#opensourcedesign — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #opensourcedesign, aggregated by home.social.
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[EDIT: I've edited the posting to let designers suggest a price: https://opensourcedesign.net/jobs/logo-and-basic-branding-for-floxford-oxfords-local-free-libre-and-open-source-software-group/; cut some text]
#AskFedi Should I pay £15-25, greater, or a negotiable range for a logo, wordmark, and basic branding for a volunteer community group?
I'm commissioning these for our volunteer-run free and open-source software group, and paying out of my own pocket. I set the price range to £15-£25, which is slightly above the lower end listed at https://www.fiverr.com/categories/graphics-design/creative-logo-design (though now I realise that lists only minimum prices). Perhaps unwisely I said the price range is non-negotiable to avoid upsetting people via unnecessary back-and-forth.
*Most similar commissions on #opensourcedesign don't pay anything.*
Someone on Fedi said that price range would "offend plenty" and that I may as well make it free of charge (I won't do that instantly!). I'm not going to trust them immediately because [...no longer relevant...]
#design #opensource #penpot #inkscape #freelance #commission
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New on the Open Source Design job board: Logo and basic branding for FLOxford, Oxford's local free, libre, and open-source software group - FLOxford (paid)
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New on the Open Source Design job board: Product Landing page UI design for chadbox - Chadbox (volunteer)
https://opensourcedesign.net/jobs/product-landing-page-ui-design-for-chadbox/
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GNOME Shell Design Dreams
"...on the design side we’ve explored a lot of longer-term things we’d like to do. Some of these we have relatively complete plans for, others are more vague ideas that need more research and prototyping. "
https://blogs.gnome.org/shell-dev/2026/08/11/gnome-shell-design-dreams/
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New on the Open Source Design job board: Front-end developer (UI) for Corro — an accessibility-first board & card game platform - Corro (volunteer)
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New on the Open Source Design job board: Illustrator & graphic designer for Corro — an accessibility-first board & card game platform - Corro (volunteer)
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Sanei et.al.: "What Pulls the Strings? Understanding the Characteristics and Role of Argumentation in Open-Source Software Usability Discussions", 2026
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Overview of typical tools used in open source projects:
https://opensourcedesign.net/resources/tools-and-code/ -
If you work as a designer in an open source project: Does the project recommend any particular reading or guidelines for design contributors? ("Ten Heuristics", OS guidelines, list of principes,...)
And if yes, how is the material recommended and how is it referred to in the work your community does?
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"What should OSD to focus on and have an impact in?"
https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/what-should-open-source-design-focus-on-in-the-future/4407
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I'm speaking on the 26th of April (tomorrow!!) at https://www.oggcamp.org/ in Manchester speaking about my much loved Open Source Design Diary studies project! which you can read here:
https://github.com/sprblm/Diary-Studies-Designers-in-OSS/
This study is now a few years old and i'd be great to get another one of these done. Please reach out if you'd like to see more data and insights from design, usability, user research etc. being done in OSS!
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Setting rules does not need research infrastructure or programmers i.e. it is relatively cheap. But it is not easy to do that in open source projects, since:
1. Explicit rules are seen as constraining the clever solutions for particular contexts that many hackers strive for.
and
2. "bazaar style" is baked into tools and culture but does not lend itself for any consistency not checkable by a linter and code guidelines. -
A photo from Open Source Design devroom for 2026's FOSDEM!
Had fantastic time running the devroom for another year with some fantastic speakers, audience and folks willing to chip in and help make the room great.We also finally took an updated photo of the devroom (this was towards the end of the day and not at all the busiest the room got which was at capacity for most of the talks!)
Watch the videos on each talk page here:
https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/track/design/ -
“I’m really nerdy about digital sovereignty as a topic right now. This was raised at penpot festival in 2025 and it’s a huge topic...largely about what companies own and do what with our data.”
