About animations, I think that all animations should be in the same “direction”: Maybe boot animation could be similar to loading animation in dash app list, for example?
Anyway, UX its more relevant right now as @madsrh said.
I’m working with GTK+ theming now, And I have some UX basic questions:
According to Gnome Guidelines: Clock, system tray, activities actions & top bar items are in different position compared to Unity 7, It will be followed or can be changed? (If we should follow gnome Adwaita basic style, Clock is always on the middle of the top bar, for example…).
-Dash “must” be on right side of the screen?
Applications grid can be modified (I’m thinking about use half of the screen instead full screen mode can be more accessible and transitions between grid & active windows can be smooth).
Design: There is some rules of spacing, font size, font weight, transparency to follow?
(Maybe that questions are already answered, but it’s a little hard to see them in all posts)
Today, my basic changes of desktop: More transparency in dock, top bar and new window’s colours.
I really like the window! I think you should change the color of the selected folder in the Nautilus sidebar to white eller maybe a bold font - it’s kind of hard to read.
The orange dock is much better this time (personally I still prefer almost black or the current 17.10 look).
You can’t move anything! The clock thing has been discussed earlier and everything has to be as close to vanilla Gnome as possible.
Do we need colours to tell what those buttons are ? I mean, those are non-destructive functions. Clicking cancel or login / Unlock won’t cause any damage at all. Plain button scheme would be fine there.
@wfpaisa I think that is a little too much padding for my taste. Very clean design though - and I like the “invisible separators” in the Settings panel.
I disagree, colors add to the overall design of the whole OS, they should be used on buttons. Also white background for login screen never works, too plain and sticks out too much.
Nice, but I seriously dislike the “all plain no separators anywhere” design where folder names in the toolbar etc are blended in and not separated in any way. On bright themes such as yours it causes strain for the eyes. Overall the design is slick but everything is so bright and without any separators, makes my eyes bleed, there should be a splash of darker tones to compensate for all that brightness, Arc Darker does that perfectly by balancing out the bright portions with darker toolbar and side pane.
There are already some beautiful themes being posted here - I can see we’re going to get something really good
@wfpaisa, I really like your clean design, but personally would love to see it with a dark Ubuntu-style title bar and (flat) orange circle around the “x” button.
Also, speaking from personal preference only, I love sharp non-rounded corners. That’s pure preference though, you can’t give everyone their favourite.
Appearance with the window maximised, in the context of the default shell (header + launcher), is important for me because I do 90% of my work like that. Would be lovely to see screenshots of suggested themes both ways.
Please keep up the great work - many of these screenshots are very heartening!
Yes, I like the use of grey in the second screenshot
Before I saw that, I had a go at mocking up what I had in mind for an Ubuntu-style title bar, using the in-focus window from your first screenshot as a base:
EDIT: Perhaps to cater for all tastes, follow the Light/Darker/Dark model? Light = your screenshot; Darker = light with dark (Ubuntu-style) title bar; Dark = all dark version.
That looks better for sure. Dont take my comments wrong, I know these are only mockups and I am just pointing what I personally like or dislike in them as a regular user. I think the new theme in general needs several prominent colors similar to how Unity 8 theme was composed of multiple colors, Apple’s UI design is considered by majority of people as an excellent example of beautiful design that is both very clean, very readable, with balanced colors and contrasts that dont strain the eyes and elements of the UI can be quickly discerned even with a casual glance. Unity 8 on the phone was obviously taking cues from Apple’s design and looked nice while maintaining a unique look. Personally I think that blend of Arc Darker GTK concept with different (more Ubuntu styled) buttons and Ambiance/Unity 8 colors would look wonderful. Again just my 0.02 USD.
