I have 4 out of the 5, and sometimes all 5 Master Skins on the front page of WC right now. I spend 8-10 hours a day, 7 days a week designing and trying to improve my skins, and when they are done I want to post them to the site, but I can't. I can't because I feel like I should wait for others to submit their Master Skins so they have front page time, but alas, no one submits and I am beginning to wonder why.
There are 44 Master Windowblinds skins in the gallery right now, and since I became a Master around a year and a half ago, 20 of them are mine and I have one other finished (Allure) and just waiting for time to pass, and one more (Brilliance) in the works!
So where are the other Master Skinners? I know why vStyler and Xiandi are not skinning right now, but what about the other Masters? TomRichter, MikeB314, adni18, theAVMAN, Vampothika and other Master Skinners... where are you? I miss seeing your works, and I am sure others miss them too.
But, I am always in for a contest. Probably get my arse kicked, but, fun none-the-less.
"How this evolved into a contest thread is moot"
Doortech this hardly evolved into a contest thread. It was a couple of people (me being one of them) who made a simple and short suggestion that has taken up a few lines. I have no power to dictate how this thread progresses and I even have mixed feelings about a contest however if you read Toms reply in post 18 you will see he himself is ok with getting off topic even though I do not believe we have. It all has to do with skinning and I believe the initial contest reference was made to perhaps drum up some interest and maybe get some skinners involved who have not been seen for a while. If someone does not agree with it then they are free to voice that as well which you did.
It was meant to get the Masters involved as well as many others. A Suite that revolves around one or more Master skins created as variations on a single theme. Such a community project would, of course, be open to all and may even rival one of the greatest themes, IMO, ever created, Heavy Equipment! That theme included just about every proggie SD has and then some. Could be one to draw some of the Masters out and that is what this thread is all about. Lets hear it for the Master skinners wherever they may be.
I don't do Windowblinds. And for health reasons I doubt I'll be doing much of anything else. And I thought we were talking "actively" producing Windowblinds.
I was hoping to encourage you to do a Winstep.
If you can't, you can't.
I miss you, Steve.
As mentioned. Your docks and winstep themes are always Master quality. Windowblinds aren't the only reason for being a Master.You are a Master and truly deserved as are the other Masters. Health as other things can get in the way of skinning and speaking for all that know you I hope your health improves. You taught me most of what I know about making docks and that will never be forgotten.
I say this often and again it's only my opinion. I really don't think a contest is going to bring out anyone that has other things going on in their life. I'm not Tom (lightstar) but in one way I am. Home all day with nothing to do, so to pass the time and do something I enjoy, I skin. Hell it's better than taking naps all day and missing life. lol.
Yep! But I am actually taking today off, no skinning today! (Well... maybe no skinning, let me think on that.)
Thanks. Make me look bad. However I still think you will at least look at something you are working on and think about it.
DON, Didn't say I wasn't going to take a nap. Just said not all day.
OK, OK... so I couldn't stop and decided to start work on a new skin called Dreamer... oh well.
I figured as much.Skinning junkies fever!
Good thing we like skins!
Good man.Keeping em happy!
Anybody want to see what I'm workin' on?
Curiously I'd be one to call HG_Eliminator the most 'Master' from that bunch. The rest listed have 'just' done a lot over the years re skinning...
[that's cos HG_E was pretty darn good at Litestep]
Me personally...I've skinned a lot of 'stuff' that people these days might not have heard of...and as with others who have been doing it for 'yonks' have got caught up in other stuff.....Adminning takes a wee bit of time....and my skinning these days is centered around aircraft skins for MS FSX. I find them quaintly challenging as every aircraft 'model' does it differently.....quite significantly more diverse than WB1 vs WB8, etc.
It's also important to note that 'Master' level does not only relate to skinning 'quality' but to the overall quality of a person's interest/devotion/involvement with the craft of skinning. That being the case is why you see those names listed above.
Also it's important to remember that the 'Master' level predates the commercial aspect available to the level....
I'd like to put my 1/2 cent in with "JuniorCrooks": It seems that the trend nowadays is "geometric" patterns and grayscales, all in the name of efficiency (or something). Strange: now that the tech and OS will support it, all of the imagination has evaporated. Check out https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/windowblinds/6568/ by "Stardock Design". Now THAT's some skin! I almost never see skins with that level of animation! And that hasn't been updated since 2008!! I'd love to see some of the better designs (Troll Thumping, Harry Potter, Flash, My Halloween by Xav73...) updated to take advantage of the modern systems! (btw, awesome Halloween skin DoorTech1!) We have Xmas coming up, anybody up to the challenge to remake the oldies? Or at least something that can stand up to these oldies! -If anybody's pocketbooks have been the reason for no longer skinning, we're sorry but the economy has hit a lot of us pretty hard. Your efforts are sorely missed!
Windowblinds ROCKS! So does DesktopX: I love my animated desktop icons! And cursors and sound effects! Thank you all!
In the last few years it seems that windowblinds has lost its popularity, not only among those that download but those that create as well. It's not the first time master skinners have dropped off of the roles, just the latest.
Promotions have become less and less, they used to come monthly but now it seems, at some interval to be determined at a later date. As already mentioned, promotions are not based on talent but also on obscure political definitions determined by the powers that be. I admit that I used to watch for the monthly promotions to see if I would get promoted. I soon learned that people were getting promoted before me that had not contributed one iota of work to the site. So after 10 years and probably over a hundred uploads I'm probably still in the apprentice category. AND that's okay with me. I'm in the same boat as Tom and Dave with time on my hands and being able to do something that I enjoy. I appreciate the venue here, it's a place to share.
