He might not be drawing from the Royal Air Force for inspiration. We have a department store chain here in the USA:
Attachment 97108
This is an unfortunate by-product of making an identifying graphic a little too simple.
-g
Printable View
He might not be drawing from the Royal Air Force for inspiration. We have a department store chain here in the USA:
Attachment 97108
This is an unfortunate by-product of making an identifying graphic a little too simple.
-g
Actually, it was Pete who asked the question OG, and I just explained in my last post the reason for the icon.
In Britain we have a habit of painting targets on our military equipment. We used to have crosses on our troops too, but they decided to stop doing that.
I’m glad that the idea of a contest has been made here, because evidently there are artists who use this program (and non-artists, and amateur artists) who are either irritated by the current splash screen, or have vocalized what they feel it fails to meet or provide.
Geoff, to answer your rhetorical question (I hate when people do this, don’t you? :)) of "who cares about the splash screen", The Xara Group and MAGIX don’t care what the splash screen looks like, or it wouldn’t have been so unimaginatively drawn.
There is absolutely no excuse for bringing one more bland piece of artwork into the world; we have an abundance of mediocrity in ads, logos, commercial art, fine art, and other things graphical. Part of the reason is Lazy Thinking, while another is the prevailing need Not To Offend, to be PC in everything you design, to not take a risk, in the final result to seek the Lowest Common Denominator for public art.
If anyone needs a concrete reason why not to birth one more bland thing, it could be because McDonald's fast food chain has already done it. and owns the Bland Market.
The current splash screen doesn’t even have the math right, not the way I count programs. Is it really four programs in one? That is to say it’s Page & Layout Designer, Web Designer, Graphic & Photo Designer, and it’s also itself? Man, I’d love to bill a client using this math!
The splash screen is eminently "beige", it’s marginally more interesting than the wallpaper in a physician’s waiting room, just a little more tasty than the tapioca served to a hospital patient who we shouldn’t get too excited.
It’s quite lazy in its concept. First, to frame and crop the desktop icon for some of the programs (but not the Big D for Designer Pro?), and second, to have made these icons so generic in the first place that they get lost in Microsoft desktop icons and others that have an uninspired design sense.
Honest to Gosh, Xara and Magix: is this truly more than a few shapes casually thrown together?
Attachment 97109
Only by using some intuition—which is helping the artwork I see... and I shouldn’t have to do that—can I make out a plus sign which could mean “more than” or “and”, perhaps a 35 mm slide frame, and a graph or part of a mountain range which with a lot of work might translate into “photograph”.
At least this is my literal interpretation. I can't perform an artistic interpretation because there's a paucity of evidence in front of me.
Art is a medium or self-expression, and this splash screen, for some people that first look at the program, looks like an expression of a committee, an ambiguous yawn, lacking spirit, interest, and excitement.
I will not say that it’s not Art, because the DaDaism Movement in the early 20th Century was a testament to the truth that you can’t kill Art, but this splash screen is very, very poor art.
My Best (usually),
Gary
P.S. I don't care for the splash screen.
The Xara Group and MAGIX don’t care what the splash screen looks like, or it wouldn’t have been so unimaginatively drawn.
I think that's pretty disrespectful.
I like the splash screen design and I like the icons shown upon it and the flat style. I think it was skilfully done.
Some may consider it bland, but I do not and while it is never going to win an award (even for blandness), it is not without merit or skill.
I respect the views of those who dislike the splash screen, and even flat styling in general, but those views can be expressed without denigrating those of an opposite view, or in terms of implying a lack of talent, skill or effort.
I am disappointed.
@Paul—
I expressed an opinion—as others express opinions—probably without a lot of regard for hurting someone else's feelings, and if I've done so (I probably have), please let me offer that I myself am very disappointed in the quality of work that is presented in the splash screen and I'm certain the creators have more talent than is being displayed, and (your) talent is being hidden from the light by TPTB who have made callous and artistically insensitive decisions over the art to be presented. My post did get attention, so I feel mostly regretful, but not 100%.
Paul, I value your opinion, and at the same time disagree with it, but as my comments come across as disrespect, and you're disappointed by what you see is disrespect, I'd be dishonest to myself, and a suck-up to try to back-pedal and do what politicians here in the States do—"clarify" something that's offensive by side-stepping and squirming. I mean what I wrote, artist to artist: when I mess up publicly with a design, I take it on the chin, and do not expect anyone to come to my defense.
It's called accountability, Paul, I'm sorry. I'm calling a spade a spade, and if I owned the company, and was in a position where I'm sandwiched two competing vector drawing program giants for sales, I'd make damned sure that every pixel of my program shouted that it's the best program you can buy.
I use Xara for what it does, and I used to use it for what it does plus the "fit and finish" of an outstanding, unique program.
I feel I'm witnessing a game of "take away", that minimiro's artwork made far better splash screen material than version 7, 8, and 9, and I'm disappointed in it.
I guess I'm limited to expressing something here that necessarily is disrespectful and hurts someone's feelings because I'm lacking in diplomacy.
I myself will make an effort to not be so casual and lazy about expressing myself in the future.
Deal?
Respectfully,
Gary