MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

Faterson · 09-10-2013, 12:30 AM

First, I regret it's only possible to store 3 "themes" in Marvin currently. I have therefore submitted the feature request #19 over at GitHub to allow us to store unlimited themes. I'd like to be using true "day themes" and "night themes" in Marvin, but because only 3 themes can be stored currently, for the time being I just use 3 "night themes".

And, as soon as textured/photographic backgrounds are made possible in Marvin (see feature request #15), I'll be moving away from solid-colour backgrounds for both night mode and day mode. For night modes, I'll be choosing black backgrounds with splashes of dark-red in it, and for day modes, preferably yellowish backgrounds with delicate, wood-imitating textures. Yes, I'm one of those who believe that the dreaded skeumorphism does have its place on modern handheld devices, iOS 7's all-too-energetic move away from skeumorphism to child-like pastel-coloured bubbles notwithstanding.

My preferred main reading font in Marvin is Arvo. Very distinctive and easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, it's only available for Western-European languages, so for (say) Russian books, I need to switch to a different font, such as Futura or Georgia, which are likewise very nice, though not quite as nice as Arvo. My preferred font for headings is Verdana.

The 3 themes I currently use in Marvin, as shown in screenshots below, are:

Metallic Gold on Black – used for daytime reading. On the iPhone, though, I had to replace it with Citrine on Black, because "Metallic Gold" just wasn't distinctive enough there, especially not outside in direct sunlight. (Also see note on colours display below.)
Asparagus on Black – used for nighttime reading, when everything around me otherwise is pitch darkness. Very soothing and undemanding on the eyes.
Copper on Black – a welcome "compromise solution" between the earlier two, so perhaps ideal for reading in "dusk settings"?

Please note that pretty much every iDevice displays the same colours differently. For example, the colour called Citrine in Marvin is much more intense on my iPad 3 screen, than the same colour is on my iPad 1's screen, where it is more subdued. My iPhone 4, again, has its own way of displaying the same colours, and Kris once said his iPad 4 likewise differs in its colours display from iPad 3 and the earlier iPads. I guess it comes down to colours saturation, which appears to be different for every iDevice.

The excerpt shown in the screenshots is from Talmage Powell's terrific short story, "New Neighbor".

09-10-2013, 12:30 AM	#3
Faterson pokrývač škridiel Posts: 1,525 Karma: 3300000 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Bratislava, Slovakia Device: 3iPad, SamsungNote & Tabs, 2OnyxBoox, Huawei 8″, PocketBook	First, I regret it's only possible to store 3 "themes" in Marvin currently. I have therefore submitted the feature request #19 over at GitHub to allow us to store unlimited themes. I'd like to be using true "day themes" and "night themes" in Marvin, but because only 3 themes can be stored currently, for the time being I just use 3 "night themes". And, as soon as textured/photographic backgrounds are made possible in Marvin (see feature request #15), I'll be moving away from solid-colour backgrounds for both night mode and day mode. For night modes, I'll be choosing black backgrounds with splashes of dark-red in it, and for day modes, preferably yellowish backgrounds with delicate, wood-imitating textures. Yes, I'm one of those who believe that the dreaded skeumorphism does have its place on modern handheld devices, iOS 7's all-too-energetic move away from skeumorphism to child-like pastel-coloured bubbles notwithstanding. My preferred *main reading font* in Marvin is Arvo. Very distinctive and easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, it's only available for Western-European languages, so for (say) Russian books, I need to switch to a different font, such as Futura or Georgia, which are likewise very nice, though not quite as nice as Arvo. My preferred font for *headings* is Verdana. The 3 themes I currently use in Marvin, as shown in screenshots below, are: Metallic Gold on Black – used for daytime reading. On the iPhone, though, I had to replace it with Citrine on Black, because "Metallic Gold" just wasn't distinctive enough there, especially not outside in direct sunlight. (Also see note on colours display below.) Asparagus on Black – used for nighttime reading, when everything around me otherwise is pitch darkness. Very soothing and undemanding on the eyes. Copper on Black – a welcome "compromise solution" between the earlier two, so perhaps ideal for reading in "dusk settings"? Please note that pretty much every iDevice displays the same colours differently. For example, the colour called Citrine in Marvin is much more intense on my iPad 3 screen, than the same colour is on my iPad 1's screen, where it is more subdued. My iPhone 4, again, has its own way of displaying the same colours, and Kris once said his iPad 4 likewise differs in its colours display from iPad 3 and the earlier iPads. I guess it comes down to colours saturation, which appears to be different for every iDevice. The excerpt shown in the screenshots is from Talmage Powell's terrific short story, "New Neighbor". Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Faterson; 09-10-2013 at 12:48 AM.