@Dmitry actually tried once to design a brand new and sleek UI look for Krita.
He even added a few other sketch prototypes which can be seen in the Modern UI pdf he shared.
Although, I think the link in the original post has expired now.
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And someone else even tried a concept, which is accessible via the following link :
https://www.reddit.com/r/krita/comments/qmcefv/ui_concept_design_krita/
It’s encouraging but I prefer Dmitry’s style. More squared corners instead of making all of them rounded.
It is not @dkazakov it was other Dmitry. All those are nice and wonderful but nobody has come forward to actually code it or do actual work of checking if this fits into krita or if it is possible. I can also make many mocks with fantastical UI design and drop it on the forum without consulting or asking feedback according to my imagination and keep looking at it and admire it, but it won’t make any difference unless some one codes it and puts it in krita. It will just be an image. Yes it takes effort to create a mock up but it is not useful in any way, unless someone follows up and implements it.
But we will be very off topic in this thread if we keep in talking about it, so let us stop or continue in other thread or messages. I already moved this in a new topic.
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Thank you, @raghukamath! 
Michelist
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Ah, I see.
You’re right, nobody implemented any of these UIs on the code side.
Maybe it’s because there’s no investment so far on that part or because the time isn’t right.
I’ve heard in-depth UI design programming can be complicated, especially in the beginning.
Implementation is always the hard part. I have the CSS skill to customize the look of my Obsidian, and once in a while a new update would break %1 of the customization. Since I got the look I’m after, I don’t bother with the %1 that doesn’t look right. I just don’t have the time and have learned to live with it.
I’m guessing it’s the same with Krita. It works for a lot of artists and they have learned to live with it. I’m satisfy with my Krita setup (below). I would love it if the icons could be redesigned and made smaller but it’s not really a big deal.
Any help is welcome. But often people try to come up with mocks which completely change krita or they entirely redesign the UI without thinking if it is possible in QT or thinking about how much work is required. Then other people cite those mocks and wonder why it is not implemented yet.
For all the effort of UI I think gradual and slow paced incremental changes would be best in my opinion. It would also give a way for existing users to get accustomed to the new UI changes. and it will also help the contributor to dip their toes in krita codebase.
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I would say that’s the way to go if people want to improve the GUI. Pick something they want to improve and start small. For example, the icons below the layer panel. That’s a good start. Nothing good is build in a day. The operating system many of us now use took decades to develop. Even our own artwork, there are stages to develop a piece of art. And even when it’s finished, there’s still room to improve and revise later.
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I said right away that I am not a programmer. I don’t know how to write code. I am an artist who uses a program to draw. An artist is not a programmer. And a programmer is not a designer, unfortunately. A programmer can make a program, but rarely does he understand how to make it good for the user. That’s the big problem with krita. It is written by people who don’t draw. And the main thing for them is to make everything good in their code or just make it work.
I proposed a concept which I agreed to follow through with if there were people who could write the code. I would make a design prototype in Figma. Making icons and testing.
And that is perfectly fine. Your mock up looks really good. I do not intend to demotivate you or put down your efforts. I also understand not everyone can code and it can be hard for non programmer to contribute. Even I am not a programmer and I can not code.
But it is a fact that your mockup, even if it is beautiful, it is a complete redesign of the interface and it was done without any discussion with the devs as far as I know. Since you are not a programmer you might also not know what is possible and what is not with the technology that krita uses for the UI. You might also not know the time it would require to do the complete overhaul as shown in your mock. To make your mockup a reality we would need a volunteer programmer or help from the main devs who may have other priorities.
Again I am not discouraging your efforts, I would advice you try to help in designing smaller things first and not propose complete redesign. I would advice you to help us in UI like the recent Bundle creator thread or other part of Krita. But this is a just an advice from a non dev user not krita official dev, so take it with a pinch of salt.
That is an assumption on your part, I won’t take it as a true fact. I have seen many artists contribute to krita and I know that the Krita devs do paint.
Your expectation of what the UI should look, for it to look like designed by artists may be something else. And my expectation may be something else. I may find your redesigned mock up really alien and breaking my work-flow even though it looks slick, it may have some issue with the placement of buttons etc we would never know unless we use it. it is subjective. Hence it is important to discuss and then contribute.
Hope you will continue to help us, there are many challenges here in the forum. The devs ask users about the UI you can chime in. I already linked a thread above.
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I can happily use this on my tablet. But we need to think from ground up including mobile in mind.
Maui guys have done excellent job for scalable ui but even that wont work for krita
I don’t really care. Just at some point, a friend of mine who administers Krita forum for Russian-speaking community wrote me. And said that now there is a “serious” discussion about changing the interface of Krita. And yes, I made a lot of compromises, and was able to pack all the current crite tools in dockpanel. I also took into account KDE’s capabilities as much as I could.
Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that my result is far from perfect. And that a lot of people like the panel layout. But it’s obvious that Krita’s implementation is terrible. Also, all who move from other editors do not understand the logic of the interface, the string menu is counter-intuitive. A lot of clutter and functions for the sake of functions.
For myself I have long ago chose Clip Studio Paint, which, although it has its shortcomings, but is a head above the convenience and functionality of Krita.
And I’m not belittling Krita, it’s still good editor. You can work in it professionally. But sooner or later Krita will stumble on its piles. It’s not very easy to use even now, and it will only get worse and worse over time. And the developers will have to change krita. Yes it is difficult, yes it is painful, but we will have to change.
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Fair enough! If you change your mind and want to contribute you are always welcome.
What you said actually explains my initial message perfectly. That people come up with UI mockups but do not care more than mockups. That is the issue. Mockups won’t change the UI and for that someone who cares needs time to work on the code.
