Re: [libreoffice-design] Re: [libreoffice-website] Re: new features page ...

Hi David, all,

Round 3 - I didn't read these last few posts before posting the
earlier bits... oh dear!
Please, let's try to be a tad more patient with each other. Given how
this discussion has turned, I'll weigh in with something more
substantive than my initial +1 regarding screenshot #8
(http://www.libreoffice.org/assets/Shuffler/Screenshot-08.png)

On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 8:46 PM, David Nelson <commerce@traduction.biz> wrote:
> Hi Sophie, Christoph, :-)
>
> I think you take some things too far. I fail to see the *need* to
> remove this beautiful artwork, which is a tribute to LibreOffice that
> we should be proud to showcase.

I'm fully behind showcasing the talent of our community. However, to
maintain a level of professionalism, there has to be a filter
regarding the acceptance of people's work in official contexts -
particularly when it comes to something as prominent as the
LibreOffice home page. Sometimes that will mean sacrificing aesthetics
for consistency (making the graphic fit into a broader whole).

Here are the things that make me uncomfortable about having that
specific screenshot on the home page (some of these may sound
'artificial', but that is because I'm attempting to put a gut reaction
into words - something that takes time as you can appreciate).

1) It really violates our branding guidelines and it sends the wrong
message, especially if we're going to have specific rules around
trademarks, branding (including web buttons that people can use to
promote LibO). We send conflicting messages by asking others to comply
with our branding guidelines and then having a screenshot that
violates them on the home page. It may sound pedantic and restrictive
but this is how professional branding is done. Designers should
understand this and work within the constraints they are given (or go
through the proper avenues to see if they can be changed).

2) The image mimics a splash screen (the white 'loading' bar gives it
away) rather than an actual template that would be used in a practical
presentation. It does not show any additional slides (in the preview
area) with a design suitable for the presentation of content. It makes
little functional sense - it's just eye candy, and there are better
avenues for that (i.e., the website design itself).

3) I hate to say it, but using that screenshot on the homepage
emphasizes surface over depth. Other screenshots are 'closer to metal'
in that they show *realistic* things that can be done with(in)
LibreOffice. Screenshot #5
(http://www.libreoffice.org/assets/Shuffler/Screenshot-05.png)
contains a bar graph whose colors make me cringe, but this is what
peoples' bar graphs in LibreOffice will actually look like. Certainly,
it would've been OK if the colors had been changed because that's
still working within the confines of LibreOffice's tools. However, the
graphic in Screenshot #8 was not created in LibreOffice (if it was,
that person deserves a Nobel prize in Physics). All that it says about
LibreOffice is that you can cover an entire slide in an imported image
(I did that in PowerPoint XP when I was 13 and I thought it was the
coolest thing ever at the time). Implicitly, it also says #1. I'd have
no problem with showcasing a good looking template (which did not
violate branding guidelines with regard to the LibreOffice logo) from
the broader community.

> [...]
> But you need adopt a different approach to things, especially when
> it's someone else's time and work, and not your own.

Christoph has done plenty of time and work on the mimetype icons.
These discussions also take time to respond to. I'm sure we'd all much
rather be working on the huge stack of things that need to be done on
the website, but we can't do that if we're disagreeing (so strongly
and so quickly) over these sorts of things. We need to work them out
first.

> And as for "and please upload the source data, so that anybody can
> jump in"... You cheeky rogue, Christoph Noack! a) Most people who
> contribute artwork to this project do not provide their *source
> files*. I asked Ivan multiple times to send me his source files for
> the new theme, and never got any but 2 of them, even though I sent him
> my complete set of source files produced for Nikash' template!

Your graphics covered most of the design already - apart from the
download button and the Twitter/bullet point images, pretty much
everything else was CSS and HTML, which I used (and prefer to use
whenever possible) instead of a graphics program. Using the source
files from us two, it should not be hard to replicate the design if
someone wants to do it (assuming they have Photoshop). If you're
missing anything, please let me know and I will send you the source
where I can. There are the 16x16 icons on the homepage, but they're a
quick fix - I'm hoping we can develop better ones to replace them (in
line with our branding guidelines of course ;P)

> [...]
> Now, I'm not arguing further with you. Respond if you want, but I
> won't answer you further in this thread for a couple of days, while I
> get some work done by *clients who pay me*. (And I can tell you they
> don't do my head in like you guys do!)

We're all volunteers here and things work a little differently than
with clients. I've worked with my share of clients and have enjoyed
having control over IA, design and UX... but I'm not in control of any
of those here. Rather, I am given constraints particular to this
context which, for the benefit of the wider community, my
contributions are tailored to.

Regards,
Ivan.

-- 
Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to design+help@libreoffice.org
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/www/design/
*** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***