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Editiorial: Are skinners abandoning originality in exchange for popularity?

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Editiorial: Are skinners abandoning originality in exchange for popularity?

from WinCustomize Forums

I was doing an article today on the history of WindowBlinds skinning. And I firmly believe that the vocal "minimalistic skinsa re king" crowd have really done real harm to skinning. I say that because skin authors seem to have become so afraid of making anything that isn't "minimalistic" because not only will they not be appreciated for being creative and original, they're likely to get flamed by the "Minimastic" brigade.

Let me show you some skins from 1999 so you can see what I mean in terms of originality.

 

This is old but when was the last time you saw a skin that tried to look like something other than "Look, it's another generic GUI"? Or at least done reasonably well?

This is from 2000! Sure there's OS skins in here too but look at that Allend Bond skin. Or Dangeruss's skin.

This is from Shoggot. His title bar blade actually rotated (animated) when it was the active window and the blade stretched as you increased the size of the window. I can't even remember the last time someone made a good animated title bar. And it's so easy. It's just frames of animation. Some little glowing effect or SOMETHING other than the usual gradients that everyone seems fixated on.

I believe that the reason for the lack of creativity these days is because of the obsession with downloads combined with fatigue from being flamed by the critics who will look at a skin that took 2 weeks to make and shrug it off "I won't use that crap" simply because it's not Windows Luna (but red) or some skin that looks like a slightly more minimalistic version of Luna.

Here's one from DAK from Russia released FOUR years ago.

When was the last time you saw a skin that used animation this clever? This Matrix skin by Mercury was made 4 years ago.

 

These two skins from Dangeruss, which are going on 5 years in age, show what skinning is all about. Creative and yet outstanding quality. These are the kinds of skins WindowBlinds was made for artistic freedom to create cool and interesting looking things. Little touches like semi-transparent scrollbars (how often do you see that these days?) and captions on the title bar buttons.

Many skin authors seem to be skinning more for popularity rather than for themselves. Back before skinning was so popular, popularity wasn't an issue - there just weren't enough peopel using this stuff.  But now, skinning is not just popular, but with popularity comes..well criticism. The skins you see here took real work to make. But who wants to spend weeks on a skin only to have some anonymous user slam it because they think it's "gaudy".

I wish I had the talent to create good artwork like you see here because I would create "gaudy" skins (if these are "gaudy"). I would rather create a skin that is new and different than yet another "It's very much like Luna but the title bar is slightly smaller and it has a gradient..."  (not that I'm not guilty of that myself since those kinds of skins take less time and will get more downloads.

The skins you see here are available on WinCustomize.com in the WindowBlinds section. Just look at Dangeruss, Mercury, D.A.K. and Allen Bond if you, as a skin author, want to see how these skins were made or if you, as a skin user, want to try them out (of course, since they were made before XP, not all of xP will be skinned with them).

36,871 views 78 replies
Reply #76 from WinCustomize Forums Top
ShadowsKnight, Thanks for restating your thoughts. I agree that more involvement with the community would be a good thing. I also agree with your ideas about more and different contests being a good thing to stimulate both activity AND quality/creativity. The GUI Olympics are a good example, but holding contests more often for things like software and subscriptions would encourage more participation.(Anybody still reading this thread?).

Two short points.

1. I respect your poverty due to the fact I am most likely as strapped as your are (I do own an OD subscription but I can count the number of programs I have actually purchased instead of going the freeware route on one hand). I have simply accepted the fact that my software may not do everything that I want it to do.

2. I don't think that Frogboys post had anything to do with selling programs. (At least not Skin Studio). Many of the low quality/creativity skins that are being discussed are being created using this program which makes it very easy to make a functional skin. Sadly being able to put a skin togeather does not mean it is creative or artistic.

2a. The last comment was not meant to discourage, and or irritate any skinners out there. Simply an honest acknowledgement that very few people are GREAT artists. This is the reason that we hold them in such high regard

Peace,

Dreww
Reply #77 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Ah....I'm one of those who does it for himself.  Because I run LiteSTEP [no start bar] I never actually bothered with its skinning...no bloody reason to.  My skins are for yours truly....anyone who wants them....that's fine too.


The buttons were put on the left  [on some]....because they were therefore not on the right....not to look like anything else but to NOT look like the MS default.


My over-riding criteria was that a skin should not be high contrast...so while I was skinning pixel-per-pixel in PSP [and notepad]....without Builderblinds or SkinStudio....I wouldn't go blind....hence a preference for grey.


When WB skinning first started it was actually a challenge to see what could be done with the proggy....how far you could screw up the default....[documentation [or lack of] was just an added spice].


People should NOT be churning out 'perfect' copies of every other predictable skin but playing with unique concepts....particularly when this is mostly a hobby, not an industry.  The only people perhaps 'forced' to toe a line are those commissioned professionals.....the rest 'should' be free spirits....

Siege of Centauri
Reply #78 from WinCustomize Forums Top
OK...I initially agreed with this article, but I have a different slant on things now having just gone browsing through the ol' library here (sorted by Asc created date).

I now think this is just a case of nostalgia.

YES, there were SOME really great original skins back in the "good ol' days"...but there was an awful lot of insipid designs and herd mentality rehashing existing interfaces, and porting previous ideas. Go have a look and see for yourself. Ooodles of Mac clones, BEOS styles, and designs that hardly look that much different from the basic Windows design of the time, or are obviously just ports of previous Kaledescope type works.

I'd liken it to pop music. When we reach a certain age (harumph....cough), we tend to look back on the "proper music" of our youth with fond memories. We forget that week in, week out, the charts were filled with Bros, Kagagoogoo, Haircut 100 and Slade trying to make 1 more hit. What we remember are the "classics" which we danced, laughed, cried and fell in love to. It doesn't mean that every song in the 80's (in my case) was a classic - far from it...but when I hear Duran Duran now, I find myself thinking "Ahhh, see, proper music!" - even though I thought they were awful at the time!

...and yet, there is still good music being made today...the charts are mostly awful, but once a month or so an albumn comes out that's a "must have" still.

Interesting that music is driven in the charts by sales, and skins are seen to be driven to some extent by downloads - but there are always indi musicians making good stuff, and sometimes the stars making what used to be called "concept albumns" which they know won't make money but that they want to make...

So...I don't think there ever was a "golden age" of skinning. It just looks that way with the benefit of hidesight compressing months (even years) into a rose tinted snapshot. Look at the skins here made in the last 12 months, and you'll find oodles of really high quality, stylish, imaginative, skilled contributions - and now, they include animations, shell styles, sub skins, etc etc...

THESE are the golden days - skinning has never been better. More people making more skins with more ideas and more features. Rest assured that quality will always float to the top from the dross, and if it wasn't for the dross, we wouldn't realise just how good the REALLY good modern work is

So ends the case for the defence m'lud