One thing I’m stuck on now, since we should support both vectors and bitmaps, and we should allow different resolution bitmaps to be scaled to the same size, I don’t know if the dimensions specified in the design guide should be points (pt), pixels (px) or something else
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Very interesting,
@James is addressing exactly the stuff I was wondering about.
Establishing the right environment of technology and style guide should come together in a “design system”. I think you guys are in a more of mature enough stadium to consider that.
It takes the investment to get such a thing up and running and adoption might take a while but you reap benefits in the long run. A consistent style with a scaleable model (litteraly and figuratively in your case :)).
It is the necessary layer to be working together with external developers and third parties.
It might feel “limiting” in a way but it actually enables a broader tier and it keeps your environments looking slick as well. You might even end up offering a fixed set of case shapes and styles and ways to organise the control layouts but have have a library that offers more than enough choice and enough parameters to fiddle with.
I’m hesitant to commit work before this iesign system s established, as ifforts might be in vain
.That doesn’t mean I can’t be of any help when this is established.
if, for the time being, a simple sprite of a certain size could be an improvement, I could always give it a shot.
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I think, if you use a vector graphics to design (like inkscape), your results will always be usable. The SVG file just needs to be exported again png or whatever graphics format MOD UI employs. Great idea to support the project, btw!
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SVG offers more benefits then just scaling as well.
It opens up color customization with just one source file, so you could have the same design in many different color ways. This allows easy visual differentiation while still being aesthetically consistent. It could even be user selectable, or easily mapped to LED color if you wanted it to be. It’s just a color hex value.
I don’t know the professional reasoning behind a decision like this, but vector programs like inkscape can work with either.
I love this idea and am excited to contribute.
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I also think the investment is worth it to make it scaleable. I think having a new set of templates to go with the design guide would be great too!
As far as I know, we can already use svgs so you could directly use those files from inkscape. I think the audio file gui is an svg.
That’s a good point! We can also achieve something similar with transparent or adjustment layers with bitmaps. I generally like svg for things that don’t need to look like a real object. I believe it’s also possible to have bitmaps embedded into svgs so you could have a realistic, 3d rendered background with vector elements on top that can be user configurable
Basically we need to decide which one makes more sense because points works for vectors and pixels works for bitmaps but the scale will be independent from the resolution so maybe we should measure in mm or something
Great to hear!
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I don’t know why, but this thread seems to be leaded into a dead end. Future, well, how nice would that be. Let’s all sit down and wait for it? Nope! The future is now, so let’s take what we have and make the best out of it. Maybe tomorrow it isn’t worse a shit, but today, we’ve fun.
That said, @LievenDV your inspiration is really needed to make my plugs come true. I mean, the recorders, how ugly they are, in opposite to there usefulness? You ask for a multitrack recorder, well, gimme the mock-up and I’ll do it. Why wait for some Design Guide which will properly takes ages before it comes up.
That said, here you’ll find the MOD artwork as it is now for the recorders:
Contact me here or there when ever you’ve a mock-up to make it a tad nicer, regardless what ever the “future design guide” comes up with.
THE FUTURE IS NOW.
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You’re a real gangster, Mr. Brummer.
Bless.
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@brummer
I don’t like that attitude.
I love it!
Agreed, let’s go for the “fun along the way” idea and see what happens in the meantime.
ok; first I’ve got this birth announcement card and wedding card to finish but after that, I’m ready to photoshop some stuff!
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I completely agree with you. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. This is why I made links to the current assets in the mod sdk
I do think it’s worth moving on with designs for the current plugins. I only want to shed some light on possible upcoming changes. My suggestion would be to try making vector based graphics when possible and to keep all your working files so that when we do transition to a new design system, there will be less resistance in updating GUIs. So try to keep the small amount of info I’ve given in consideration when designing I guess but yes, do not wait for us!
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I also think that a community effort now with the current process might give us some more insights into how the design guide should be structured
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to add my point of view to the discussion: I work with a lot of technical Design that need to be simplified for websites, animations and presentations. I’ll break most of the components down and create vector graphics of them. Then I have complete control of exporting it to the specific use case (that can go through various tools, prebuild design etc.) or handing it to someone. This process has served me well over the years - especially as scaling for various screen sizes and platforms is the standard. Besides the technical aspect the design or look should be up to the developer with a guide that lays down best practices and prebuild components - like the mod sdk and most frameworks do.
Personally I like the modeling after the real world pedals and amp designs. I also like the simplified material design. It really depends on the use case: do I look for inspiration that a maybe a limited set of parameter or a pink pedal gives me. Or do I want to accomplish a specific task in the least amount of time.
