August Skinner of the Month - .Zer0.

from WinCustomize Forums
Starting with August, every month we'll be taking a closer look at an up-and-coming skinner who has submitted strong work that shows a lot of promise.  Everyone already knows the names JJ Ying, Essorant, adni18 etc.  But you may not know names like this month's featured skinner, though I bet you'll recognize his work.

To kick off Skinner of the Month, I'd like to direct your attention to a skinner who has so far submitted two WindowBlind, won the 9th Challenge at Skinning.net with one of them, and has only been at this whole "skinning" thing for a few short months.  His latest WindowBlind was uploaded to WinCustomize just one month ago and has already received nearly 83,000 unique downloads.

The Skinner of the Month for August 2006 is .Zer0. (previously rjsmith2007) and the popular WindowBlind I'm sure just about everyone has seen by now is Eminence.  .Zer0. has generated a lot of buzz and discussion in the WC community, and Eminence has received a great deal of praise.  Recently, I discussed the Eminence and .Zer0. with CerebroJD and DoctorNick on the Under The Skin podcast, and there has been a lot of praise behind the scenes from both moderators and other users I've spoken to.

His first skin, XP Format posted back in April, is a polished and slightly glassy take on the standard XP Blue theme that comes default with the OS.  While it has strong visual ties back to that default theme, it's far from unoriginal and is highly polished, especially for a first attempt.

Be sure to check out both of .Zer0.'s skins, and keep an eye out next Monday for an interview I conducted with him earlier in the month.

 
 
XP Format by .Zer0. Eminence by .Zer0.

 

  
8,231 views 21 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Both are great skins, indeed.

Congrats on being the first featured skinner in Zoomba's "skinner of the month" .Zer0 ...a well-deserved accolade!
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Can't wait to see more of your work .Zer0. These skins are great.
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats, Zer0 ....
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well done .Zer0 !
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
fantastic choice for the honor. congrats, zero
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats .Zer0. Both of these skins have a permanent place on my harddrive. Top notch work.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Brilliant work - I use Eminence all the time
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well Deserved. Eminenece is one the best skins ever.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
.Zer0, how about some questions? (If these (or some) are all covered in the interview with Zoomba please ignore)

How old are you?

How long have you used WB? What made you want to build your own skin?

Did your "real" job prepare you for skinning?

How long did each skin take?

What applications did you use for these skins?

Was there any inspiration to these designs?

Were you surprised by the reception of your skins?

What skinners influenced you the most? How?

Was the community as a whole useful to you as you built these skins?

What other skinning ideas are you pursuing?


Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'am happy to see the winner of skinning.nets first WB contest being the first to be honored here.  I feel it was richly deserved.  Congrats to you Ryan.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats .ZerO
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Way to go Mr. Smith! (if that's your real name )
Can't wait to see what you do next.......
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well deserved, .ZerO
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congratulations.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well deserved, .Zer0


Ditto
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats!! Eminence has now become the most used theme I have, and along with the other great artists which themes we've all come to use..this one definitely stands out as a 'one of a kind'. I remember you stating "just wait for Eminence 2", well bud...you've certainly put yourself up to the task of raising the bar!! Either way, this theme is an excellent addition to my desktop.

Again, Congratulations and well done!
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Wow... we should get emails about these things! I didn't even know that I was skinner of the month! I feel honored that so many people accept and enjoy my work.

Zubaz I believe most of those questions will be answered monday, so check back then

For those who are interested I posted an introduction in the forums. You can view that here--> Link
. I am working on an update for Eminence and some concepts of some new skins that I may do. Also, I wrote a tutorial for skinstudio that will be posted shortly.

Again, thanks!

Zero
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can see why your skinner of the month. Well done man
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats man. I've had Eminence on both my desktop AND my laptop since the day of it's release. It's AMAZING. I am really looking forward to it's update you mentioned, and of course the next unique offering. Keep up the great work, and just be sure it stays FUN!
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Wow... we should get emails about these things!

That's a thought....