Impression
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| *** This Page Is Under Construction *** |
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{{attachment:Alpha4Desktop.png}} |
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| === Comments on This Release === | === Comments on This Preview === |
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| ''Please keep in mind this is an alpha release.''<<BR>><<BR>> The single most significant change between Alpha2 and Alpha3 is the replacement of the `clearlooks` engine with the latest release of `murrine`. As the scrollbars and scale widgets style influence the appearance of the theme greatly, I decided to stay with the `pixmap` engine to render these widgets as well as the handlebox and stratus grip. As far as I can tell performance is still very good. |
||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be;">Impression Gnome Desktop|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4Desktop.png}}|| ||Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope|| |
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| One of the driving factor of this theme is to make it as dark as possible without losing black as a colour. I didn't want to use grey as it presents "blue-ish" and decided to use a colour which has a slight brown tint. The metacity frame is themed to match and the outcome is a blended appearance top to bottom. One thing I observed using a 1024x768 resolution is most applications run full screen. In my opinion this theme displays well at this resolution providing the user with an uniform presentation. | The single most significant change between Alpha3 and Alpha4 is reducing the dependancy on the `pixmap` engine and leveraging the power of the svn132 version of the `murrine`. Highlights are as follows. |
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| Staying true to Ubuntu, the colour orange is used as much as possible. Although this theme is configurable via the gnome user preferences, I fully admit it contains hard coded elements. | * Support for color customization added through the Gnome Appearance Preferences dialog * `Metacity` theme linked to Gtk to create a blended uniform presentation * `Metacity` maximized windows display with square corners * `GtkToolbar` widgets are now rendered by murrine * `GtkScrollbar` widgets are now rendered by murrine * `GtkScale` widgets are now rendered by murrine * The base theme color adjusted to a more neutral "#cdc7be" to provide better contrast. |
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| In crafting the `gtkrc` I attempted to provide as many comments as possible to aide other GTK theme developers. | '''What happened to the rounded scrollbars?''' |
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| http://www.projwiki.com/index.cgi/CategoryImpressionAlpha3GtkRc | I like rounded scrollbars and used them in the alpha two and three releases. The issue I discovered and was not able to mitigate is Open Office. Open Office does not fully accept a rounded scrollbar rendered by the `pixmap` engine. The steppers are drawn in a box which destroys the desired look. At first I thought it was something I did not know, a technique undiscovered, but I noticed this played out in other themes such as `Dust`. In the end it always comes down to "''form follows function''". Utilizing the power of Murrine I crafted a substitute which IMO presents well across all applications. The added benefit of this approach is the scrollbar color can changed to a new theme standard if the base color is changed. |
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| What's left to do? I believe the widget hierarchy of the `gtkrc` file is good as every program I tested displayed as expected. Possible changes include colour adjustments or abandoning the `pixmap` engine using `murrine` to render the scrollbar and scale widgets. | '''Is the `pixmap` engine really required?''' As the theme is built today, the answer is yes. The role of `pixmap` may be best described as "supporting actor/actress" as it renders the "status grip" and "toolbar" handles. '''Why use rounded `metacity` window frame controls?''' The rounded `metacity` buttons play really well with Ubuntu. The basic design concept of the Ubuntu logo is circles. Students of art and design will agree there is power in this symbol. The fact the `metacity` windows controls are three in number also plays well with Ubuntu (yellow, orange, red). I did not want to drift too close to the chartered waters of OSX so I did not present these controls in a glass globe style. Neutral by default, yellow, orange, red as needed. IMO this is very Ubuntu and very functional. '''Is Impression really all that different from Human?''' If the desired appearance is a "dark theme" built on a base color of black or other dark color, the answer is no. If the desired appearance is a theme which is transparent to the applications it supports and celebrates the qualities of Ubuntu and Gnome we have come to appreciate, the answer is yes. '''What's left to do?''' * I haven't tested everything, so continued testing is always good * The screen background, although very good, is not the desired background. We need something more "jaunty". * The theme needs to be packaged for ease of installation * If desired, added to "Launch pad" for long term support |
