New Desktop theme

Hi,
I’m having a go at creating a new desktop theme. I thought it would be nice to offer a new updated look.

Has anyone else had a go at this?

I’ve done the first half a dozen icons tonight (directory, directoryo, discs, harddisc display, cd).

I’m designing in 16 million colours which I hope is ok.

I’ll post a download when I’m a bit further along.

Cheers,

Tony

I have been using my own themes since the days of the Archimedes. I like to make the X of the (f)cicon22 red, to make missing my aim less likely. For the last decade or so I have been using something based on the Infinity theme, as I prefer unobtrusive slender window furniture. If anybody wants a copy of my Tools22 and Sprites22 files they have but to ask.

Good idea :)

Thanks Gavin. Please would you drop me an e-mail to the contact e-mail on AMCOG:About ?

I could compare it to mine to understand whether I’m doing this correctly.

My main aim is to create a look with greater colour depth with a fresh look. I’ve called the theme Ultra. Hope that’s not been used before…

I’m re-designing the main icons based in some cases on enhancing and process the existing icons. I’m hoping to get a nice marbling effect on the windows and toolbars.

I have a nice black/brown box with green/blue LEDs for the drives & have curves and shine added to the directory icons.. Perhaps this might be of interest to ROOL – they were asking for graphic designer a couple of years ago on their Facebook page.

Current version – (you may wish to view image direct via URL for a better resolution):

Next job is to update the window bars and re-texture and theme them….

Am I alone in thinking that slanting directory icons give you a stiff neck?

Richard Hallas wrote an interesting piece in Foundation RISC User many years back, giving well-thought-out reasons for his icon-designs, choices of colours and shadings, etc, in his theme-designs for RISC OS 5. I like to be able to make my own choices, but I am an amateur, and I hope that I am not the only one to admit that a professional approach to design often takes into account aspects that never occur to the amateur. Let us hear it from experts.

Let us hear it from experts.

…in a subscription based magazine, only the subscribers will hear it. ;-)

The problem with icon sets is everybody can think they can design awesome icons. I make mine look crappy on purpose, because if I was to put in some effort….. They’d still look crap, so at least I can try to pass it off as stylistic suck.

The problem with icon sets is everybody can think they can design awesome icons.

Agreed. But why bother? If it aint broke, don’t fixit.

Some thoughts on the picture…

• The white effect in the directory icons is jarring. A directory shouldn’t be trying to compete with application icons, it should be a subtle “I’m a(n open) directory”, not “I AM SPARTACUS A DIRECTORY!!!1!!ONE!”.

• Blue background, greenish window backgrounds, greenish icon bar… It’s not aesthetically pleasing. I’d suggest trying to mute the green further towards grey.

I quite like the overall look – it’s great to see some more use made of the colour depth. The only niggle for me is the size of the background tile – it repeats too often which makes it obvious, especially on large windows. I’m not sure if the tile size is constrained within the WIMP or if it can be enlarged.

It might be off topic, but is there a way to make RISC OS 5 look exactly like RISC OS 3 did on the Archimedes? With no textured patterns on anything at all, and the BBC Micro font on everything, and even the original lo-fi icons.

I do not like the blurry filer-window backgrounds. They are distracting and restless. Give me plain monochrome. I do not mind a nice big desktop background so long as everything is in focus and its associations are agreeable, as contrast to filer- or application-window backgrounds. After all, if you are going to be spending some time in front of the screen you should treat it as your living room and take into account its effects on your subconscious. Horrid to live in front of a dyspeptic screen or in an angry room. Ever tried reading text on a busy background? Migraine-inducing!

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. It seems the 3D RISC OS icon, disc icons and tweaked screen icon look fine as they’ve not been commented on directly.

I’ve read and will re-read all the comments. The desktop icons we have now are not broken – just from my point of view I fancied a fresh lick of paint and ‘more overall colour depth’. Grahame – thanks for the comment, I’m going to increase the background tile and see if it works.

I started thinking about desktop icon improvement after a recent talk where I highlighted how to easily enhance existing graphics, and after looking at the Amiga OS 4 desktop to see how it had evolved…

The blurry backgrounds are optional :-) BTW. Nothing is slanted as far as I know… (but I’ll check in case I did this inadvertently) – I have rounded the edges via a lens distortion.

However,I think that I can tone down some parts of this first draft (Thanks Rick).

Given aesthetics are subjective and, unless everything is pretty neutral, it is impossible to please everyone- I think I need to create more than 1 theme.

So I plan to create at least 3 themes

1) A retro Archimedes theme icon set (Patrick – if you turn off outline fonts, the BBC Micro font comes back I believe).
2) A light theme with narrow borders and a relatively non-intrusive design – as per Gavin’s thoughts
3) A more intense version as per this draft (but a bit toned down).

Tony

I dislike 3D icons because they never are. Isometric icons tend to look wrong, looking fatter at the rear end rather than narrower as they would in a perspective view. Re-did as many of the icons as I could be bothered with on my BB -xM to trad flat. I found the default too irritating.

With no textured patterns on anything at all, and the BBC Micro font on everything, and even the original lo-fi icons.

