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• Launchpad Entry: hardy-icon-theme

• Packages affected:

Summary

To accompany the top down rethemeing of ubuntu a new icon set should be created to replace the Human theme

Release Note

This is a new icon theme for ubuntu

Rationale

As we create a new theme for the next LTS cycle we need an icon theme which reflects these changes, is created using the tango guidelines so that it fits with the existing Tangerine, Tango and Gnome icon themes and is modern and fresh.

Assumptions

In order to create a new icon theme we will need talented artists. Without them this will never become a reality within several years.

Design

The color palette, design principles and examples will be explained in the Artwork teams wiki page (tbd)

Implementation

The implementation issues concerning the icon theme are very similar to the issues concerning the hardy theme in general. They are:

Name

Every good theme needs a good name. The name Human was very descriptive although we made very little out of it. Finding a good name to explain the look and describing it well will make things easier.

Process

Defining a process for approval of the theme elements is very important and will solve problems later. All of this needs to be as openly as possible.

Timeline

Accompanying the process for approval is a strict timeline to be followed to ensure there is ample time for testing and tweaking for cohesiveness and completeness. As this is an evolving process we will need to determine which pieces need to be done when and how to keep everything in line not only over the course of one release but over several releases.

UI Changes

As we create the theme this will have an impact on other parts (like compiz effects, etc). All of this should be inline and use the same design principles.

Code Changes

Minor pieces of code will need to changed. We need to find able people to help with this.

Test/Demo Plan

This need not be added or completed until the specification is nearing beta.

Outstanding Issues

As the creation of an icon set is not a matter of months we need to precisely plan which pieces to create at which phase of the cycle.

BoF agenda and discussion

This will be created during and after the UDS Boston

Icon Theme

The human icon theme is getting outdated. The problem is that very few of the icons are svg. The question is: Should we throw everything out and start fresh or keep working on what we already have. Issues

1. Gloss is outdated.
2. SVGs are missing.

Style

• Remove the OSX style gloss, use it intelligently and naturally.

  SVG vs PNG SVG is not showed properly in GNOME, especially blur and more advanced features such as clipping. SVGs are currently being prerendered with a script.

Cycles

Plan for the future? What to do from LTS to LTS. We will not do major changes in between LTS releases. We do NOT want to do the MS style of inheriting things from Windows 3.1 to current.

Process

Need to find an artist (andreasn :P), who is quite competent at icon design and capable of following the Tango guidelines.

Follow Hardy theme design principles and palette. Or a human-specific one.

• A palette for icon creation is absolutely necessary.

BZR Everything should be commited to bzr, Art packagers have commit access.

We still call it Human, but with an internal major version number. If there is a complete revamp, a new name will be needed. Otherwise, people will complain that their theme is not human.

In order to make the theme, we need to follow the rest of the decission making process. We must sit down, make the something basic that we can show off.

Deatheaters need to show Voldemort what they plan to appease him, or risk the Cruciatis curse. We must show him our vision of the death mark in order to impress and convince him.

You can set gnome-style OO.o with export OOO_FORCE_DESKTOP=gnome OO.o icons are too similar in the 'Applications' menu, we need to make them stand out from each other more. The should be more clear in what they do. We can make the colours different, like MS Office does. We use the color cue to help people visualize.

Theres an idea about making the status icons in the panel really simple and just one colour, much like how OSX does it.

We must create the basis of this first, with guidelines, pallettes etc., then a timeline, make something to release with Hardy, and then again completing it.

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