "background" idea for the 128px
> > icon. I've added it to get a more or less harmonic style ... considering
> > Writer and Calc. Unfortunately, the icons start to differ given their
> > level of detail (per size).
>
> Before I get into feedback mode, I want to say thank you for
> continuing to work on these icons - it's great to see the progress!
>
> Now, let's switch to feedback mode: I'm not sure that the binary
> background works well as a metaphor. Of course, everything on
> computers is, in the end, binary, but AFAIK, Base involves no more or
> less binary than Writer, Calc, Draw ... at least, I hope it's a
> program people can use without touching binary! Maybe some SQL code
> could be used instead (CREATE TABLE ... SELECT * FROM....)?

Two thoughts about the SQL code:
- We don't use readable text on any other icon. I would like to leave it.
- Base is rather a database front-end, while I think SQL code is more 
like a reference to a database in general.

What I tried out is to replace the binary background by a table of 
records / datasets:

http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:Base_alternative_icon_proposal.png

I don't know if you consider it to be too near to the spreadsheet icon - 
In my eyes it different enough for a background with accent on the 
content in opposition to the borders in Calc.
> I also think the 128x128 version adds some unnecessary complexity by
> making space between the stacked cylinders... maybe add a fourth one
> instead?

Christoph replaced this already in his proposal.
> To really nitpick, I wonder if the 48x48 icon couldn't have a slightly
> thicker border for the stack as it looks very thin against the thick
> outer border of the icon.

Does it look better now?
> As for the colors, I wonder if we couldn't find a compromise between
> colorless and colorful icons by changing the color of the inner border
> (which is gray in the colorless version). What I mean is: having a
> gray or white inner border like the colorless icon coupled with the
> colored gradient fill of the colorful icon? What do you think?

This doesn't work with the present icons, as the colorless inner area is 
just a semi-transparent gradient on the grey background.

Adding the color back to the the inner border would mean to re-establish 
the colorful inner area as well.

When the first version of the icons is ready, we can try to separate the 
inner area from the inner border.

Best regards

Bernhard

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