Dopamine release - graphic design quality at NI still lacking

Come on NI, where is the graphic design quality control?

This looks very third party lower quality and not AAA sample library instrument from Native instruments. Has an educated professional graphic designer made a passthrough on this instrument or did the third party developer do it themselves?

I've seen many of the latest Expansions not really keeping the quality as high as before, this one of the first Kontakt instruments where I start to wonder what is going on with the teams at NI.

NI has kept a very very high standard in industry around graphic design in creating and marketing instruments (basically market leading) so this is why I am reacting and hoping NI do be more vigilant and set the standard high with partner developers.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/nks-partners/big-wave-audio/dopamine/

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DunedinDragon

I can't disagree with the premise, but I think there's going to be more of this sort of thing than less of it once you consider all the expansion products being marketed through NI at rock bottom prices. It's always been that way with 3rd party developers in any business. Some are excellent with easily understandable control surfaces and some opt for more flashy appearances and confusing controls. Add to that 3rd parties that are compatible with NKS but are not liscensed and how far do you dictate a standard of appearance and functionality without impacting companies deciding to abandon being a licensee because it's just too costly and inconvenient to work with you.

The only company I've seen gain some influence over this sort of thing is Amazon once they started marketing their own brand name of comparable products at a lower price than outside sources.

That's why the addage "buyer beware" has been relevant for so many centuries.

MLARS

Little bit confused what you are trying to say - this is not a 3rd party product, this is a NI 1st party product built by a 3rd party partner but it is is still a 1st party product where NI needs to approve the product, thus NI is responsible if the graphic design is weak. (update: see below, it is 3rd party library, just not super obvious)

NI has worked with partners on 1st party products for years, but I get the feel the graphic design collab and approval process has been more stringent with a higher standard what they approve to market. For some reason we see less of this now and the products start to look worse → may be harder to market and sell.

Expansion products have had similar pricing but the design has been much stronger in my opinion for 5-10 years back compared to now.

Kontakt instruments tend to be more expensive than expansions and those from NI has kept a high standard which has felt like educated professional graphic designer has been behind the design and approval process. But I question if this is still the case. Some new products still look great like but some products like Dopamine do not.

With Dopamine the balance of graphical proportions and space is all over the place (it just feels dense and cheap) - compare this to similar graphic design with NI products like Pharlight, Straylight and Ashlight which is much cleaner and provide a GUI which breathes more, giving it that extra AAA shine. It shows how negative space is important in the balance to evoke theme and provide control of parameters.

All I am saying NI could do much better than this.

Jeremy_NI

Dear @MLARS The graphics or sounds might not be to your liking. You might want to contact Big Wave Audio about that as this is a NKS product, not a Native Instruments one.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/nks-partners/big-wave-audio/dopamine/

MLARS

If it is not 1st party partner collab you may have to be much clearer in how it is marketed on Youtube and on the website. I dont think NKS product brand is not enough brand recognition in this context (which is an issue → creates dissonance). Some of the third party libraries do not have the same perceived standard of quality as NI which may affect how the NI brand and the 1st party products are perceived.

Whoever runs the brand management at NI should weigh in and consider how third party marketing and NI store shows 1st and 3rd party products. Just a small advice.

Vocalpoint

"If it is not 1st party partner collab you may have to be much clearer in how it is marketed on Youtube and on the website"

Seems pretty clear to me - within the first 9 words of the web description:

DunedinDragon

This may help clarify to you what NKS actually means. It's really nothing more than a connectivity/interoperabilty standard for plugins.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/komplete/this-is-nks/?srsltid=AfmBOor_JNo1bFRDnslDmXryU2lr8CS6WVtZ3MO8vAVrk0SC6lMVVlNu

MLARS

I know what NKS means. It is becoming an industry standard.

What causes confusion is a brand management issue how NI currently markets 1st and 3rd party libraries in their own digital channels.

Having an NKS logo for me shows that the instrument support NKS - which is true for both 1st and 3rd party libraries - it does not automatically tell me if it is a 1st or 3rd party library. They should adjust/pivot the current partner brand strategy.

MLARS

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/244344#Comment_244344

Nope it do not, could still be interpreted as a 1st party library but made by a partner (which would have meant stricter quality control).

Vocalpoint

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/244380#Comment_244380

You are allowed to "interpret" things however you want.

Still doesn't change the fact that this is VERY clear.

And if you have a beef with this product (along with all the others that you spend gobs of time kicking to the curb) - you were given clear instructions to contact Big Wave Audio.

Is it simply too difficult to do that or is it possible you can find a way to ignore this product and carry on?

MLARS

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/244416#Comment_244416

It is not clear. Clearly I made the mistake to respond to your post. Foolish me.

Maciej Repetowski

What’s wrong with this UI? Looks futuristic and clean to me. Or am I missing something obvious?

I mean, it’s Play Library, so on-screen controls are simplified, but the graphics is nice and, I dare to say, HiDPI 😅 and the font is in good contrasting colour, very easy to read. 🤔

Monochrome

@Maciej Repetowski wrote:
[…] Or am I missing something obvious?

Not at all. It’s just the usual (rather annoying) trolling from the OP.

LostInFoundation

Everyone is interpreting. And everyone thinks his truth is THE truth.

Even when facts say that almost everything NI does today is “made for”, “in collaboration with” or something similar. Exception made for the updates to the ancient NI programs, like Kontakt, Maschine, Traktor,…

Vaste majority of other libraries are made by “exterior” collaborators.

Following the “if another company name is mentioned, then it is not a NI products”, almost every release made in the last years are not NI products. Electric Ruby Deluxe is not (Big Wave Audio, like all the “Session” series), Circular is not (Frank Elting), Session Horns is not (e-instruments), Erosia is not (Cymatic Form), Claire is not (Galaxy Instruments), Valves is not (e-instruments), Una Corda is not (Uli Baronowsky), Action Strikes is not (Dynamedion), Pharlight is not (Overklang), Choir Omnia is not (Strezov Sampling), … just to name some casual ones… and so on and so forth… you can easily go back in the years.

Same is valid for Maschine expansions, Leap expansions, Play series,…

This is simply how NI works (or better… how others work for NI…).

But for some, it is “VERY clear”…

LostInFoundation

It is not trolling.

OP clearly expressed what he finds “not well curated” (graphical proportions, spacing, negative spacing,…).

We can agree or not, but that is what he sees (and says is not optimal following graphic designing principles) and his opinion that he wants to express and be taken in consideration by NI.

As said, an opinion. Why calling it trolling? Or saying that he has to ignore the product or that he is annoying?

It would be more appropriate if people not agreeing with him would ignore his idea or, if annoyed, not even reading such threads… instead of suggesting him to do what THEY could do…

Vocalpoint

"It is not trolling. OP clearly expressed what he finds “not well curated” (graphical proportions, spacing, negative spacing,…)"

Totally agree - it most definitely looked solid the very first time the OP "clearly expressed" his opinion on some unsuspecting graphic.

But after trashing what now feels like about 18 products in succession - it feels more like an attention-seeking power troll "sesh" now.

Must be an fascinating existence seeing the world through ultra-critical eyes like this. And all of it - falling on deaf ears as nothing will change - regardless of the opinion.

Pretty sure everyone sees a lot of poorly designed software in their travels too - but me - I don't feel any need to grind each vendor every time I see something I don't like.

I simply ignore it and move on to something I DO like.

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