Check out the penpot ambassador community hours video recording here: https://bit.ly/penpot-ambassador-03-26
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Maybe the first paper on open source software and usability:
"Usability and open-source software development", D.M. Nichols, K.Thomson and S.A.Yeates, 2001: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2331812.2331822
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Discourse thread: "What are patterns of rejection of design input/contributions in open source projects?":
https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/4395 -
"Difficulties of design in open source" (discourse thread)
https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/difficulties-of-design-in-open-source/787
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“When you give user insights and feedback to FOSS - that’s an open source contribution!”
Check out this conversation with Canonical.
In this video, Open Source Designer Eriol Fox dives into the pragmatic world of design and usability within the FOSS ecosystem. We discuss how product designers and user researchers are driving long-term software sustainability through accessibility and smarter design.
This conversation covers the full spectrum of modern design development: from CLI design (Command Line Interface) and the "contributor-user" pathway, to why industry leaders are prioritizing design systems to keep their projects healthy. If you’re into Linux terminal workflows, human-computer interaction (HCI), or just building better digital commons, there's something here for you.
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If you are interested in research in design in open source projects see the list of publications at
https://github.com/victoria-bondarchuk/List-of-Academic-Research-on-Usability-in-FOSS
and the literature review at https://user-project.superbloom.design/process/literature-review/
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Usability issue discussions in open source projects "…were mostly focused on visual design and user interaction mechanisms". A possible explaination: "efficiency issues […] and aesthetic issues […] tend to be system characteristics that can be readily discovered and addressed by developers once a version of the system is implemented, while other usability aspects may require deeper, upfront analysis and UI/UX design."
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Following on from yesterday's blog post about the new design for profiles coming in Mastodon 4.6... here is the video of @imanijoy recent talk at @fossdesign where they discuss the challenges and detailed thought that goes into the design of new features (and the redesign of existing ones). 🖌️
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Imani Joy, designer at @Mastodon – A Solo Designer’s Survival Guide to the Fediverse at FOSS Backstage Design (@fossdesign)
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If you are a developer working with designers in open source projects:
What did you learn about design from them and what would you like designers would know about development? -
If you are a designer in open source: What do you wish you learned earlier about being a designer in open source? //jd
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- discuss about opensource design at https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/
- post open source design related jobs at https://opensourcedesign.net/jobs/
- join our community calls https://opensourcedesign.net/events/monthly-online-meeting/ -
Something that I have said in the past and hear from others, too, that developers can easily get started with contributions to open source projects, while it is difficult for designers. I am more and more wondering if that simple claim makes sense. (1/4)
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I just opened a great role in my team at @openproject: Senior UI/UX Designer. 🥳 #getfediHired
Anyone looking for a full-time, remote* #design & #research role in #foss?
In case you would like to shape the future of OpenProject in a user-centric product team, please apply with your portfolio, CV and a cover letter. We want to hear from you and not your #genAI. Thanks! :)
*In a location within 2 hours (time-zone) from Berlin.
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Penpot have announced their ambassador program and I’m excited and honoured to be part of the first cohort of ambassadors alongside some fantastic and inspiring folks. https://penpot.app/ambassador-program
Check out the announcement: https://community.penpot.app/t/penpot-ambassador-program-is-live/10405
I’ll be building community where I'm based here in the UK but also wherever my connections to open source software and design take me and my work.
I’ve long been a supporter of Penpot and design needs reliable and dedicated tools and teams that support the growing need for design in open source software and transparent and open source design as a practice.
I can’t wait to get working on our collaborative library and share the liberating and collaborative nature of open source design facilitated via Penpot! 💖✏️
Come and join all the ambassadors Penpot Community Hours, 20th March at 3PM UTC.
Sign up here: https://app.formbricks.com/s/ko5b815vsd5d5sz2gq8tiu8iAnd of course, check out penpot here https://penpot.app/
#opensource #penpot #design #opensourcedesign #penpotambassador #foss #oss #collaboration
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I continue my mission to find how to improve usability design in Open Source.
In this episode @Pier and I discuss why design isn't just "an opinion" and how to test usability as well as how to get designers involved in OSS projects.
PeerTube:
https://peertube.wtf/w/i6tgndm96gwfA6bU2FqrqR