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| 11/20/2008 - Alpha 1 (./) * Review of current themes to determine design goals. * Dark colour scheme which agrees with Ubuntu yellow, red, and orange colors * Default applications display as designed * Quick execution * Reliable operation 12/18/2008 - Alpha 2 (./) * Theme is developed to point where it can be tested and reviewed * Preliminary artwork in place * Issues with specific programs identified (e.g. Evo, gFTP, Firefox) 01/15/2009 - Alpha 3 (./) * Integration testing * Refinements to appearance 02/05/2009 - Alpha 4 * Integration testing * Refinements to appearance 02/26/2009 - Alpha 5 * Integration testing * Refinements to appearance * Add performance tweaks 03/12/2009 - Alpha 6 * Final Testing 03/26/2009 - Beta * Done <<BR>> === Known Errors === * Murrine does not theme `GtkProgressBar` trough. ;( * GEdit displays best using the `Kate` skin |
02/19/2009 - Artwork deadline #1 (./) * Review changes |
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| ==== Inkscape ==== | ||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">Add Remove Applications Dialogue|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4AddRemoveApplications_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4AddRemoveApplications.png|Full Image]] || |
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| {{attachment:Alpha3Inkscape.png}} | ||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">Inkscape Vector Graphics Editor|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4Inkscape_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4Inkscape.png|Full Image]] || |
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| IMO Inkscape is the best example of a well crafted gnome application. It uses a wide variety of GTK Widgets and displays well. | ||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">The Widget Factory|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4TheWidgetFactory_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4TheWidgetFactory.png|Full Image]] || |
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| <<BR>> | ||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">Rhythmbox Music Player|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4Rhythmbox_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4Rhythmbox.png|Full Image]] || |
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| ==== Appearance Preferences ==== | ||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">Nautilus File Manager|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4Nautilus_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4Nautilus.png|Full Image]] || |
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| {{attachment:Alpha3AppearancePref.png}} | ||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">Open Office Productively Suite|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4OpenOffice_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4OpenOffice.png|Full Image]] || |
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| The `Appearance Preferences` screen is a good example of the `GtkNotebook` widget. It also shows the three main colours of the theme at work with a white canvas. | ||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">Gimp Image Editor|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4Gimp_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4Gimp.png|Full Image]] || |
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| <<BR>> ==== Firefox Quicktime ==== {{attachment:Alpha3QuickTime.png}} Firefox is a key application and must display well. The screen shot above showcases Firefox using the Totem plugin running a `QuickTime` multimedia web application. ==== Rhythmbox ==== {{attachment:Alpha3Rhythmbox.png}} Rhythmbox is a key application that takes advantage of the `pixmap` drawn scale widget. Rhythmbox is also a good example of how the colour orange is applied. Some of the advanced features of the new `murrine` engine are also visible. <<BR>> ==== Menu ==== {{attachment:Alpha3Menu.png}} Murrine menu theming. |
||<tablestyle="text-align:center" style="background-color:#cdc7be">Blue Impression|| ||{{attachment:Alpha4BlueImpression_thumb.png}}|| ||[[attachment:Alpha4BlueImpression.png|Full Image]] || |
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| <<AttachList>> | ~-'''This theme depends upon murrine svn132 or greater.'''-~ |
Contents |
| Slideshow ^ |< << Slide 12 of 55 >> >| |
Impression
*** This Page Is Under Construction ***
Impression-ism was a 19th-century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. The name of the movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in Le Charivari. Characteristics of Impressionist painting include visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.
Concept
Create a theme which presents applications framed in a neutral warm color that supports dark and light text and icons.
Stable Engine: This theme is designed to use established GTK engines such as Clearlooks and pixmap.
