By the amount of new members that have come on board lately......I would say customization is very popular

I'm with paxx.....there are several skinners churning out 'the same old thang' over and over again.....some of them do them well...but even good boring skins are still boring.

People need to be creative....unique....stupidly original, even.

The slogan for skinning shouldn't be 'have fun'...

but

Be Different

Be Different

Hmm, sounds mac-ish.

Be Different

Amen to that.

I totally agree with Paxx. There has to be variation as much as originality, and as Jafo said, good boring skins will remain boring.
I guess the fact that many people are getting into skinning and are experimenting for the first time inspired by the style of other artist is the reason why we see so many 'repeats' of designs. Hopefully as they learn to skin they'll developed their own unique style
...(hopefully)

Don't forget that most computer users don't even know how to change their friggen resolution, let alone start applying different skins!

Are you talking about me?, You talking about me?

I agree with what has been said above, for the most part. And I think A67 made a good point when he talked about new skinners. I know I myself have been working for months to develop something I felt would be good enough for my first submission. I definitely want to do some new and different things. The suite I'm working on now will definitely qualify in that regard... whether it will be accepted remains to be seen.

But before I could get to the point where I felt I could really try new things, I had to learn the basics. And the way I've had to learn is by trial and error, tearing apart the work of others and seeing if I could build it again. Consequently, a lot of my 'practice' skins look a great deal like someone else's. Between my regular work, and family, that has taken a while.

So it's only now, after several months, that I'm beginning to feel really confident enough with the mechanics of Skin Studio, Icon Developer, and the various apps to be skinned that I'm finally producing some things I feel are close to being worthy of submission. It isn't that my 'practice runs' aren't of decent quality, in my opinion, I just don't want to submit something that people look at and think... "Hmmm... looks a lot like So-and-so's work."

I've seen several new skinners take a different path than I have chosen, and as A67 mentioned, their first submissions seem inspired by one artist or another. There is nothing wrong with that approach... I just want my submissions to be my style from the beginning.

eh, back to the drawing board with me

Shameless Designs - I'm with you there, though what I keep finding is that I'll try something and think it looks cool, and then realise I have seen something similar before but I'd forgotten it....I think my "furry skin" I asked for comments on in the Skinning board (that I've put on hold for now while I get better technically) is the nearest to being "original" that I've come, even though others have done furry before...

Just remember, that whatever you make, you are unique - just like everyone else (quote source not known)...

One can only be different in area's concerning technical and excellent graphical work, If their skill and knowledge allows them to be. The cycle of old and boring skins will continue as new people learn to skin and start off with simple ideas and so on.

Be Different

Coincedentally, thats the motto for my new minimalistic skinsuite...'Mime'

Although, perhaps not quite the same meaning...

EventHorizon winks at cerebro and IPlural...

...Beauty (or 'different-ness') is in the eye of the beholder...
[Message Edited]

CerebroJD winks back

Maybe you should show them your promo vid?

...made a new one...Much better than the old, but it has yet to be 'approved' for 'mass viewing'....

well, as far as being original goes, I have found that originality is a limitation of the application so far

But it is the best thing going, I just need to figure out how to force it to do what I want...

Your also speaking of demand and supply...

People like Mac looking skins, they like Blue and they like want they want right now.
So, one has to decide if they are going to be the popular skinner feeding the same old sludge to the masses just because they are used to it and at the point of not having any taste buds anymore or any vision.

Or do you beat your own path through the jungles and deserts of skinning and maybe still be somewhere in between the two on the fringe of both...

Personally, its my cloud and if I like green knickers with pink and yellow pokie dots with the HokyPoky blasting out at 10+ frazzling 500 watt spearks to shreds, well you get the idea...

Don't forget that most computer users don't even know how to change their friggen resolution

And what resolution should the friggen be set to??