The splash screen font sucks !

Cham · Post #1by **Cham** » 28.09.2006, 07:36

Time I say something about that #%&*@! splash screen. I love the picture, but the caracters with sheriffs are incoherent with the standard fonts used for the interface and the Logo.png. I never liked that golden archaic style. I think the word "Celestia" shouldn't have any sheriffs. It should be simpler, cleaner, with a modern look, not that old archaic "Jules Verne" style which is irrelevant with what the program is actually doing. I think that the similarity with the official web page is completely irrelevant too. The splash screen isn't an old printed book, it's the interface for a modern astronomy software on a computer screen. I suggest a new font style (no sheriff) on the splash screen for the official 1.5.0 version of Celestia. What you guys think about this ?

And what about that useless Logo.png ? We don't need it anymore. IMHO, it should be removed.

bh · Post #2by bh » 28.09.2006, 07:51

I like the splash...I think the font is very handsome, so there!

rra · Post #3by **rra** » 28.09.2006, 08:02

I like the spash also very much indeed ,
but Cham , why don't you come up with other spash screens ,
then we will compare them, maybe polling over the "best" one.

Ren?©

Boux · Post #4by **Boux** » 28.09.2006, 09:35

Cham wrote:Time I say something about that #%&*@! splash screen. I love the picture, but the caracters with sheriffs are incoherent with the standard fonts used for the interface and the Logo.png. I never liked that golden archaic style. I think the word "Celestia" shouldn't have any sheriffs. It should be simpler, cleaner, with a modern look, not that old archaic "Jules Verne" style which is irrelevant with what the program is actually doing. I think that the similarity with the official web page is completely irrelevant too. The splash screen isn't an old printed book, it's the interface for a modern astronomy software on a computer screen. I suggest a new font style (no sheriff) on the splash screen for the official 1.5.0 version of Celestia. What you guys think about this ?

And what about that useless Logo.png ? We don't need it anymore. IMHO, it should be removed.

Same here, I don't like it. Looks very antiquated and is intrusive.
Just remove or replace the pict with anything you like, or better, rip off the source the relevant part of code and rebuild. Bye-bye splash.
Same treatment for the welcome to Celestia thingy.
I like fast and clean loading of the prog.

Post #5by **Christophe** » 28.09.2006, 10:05

Boux wrote:Just remove or replace the pict with anything you like, or better, rip off the source the relevant part of code and rebuild. Bye-bye splash.
Same treatment for the welcome to Celestia thingy.
I like fast and clean loading of the prog.

The spash screen doesn't make the loading process slower, it gives you an early feedback which according to usability studies is a good thing.

Anyway if you don't like it, no need to rebuild, there is a --nosplash switch (or -s).

On KDE, it is also possible to specify text attributes of the splash screen messages using PNG comments.

Post #6by **ElChristou** » 28.09.2006, 12:14

As the author of the splash, I must say that the present font was not my first choice, but this has been discuss a long time by the dev team. It's the font used on the official site for the logo...

About the "CELESTIA" at start up, I agree it should be removed.

Everybody is free to propose something else to replace this splash, so guys at your PS and other image editing soft!! :wink:

tech2000 · Post #7by **tech2000** » 28.09.2006, 13:06

ElChristou wrote:As the author of the splash, I must say that the present font was not my first choice, but this has been discuss a long time by the dev team. It's the font used on the official site for the logo...

About the "CELESTIA" at start up, I agree it should be removed.

Everybody is free to propose something else to replace this splash, so guys at your PS and other image editing soft!!

Atleast the font for the splash should be changed since it looks horrible on Windows Vista. By that I mean, It's almost not readable.

Bye, Anders

Malenfant · Post #8by **Malenfant** » 28.09.2006, 13:28

For once I'm going to violently disagree with Cham

... I really like the splash screen. I think the font on the splash is fine, it makes the program look more professional, and fits nicely with the background image too. The only problem I have with it is that the text showing the files loading doesn't show up too well on my LCD (looks like the Cleartype setting isn't applying to that).

I agree that the logo.png is redundant though. Personally though I'd like to see the start.cel removed by default, so we just start at a fixed point and don't have to waste time hitting 'escape' or waiting to go to Earth before we do anything.

Post #9by **t00fri** » 28.09.2006, 15:47

In the long dev discussion ElChristou was referring to, there was a clearcut preference for SANS Serife fonts by ALL Europeans involved ;-)

, while practically ALL Americans liked the present font very much.

I am European ;-)

I think ElChristou's splash that he custom-made for me is WAY better than the official one. I use it most of the time in my setup.
For my taste the official splash has too much orange-gold including that BAD texture of Jupiter that is ~ 15 years old! We should have instead the true color Cassini image of Jupiter etc...

Bye Fridger

Cham · Post #10by **Cham** » 28.09.2006, 15:57

I do like the splash screen and want it to stay. It's just the font used which I hate. It should be a cleaner font, without sheriff. The "Celestia" word just needs a modern look and feel, not that old "kitsch" golden style. That font is really of a bad taste. (and I'm not european, Fridger ;-)

)

Using the original Photoshop file that created that splash picture, it should be very easy to just change the font used and its color.

