Commons:Project Nuvola 2.0+

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David Vignoni’s Nuvola icon theme was originally intended to satisfy the GUI needs of KDE users; however, it has since grown to find use on numerous Wikimedia projects as a set of navigational icons, and may soon find use on other websites and in conceptual diagrams. It is colourful, friendly, legible and sensible, but its scope is rather narrow for many applications, due to its origins. Outside the areas of electronics and office supplies, its coverage of real objects is hit-and-miss.

WikiProject Nuvola 2.0+ is a project to make new icons that will fit stylistically into David Vignoni’s Nuvola icon set, so that it can be used not just for operating system GUIs, but for all kinds of application software, websites and conceptual diagrams. The extended set should depict as many objects as possible, and (ideally) completely meet the topic-icon needs of all Wikimedia projects.

To do this, we must draw new elements, adapt other icons to the Nuvola style and/or manipulate icons at a detailed level. This doesn’t mean simply putting existing icons together, or combining a Nuvola icon with a non-Nuvola icon that doesn’t match it stylistically. (These things appear to be most of what happens in Category:Modified Nuvola icons.) Also, unlike most of Category:Modified Nuvola icons, our icons should be available in SVG form so that (a) they can be used at higher resolutions if necessary and (b) it is easier to edit them further.

We must also create SVG versions of the PNG icons: While the KDE package in PNG format contains almost 600 icons, the SVG icon set contains less than half of that. As well, in some cases the two icons do not match; when this is the case, the PNG version is usually better.

Perhaps once the project goes far enough, we can even get Nuvola creator David Vignoni on board. At the very least, we could ask him to codify for us the Nuvola theme guidelines, as has been done for Tango.[1]

Contents

[edit] Etymology

Nuvola 2.0+ is a tentative name. It can change if there is community consensus. However, Seahen considers this an appropriate name because:

  1. Vignoni calls his final PNG version 1.0, and the latest SVG version 0.9.
  2. Vignoni says he will probably not release any further versions on his own[2], so he will not release a Nuvola 2.0 on his own.
  3. Our project will improve dramatically on 1.0, more than enough to justify a full version number increase. The PNG version contains almost 600 icons, and we will probably ultimately create at least 600 additional icons.

[edit] Style Guide

Please artists! Someone write a decent style guide soon!

The Nuvola icon set has some common characteristics for all its icons:

  • High saturation of colors
  • Neat and clean borders
  • ...

[edit] Sub-projects

Icons that do not fall into any of the categories below are just as welcome as those that do, and we may start new categories later. However, the following categories badly need artists’ attention, and may provide some starting ideas.

[edit] Country flags

A template you can download and use as a basis for your work.
A template you can download and use as a basis for your work.

For a list of countries and their flags, see the following links to the English Wikipedia:

The ultimate goal is a scalable, recognizable flag for every country in the world. Currently there is the following limited set, grouped by continent and alphabetically by country:

Africa

Botswana

Côte d’Ivoire

Libya

South Africa

Western Sahara

Antarctica
Asia

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Bhutan

China (PRC)

China (ROC)

East Timor

Hong Kong

India

Indonesia

Iran

Israel

Japan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

North Korea

South Korea

Lebanon

Macau

Maldives

Mongolia

Pakistan

Palestine

Saudi Arabia

Tajikistan

Thailand

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

Yemen

Europe

Albania

Andorre

Armenia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxemburg

Macedonia

Malta

Moldova

Montenegro

Netherlands

Northern Cyprus

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

North and Central America

Antigua and Barbuda

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Canada

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

Oceania

Australia

Fiji

New Zealand

Niue

Samoa

Tuvalu

South America

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

Suriname

Uruguay

Uruguay (simplified)

Venezuela

Legend
 : Need an approval (but who will approve??).  : Approved.  : Will be replaced soon by a better version

Gonna make the other ones soon. Every country should be done in maybe a big week if I work hard. :) If you have something to change on a flag of mine, please ask. I do it for you almost directly. If I miss a country too. :) Min's 15:43, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Simplified flags

In some cases, a flag icon includes fine detail that cannot be seen in screen renderings at resolutions less than 128x128px. This makes for a blurry rendering (because shapes and outlines become less than a pixel wide). Since the fine detail is still useful for high-resolution and print renderings, and is the best match to the style of Vignoni's non-flag icons (such as ), the best solution is to create two versions of the icon, one with the full detail of the flag and one with some detail removed and outlines thickened. (It may also be useful to enlarge the charge in the latter version. If the flag contains numerous stars, try using fewer stars and making them larger.)

Variaciones

Reino de España

Peru (state flag)

Wales

[edit] Home and office furniture, appliances and décor

Nuvola doesn’t even have a filing cabinet, let alone a bed or dining table or any type of much seating. There are also not very many of the appliances classified as white goods.

Note that the dresser and table below are front views; angled views would be better (although ideally all furniture would exist in both views).



[edit] Decor

Picture frame Dinnerware setting

[edit] Shopping

Image Item depicted Status
Generic credit cards SVG version needed - as a basis?

[edit] Food and drink

Sorry, but and don’t make a meal.

Image Item depicted Status
Cake (1 candle) Pre-existing SVG version flawed
Birthday cake Pre-existing SVG version needed; candles asymmetrical (present along front edge but not back edge). (Color's off)
Coffee or tea Pre-existing

[edit] Clothing

Even (which appears to have been accidentally released without a head on top) doesn't have a neck, much less any sleeves. We have no icons in this category yet.

[edit] Emoticons

Tango has a complete set, but we can’t use Nuvola to express our dissatisfaction with what little it gives us. We have no original icons in this category yet. :-(

Icon Text equivalent Status
B-) Pre-existing
:-D Pre-existing
:-O Pre-existing

[edit] Weather

doesn't give us any precipitation, so it's a pretty dry category. Tango, on the other hand, is flooded with , and . We have no original icons in this category yet.

Icon Meaning Status
Partly cloudy Pre-existing, SVG version needed

[edit] Buildings

Currently, the only building we have is , and its inferior SVG twin, (which doesn’t, for instance, have roof shingles). We have no original icons in this category yet.

Icon Status
Pre-existing; SVG version flawed

[edit] Subject icons

Currently, Wikipedia pages such as Wikipedia:Browse use a mix of Nuvola and non-Nuvola icons to represent various topics. This is not aesthetically pleasing; a Nuvola icon for every field of study would be the ultimate goal. The list below may be incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Icon Subject Status
Arts
Painting Pre-existing
Photography Pre-existing
Drawing created, review needed.
Sculpture created, review needed.
Digital art Pre-existing, SVG version needed
Music Finished
Drama created, review needed.

second suggestion (more inline with the theme)