Re: GUI without X11 / Artist Help

[Alex Perez]

jesse@jesseross.com wrote:
> > > > Also, apart from icons, is there a direction for the default GUI
> > > > interface? I saw some of the theming that will be/is available
> > > > through Camaelon -- has there been a clear consensus on keeping
> > > > certain NEXTSTEP
> > > > elements or moving to a more Mac look (ie: horizontal menubar versus
> > > > vertical floating bar, scrollbar on left/right)? Any feedback on that
> > > > would be helpful for redesiging the default GUI.
> > >
> > > This comes up from time to time on the list.  There are equally many
> > > usability and aesthetic points that could be cited in favor of either
> > > interface, Aqua or "Step".  Since Aqua is already being handled nicely
> > > by Apple, it's probably best to make GNUstep's default the
> > > alternative, instead of an imitation that will always pale compared to
> > > the original.  (In some ways it actually feels good to move from a KDE
> > > to a Windows machine, for example..)  Likewise for aping Gnome.  The
> > > development and continuing popularity of window managers such as
> > > WindowMaker and Afterstep suggests there is a user population that
> > > likes the Step theme.
> >
> > First, let me tell you that I'm a very new GNUStep user, but I really
> > like it so far.
> > The only thing which bothers me is its rather dated look.
> > I'm just looking at the screenshot from Nicolas Roard with the new
> > icons, and I
> > have to admit that it looks pretty good.
> > But I still don't like the look of some of the widgets.
> > Are there any plans to change them?
> > Or, a better question, do you want them changed?
> >
> > I'm not sure what I should make of all the comments written on
> > GNUStep.org.
> > It sounds more like you want to keep the look of the widgets as they
> > are.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Patrik
>
>
> I totally agree -- the look of the widgets and dock is very dated, and
> they all feel very "large". I think this is one of the things that the
> design team needs to determine specs for and then work on implementing a
> default modern look.

They're not any larger than the OS X dock. Large dockicons are good. 
Since using OS X and GNUstep, I can't hardly stand to use a windows 
machine, with the tiny little icons in the taskbar which require me to 
hunt for the one I want. I have resorted to using ObjectBar since it's 
so much more visual. The average monitor resolution is relatively high 
these days, and please remember, the original NeXT hardware was around 
1152x864, and ran at a single resolution. Designing for anything lower 
than this is cumbersome and rather pointless IMHO as well, these days. 
GNUstep should be foreward-looking, not trying to support ancient 
resolutions.

> Perhaps we could have an interface design competition, examine the entries
> from aesthetic, human interface and technical implementation perspectives,
> and then construct it and distribute it as the base UI.

I think most anything would be better than what we have now.

Cheers,
Alex Perez