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rinishak — Deuce: The Minimal Experience
Published: 2009-02-27 07:47:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 4284; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 511
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Description
A concept desktop I designed for fun. Focusing on minimalism, accessibility (well, not really
) and of course slickness.Please click download for a better view of the explanation and screenshots.
I called it Deuce (meaning 'two' in Lain), because its my second desktop design project since Aquaburst (not counting Izanagi WMD). I plan to name future designs following this naming scheme (either in Latin or Greek would be good).
Nothing special, really. Just eye-candy. I may add on features later. I'll keep this submission updated in case of any changes.
I'm quite happy how the icons turned out; I never really designed icons before, but I had the most fun designing them.
April 3
Uploaded my Deuce themed desktop screenshot .
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Comments: 14
Looks like Deuce needs to be minimalized further. Thanks for the link.
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You DO realize that this can be put together simply with other parts people have already made?
1) Use Stardock/Windowsblinds for the GUI basic, or use BB4Win (though blackbox and variants lack the rounded corners, though perhaps Xoblite might have a plugin for it- I forget).
2) Custom icons and log on/off screen (use LogonXP or Logon Studio)
3) Firefox with some CSS scripts.
The only original or creative part needed is the custom icons. You can make them yourself, edit something that has creative licensing, or simply find ones (they're out there) that look close enough to what you have shown in the mock up.
That would be how I'd do it- use things that are already stable. I think I'd make it a windowsblinds skin with a Logon Studio and a custom icon set. That's all it would need.
Good luck and hope to see it next time I swing by! It looks nice.
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Yes, it can be made - in Linux especially (the system is almost exactly the same). If I could code and had the knowledge of theming, I could make this into a real working interface or theme.
I also have actually begun working on an iconset based on this design, won't be done anytime soon, though.
Anyway, thanks for leaving feedback!
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I would LOVE to see this come to reality. Interfaces are typically designed poorly. This is the type of design that could really make an impact with users and it is incredibly pleasing to the eye.
Your UI work is fantastic.
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Thanks, again! As I mentioned in the description, I may make further modifications later on; I think it lacks in features at the moment - very average-ish.
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I suppose to say that it lacks in features, would be more accurate. The beauty for me is the simplicty that it contains.
If the additional functionality can be achieved without furthur clutter (a la a right-click menu, or Win7 style taskbar, etc), than it would definately be an improvement.
There would be a lot of work in making this a fully functional UI without turning it into a "skin" that simply decorates a UI. Th work would be well rewarded with kudos that would be received for such a a creation.
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Yes, I will try to keep it simple. After all, this concept targets minimalism. But to make it real, it's something almost impossible for me.
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I know so little about Linux desktops that I would be useless for assistance. If it were a UI that could be laid out overtop of Windows, that might be another story.
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In the design here, the system is actually heavily based on the GNOME desktop environment. The basic GNOME desktop has pretty much everything you see here, just that it may not look as eye-catching. I based it on GNOME because I find that it is very efficient and functional, although it can be quite technical sometimes. If you haven't had a shot at GNOME, you should download a Live CD and try it sometime.
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Truth be told, you are correct. I really should give it a shot, as one learns nothing without attempt.
What, in at the very least, an assumptive guess, would you say is the likeliness that with enough playing under the hood, is the possibility of it being made to look just as it does? The design would of course require updates and tweaks, as it isn't quite "fully" laid out as of yet.
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Yes, though certain things still aren't supported by GNOME yet. For instance, the transparency on the notifications and windows, and the previews on the icons of files such as pictures, videos, etc. are not rendered in 3D, and maybe several other things.
But the way it works is basically the same. If you plan on trying out GNOME, you could try Ubuntu, one of the more popular implementation of GNOME.
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If a lot of those features aren't supported, I won't have much of an interest, to be true.
I suppose a great goal at this point would be to find a shell/shell replacement that could handle such features. I ave had a couple people message me to inform me that DesktopX and possibly Talisman can perform these feats, but I worry that they will merely be "skins" and not an actual interface.
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Well, developers have already begun working on the transparency feature (GTK RGBA) and apparently even have screenshots of the work in progress, though it may take some time for developers to get it running perfectly.
However, there is a powerful compositing engine (that handles special effects for the interface) for GNOME called Compiz which allows window transparency. But compared to GTK RGBA, it also affects the transparency of window widgets like buttons, etc. making them less visible - which is why people are looking forward to the implementation GTK RGBA in GNOME.
As for the 3D icons, I don't really know any desktop interfaces that actually have such a feature; it's not practical, I suppose.
But even with these few minor features missing, GNOME still is a great desktop environment, especially when coupled with Compiz. The only problem is that if you are a Windows user, you may have difficulty operating a Linux system at first.
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