New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

q4osteam · 2019-05-02 08:21

We have created a basic initial structure of the "Q4OS branding" project on GitHub https://github.com/q4os/q4os-branding . It's intended to provide an open space for everyone who would want to contribute on the Q4OS branding design for Plasma as well as Trinity. Everybody is welcome to contribute here, make a new dedicated directories for various branding components, as well as put any suggestions and comments.

Jaerrib · 2019-05-08 02:41

q4osteam wrote:

We have created a basic initial structure of the "Q4OS branding" project on GitHub https://github.com/q4os/q4os-branding . It's intended to provide an open space for everyone who would want to contribute on the Q4OS branding design for Plasma as well as Trinity. Everybody is welcome to contribute here, make a new dedicated directories for various branding components, as well as put any suggestions and comments.

Thanks for this.

Does anyone have some suggestions for directing the look of Q4OS outside of what already exists? Personally, I would like to see Debonaire continue to get polished and become the default theme.

I've seen suggestions for different icon sets (Mint-Y and Papirus) recently. Paprirus and Debonaire/Paper-Q4OS are both forked from the original Paper theme. Debonaire could continue to handle a lot of the TDE specifics but get modified to fall back to Papirus instead of crystalsvg or Breeze. Relying on Papirus would require a bit more storage space though.

For Plasma, Adapta-KDE could work to get a feel closer to how Debonaire looks under Trinity.

Overall, I guess the question is, how much should Q4OS veer away from the default appearances of either TDE or Plasma? Should someone viewing a screenshot be able to recognize Q4OS immediately? Is changing the wallpaper sufficient?

upALLnight · 2019-05-19 12:53

" I would like to see Debonaire continue to get polished and become the default theme. "

Totally agreed. Have just done a clean install replacing peppermint (following attempts at antix, archlinux, manjuro, zorin os, a couple of others I've forgotten, finished off with the eye-bleedingly awful (sorry) peppermint.

What drew me to q4os was the modern simplicity of the debonaire design, and thumbs up for restful colours.

" Overall, I guess the question is, how much should Q4OS veer away from the default appearances of either TDE or Plasma? Should someone viewing a screenshot be able to recognize Q4OS immediately? Is changing the wallpaper sufficient? "

Applaud the efforts to replicate Windows design, and may ease transition in corporate environments. Debonaire on the other hand is quite striking in its understated modernity. Less visually chaotic than dozens of highly detailed icons with shading and colours.

If the default changes, then the website would need to reflect that, including getting rid of the cutesy emojis *ducks for cover*

Jaerrib · 2019-06-07 02:35

Since branding includes the website as well as the desktop presentation, here are some stream of consciousness things I made note of on break at work today:

Who are your target users? Businesses are called out on the main page but why? Support? Customization? Why Q4OS over Ubuntu/Red Hat/Suse or even Windows?

Q4OS runs on Pinebooks, Raspberry Pi, older machines, and other lower spec devices. Is that something to leverage target? How about remote/cloud machines?

What makes TDE/Plasma or a Debian-based OS compelling to use? Stability? How could that be emphasized on the website?

Check out Enso, Manjaro, or Elementary for different presentation ideas.

Incorporate documentation as articles or blog posts rather than a list of items. (Check out the way Enso handles this.). Use screenshots when appropriate. If it's easy to digest info and get help, users will be more at ease.

The current installation guide is certainly workable, but how about suggesting Etcher in the instructions since it supports all 3 major operating systems (Windows, Mac and Linux.) Other methods can still work but it distills the guide down to one for users.

More prominent info on how to donate or contribute. Can you accept donations other than through Paypal? Bitcoin, etc.?

q4osteam · 2019-06-11 08:14

Jaerrib wrote:

Who are your target users? Businesses are called out on the main page but why? Support? Customization? Why Q4OS over Ubuntu/Red Hat/Suse or even Windows?

In short. Users who want a fast and stable system and who are convenient for Q4OS tools and the way it bears. Businesses could bring funds, so yes, support, customization. Q4OS is installed as a minimal system with possibility to expand it, no other OS features a tool like Q4OS's Desktop profiler.

Jaerrib wrote:

Q4OS runs on Pinebooks, Raspberry Pi, older machines, and other lower spec devices. Is that something to leverage target? How about remote/cloud machines?