Fightspit · Post #11by **Fightspit** » 28.09.2006, 16:09

I remember a scrennshot of Runar but not in which post :wink:

:

8)

It can be used for the splash screen (I like it :!:

) but I didn't decide which word style "Celestia" can be written, what style do you prefer :?:

Fightspit · Post #12by **Fightspit** » 28.09.2006, 16:12

Fightspit wrote:... but not in which post

I finally find it

:

http://www.celestiaproject.net/forum/viewtopic ... 33&start=0

Fightspit wrote:The screenshot of Saturn is very beautiful and I think it is possible to use it for the "splash" screen, no ?

Cham · Post #13by **Cham** » 28.09.2006, 16:12

The actual splash screen picture is perfect to me. Just the word needs to be changed.

Post #14by **ElChristou** » 28.09.2006, 16:19

t00fri wrote:For my taste the official splash has too much orange-gold including that BAD texture of Jupiter that is ~ 15 years old! We should have instead the true color Cassini image of Jupiter etc...

Yep I already test with the new map, it's clearly more realistic but lose a bit of the global tone of the splash...

Perhaps a complete new splash would be welcome, but perso, right now I don't have much time for this, so people here are welcome to propose something else.

Fightspit wrote:I remember a scrennshot of Runar but not in which post :

It can be used for the splash screen (I like it ) but I didn't decide which word style "Celestia" can be written, what style do you prefer

This picture is very nice, but the dev team agree to keep the cutting done by Jupiter on the actual to not stay in the classical simply rectangular splash...

Post #15by **t00fri** » 28.09.2006, 19:04

Here is ElChristou's "kingsize" inofficial splash he made for me.

It resonates nicely with the ornaments on the main Celestia page:

Also in this custom splash, a Cassini true-color jupi would be much better. The splash promises accuracy and graphical perfection without anticipating it...
The dark green & slate gray colors are just coooool

I find this design by far the more "elegant" approach.

Bye Fridger

Malenfant · Post #16by **Malenfant** » 28.09.2006, 19:06

t00fri wrote:In the long dev discussion ElChristou was referring to, there was a clearcut preference for SANS Serife fonts by ALL Europeans involved , while practically ALL Americans liked the present font very much.

Well I'm European too (and a font geek), and I like the serif version. Serif just looks more classy and formal, IMO.

For my taste the official splash has too much orange-gold including that BAD texture of Jupiter that is ~ 15 years old! We should have instead the true color Cassini image of Jupiter etc...

We should use the latest texture, I agree.

Cham · Post #17by **Cham** » 28.09.2006, 19:13

This splash screen is very nice (Fridger's last post), but too "old fashion". Celestia is a modern application, not an old sextant with old paper maps and a rusty compass. The splash screen doest NOT have to be related to the official web page. It must reflect the application itself. Not a web page. And the constellations drawn in Celestia doesn't have the style indicated on the splash screen. It's just incoherent with the application itself.

The font color is much better, however.

Post #18by **t00fri** » 28.09.2006, 19:17

Cham wrote:This splash screen is very nice (Fridger's last post), but too "old fashion". Celestia is a modern application, not an old sextant with old paper maps and a rusty compass. The splash screen doest NOT have to be related to the official web page. It must reflect the application itself. Not a web page. And the constellations drawn in Celestia doesn't have the style indicated on the splash screen. It's just incoherent with the application itself.

The font color is much better, however.

I disagree: the most "classy" and expensive appartments you can buy in town are historical buildings with a top modern interior ;-)

That's precisely the philosophy of the splash.

Bye Fridger

Cham · Post #19by **Cham** » 28.09.2006, 19:26

Aaah c'mon Fridger, you must be joking.

I advocate pure, simple and clear things, Zen like aspects for a jewel like Celestia. IMO, "Classy" styles are retrograde, for a modern computer program (we're not talking about an appartment here). In some way, it's looking "amatteur".

Post #20by **ElChristou** » 28.09.2006, 20:30

Guys, the endless discussion based on "I like it or not" is not constructive at all...

A good splash is not easy at all; here some points I used to meditate:

- size must feat the majority of screen -> 1024

- must be well equilibrate/balanced

- must be well executed: a tiny defect can fix your attention if seen 10 times per day (or more), so can become really irritating...

- a classical design will make more people happy

- if follow existing graphic element (in this case the web page), better.

About point 4, a classic design will make more people happy because it is based on "something we all know"; this is the problem of Abstract Art for example, only a very small minority is able to appreciate it.

Example: I once used some splash based on the osX metal brush interface, this kind of stuff won't be appreciate by lot of people but IMO there is something to dig in this direction:

SO, guys, instead of losing time on endless discussion, better proposing your own idea, then the ideal could be a poll...

PS: also very important, the splash must be approved by Chris, so his opinion will be decisive (he vote for the serif font)

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