It’s simple. People need programs to work. And programmers write those programs. I would help all I could to make a new interface, if there were those who want to make it. But there were none. Fortunately there is a choice. There are inexpensive programs that cover the same tasks as Krita. No one will wait until something is finished if there are alternatives. Excuses that we have a small team is absolutely empty. A course is chosen and followed. Conservatism is also the way. But it is the way to nowhere. Blender with that approach would not have become what it is now. Literally in 2010-2012 it was a very small project. But step by step with the launch of blender 2.5 they threw everything into change and where are they now? And where are their competitors?
Krita has a monopoly on linux and it’s free software for users. This is the end of the objective merits. At the same time krita is developing. It is still a good and powerful editor. But the competitors are much better about their product. And yes people are willing to pay for it.
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Maybe it’s not what you’re looking for but I just did this, I hope more people are encouraged to collaborate with Krita.
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Yeah I get that you don’t care now and you have moved on, so I get that arguing with you is waste of time for me and also for you. So let us stop here. It is okay. And it is also okay to have strong opinion and justifications for your choice. You also have many opinions on how the project should be run like many others but are not willing or do not have the means to steer it. I even pointed a thread that asked for opinions on UI but I think you don’t care now. That is okay too. 
happy painting. Krita won’t be for you until someone comes and implements your ideal UI that is sad but true.
@novames00 now you understand why I said that there are no devs or people who will work on it. So please keep this in mind next time you post the UI image. The image is nice but it won’t be reality without people contributing.
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There didn’t seem to be an argument.
I don’t care because I don’t care. It’s just that I’m past that stage. My pictures are interesting avontura made in literally a couple of evenings on the one hand and food for thought on the other.
I’m not claiming that I made the perfect interface. I used what’s already there and implemented it more conveniently.
Perhaps I was rude, here please excuse me for that.
There is no such thing as a perfect interface, but there are a number of criteria that can be highlighted for a good interface. The most important criteria are: logic, simplicity and speed. The interface should help to work, not hinder. This is my philosophy.
And don’t think I don’t like krita. I do not.
But there are things I really dislike about it, just like any other program.
There is no fractional scaling of the interface, which makes all the details small on ultrabooks. You can’t minimize panels to the side tray. A bunch of brush engines, which doesn’t really make much sense. Practice shows that you can make one universal engine with pluggable options. The brush settings window is bridgy and huge, you could make it smaller. Why is there only stroke stabilization in the ToolOption panel? But other tools normally use this panel and have their settings there. There are many things you can add to a brush: Size, flow, opacity, rotation, color blending options, etc. But no, the whole panel is empty and you have to call up the brush settings every time. Also, you can add to the toolbar tool option button, it might relieve the interface a bit.
I also have a lot of questions about the line menu. I understand you have your own philosophy, but in all the editors it is more or less the same, but you have your own way)
More questions about the context menu on the RMB. How and who came up with it in the first place? It’s monstrous and huge. It’s awfully peggy. There’s also a panel with basic brush settings, and there’s no room for them in the tool option panel.)
Anyway, I’m cursing because I love krita. It could be better than it is now. And it’s not my desires, it’s objectively realizable truth.
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Why did I choose clip studio paint all because I work faster and more comfortably in it. That’s all.
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That’s the thing with UI.
Admittedly as I experience being both artist [hobby] and kinda a programs things that deal with some UI / UX issue. UI designing itself get bog down by what library was used, what library was originally use, If you change this one thing - how to make it consistent with other and if you change it will it result to some enforceable problem/ bugs. Will user use it as how you envision it or they will use it in way logical to them but you never thought off and it causes issue for another usage that use by a different set of user.
It’s frustrating to be honest. sobs
I do see some shortcoming. Like in my case - I made plugin that can be used to toggle specific pressure property. Even that I can only make the UI to conform to what I wanted to a certain point .
That’s an ease of use feature but something I think someone never thought off as its not part of the workflow they are accustomed to.
To me this is kinda surreal.
Everyone wants a better UI an no one wants to work on it because they all want features that are impossible to implement. While I make testing where you can fix stuff today currently and in some cases I even say what is the variable in fault literally no one cares users nor devs, just changing a number… Nope.
And these colour picker mockups that are constantly all wrong. Is like having to explain how squares are squares and circles are circles. Poor grasp of geometry. And the examples have restrictions to allow it to happen. That never applies to me because I don’t have restrictions. No one ever thinks of scaling in their UIs either and it shows. That is why our buttons are so freaking huge and dockers become locked into one another. And those are things you can actually fix currently but everyone just wants the impossible instead of working buttons that fit our screens. Say what you will of my UIs prettyness but they do not hinder krita nor have wasted space nor have scalling issues. For me if a mock-up does not satisfy function before beauty it is not worth the time. Also for the case of color pickers there are optical illusions that you need to take into account because how our eyes work for perception and yeah on that everyone does it wrong without exception so any changes concerning that will be instantly denied from my side. I did a lot of experimentation to get things right and I still do.
Honestly my suggestion would be to make your own thing and keep trying to improve it instead of abandoning it. Just need to pick up a topic that interests you and keep going.
Now people that drops mockups and go away because they have no programming skills. Honestly that is a mix of I don’t care and lazyness. Everything is free and Krita unlike other editors are open for corrections and plugins. Independent of the route you choose you have the ability to do new ideas for FREE! You guys really don’t get this. CSP nor PS would ever allow you to do anything never ever ever not in a million years. And PyQt is FREE too. You guys have no excuse to not learn that is also free and do it because complaining to CSP and PS will surely get you guys what you want for sure… 
Also in open source your not a “paying customer” so complaints only go so far.
Also you guys should be greatfull for PyQt despite it’s faults. You people have so many free software nowadays using it and are complaining which is ridiculous. I guess if you want payed features you know what to do. Do something or cough up the money for pretty buttons.
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