Quoting Zboness, reply 40It seems that the trend nowadays is "geometric" patterns and grayscales, all in the name of efficiency (or something)
Possibly you might try your hand at making a windowblind then you can talk about efficiency or something.
gmc2 the best way and the most logic to me seems to ignore the title and just keep doing what you like, if we break it down it all depends on how much "love you invest" into detail + a big chunk of creativity is what makes someone outstanding... we have many creative folks on wincustomize and i know your one of them but craving for a master title isn’t what skinning or customizing is about, It’s just a bonus...as well as a sign off knowledge in your field... Since you know how to make skins give yourself the title as you wish im only a apprentice myself I think ??? I do not know how to check And I know I will be a apprentice for quite some more time since I want to learn and don’t intend to stop It is certain others think different and especially for those who crave for a fast buck... to me the ones that dropped the cash point and still continue to deliver amazing skins are truly masters and most of the time their work is triple the quality of some other skins... take 2of3 as example or navigatsio and many more... like Karen what they do and did is the goal i crave for. i do not make skins anymore to gain fame, or a big download count, i did that at the start, and im here for quite a time now, had my problems adopting but managed to overcome my selfish point of view and learned to take critic the right way and started real skinning when i took my first requests i think the Science skin i made is still the best skin i managed to create and i never uploaded it while i invested a lot of time into it do I regret not uploading it to have a bigger download count NO I know the guy it was done for was happy with it and I know I did a good job that’s all. My first skin Liberte was full of flaws but I invested time in it and wanted it to be good I learned most of skinning in that skin and im still thankful for the masters that helped me, Vampothika and Karen as well as 2of3 Dani those are the names that most of us heared they explained how to handle the tools and helped us all with tutorials. They contributed a lot of time and delivered quality skins on the side. Like Jafo once said to me, if I think i did a good job, it doesn’t mean others will do the same To be honest I first thought – puh Jafo what does he know, but then I have seen his skinning the texturing of planes and what he made and it was quite obvious that he invests time and he does it for fun while it looked damn good… that was why I took him very seriously and started thinking about his advice… tastes differ and thats a good thing cause you learn to walk your own path and as long as you still enjoy doing skins nothing else matters. I think I don’t have to explain why becoming a Master isnt just about skinning I currently have 4 skins most of them useable, i posted a preview of one some time ago; i finished it but wasn’t satisfied or pleased with the buttons so it’s still not uploaded. I know many folks here uploaded a bunch more than i did but i became very picky after that argument of Jafo and i only upload stuff that i think is good enough and that is now very little because my own rule of thumb has changed...like the time I have I also wanted to release a 3d skin for quite some time but I hate the glyphs used and I always find something I want to change…no wonder on that many buttons… Creating skins for me was at first to impress folks mainly because i wanted to show off, but i realized that there isn’t much you can top, since it had already been done back in an old GUI championship where Mr.Paul
1MrPAul1
killed the competition with "Flash Live System" but he didn’t make the first place however his skin is legendary, it’s something every skinner should look into since he basically covered everything in it and planned it well out even tho it’s over the top of effects- this skin holds by far the most effort and creativity I have ever seen, its a free skin it represents everything I want in a master skin. I agree it also has a square startmenu- just to scratch the recent saying almost each skin has a square startmenu or rectangular that’s just because most folks want to have a high rating for usability... I don’t blame them I blame the rating… IRBrainiac didn’t care and delivered amazing skins Xiandi did also aswell as vStyler with "Outer Limits" … a truly unique skin I never called it out loud but i like Johns way of skinning he has the touch for lightning detail colours and a big Bergen full of creativity that is why he deserves the title... damn i think everyone mentioned in this text deserves a platinum medal in skinning and the title GRANDMASTER or LORD of the SKINS The most skins i see, my own included, suffer creativity in small things like basic buttons...that’s mainly because we don’t take the time and want to have it done and that’s something that includes masters skins… If i take a peek at some of my favourite skinners most of them are not active anymore and they don’t have too since what they made back then, competes with many "today" skins (view examples pixelpirate, Dani ) those skins were and still are badass) and i wish they would be updated... so we would have something to once again look up to.Like LS i would love to see masters return all of them
benmanns I agree with a lot of what you wrote. However I want to make it clear that I am not against a "usable blind". If someone wants to bay a few bucks for that style I do not have a problem with it. I also am not saying that skinners that make that style are not creative, I believe they are but for me creativity shines through blinds that are not boxed shape because those skinners are thinking outside of the box. You made references to skinners which I agree have made blinds that exude creativity. What I can say for sure and I have even said it in the comments when someone released a blind that I thought displayed a lot of creativity is that I would have gladly paid for that blind. Now perhaps I in the minority so I do not expect blinds to be made just for myself. There is a saying "the majority rules" however I find it hard to believe that most people would not pay for a blind that was not considered useable for everyday. Surely I can't be the only one that likes to express the kid in our self from time to time and enjoy having fun with themes.
I do not make blinds but I believe I could if I polished up my photoshop skills, I am not suggesting it would be easy because I have done enough editing in skinstudio to know other wise. If I did make a blind I would go into it with the frame of mind as treating it as a sculpture first and an art canvas second, that is just me though.
not sure how that was implied by what I said but the intent was quite the opposite.
BoXXi....... The forgotten Master.......... [e digicons]:'([/e]
Hi Master BoXXi, Master Fuzzy here
hahaha..... Hi Mike
Ah Jeez. Can't win.
I would give a lot for another iconset by Mormegil, another WB skin by Treetog, Alexandrie or Mike B. Even Updates would do it...
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