SplashScreen Redesign

[kodjo]

Actually i only can contribute an opinion, like an artdirector from outer space. No intention to confuse the good ideas of people who do the hard work in graphics. Also i respect, the circumstances in which the existing design happened, offered no chances for something great and consistent. Nevertheless, i do not want to swallow the anger about the splashscreen/startupscreen of NO/J 1.1 beta, for example:

The ship associates cheap and childish plastic toy dreams between mayflower, bounty and such. An awful sea of applications and products uses the metaphor of "ship" for identification. Wheter it is your taste or not, each start of the office suite makes a poor impression, visually, and therefore also emotionally, compared to the real concurrent, MS Office, with its unique and slick startup.

It would be nice, when an outstanding work like NO/J also graphically can make a clever and unique point on the level of the competitor. Waiting until by chance a volunteer shows up, in this case would be stupid. NO/J deserves a responsible figure in the project calling famous web- and applicationdesigners, whether they can think of contributing something unique on a high level, as peaceful and voluntarily and tricky, as the developers do.

For an immediate provisory change of the splashscreen, one fast and easy strategy might be, to continue with the convincing and already known element of the present design; The Wave. Make the wave beautiful. The connotation with the catastrophe in asia can be avoided when the present image of a wave is developed further cleverly. Without ship it can become a metaphor for spreading clean and natural beautiy and power, relating it to the wave of free coding that changes the digital world into a place where it is worth to live, not only to pay for dependency. A graphic talent can do such thing or contribute a better idea. Would give time to collect, discuss and develop a consistent long term concept for splashscreen and all over design .

Be inspired.

kodjo

[Jens]

First, thanks to the programmers for the great work.

I generally concur with kodjo's message, though I'm not sure that a wooden ship is necessarily a bad image. However, the splash screen does need to be more original and beautiful.

Incidentally, I think the logo also needs to be more beautiful. I really like the logo they use for OpenOffice, so although there's no need to copy that, at least it would be nice to have something on the same level, especially since Mac users are known to be the "designer" side of the computer world.

Why not have an open competition for "best logo" and "best splash screen," and perhaps make the current files available for people who'd like to mess around with them?

[jakeOSX]

your critism is noted, appreciated. however. this is an opensource project run by just a very few volunteers. one of which took the time to create, with much input, the splashscreen and the icons.

now this is not to say that your thoughts will be ignored. this is to say that your approach is incorrect. offering suggestions, they will be noted. but a better way would be to do some mock-ups, some preliminary designs yourself, perhaps contact the author and work with him.

a well written critique, though nice, will eventually just become another post.

[kodjo]

Hi, Jens and Jake,

we want the same. My own design of the splashscreen might be worse than the present one. I am not dogmatic about ship or whatever. Someone experienced in product design might understand what i tried to say in the first posting. In some agencies work exceptional artist, who might be motivated by the exceptional existence of NeoOffice, to contribute open source exceptional graphics.

The hits on the thread at least show a remarkable interest in such detail as the splashscreen. My idea, to talk about it, therefore cannot be completely wrong. Someone may pick up the thought, take a heart and do the thing, or at least add another stone to the mosaic.

You both already have expressed three elements which make sense to be readable here and elsewhere.

>"Competition"
>Preliminary Design
>Contact the Author

IMHO having preliminary or even perfect designs and friendly contact with the Author of the present splash screen is basic. A joint organisation of a competition is just one among other options for a progress.
.