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Nice! This came at just the right time for me too. I find the general attitude in this comment section curious, though; lots of people are arguing about the sk

Nice! This came at just the right time for me too. I find the general attitude in this comment section curious, though; lots of people are arguing about the skin tone choice which is notably brown. Yet I feel that if it were lighter in shade, there would be much less grumbling and criticism about not including every single possible body shape?

whatshisface 8y ago
The author left out white people, and since he's white himself and from California the "he just doesn't live around white people" explanation that I was originally going for can't be right. If he had left out a people group that he didn't see very often (if he lived in Nigeria that could be white people, if he lived in Norway that could be Native Americans) then nobody would be upset. But all signs point to this being some kind of misguided political expression. I can see why everyone is riled up; it's (apparently intentionally) tapping in to one of the lava pools of "this is unfair" sloshing around America these days.
- porphyrogene 8y ago
  If you ever feel that you need to know the skin color of a project's author in order to judge it properly then you are the one with the problem.
  - whatshisface 8y ago
    That's often true, but sometimes there is a cultural context. Knowing what kind of environment the author hails from casts light on interpretation more often than it does not, in fact. In this case, knowing that the author was not a Nigerian (for example) showed that the theory that "there are no light skin tones because the artist is not used to seeing them," is false.
    - porphyrogene 8y ago
      Why do you need a theory to explain the skin tones? Why does it matter at all? What is so triggering for you about a web page without a depiction of a white person?
      - whatshisface 8y ago
        >Why does it matter at all? I'm not sure if it does, but the topic was being discussed so I joined in. >What is so triggering for you about a web page without a depiction of a white person? I'm not sure if "triggering" is the right word to use, but although I used to think that representation didn't matter (a la skin tone variants in emojis) I now realize that it's a nice gesture to be included in art asset packs and marketing material. Next time someone talks about how they added twelve different versions of a thumbs up asset I'll roll my eyes a little less hard. ;)
- danielvf 8y ago
  Nah, there's a simple explanation. Humaaans uses an artistic style of solid patches of color against a white background. Very light skin tones work terribly in this style because they disappear into the background.
  - whatshisface 8y ago
    If true that would be hilarious, but I don't see how we could ever know for sure. If the real reason were unsavory, there would be an overwhelming social bias not to reveal it; and as a result even a true, positive answer wouldn't help.
    - danielvf 8y ago
      I made a white humaaan for you. It has some readability problems. :) https://danielvf-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/2019/whumaaan.png https://danielvf-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/2019/whumaaan.pn...
- bbeekley 8y ago
  I didn't download the library, but I don't think the author left out white people. Here's a screenshot from the humaaans page that looks white to me. [1] Edit: another commenter showed pale skin tone in the library [2]. Even if you change the complaint to being about low white representation, it's also a little unfair to say that the author is "intentionally" trying to make it political. What about their work or documentation gives you an idea on their intention? [1] https://imgur.com/a/wbmyIRG https://imgur.com/a/wbmyIRG [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18997437 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18997437
  - whatshisface 8y ago
    >What about their work or documentation gives you an idea on their intention? I want to get in to this tarpit less than anybody else on earth, but after trying to come up with another explanation, I wasn't able to. The artist depicted a skin tone balance that is significantly different from what they're used to seeing, and the only reason for that that I can think of is if they were consciously attracted to the political side. Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? No, of course not. In fact, I think the artist has a right to make a political statement if they want to. I might even agree with it. I'm just trying to take the discussion from 99% truth to 99.9% truth. I might be wrong (and although it would sting my ego, in the long rung I would be happier if I was wrong), but I feel like this is one of those "everyone sees it but nobody is allowed to mention it" social things that is the bane of humanity. This project is definitely noteworthy because of the skin tone distribution of its front page, that's clear enough from observation.
- duopixel 8y ago
  Pablo Stanley is Mexican. I find it unsettling that people here try to read too much into this choice, it was released a month ago on Designer News and there's not a single mention about it: https://www.designernews.co/stories/98999-humaaans-a-library-to-mixandmatch-illustrations-of-people https://www.designernews.co/stories/98999-humaaans-a-library...
otakucode 8y ago
I didn't really notice the skin tone, but immediately keyed in on the age and anatomy, since those are the things I've most often noticed being neglected when people depict human beings. No children, no elderly, no genitals seems to be the image of humanity we want.
noonespecial 8y ago
The more often I see this discussion flare up in comment sections, the more I appreciate the wisdom behind the "Ikea Person" in their assembly instructions.
- tyingq 8y ago
  I searched for the background so I could read up on that. Didn't find it, but did find this...which is also interesting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/17/researchers-have-finally-settled-whether-men-or-women-are-better-at-assembling-ikea-furniture/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/17/resea...