I also get frustrated when the one knob I need is at the full setup interface. This is the only option I’d like to see - changing the pedal look for the full setup with a switch. I know there is more to consider than just switching views - in the end I just can build a CV Control / TouchOSC interface for that by myself exactly how I like it.
On a grander scheme there will always be good points for the one or the other option. Most of us are aware that the people at the forum are more tech savvy (or even work in that field) and have a high expectations/suggestions how things should work or have established workflows. This goes for users and the developers. I don’t know the ratio of forum users and real world user that aren’t here and don’t care about all the technical stuff. So these discussions tend to be skewed a bit and I’ll always have to remind myself that this in the end needs to be considered from all points of view - even from a business side.
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I agree that the look can be totally up to the developer and that we should provide a complete framework of assets and templates to make things easier and more consistent but it’s okay if people don’t use the template.
One thing I will say though is that I think we should establish a minimum and maximum GUI scale (size on the board) that are not so far apart while still allowing basic things like the tiny gain to be next to the TAL noise maker and be usable without having to zoom in and out much. Some of the amps are bordering on being too big in my opinion. Once we are able to scale them independant of the resolution, I would scale down the biggest plugins and push to update their GUIs so that the controls (Distance between knobs etc) are similar to how they were before being downscaled. This might mean that you have an amp head that is not as wide as it would be in the real world and the knobs can be arranged in 2 rows instead of 1 to compensate for the reduction in width
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There is a pdf of vector art knobs and guitar pedal bits floating around on the net, its about 6 pages and pretty handy . Im away at present so when I get home will post it.
Might be nice to have something similar for the mod.
Developers could even have mini competitions ie brummers pedal he sets the size gives it a name and let the deviants have a go at defacing it ; )
Should be back from.St Lucia tomorrow (sorry couldnt resist as its snowing in Bournemouth apparently) and will post more constructively.
Found it
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ny1xfq5av13ij2b/pedal_vectorpack.pdf?dl=0
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The problem is with the licensing for this vector pack. They can’t be redistributed without written consent
Yes , sorry I meant you should do something similar to standardize the look layouts and make things quicker and easier for the developers. You could start by adding the stuff you already have. That way when new stuff comes out it has a MOD feel to it.
You could standardize pedal sizes and amps etc. ie 3 knob 1 switch virtual hammond 1590B 5 knobs and 2 switches a virtual 1590BB etc.
All amps same size with a virtual cloth to signify what type of amp .
Just thoughts but always happy to help with the project
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I get you! yeah that’s the plan. I think basically we would have a document that outlines all the dimensions of things as the “Guide” and then a repository full of assets with either working files or layers so that they can be customised with different colours and textures
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yep that sounds like a good plan
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Something simple like the M.2 format factors should fit the bill already. Maybe look at how big the majority of your pedals are already and create categories accordingly.
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@LievenDV Gian just showed me that we have a guide for creating custom GUIs on our wiki that might be helpful as a reference
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@brummer
Hi Hermann! The FatFrog is very inspiring, I immediately think of new songs when I use it, even though I’m not a high-gainer. It is also a fantastic plugin in the lower-gain range. It harmonizes very well with my Roland Blues Cube amp. It really sounds excellent and very differentiated. Every string is audible, nothing muddy, great! The next great plugin after the Collision Drive.
You’ve done such great stuff now, I figured I had to do something for you too. Maybe you are not interested in it, I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.
First of all, I thought about the branding. That’s something you need to do: You need a brand, so that your PlugIns are taken also gladly. Your name is already program. I am from Germany, there the name “Brummer”, don’t get me wrong, sounds a bit old-fashioned. It reminds me of the 50s, 60s or 70s. Now guitarists are also a bit conservative, still follow Jimi Hendrix and everything has to sound like tube distortion etc… That’s why your name fits perfectly, especially in the guitar section! I therefore suggest to use your name also in this sense, so in the style of the 50s, 60s.
My suggestion for your brand lettering: Font Magenot Bold semi expanded, lowercase only. You can use it as Marshal sticks the name on the textile front of their amps. It will look like this:
Then I dared to design FatFrog and invested a few hours in it. I don’t know your taste, so I came up with two variants:
A more conservative one: Proposal in form of a real amp:
And now more my thing: A pedalboard amp (is completely en vogue right now) with funny design. When you press the foot switch or the toggle switch for “Bright”, the frog winks at you. 
I love strange designs…
I don’t know if I did everything right, regarding the usage in the mod biotope. I might have to tighten a few things, but after a first check it should work like this. Furthermore, you will notice that I have only taken a part from the mod library, I had imagined something different.
@Jon, @James : I can make the single parts I created available for your library after a reprocessing that I think will be necessary.
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