KDE Desktop Themes: Options and Limits
Dear List,
as I also mentioned on the kde-artists list, we discussed the
possibilities to mock up the Desktop of Skolelinux/Debian-Edu
in order to make it more attractive to pupils (and reviewers).
Our first step was to evaluate the options - and limits given.
You can find the results at:
http://skolelinux.de/wiki/KDE3/Themes-en
OPTIONs:
Kcontrol->Appearance&Themes->Theme Manager includes 5 components:
- Background (wallpapers)
- Color schemes
- Style (Widgets)
- Icons (SVG)
- Screensaver.
Additionally options to change the appearance are
- Fonts
- Launch Feedback
- Splash Screen
- Window Decorations
Generally, this grants many degrees of freedom - even though some
components are quire work consuming (SVG icons, Window decor.)
LIMITs:
Besides wallpapers, the color scheme is maybe the easiest thing to
change. Now, I think that this point has its limitations, however:
1. Usability/Ergonomy
Contrast must be smooth enough to protect your eyes from damage ;)
2. Blue Dominance
My first approach had been to chose a blackboard green as dominant color
(cf. http://skolelinux.de/~ralf/kde-desktop-greenboard.png )
As you can see on the screenshot, many applications - and also icon sets
- are dominated by the color of blue. Is it because planet earh is
blue? I doubt that this blue prevailance could be ignored.
3. Default colors of some applications
There are even KDE core apps like Kmail that come with their own
coloring. In kmail I ended up with green on green text (quoted text) -
and it was next to impossible to use the predefined color scheme with
my custom KDE style.
Thank you for reading the results of our first step - I would be glad
about any kind of feedback, hint or even contribution.
We will meet again in Guetersloh (Germany) from January 20 - 22:
http://skolelinux.de/wiki/ArbeitsTreffen060120
Feel free to show up ;)
Kind regards
Ralf
Reply to: