Guys, the skin scene needs a revival.

Aye!!

Note: The Vista reference is just an example, the skinning scene has pretty much been inactive.

id be with you, if i had a computer that i could skin on/learn on. right now my pos can barely run windows let alone ie. but next week, new comp, new rules. wooo.

I agree 100%. The Windows skinning scene is so dead right now that I wanted to skin Linux, but seeing as how there doesn't seem to be much interest I dropped that as well. I wish there were more Theme XP tutorials. If theming tools were more documented and there were more tutorials on how to use skinning software, there would probably be more stuff out there. What ever happend to the tutorial idea here any way?

But yeah, I've visited this site every day for the past 3 - 4 years and it's growing more and more dead. What ever happend to Nano 06? :(

I just hope all the current themes will become compatible with Vista, because I'm sure we'll all be switching to that within the next 2 - 3 years (:

i agree mynimal, and im doing my best. hopefully our suite will be out within a month. its time to reawaken the skinning community.

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cyantific
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE

I'm going on a skinning spree in about two weeks when some of my school work are finished!

________________________________
| AbnormThinking | www.abnorm.net |

within the next month would be rad josh :]

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/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

if i could skin, i would. but i right there with you. i'm getting totally sick of mac and vista skins. xP

I'm going to try and to do a community skin project soon. Going to get custo's deffinition of a skin suite done first.

• • • •
(• www.customize.org •• News Admin •• www.skinnables.org •)

I wish I was more talented and had more time. I've made similar observations, and have lamented to many of my friends that nothing on the scene really impresses me anymore. I wish I was good enough to contribute, and I wish I had more time to practice and get good.

There's nothing quite a like a sense of community, but communities need things to revolve around.

Oh, yeah, it's also frustating as all hell and beyond twice to finally see a decent screenshot sometime and everything that gets you drooling is marked with a big, fat, NFR.

Lame.

Three words:

DO IT YOURSELF.

Quit being lazy and do some skinning yourselves. Tired of waiting around for the groups to release? Try it yourself.

This post sucks.

Please, good sir, do not destroy the spirit of the thread.

i'm kinda sick of that permission and shit stuff.

Yeah, i wish more skins were open source. i really think that would help the community.

It'd help make things all look the same.

Good screenshots can always be replicated, great way to learn everything you need too :)

The problem is the community. I'm sorry to say this, but i think the most staff member have the same taste.

Nearly the most featured skins have minimalistic style. Some skins don't deserve the privilege to be featured.

It happens to often that a really good skin don't get featured.

Member post their skins for fun and if they don't get respect and acknowledgement, they will not post to customize any more.

I think customize lost some good designer.

It could be also , because customize become boring. I meen I'm a customize member since more than a year and customize have not changed. What about new features?
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Gabro|design
www.gnreviews.de.vu

I'm definatly with mynimal on this one. Most people just take a skin and mod it for their own liking and aren't realeasing it because of permissions. Hell, I'm going to be realeasing a couple themes myself... And if anyone wants to collab, go right damn ahead.

bero_

This is all good and what-not but... can someone point me to some tutorials that would help me get started with skinning in XP?

I think it will probably pick up again when Vista gets released. Right now the skinning scene has hit a plateau, but alot of that is probably because we done everything we can think of with XP and shells such as hoverdesk have all pretty much died off. Once the community has its new "toy" things will pick up again.

.compo

from what i have seen Gabro is dead on

the admins have an incredibly daunting job to do, that most of us can never even begin to conceive...however, by NO means do they dictate style trends, in my opinion. personally, i taught myself stylebuilder, photoshop, skinning other various apps, and to make simple icons. there isnt much that the average brain can't do with a little simple experimenting with any of these crafts. my current skill level is a result of my time, but also inspiration from the likes of heylove, imrik, maximhuz, and other gods of gui and graphic.

furthermore, modding for personal use is only natural; fully skinning any program takes a GREAT deal of time, as i'm sure any of the afforementioned artists can say. since custo is a site anyone can visit and download from, for FREE, i'd say we'd better be happy with what we get, or learn ourselves how to skin.

a few months back, i proposed an idea to jump start the community, or least the number of skins: grouping together with other artists.

either learn to skin, group with others to save time, or sit and wait for quality work. bitching about style and trends and admins is frivolous at best if you contribute nothing but words.

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/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

ps custo:

i dont mean to sound harsh in any way, and i apologize if anything came across as such.

my group is at work on a suite, and we've all been doing ss's on the side that are purely meant to be inspirational, since most of what is shown are mods of work that is NFR.

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/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

"the admins have an incredibly daunting job to do, that most of us can never even begin to conceive"

say what?

there is nothing difficult about it. basically you're a user who's opinion for some reason counts.

let's hope custo someday does away with the whole idea altogether.

what i meant by that was the fact that admins obviously have to review each and every skin, and try to do so in such a way that it pleases the masses and doesnt cause upstarts like the one a few posts above mine.

admins work for free. i think thats probably the most admirable part of the job. we had a recent poll about how many times we all visit the site in a week, and admins must do so much more frequently, and receive no $.

basically you're a user who's opinion for some reason counts.

this may be somewhat true, but i respect the opinion of many non-admins far more than opinions of the true admins, not to take anything away from either group.

Some skins don't deserve the privilege to be featured.

It happens to often that a really good skin don't get featured.

lastly, i simply believe admins shouldnt be blamed for the views expressed in this post, for the problems mynimal described in his original rant fall squarely on us, the skinners and artists.

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/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

The Open Source idea is great! Look at how popular N.UN was/is.

//////////////////// fractal.design¹

Can we do anything else to windows? The investment one needs to make to get a really 'different' ss nowadays is more than most people can afford to put in.

I imagine that Vista will revitalize the skin scene somewhat.

Part of the problem is the fact that non-minimal shots are given no attention though.

There's still *plenty* to do to/with Windows. Some may not agree with me in saying this but even Windowblinds provides huge extensibility. We can do anything we want, pretty much.

Part of the problem is the fact that non-minimal shots are given no attention though.

that's because there aren't any GOOD non-minimal shots. you can still be non-minimal and thorough with your icons / hacking / matching. there's nothing wrong with non-minimal, so long as it's congruent. the one's we've been getting for the past four months just... aren't.

I completely agree with Gabro's post. A lot of it has to do with respect and appreciation for people's work. Even if someone posts a skin you don't like, you can help and encourage them by posting constructive criticism and offering advice.

It's really easy to by hypocritical and to expect good original skins to come out of nowhere, but the truth is that there aren't enough designers that feel confident enough to post and improve upon their work on Custo. There are always some designers which you can always rely on for unique and usable skins/suites (4imp etc.), but I think a lot more emphasis should be put on helping new designers learn. The tutorials idea, which was suggested a while ago, should really be pursued.

The other big thing we can do is to encourage change. Black and white minimalist Mac skins seem to have become the norm, and anything that really deviates from that is being shot down. Like I said, if someone submits a skin that's totally out there it shouldn't be ignored. We've got to learn from their ideas and help them prosper.

"that's because there aren't any GOOD non-minimal shots."

not to be rude or anything but you seriously have been living under a rock....go to any other skinning site and go to the screenshot section, and then organize by top rated and you might be in for a suprise

i mean here, threi. show me a recent, solid, thorough "non-minimal" screenshot here.

mine? LOL jkjk

but seriously why would anyone post a non-minimalist shot here fully knowing that most of the shots here a minimalist and posting otherwise would get a low rating?

that's what i'm saying, threi. For The Love of Music V3 looks like it could be really sexy, but there are default icons all over the place and you're not even showing us an open explorer window.

i'm just saying these "non-minimalistic" shots might get more attention if they're more thoroughly executed. these low ratings aren't necessarily a product of their aesthetic so much as the effort put into them.

i should have dont that lol cause i do have styler toolbar and i am using an icon pack...but i prefered not to put an open window on the screen because i like create a clean ambiance in screens...but if that is what is wanted i will post all of what i am using in the near future =P

That's it!

I'm coming back to LS just to make a theme with the biggest buttons aethetically possible.

Fat is the new black.

go to any other skinning site and go to the screenshot section, and then organize by top rated and you might be in for a suprise

i dont want to list any other sites, but i know of maybe half a dozen where the top rated shots need LOTS of work...i've only been doing what i'd call quality shots for less than a year and i'd know that

__________________________
/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

i will use a quote from one of YOUR members instead of properly responding...

i dont want to list any other sites, but i know of maybe half a dozen where the top rated shots need LOTS of work...i've only been doing what i'd call quality shots for less than a year and i'd know that



Nearly the most featured skins have minimalistic style. Some skins don't deserve the privilege to be featured.

i'm not quite sure as to what you meant by most of that post but,

are you saying 'minimal' screenshots like these don't deserve a feature?

http://www.customize.org/details/47295
http://www.customize.org/details/47241
http://www.customize.org/details/47167

they are all highly stylistic and usable, and the last one even has a link where one can download all the tools to replicate it exactly...

if its non minimal youre looking for, check rissol's profile, he's been featured many times, and for very well put together desks

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/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

no i am saying even minimalistic skins that should be featured don't...and i would refrain from posting links cause that is really just personal opinion (but those do look nice)

the reason im here is because i saw a REALLY nice minimalist shot...it drew me here...and then i looked through the screenshot section...and saw pretty much the same thing over and over again...i know minimalist shots looks nice but...why not try something different?
no flaming on me plz im just being honest based on what i see =D

"why not try something different?"

Well, people customize their desktops to their liking, even if its whats popular. Granted when submitting if somethings been done to death, it might not get good ratings, but, if people could step back and judge it for what its worth, and not base it on other submissions, then ratings would probably be alot different, well, I guess there really be no point for ratings then.

And, once again, not all people can try something different, due to lack of skills, or just because they like what is already out there.

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/circa
ONEIROCOLLECTIVE⁰⁶

but, if people could step back and judge it for what its worth, and not base it on other submissions, then ratings would probably be alot different, well, I guess there really be no point for ratings then.

=)

Ohhhh yipppppy long posts to read!!

But really like someone said DIY oh wait for a suite to come along, like the MIRO suite which is realised now...

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/neodude
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

SHINTER WHERE ARE YOU

RIGHT HERE BABY GIVE ME A WET ONE

yea... Shinter was great, he was the reason I ran litestep back in the days (haven't done that in so long tho, wonder how far it has come since)

Back on topic, I somewhat agree with the view that customize is very dominantly minimalistic nowadays (it's almost to the degree that anything that doesn't have a white background is not worthy of customize.org... at least that's what it feels like to me personnally, I apologize if it sounds offensive for that's not my intention)

You may argue that there isn't any decent/good non-minimalistic things submitted here... that's most likely true but it goes both way... simply put, because we, as a community, don't tend to appreciate non-minimalistic theme/skins, they stopped submitting them here.

Case in point, when was the last time misery (deaddreamer) submitted something around here? Granted, he hasn't been active for a long time but when he was... his works were usually posted on DA but never here

that's pretty much it... sorry about the long post :P

On a totally unrelated note, Any one seen Miriku-chan around? did he get banned from the site or something?

Styles come and go, but high quality never goes out of style.

Nuff said.

^^^^^

amen.

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/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

Cerebus is right on point in my opinion... i came here when deskmod went under because it was the best of what else is out there... for me... now that came with the understanding that this is a site for people in the minimalist persuasion. ;-)

It took time to come around, so i lurked for months and months, but have rarely posted because my schedule is such I hardly time to do that kind of thing anymore. But I still love the scene here and love to comment on people's stuff.

