[Qgis-developer] Cast your vote: Default icon theme for QGIS 2.0

Mon Jul 30 14:56:08 PDT 2012

Hi

On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 7:53 PM, G. Allegri <giohappy at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm happy of your email Larry. You anticipated me, because I was going to
> propose the same.
> I believa, as you, that the "face" of an application, with its user
> experience design, is something foundamental as the quality of the code,
> both for its diffusion and to expose its "behind the scenes"'s quality in a
> graphical way.
>
> I would add another evaluation parameter: the integration of the icon set
> inside the QGis UI system. I mean, an icon set could be very cool but maybe
> it could not fit the UI characteristics offered by the Qt system. A naive
> example: a Ribbon style graphics will never integrate in the Qt.
> This means that the icon set should, possibly, work well with the various
> predefined icon sizes and fit into the toolbar spacing. (I'm beginning to
> study the QtStyleSheet system next days).
>
> giovanni
>
>

I also quite like the concept, but we need some feel for what it is
going to cost. It is going to be a bit of a departure for the project
to farm out a part of the work in such a direct manner, but not
totally incongruous to the idea of, for example, paying bounties for
bug fixes. If we have some kind of idea of how much money we are
talking about, perhaps we can actively seek a sponsor for the work.

With regards to departure from GRASS look and feel, personally I never
understood the desire for QGIS and GRASS to have the same icon set - I
would prefer that each application has a distinctive look and feel.

A couple of thoughts:

- we should require SVG icons throughout
- we should require building blocks not just icons. Robert has this
really nice concept of characterising the different actions involved
in QGIS with a standard visual vocabulary and I think it is a notion
we should persist with. In otherwords the product of the retheme work
should also provide the elements that graphical imbeciles such as
myself can pick up and use to make a consistent looking icon.
- we should look at the whole QGIS ecosystem and not only the icons
and try to gain a sense of graphical consistency across the board.
Some of my corporate clients have CI (Corporate Image) portfolios
which specify which colours, graphics etc should be used and in which
contexts. In the longer term this should be something we strive for
too.

Regards

Tim

>
> 2012/7/30 Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com>
>>
>> Hi. Regarding having only one set of icons...
>>
>> Recently, there was a fairly good consensus on having the next icon
>> for the app crowd-sourced, presumably with some coin available for the
>> designer. I think this is a reasonable approach to ensure a good
>> selection of high-quality designs to choose from. The icon is pretty
>> much the 'face' of the app, displayed in many more places than just
>> the file system.
>>
>> (The proposal that follows is by NO means a reflection upon the
>> quality of work or volunteerism regarding the currently available icon
>> sets.)
>>
>> I believe the project should take a similar approach to the app's GUI
>> icon set as for the app icon. There is an opportunity here for QGIS to
>> set the standard for graphic excellence in the FOSS geo community and
>> take the stance that graphics quality should match the quality of its
>> code. An attractive, inviting and functional look for the app's icons
>> and GUI will help ease the adoption of QGIS by new users as it becomes
>> even more popular across the globe. Other open source projects have
>> been at this crossroads before (Firefox, for example), and adoption of
>> high graphic standards has helped their project.
>>
>> Towards this end I propose the project actively seek a handful of icon
>> designers, or croud-sourced designers, to submit selections of their
>> work for a subsequent poll by PSC and devs using the following
>> process:
>>
>> 1) Devs submit, to the list, examples of icons they like. This is an
>> important step towards understanding the 'look' desired for the new
>> set, and will narrow the range of icon styles submitted by designers.
>>
>> 2) A number of diverse icons from the app (maybe 10) are selected as
>> the base for icon designer submissions, i.e. the sample selection. A
>> short description of the function behind each icon is written up (in
>> case potential designers don't have a clue).
>>
>> 3) Hand-picked designers, who have done similar work, or crowd-sourced
>> designers send in submissions based upon the sample selection.
>>
>> 4) A poll is taken and the project moves forward with the chosen icon
>> set, possibly paying the chosen designer.
>>
>> Parameters for submission could be the following:
>>
>> A) Icons made will be under an acceptable and compatible license.
>>
>> B) Designer agrees to support the icon set for a particular duration
>> (time- or release version-based). This would entail providing any
>> infrequent new designs for icons required for new program
>> functionality, and updating the look of any dev-submitted icons to
>> meet the quality of the chosen set.
>>
>> C) Optionally, it could be required of the designer to place the icon
>> set in the OSGeo available sets.
>>
>>
>> Again, this is not a reflection upon currently available work, but an
>> effort to raise the graphics standard and provide a broader selection
>> choice for such an important decision. I understand the need for
>> parity with sister programs like GRASS, but being 'tied to' the
>> graphics of another project may not be a wise decision in the long
>> run, especially if the above process provides all OSGeo apps the
>> opportunity to use the new icons.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Larry Shaffer
>> Dakota Cartography
>> Black Hills, South Dakota
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 10:40 AM, G. Allegri <giohappy at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I agree too. The option to change theme is quite unusual in professional
>> > software.
>> > Having only one theme would let us focus efforts to make it at our best.
>> >
>> > giovanni
>> >
>> > 2012/7/29 Andreas Neumann <a.neumann at carto.net>
>> >>
>> >> +1 for focusing on only one icon theme and putting more efforts into
>> >> this one theme.
>> >>
>> >> Andreas
>> >>
>> >> Am 29.07.2012 10:45, schrieb Alexander Bruy:
>> >> > Hi
>> >> >
>> >> > 2012/7/29 Tim Sutton <lists at linfiniti.com>:
>> >> >> Probably there are more good reasons for and against. It seems clear
>> >> >> GIS theme is preferred theme for the future, why not make it the
>> >> >> *only* theme?
>> >> >
>> >> > I agree with this. BTW If we look at other software, we'll see that
>> >> > only
>> >> > few
>> >> > programs allows to change icons and often users even don't use this
>> >> > capability.
>> >> >
>> >>
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>> >
>> >
>> >
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>
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Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
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