Anytime the theme or artwork of Ubuntu is discussed, the discussion seems to turn automatically to brown vs. other colors. I don’t see brown as being the problem, though, so let me explain what I would like to see in future Ubuntu themes.

• A new theme does not need to be green or blue. There is nothing wrong with brown. In fact, I think it is a great idea to use a unique color for branding purposes. If you saw or green or blue billboard on the side of the road, but you couldn’t read what it said, what would think of? What if that billboard was brown? The point is, Ubuntu’s brown color is very distinctive.
• A new theme does need to have some new color introduced. Even if brown is a good idea, it would be great to see either a new shade of brown or a secondary color to complement the brown. This would be a nice change and also possibly make some people like the theme color better.
• A new theme does need to be unique and distinctive. I think this is obvious, but a cool abstract heron is way better than a swirl.
• A new theme should be chosen in a clear, simple way and generally liked by most people.

To many of you this may seem like an obvious list, but I think it is important to clarify what I mean when I refer to Ubuntu’s themes.