[Design] [Cosmo] Magic URL visual design review

[Matthew Eernisse]

Inline, below ...

Jeremy Epstein wrote:
> Implemenationwise, I'm not sure its any easier to 
> internaitonalize/localize than the first one.

It does have more of the text as text, and gives some extra room to 
breathe for languages where text strings are longer (e.g., German, Chinese).

> 2) be one big image. Pulling the right image path uses the same 
> technique as localization (paths are strings arter all)  and it puts the 
> burden of localization outside of engineering. This means art production 
> and translation per language, but you have to do it anyway and 
> localizing involves writers and artists, not engineers.

Right now, localizing the Cosmo Web UI requires only a native speaker of 
the target language and a text editor (like Notepad). No engineering or 
programming expertise is needed.

If we want to say that localizing Cosmo for a specific language also 
requires special graphics tools like Photoshop/GIMP, that's a 
significant departure from the approach we've taken so far. I'm not 
saying it's the wrong approach, but it does raise the bar for 
participation, and as an open-source project, it something we should 
consider carefully I think.

>  From what I see I believe you want to have sign up and subscribe act as 
> a "banner advertisement" (non-profits make ads too. Just ask the sierra 
> club) for cosmo/chandler. You want to emphasize things in a more 
> emotional way than a link. It won't make engineering sense to many 
> engineers, buts its a good compromise.

You're exactly right, it does look and feel a lot like a banner. By 
trying to integrate it into the UI, and make it i18n-friendly on top of 
that, it almost becomes neither-fish-nor-fowl.

Just throwing ideas out for saving space or relieving the crowding -- it 
would be possible to rotate images or text in that space, and then have 
a click there link to a dialog box or other page that offers the three 
different options with more explanation.

> Mimi, Stick with you guns and go with the most visually appealing 
> proposal. At least that's my vote (if I may even do so)

The input is always welcome, and very helpful. That's the whole purpose 
of sending something like this out to the list.

Thanks for the input. :)


Matthew