It's not a leverage target, but it could be, if preferred by significant user base. We support ARM architecture, as Q4OS can really stand out on ARM devices due to its speed and low hardware requirements. Yes, remote desktop computing and NX protocol support is one of Q4OS stronger points, see https://www.q4os.org/dqa004.html

Jaerrib wrote:

What makes TDE/Plasma or a Debian-based OS compelling to use? Stability? How could that be emphasized on the website?

Yes, stability and speed above all.

Jaerrib · 2019-06-12 02:44

Your responses are what I expected as that's part of what drew me to Q4OS as well. The speed, stability, and simple, straightforward way of doing things make it a good choice for me personally. (Q4OS actually boots faster on my laptop than a vanilla Debian system!)

In terms of branding, what's the best way to emphasize those qualities to potential users? A lot of the videos I've seen people post on YouTube seem to miss that point and focus on other aspects, such as the nostalgia of using "old KDE" or the Windows-like .esh installers. However, I think there's a lot more to like about this distro and the tweaks you've made to Trinity than just those things. It's just a matter of finding the way to portray them.

jotapesse · 2019-06-12 14:03

q4osteam wrote:

Q4OS is installed as a minimal system with possibility to expand it, no other OS features a tool like Q4OS's Desktop profiler.

Well, sparkylinux also offers the install of many more supported desktops through the sparky APTus tool. Maybe not as polished but it works and for a lot of desktops environments.

q4osteam · 2019-06-13 08:04

Jaerrib wrote:

In terms of branding, what's the best way to emphasize those qualities to potential users? A lot of the videos I've seen people post on YouTube seem to miss that point and focus on other aspects, such as the nostalgia of using "old KDE" ...

Agree, we would need to improve overall Q4OS promotion, we should start by re-designing the website.

Jaerrib wrote:

... such as the nostalgia of using "old KDE" or the Windows-like .esh installers. ...

Esh installers could be quite powerful for independent developers. Esh system can be used to install packages, add independent repositories, make independent update logic for an application, and make applications configuration, all in a user friendly way.

@jotapesse
Desktop profiler does much more then desktop environments installation. Its primary aim is to offer "application profiles", a set of predefined applications. A .deb as well as .esh package format is supported. Packages can be defined as cpu architecture, as well as desktop environment, dependable. In addition, each desktop environment may keep its own applications profile. You can even create customized profiles on your own, please see "/usr/share/apps/q4os_system/q4os_swprofiler/*.qdprrc" configuration files.

Jaerrib · 2019-06-13 12:37

q4osteam wrote:

Esh installers could be quite powerful for independent developers. Esh system can be used to install packages, add independent repositories, make independent update logic for an application, and make applications configuration, all in a user friendly way.

I completely agree with you. I just feel that reviewers miss that aspect in favor of talking about how the .esh installers are reminiscent of the old Windows ones. It seems that your specific installers can be used to create an ecosystem of apps due to their flexibility, but that seems to get lost on most people. Emphasizing it in some manner on the website could be beneficial. At the same time, consider that elementaryOS is able to draw developers working on apps for their platform by creating a "pay what you want" revenue stream while snaps, flatpaks and appimage are vying for the title of universal packaging method.

By the way, I'm just brainstorming with all of this. If having a fast nice looking implementation of Trinity is enough to set it apart then go with it. I think there can be more though which prompted my initial questions. For example, even Lubuntu is leaving behind 32bit machines and older machines in general. Q4OS can be poised to fill that gap.

jotapesse · 2019-06-13 12:51

q4osteam wrote:

@jotapesse
Desktop profiler does much more then desktop environments installation. Its primary aim is to offer "application profiles", a set of predefined applications. A .deb as well as .esh package format is supported. Packages can be defined as cpu architecture, as well as desktop environment, dependable. In addition, each desktop environment may keep its own applications profile. You can even create customized profiles on your own, please see "/usr/share/apps/q4os_system/q4os_swprofiler/*.qdprrc" configuration files.

Thanks for explaining. I'll look into it, seems interesting.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2019-05-02 08:21

New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#2 2019-05-08 02:41

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#3 2019-05-19 12:53

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#4 2019-06-07 02:35

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#5 2019-06-11 08:14

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#6 2019-06-12 02:44

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#7 2019-06-12 14:03

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#8 2019-06-13 08:04

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#9 2019-06-13 12:37

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

#10 2019-06-13 12:51

Re: New project on GitHub - Q4OS branding

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