Re: GNOME comp

["digitect" <digitect mindspring com>]

> Here's one of my ideas so far...
>
> http://www.infovariant.com/mlee/g.gif

Hey, I like it! Comments:

* The four quadrant idea has a nice effect visually and organizationally. I
think it expresses the matrix we have in the GNOME community between users
and developers. So it is also fitting that the News and Software sections
are at the intersection of these two groups. Any thought to what happens
after the front page to the unused half of the matrix? (i.e., the Developer
box when your in a user section, or vice-versa.)

* I like the color palette. Warm gray is identifiably GNOME and I think we
should stick to it, although I may suggest replacing the red with a warm
blue, not only because of my personal taste but because it plays better on
most monitors. Also, I'm not sure where the hexagon patterning comes from.

* I'd like to see desktop-type icons used as navigational tools for the
different sections. This would help overcome localization problems,
contribute/utilize our icon library, and generally improve the impression of
the site. Several of these are already in place and work well, for example:
calendar, screenshots and help question mark (FAQ).

* I don't think the current site's or this one's use of phrases is very
helpful. I find single word links (if they're well chosen) to be much more
useful in finding my way around a site. Tasks should be distilled down to
one word and one icon to be truly successful. (i.e., "See GNOME in action"
is much less clear than "Screenshots" even though the later is basically
slang.) Obviously we're still working through all this, so I'm not trying to
criticize the comp, just voice my opinion since it raised the issue for me.


I guess we still haven't decided the main sections of the site, but it would
be good if the design could some how reflect them. The two-sided approach
you present is a great start if we never end up getting it more refined than
that.

Steve Hall  [ digitect mindspring com ]