functionality vs aesthetics

[e-raser]

here is a skin i'm doing for the orb contest and i need feed back on this skin, not b.c i'm not sure if it looks good but i'm worried that pple just wont have a clue as to how to navagate the skin. these are two screen shots + two wsz for anyone who want to beta test the half done skins (well the main is 75% the eq 25% and the rest pending)
here is screan shot 1, bright backround

[e-raser]

and here is the darker backround

[dimichan]

Hmm, normally I like dark, but I like the brighter background on this one.

[e-raser]

and here is the lighter wsz
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/630520
and the darker
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/630525

[Mr_Tough_Guy]

I like the brighter one too, don't think there's too much difference between functionality, though the buttons are a tiny bit easier to see on the darker one, they look fine on the lighter one too

did find a tiny bug in the volume and balance bars, part of the green background moves with the white slider. I suggest either lowering both bars, or what's probably easier, crop out the sliders completly and put the white sliders on the frames

BTW couldn't download the light version, just got this error message
The requested URL '/skin/winamp2/The_Orb_temp.wsz' was not found on this server.

[e-raser]

fixed, and the error on the vol bar is being delt with

[e-raser]

sorry, what error are you refering to?
if it is the white strok on the orange line, that was my intent.
if not can u further explain

[edit]
k i understand, yep i'm going to be doing that for the vol bars when i put the finishing tuchs on them (there will be animations occuring below in the gray bar area as well)

[Xerxes]

Great concept, very nice!

[StillWater]

You know, when I wanted to do an ORB skin a while back, this sort of thing is very similar to what I had in mind. One of the reasons I decided to make a contest instead of making a skin myself is that I felt that I myself wouldn't be able to do the artwork the justice I deserved. And I was spot on in my decision to make a contest - the skins--in-progress I'm seeing are tremendous.

As far as functionality goes, I don't see why anyone would have a problem with this one. Well, certainly not anyone who's ever made a skin, anyway. It's perhaps not the easiest skin in the world to use, but it's completely fine IMO.

I definitely prefer the brighter one.

some little technical things:

Numbers: You're using Numbers.bmp, yet you're skinning it like Nums_ex.bmp. Numbers.bmp is archaic and only has the numbers and an empty space. Nums_ex.bmp has the numbers, an empty space and the minus sign. At the moment, your skin displays a minus sign at all times - and not just when in "show-time-left" mode.

OK, since you are a very good skinner, and you take your skinning pretty seriously, I strongly recommend that you download Skinner's Atlas and read the readme.txt in there. It takes a while to read, but you'll be glad you've read it when you're finished. Also, I recommend using Skinner's Atlas as a template instead of Template Amp, because it has a number of corrections and improvements on Template Amp, only one of which is:
the clutterbar: go to winamp options - then display options, and turn "always show the clutterbar" OFF. A big grey rectangle appears on your skin. That bit should be skinned (with or without buttons, your choice). Just open any skin that has that bit skinned and you'll quickly see what you have to skin (or check the titlebar.bmp in Skinner's Atlas)

Easter Egg: yours has a pixel-shift bug. In case you don't know how to activate the egg: have the MAIN window active, and type N U L L S O F T (pressing ESC after each L )

I like pretty much everything about this skin, but I especially like the way you've dealt with the EQ so far - top stuff My only real criticism would be that the "Orblivion" text is just a little blurry.

[e-raser]

i strongly agree with the blury problem, as for the number text thank for pointing that out i almost didn't realize my own mistake.
i'm realy impresed that u figured out that clutterbar thing, i had no idea there was an option to turn that off or even that there is a file to skin that.
i'll try the skiners atlas for my next skin and use some of it for this skin as well.
thanks again.

[StillWater]

Originally posted by ¤db¤
One of the reasons I decided to make a contest instead of making a skin myself is that I felt that I myself wouldn't be able to do the artwork the justice I deserved.

err, I meant to write "...the justice it deserved"

[e-raser]

LOL, Froidian slip

[e-raser]

here is an 75% done version of the skin, all criticizim welcome!
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/630520

[StillWater]

the volume, shuffle, repeat are brilliant. And even the preset button is very cool. The Balance and the cbuttons in their pressed states aren't as interesting, though, although it's no big deal I guess. The way you've incorporated the PL into it so seamlessly is great too. A few things could use a little sharpening though, such as some of the circles and the "Orblivion" and perhaps the buildings. The dotted white line around the cbuttons could use some anti-aliasing too.

bugs:
-the active and non-active titlebars of the easter egg still do not match

-the BAL letters jump up and down slightly when you move the balance slider on the EQ-Windowshade. (check balance.bmp of Skinner's Atlas to see which frames of balance.bmp are used on the main, and which only on the eq-windowshade - the ones on the eq-windowshade only are sometimes good for easter eggs

Overall, looking great

[e-raser]

thanks again, i have now started to use the skinners atlas, its quite good, certainly with less bugs tham template amp.
sheesh! only 9 more days to go

[e-raser]

by the way, doses anyone have any interesting ideas for the c-buttons when they get pressed

[e-raser]

made a major update to the skin.
she'll be done in a day or two,
just click on my orb link in my sig to download the latest ver.
i'm still looking for alternatives to my cbuttons and good ideas for the menu section so please make any comments you like