Yes, yes, no.

• Turn off themes and backdrops to get old fashioned Windows back.

• Turn off outline fonts. This will bring back the ugly VDU text (though good knows why anybody would prefer that over, say, Homerton).

• I don’t think you can get the low quality icons back because they were actually VDU characters and now it is done with sprites now. You could, maybe, design old fashioned sprites?

“I don’t think you can get the low quality icons back because they were actually VDU characters "
“You could, maybe, design old fashioned sprites?”
This is my plan, for theme (1) – but at a higher resolution.

“I dislike 3D icons because they never are. Isometric icons tend to look wrong, "
To each their own, however I expect that I may avoid 3D in theme (2), to provide a clear alternative to theme (3).

" Richard Hallas wrote an interesting piece in Foundation RISC User many years back, giving well-thought-out reasons for his icon-designs,
choices of colours and shadings, etc, in his theme-designs for RISC OS 5."
Hi Gavin, do you have a copy of those recommendations, a link or a reference?

I did a user interface design module at university and have worked on user interface design (HCI) professionally. Yes there is usually a
rationale for a design.

As usual, I enjoy criticism and am not precious about most things I create and am happy to change features :-). The image above is not intended to be a finalised set.

I’m back working on RSDP at the moment after a low-key release of a stereo capable version recently (referenced by Drag’n’Drop’).
However, I will do some more work on themes later on today I hope.

Thanks,

Tony

I’m back working on RSDP at the moment after a low-key release of a stereo capable version recently

Oh, will you be doing any music demos like you got on Disc User for the BBC Micro?

I noticed a directory in your screenshot called “RDSP hardware”, are you brewing something? ;-)

Hi Gavin, do you have a copy of those recommendations, a link or a reference?

I have a whole bunch of FRU CDs, it would be in one of those, but no way of reading any of them since the Iyonix I used to have had its CD-drive pack up. I moved over totally to the Rpi when the Rpi first came out. The alternative is to contact Richard Hallas himself. The last email I had from him, in 2010, was Richard at Hallas dot net . He was editor of FRU and one month the cover and the major article was on the design of the RISC OS 5 theme commissioned by Castle.

He also circulated rather a good little pamphlet on the principles of graphic design.

Hi Rick,
“Oh, will you be doing any music demos like you got on Disc User for the BBC Micro?”

• There is a small music demo with synth bass drum, hi-hat and snare in the most recent Drag’N’Drop.
  & yes I do plan/hope to write more music demos (or maybe just demos) in future

• " noticed a directory in your screenshot called “RDSP hardware”, are you brewing something? ;-)"
  – well spotted. I have some ideas, but I think that hardware is hard, so nothing in the near term.
  – I also have to sort out some zombies first…

Thanks Gavin. I’ll see what’s out there on the interweb, otherwise I’ll reach out to Richard.

“Iconix: A New Face for RISC OS 5” in FRU 11

Though I am not a fan of the RISC OS 5 base set it describes.

This drobe article is also interesting.

http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=1708

I don’t think you can get the low quality icons back because they were actually VDU characters

I was really thinking about the icons you see in the filer, rather than the window buttons. But it’d be nice to have the window buttons look like old RISC OS 3 too.
I want to set up my raspberry pi’s desktop to look as much like RISC OS 3.1 as possible – I have a lot of nostalgia for RISC OS 3.1, the first computer with a mouse my family had was an A3010.

So I plan to create at least 3 themes
1) A retro Archimedes theme icon set

Nice, I’m looking forward to it.

(Patrick – if you turn off outline fonts, the BBC Micro font comes back I believe).

That worked, now the remaining parts of my desktop are the window titlebars and scrollbars (they’re RiscPC-era styled at the moment)

Patrick

I have a lot of nostalgia for RISC OS 3.1

Is this what is required.

I have simple Windows 10 desktop themes

A potential spammer who has actually read some items, but hasn’t really understood what’s going on?

Next user number after established muscleshop spammer. Just guessing!

Edit: Confirmed by his recent second posting on another thread! Yeah, that’ll really be good under RISC OS!

A potential spammer who has actually read some items, but hasn’t really understood what’s going on?

Ironically the second link on a google search of that name is for someone with “Over twenty years clinical research experience within the Pharmaceutical and service provider sectors”

On the actual topic I find fancy window backgrounds, as in Anthony’s Dec 20th posting, to be visually confusing.
Perhaps I’m unusual in liking plain backgrounds for the icons, but then I use computers as a tool¹ rather than entertainment². That said, the facility to alter the background is of use³ and it also entertains those who do like the eye-candy aspect.

¹ You’d hardly expect to have a range of screwdrivers and spanners with floral decoration.
² Many years ago I built a programmable TV games machine, took quite a while⁴, and then handed it to my sisters for them to play with since the games themselves were of no interest to me.
³ Having a colour per directory and taking it to deeper shades as the depth in the structure increases is one potential setup.
⁴ Along the way building that circuit I learned how to use an EPROM programmer from scratch, out of the box, and wrote the notes that were typed up by a secretary to instruct the Uni students how to use it.