On Sat, 05 Mar 2016 02:40:21 +0100
Thomas Maus <thomas.maus@...> wrote:

> On Friday 04 March 2016, 17:30 wrote E. Liddell:
> > On Fri, 04 Mar 2016 19:25:10 +0100  Thomas Maus <thomas.maus@...> wrote:
> > > Also, feel free to suggest improvements or ideas, or simply do something
> > > better (with or without my designs).
> > > 
> > > In order to perhaps quell the occultism charge, this was my line of
> > > thought: The triskele is positioned to look like a T with very ornate,
> > > curly ends. The color triplet RGB was chosen, as it is these colors are
> > > base of every desktop, uniting to a diversity of colors, forms and
> > > impressions. The various shades and sometimes translucencies serve as
> > > (hopefully aesthetic) illustration ...
> > 
> > (This is a general set of remarks on both your batches, examined purely from
> > a design/branding point of view and not meaning to discourage.)
> > 
> > I'm afraid the RGB colour set, despite its symbolism, was not necessarily a
> > good choice from a purely mechanical point of view.  Specifically, the blue
> > is of too dark a value to contrast well with a black triskele, and the
> > green is of too light a value to contrast well with a white triskele.  This
> > is more visible if you zoom out--you can see the lines disappear.  
> 
> Yes, the eye has quite different sensitivity for these colors -- obviously 
> even on the individual level, so that different people often have different 
> color perceptions ...

Actually, the conclusion I've come to over the years is that you should almost
never use #0000ff for anything.  Its contrast isn't great regardless of what you
pair it with, you get odd synergies with neighbouring colours, etc.  In general,
highly saturated colours have to be used with extreme care.  (They're also a bit
difficult to print out, if we ever want to make fundraising mousepads or
whatever.)

In this particular case, you probably want something closer to a sky blue with
the black triskele.  The white triskele, you want to move to darker colours
all around.

> I'm neither an artist nor specialized in accessibility or visual design -- you 
> seem much more knowledgeable in that area, so feel free to guide me or improve 
> the design yourself.

I have a diploma in graphic design.  Which does not make me a good designer--
it just means that I showed up for classes, handed my assignments in on time,
and wasn't completely terrible at it.

(I also have a degree in computer science, which does not make me a good
programmer. ;P )

> > Also, how will this work in a
> > black-and-white context (Mono icon set, for accessibility)?
> 
> Ha, you find me well prepared: I've an alternative 1bpp design at hand ;-P
> (But it will give Nik and every other hardware guy a headache =8-O )
> 
> Just joking ...
> 
> I'd suggest the black Triskele with a hard white halo ...

Given how the rest of the Mono set works, I'm not sure the white
halo is appropriate--the single bit is more or less transparent/opaque,
rather than black/white  (I wouldn't use any of my designs for it unaltered
either, mind you.)

> > The other problem I have, with the second set especially, is that I'm not
> > sure the shape you're using is distinct enough from the Trisquel Linux
> > logo--yes, you've reversed the direction and the spiral is more uniform,
> > but will a random person glancing at it casually *notice* that?
> 
> Each arm is highlighted in a different primary color and the body is black -- 
> that is a significant distance in feature space (and a second reason for the 
> RGB choice). But perhaps the trefoil knots will solve the problems -- it just 
> will take a few days ...

Ignore the colour.  Look at the *shape*.  To me, it doesn't seem differentiated 
enough to avoid the reaction, "Oh, Trisquel just punched up their colour scheme 
a bit!"

> > > This batch was my original design target, before becoming side-tracked ...
> > > 
> > > Again the proof sheet is intended to be viewed with various backgrounds.
> > > You will notice, that in the third row one design is missing -- I failed
> > > to do this within "inkscape" (if anybody knows how to achieve the glow
> > > effect in "inkscape", enlighten me ... ;-)
> > 
> > I think you're looking at playing with the parameters of multiple filters.
> > "Cutout glow" might be a place to start.  (Inkscape filters are not a good
> > choice for this particular task, though--they don't render outside of
> > Inkscape, so they just make it more difficult to produce usable SVG icons.)
> 
> (Oh my, I first had to switch "inkscape" to English and restart to verify)
> I had tried "Cutout glow" and it is a nicely done effect, but what I wanted 
> was the glow radiating into the black area.
> I did not find an approach within "inkscape". It is easy to get a glow, but to 
> produce a soft cutout or do a hard cutout and apply a 2nd blur, seemed not 
> possible (or missing something, I rarely use "inkscape")

Stacking, maybe.  Create the outer glow on one path, then stack a second
on top and apply the inner glow.

I have to admit, it isn't an effect I've ever needed to create, though.

Also, the Inkscape filters shouldn't be used in the final product for this project, 
because only Inkscape can display those filters on SVG files.  (They'll be visible 
on exported PNGs, of course, but most of the TDE icon sets come with an
SVG version.)

E. Liddell