Human Icon Theme: Must support current Human icon set.
Visually neutral: A neutral base does not distract from the content being displayed and is easy to view for long periods of time. This adds value when viewing images or graphics where the theme may influence the perception of the content.
Two Panel Desktop: This is the GNOME standard, stay with it.
* Why Not Black: The base colour of a theme removes that colour from the pallet of every object which supports the theme. For example black text does not display on a black background (i.e. no longer a choice) and an icon which is mostly black or some other dark colour does not display well on a black background (i.e. no longer a choice). IMO most of today's icons were designed to display on a light background and would require a significant amount of re-work.
Comments on This Preview
Impression Gnome Desktop |
|
Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope |
The single most significant change between Alpha3 and Alpha4 is reducing the dependancy on the pixmap engine and leveraging the power of the svn132 version of the murrine. Highlights are as follows.
- Support for color customization added through the Gnome Appearance Preferences dialog
Metacity theme linked to Gtk to create a blended uniform presentation
Metacity maximized windows display with square corners
GtkToolbar widgets are now rendered by murrine
GtkScrollbar widgets are now rendered by murrine
GtkScale widgets are now rendered by murrine
- The base theme color adjusted to a more neutral "#cdc7be" to provide better contrast.
What happened to the rounded scrollbars?
I like rounded scrollbars and used them in the alpha two and three releases. The issue I discovered and was not able to mitigate is Open Office. Open Office does not fully accept a rounded scrollbar rendered by the pixmap engine. The steppers are drawn in a box which destroys the desired look. At first I thought it was something I did not know, a technique undiscovered, but I noticed this played out in other themes such as Dust. In the end it always comes down to "form follows function". Utilizing the power of Murrine I crafted a substitute which IMO presents well across all applications. The added benefit of this approach is the scrollbar color can changed to a new theme standard if the base color is changed.
Is the pixmap engine really required?
As the theme is built today, the answer is yes. The role of pixmap may be best described as "supporting actor/actress" as it renders the "status grip" and "toolbar" handles.
Why use rounded metacity window frame controls?
The rounded metacity buttons play really well with Ubuntu. The basic design concept of the Ubuntu logo is circles. Students of art and design will agree there is power in this symbol. The fact the metacity windows controls are three in number also plays well with Ubuntu (yellow, orange, red). I did not want to drift too close to the chartered waters of OSX so I did not present these controls in a glass globe style. Neutral by default, yellow, orange, red as needed. IMO this is very Ubuntu and very functional.
Is Impression really all that different from Human?
If the desired appearance is a "dark theme" built on a base color of black or other dark color, the answer is no. If the desired appearance is a theme which is transparent to the applications it supports and celebrates the qualities of Ubuntu and Gnome we have come to appreciate, the answer is yes.
What's left to do?
- I haven't tested everything, so continued testing is always good
- The screen background, although very good, is not the desired background. We need something more "jaunty".
- The theme needs to be packaged for ease of installation
- If desired, added to "Launch pad" for long term support
Schedule
02/19/2009 - Artwork deadline #1 
- Review changes
Preview Screen Shots
Add Remove Applications Dialogue |
Inkscape Vector Graphics Editor |
The Widget Factory |
Rhythmbox Music Player |
Nautilus File Manager |
Open Office Productively Suite |
Gimp Image Editor |
Blue Impression |
Download
Download here: Impression.tar.gz
This theme depends upon murrine svn132 or greater.
Comments
It would be nice if you would use the Murrine engine.
Exsecrabilus, Exsecrabilus@Gmail.com
Done! 
More screen shots are available @ projWiki
The svn132 version of the murrine engine is available from launchpad or projWiki.
https://launchpad.net/~suraia/+archive
Installing this version will break currently installed murrine themes such as Human.
j_baer, baerjj@gmail.com
Your comment here.
Artwork/Incoming/Jaunty/Impression (last edited 2009-07-03 21:55:44 by 207)