whatshisface 8y ago

The author left out white people, and since he's white himself and from California the "he just doesn't live around white people" explanation that I was originally going for can't be right. If he had left out a people group that he didn't see very often (if he lived in Nigeria that could be white people, if he lived in Norway that could be Native Americans) then nobody would be upset. But all signs point to this being some kind of misguided political expression. I can see why everyone is riled up; it's (apparently intentionally) tapping in to one of the lava pools of "this is unfair" sloshing around America these days.

porphyrogene 8y ago
If you ever feel that you need to know the skin color of a project's author in order to judge it properly then you are the one with the problem.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  That's often true, but sometimes there is a cultural context. Knowing what kind of environment the author hails from casts light on interpretation more often than it does not, in fact. In this case, knowing that the author was not a Nigerian (for example) showed that the theory that "there are no light skin tones because the artist is not used to seeing them," is false.
  - porphyrogene 8y ago
    Why do you need a theory to explain the skin tones? Why does it matter at all? What is so triggering for you about a web page without a depiction of a white person?
    - whatshisface 8y ago
      >Why does it matter at all? I'm not sure if it does, but the topic was being discussed so I joined in. >What is so triggering for you about a web page without a depiction of a white person? I'm not sure if "triggering" is the right word to use, but although I used to think that representation didn't matter (a la skin tone variants in emojis) I now realize that it's a nice gesture to be included in art asset packs and marketing material. Next time someone talks about how they added twelve different versions of a thumbs up asset I'll roll my eyes a little less hard. ;)
danielvf 8y ago
Nah, there's a simple explanation. Humaaans uses an artistic style of solid patches of color against a white background. Very light skin tones work terribly in this style because they disappear into the background.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  If true that would be hilarious, but I don't see how we could ever know for sure. If the real reason were unsavory, there would be an overwhelming social bias not to reveal it; and as a result even a true, positive answer wouldn't help.
  - danielvf 8y ago
    I made a white humaaan for you. It has some readability problems. :) https://danielvf-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/2019/whumaaan.png https://danielvf-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/2019/whumaaan.pn...
bbeekley 8y ago
I didn't download the library, but I don't think the author left out white people. Here's a screenshot from the humaaans page that looks white to me. [1] Edit: another commenter showed pale skin tone in the library [2]. Even if you change the complaint to being about low white representation, it's also a little unfair to say that the author is "intentionally" trying to make it political. What about their work or documentation gives you an idea on their intention? [1] https://imgur.com/a/wbmyIRG https://imgur.com/a/wbmyIRG [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18997437 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18997437
- whatshisface 8y ago
  >What about their work or documentation gives you an idea on their intention? I want to get in to this tarpit less than anybody else on earth, but after trying to come up with another explanation, I wasn't able to. The artist depicted a skin tone balance that is significantly different from what they're used to seeing, and the only reason for that that I can think of is if they were consciously attracted to the political side. Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? No, of course not. In fact, I think the artist has a right to make a political statement if they want to. I might even agree with it. I'm just trying to take the discussion from 99% truth to 99.9% truth. I might be wrong (and although it would sting my ego, in the long rung I would be happier if I was wrong), but I feel like this is one of those "everyone sees it but nobody is allowed to mention it" social things that is the bane of humanity. This project is definitely noteworthy because of the skin tone distribution of its front page, that's clear enough from observation.
duopixel 8y ago
Pablo Stanley is Mexican. I find it unsettling that people here try to read too much into this choice, it was released a month ago on Designer News and there's not a single mention about it: https://www.designernews.co/stories/98999-humaaans-a-library-to-mixandmatch-illustrations-of-people https://www.designernews.co/stories/98999-humaaans-a-library...

otakucode 8y ago

I didn't really notice the skin tone, but immediately keyed in on the age and anatomy, since those are the things I've most often noticed being neglected when people depict human beings. No children, no elderly, no genitals seems to be the image of humanity we want.

noonespecial 8y ago

The more often I see this discussion flare up in comment sections, the more I appreciate the wisdom behind the "Ikea Person" in their assembly instructions.

tyingq 8y ago
I searched for the background so I could read up on that. Didn't find it, but did find this...which is also interesting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/17/researchers-have-finally-settled-whether-men-or-women-are-better-at-assembling-ikea-furniture/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/17/resea...