Should the scene change some? Sure I guess. If you don't like the minimalism here, go check out wincustomize or DA, you'll get all kinds of stuff there. But to be honest there is some really good stuff happening here, and some folks doing different kinds of things. mayluna & vladstudio come to mind for walls. koopey & moshi do some cool stuff too. But the vs scene is stalled at the moment. And anytime someone tries something you get the stupid back and forth you are seeing in the MIRO release comments. Use it or don't, but don't be a jerk about it.

Sorry for the length... LOL
.::StriplingRz::.

I dont think its the skinning thing. Its the whole community which is fucked up - especially here on Custo. The same people who say the scene is dead have no respect for rookies. It's a shame how hoity-toity some people are.

.UnitedCustomizers

yeah the community is fucked

i don't think i want to be part of a group or organization that wants to have me as a member

I've never really seen any skinners as rookies. I've just always though any releases - as long as they're creative and not just a ripoff of something else - is a good release. Believe it or not the skin scene has slowed to a crawl, and skins that manage to get through aren't very unique anymore.

Maybe skinning is/was a generational thing, and that generation grew up?

Nah fuck that, humans have been skinning/custo'ing since the dawn of mankind, and we shall be for a long time.

So shuttup and make some cool shit, who give a fuck what all the hoity-toity tight ass fake net-critic pieces of shit think, and contribution is worth something (even if its a laugh)

Quit taking this stuff too seriously man, I mean ffs, do it because you wanna.


On an unrelated note: How do I change the font colors of a VS without stylebuilder?

//////////////////// fractal.design¹

thats hurts generic, it really does

__________________________
/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

fractal ftw...press on homies

__________________________
/nitzua
ONEIRO.COLLECTIVE⁰⁶

fuck the system...i do the same thing i've done for the last like 5 years here. I troll and make shit i like.

Get off your asses, amen !

_____________________
#nuance ' capx

oh and make sure it's a 99 it's a 99.

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#nuance ' capx

FUCK THE POLICE!

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#nuance ' capx

if anyone wants to have a good time give me a call or send me a PM big boy! becuase im a 99 a 99999999 horns.

i havent posted in awhile so i might as well make up for it kthx4tw 2cute4u i love you sk8rboi12@yahoo.com

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#nuance ' capx

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7278951069225366106&
q=hydrogen+bomb&hl=en

Creepy comments on that vid...

//////////////////// fractal.design¹

fractal,

custo ate my message. but yeah, use 3dcc to change font colors. if you can't find an install file, im/pm me.

Thanks akka, but I've figured it out.

Resedit needs the same char length (byte size?) for the textfiles, so I just input spaces were there is a difference.

It only works if I put something smaller in ofcourse, I think... but I have a cache of spaces at the end so maybe I can use 'em when I need 'em ;]

//////////////////// fractal.design¹

I wish something new would come out for Serenade already. It has been far too long.

im a troll (since early deskmod) but i think some people dont take into account the fact that they are designing interfaces and not works of art. if you focus on aesthetics over functionality then you are missing the point entirely. themes for os's are a means to get something else done.. not a means in and of themselves. if they are beautiful beyond that then well... great.

aside from that, many of the people around today seem to be less of the coding/development type of crowd, and that probably has a lot to do with the stagnant vibe.

this is a bugmenot account by the way.. all of the kumquat669's are probably different people.

You do realize that by saying that you've doomed that account to be banned?

www.gypsyspacemuffin.com

www.systemkings.net

right on, mynimal is right. We gotta release more stuff.Everywhere you look you see mods and not for release skins. what the hell? i would say if the future is modded skins, then let's mod skin, if the future means create new skin, le't create them.
I need tutorials on visaul styles creating skin, windows blinds...and whatevah'...
maybe some guys would create new skins if they knew how to make 'em.
we need tutorials everywhere people!
now, is the time!

Look what I skinned for halloween:

http://www.ircspider.com/content/050/orig/13350.jpg

dad?

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/circa
ONEIROCOLLECTIVE⁰⁶

wow finally ..
This has been my idea for long. I don't understand why people won't submit their skins.

"You do realize that by saying that you've doomed that account to be banned?"

thats why i said it. heres another one? ved