They've got some great old schemes at that site. I wish I had the time to recreate some of them for WindowBlinds...

http://www.kaleidoscope.net/schemes/schemespotlight.shtml


Frankly, I'm a little disappointed in how crappy the majority of WindowBlind themes are. A lot of them are headed in a really good direction, but take a turn for the terrible with bad typefaces or contrast problems, etc.... I'd LOVE to see some from the spotlight section make their way into WB....

Wow. You sure are sensitive. I didn't say that ALL of them sucked. But with SO MANY being submitted, I would figure that there would be MORE good themes.... I'm not putting WB themers down, I'm challenging them to rise above... or something like that...

The problem, as I see it, is the same here as it is anywhere: people don't care about the quality of their work. I deal with designers everyday that hand in sloppy work, great ideas and poor execution, powerful form and no follow-through. No one cares about what they do as long as they can get a little pat on the back from one of their on-line buddies or they can get their check at the end of the week. Whatever it is the least they can do to "get by".

Again, don't get me wrong. I like A LOT of the themes and respect the folks who make them for taking the time to do it (lord knows I certainly won't), but it would be nice to find the same kind of enthusiasm and appreciation for hard work in this community as there was in the Kaliedoscope community. I know for a fact that a few of the people who submitted great work at that site have gone on to careers in interface design. Something to think about... the guys who made "This Land" didn't get paid to make it, but they put a lot of work into it anyway...
[Message Edited]

tankfu - you're right...Hus is overly sensitive.....and you're a moron.



Someone please give this thread the attention it deserves and lock it.

I see nothing on that site with the WOW factor..... they're either fairly plain, or downright ugly... IMHO. 

Sorry, Brad. I made a special effort not to digress to the level of incivility you exhibited over the weekend. Obviously, we have differing opinions as to what and who are acceptable.

Then again, I'm probably just being over sensitive...

Actually, if you sort through the library from the oldes to the newest you can see that styles  have changed a lot, even here.  One of my favorite things to do is to go back to the very beginning of Stardock and browse the oldest skins. 

Things changed, styles did and people did.  And keep in mind, here is a community where people are at all stages some submitting their first and some greats submitting theirs.  All are welcome and you would  be impressed to sit and watch them grow... given enough encouragement...

 

um... well if you go to the windowblind library, search by created, and choose show by ascending, you will see them and many, many other beautiful skins.  I'm sorry, i was in a hurry...

Last one is notebook by  Hideaki Kamada
third was WBmania by D.A.K.

Nice to see Allen Bond Stuff thrown up there, one of the Classics.
Ampulla, AmpullaCu, Iron Horse, Capsulla, Moonbase, Marianas.
Some of the best skinning around, and a real ground breaker at the time.
Kaliedescope's Skinz always reminded me of the old EFX Type of skinz.
Not many probably remember that program. Takes me way.. way back.

https://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?wp=2&Sort=updatedate&searchtext=allen%20bond&Order=Descending&library=1
Windowblinds Link to Allen Bonds Stuff

I aboloutely loved kaleidoscope themes. They were more in the style of skin I always try to produce. The 'gimmicky' themed type, rather than usuable blah.
In my early days I used to spend a lot of tmie at the site just looking for inspiration, even did a few personal ports as well.
It's a shame the level of creatvity displayed in that scene is very rare these days.

He should have been around in the Community Skins Day, speaking of Community, and getting peoples' best out of something. Heavy Equipment was one Hell of a suite.

if nothing else tankfu,
you've given people food for thought. the wise ones will overlook the faux pas and take the valuable part of this whole thread and create something wonderful with it.
though I do wish there were a better way of expressing oneself on "paper"(ok so monitor screen), the written word, especially with out the benefit of vocal inflection and tone can be read so many different ways.
I'm sure you had no wish to insult any of the artists here, unfortunately you used one word in direct reference to wb and skinners that touched a nerve. I'm sure there was a more politic way of saying what you meant. and I hope in the future your internal thesaurus will kick in and assist you in creating posts that feature your point without coming across like a personal attack on others.

that word combined with "majority". when generalizing,you must be prepared to get a large sum of negative responses.

and you need to remember you are stating your opinion only. others might not agree , and making the statement sound like you represent an authority on the subject can really get you slammed in the long run.

if you carefully choose your words, and re-read your post prior to hitting the send button. if you care even the smallest bit to have your thoughts or opinions listened to, you will word your posts in such a way as to encourage positive response and avoid the pitfalls of flame parties.