Something new..and yes.. its a VS.




and a WB.





Update:

how about a [vs] or [theme] tag?

the black looks nifty. the red taskbar entries and buttons don't look that good tho.

its both, should i tag it twice? , the buttons are from an old theme and will be redone , and the start button also.. it IS a WIP.

original but not my type
good work

Not my style, but looks very original.

make matrix green and electric blue color schemes hehehehehe of couse if you want to

nothing appealing, sorry, you need some inspiration and as insanekiwi says, improve on those buttons and the dull elements.

meh, not to bad but needs some work.

Planned on that already



sorry, i dont take advice from people that continually post negative comments on my work.




Yes indeed it does.. seeing it is a WIP that has had about 3 hours work only so far, plenty more to come.


*************************

Lots more to be done today, i will post an update tonite. This was just a first draft.

I love it. Looks very cool.

As an aside, I think it is freaking hilarious how folks seem to think that, since it is original and not another minimal Luna rip off, that you need 'inspiration'.

@ jexxster - thats not why they say he needs "inspiration" probably somethin to do with the minimalism and "soft approach" fad thats goin. this in your face bevel stuff kinda goes against that.

@winswy - not sure whats exactly from an old theme, and whats new, but it doesnt really blend well. The start menu is all over the place mate. Too much goin on me thinks. One of the reasons it would be hard to use for longer than a half hour.

I dont Follow Fads Matt0, i use this thing some folks seems a little lacking in, its called imagination, not mac rippoffs, not luna ripoffs, not Aero ripoffs, just good old imagination.. You can take minimalism and emulation and keep it as far as im concerned, anyone with Mspaint and a copy of anyone elses work can do either. Doesn't impress me one iota. If i see a Vs that looks like someone put some thought and work into it im the first one to praise it, regardless of whether i like the style or not.

I'm starting to find it kinda funny that the same old people keep typing the same old comments, your beatin a dead horse y'all. Ill continue to do what i do, its paying my bills and then some.. funny too.. highest percentage of sales derived from Maxstyles.com is from the good old minimalists at Neowin..

Go Figure !

Not bad, but as several have pointed out it needs some improvements. I like the red and black color combination, and the glass effects --only try to make the difference between the lighted and darker areas less "brutal", try to soften it out a bit and it looks more realistic....

maybe the guy makes negative comments because you're work isn't that good to him? so he's right maybe.


Dude, there's clean, there's minimalism, there's creative, and there's just ugly.

Like you say about mspaint, anyone can go in and do some in-your-face bevels, they're horrible.

it's nothing personal, but dude, if you wanna be original, get away from bevels and gloss all the time, all it is is a bunch of enourmous bulky boxes with a gradient or gloss attached.



does that mean you didn't work hard? no, it could've taken years, that's not my point. the graphics could use work and general things like start bar sizes, who wants one thats 50px high besides someone in their late 60's?

Easy will ya? There's a reason people use "mac rippoffs" and "Aero ripoffs" because the original designer behind these "rip offs" had the imagination and style to come up with something usable. That's my point. Most people don't use Milk just cos it came from an apple machine. They use it because it blends well, and is easy to use. No doubt your stuff is original, but it doesn't blend well at all. I told you that, and you went off on this fad stuff. Original doesn't always mean good.

Anyway. I'm glad you're making money from your hobby. I'm glad people are buying your stuff, but when someone critisizes your work, you shouldn't hide behind "It's original." You want your themes to sell better? Make more money? Listen to people when they tell you your themes are a little bulky. Amaze us with graphics, not overdone red gloss and (dare i say?) cheesy photoshop effects.

To most of us this is a hobby, to a guy who'se actually made it a business, don't you think you should listen to "prospective" customers a little more?

The same handful of people that come into my threads saying the same old things arent my perspective customers..mate.

Funny isnt it that the same old people said the same old stuff about my Tritan theme when i initially posted it, yet.. it sold and is still selling like hotcakes.. Trust me when i say, that minimal Visual styles DONT SELL, their a dime a dozen, What people want, waht people buy, is glass, gradient color, contrast, how do i know this.. because their buying it, its tried and true. Go try tell Stardock to calm down on their glass and bevel, they wont, and why? because people like "fishing lures" When you have sold over a 1000 of your premium themes including several sold to corporate clients and some custom built by commission, come and tell me how to sell more themes.

My Repetoire theme same day it was released was highlighted skin on four of 6 sites i released it on... Glass , color, contrast and depth is how i have always designed my themes, if you can give me a bonafide reason to change i'd be happy to do so, until someone SHOWS me different instead of just talking i'll stick to what i know works.

I appreciate your comments really i do, but again your beating a dead horse.

If you look at the sh*t stardock sells, it's either a novelty theme, or something "intended for long use". Either way, the designs are truly unique (gaudy or not) and have graphics that are equally unique. You don't see the cheap stuff that comes packaged in your styles. Why does your stuff sell so well? I have absolutely no idea. More power to you though. I'm done arguing with you.

You dont know what's packaged in my styles my friend..unless of course you purchased one eh?

What would be very nice is if folks would just come out and say it from now on when they don't like specific pay theme artists. Winswy has stated over and over again that if you dont buy it then you just dont buy it WHO CARES!? You are no better than the damned fools that go into McDonalds day after day fussing and complaining because this and that wasn't cooked right, the guy behind the counter looked at me funny, it smells weird in here, I haven't had a shower since last week and my fries are really stale...WHO THE F**K CARES!? If you don't like it then hit the god damned BACK BUTTON ON UR F**KING BROWSERS! GROW UP AND GET OVER IT! I have yet to see any of you spineless little f**ktards peel off any better colors than the man you all love flaming so much. John, I think the theme looks damned nice, but I hate to say it....I gottta stop typing before I waste anymore energy on these turd humping little @ss crabs.


Dark

after some thought.. Matt0..

Frankly i detect some resentment in your commenting, starts to feel like the guy who would love to sell his work if he really beleived he could.. hasn't quite got there yet.. and perhaps gets a little ****ed when he see's someone else accomplishing it.. i can ASSURE you my work isn't as bad as your trying to make it out, do i have room for improvement..? certainly.. do i still post in WIP's? sure i do, i can take criticism, but theres criticism and there is critisizm, don't you think folks can see who is just commenting in a blatently negative manor. U did the same thing over at Customize.org..

It's all good man, you should't get so uppity about depth, bevel, glass, whatever, if you don't like it move on, no need to come in here and try to desuade me of my practices, i know i don't on ur stuff, won't make a bit of difference to me as i see the ulterior motive if there is one.

Im not trying to change the Minimalistic world.. by all means to each his own... but my own personal audience has in no way the Exaggerated
opinions thats you seem to hold.

You stick to ur Genre and ill stick to mine.

Peace.

sup dude, havent talked to you in a few days ( have been busy

not to keen on the theme, but ill be watching

T've got nothin against people who sell their work. Believe me, I know how much work goes into a VS. It's a pain in the ass. I'm not "out to get you" or "jealous" frankly I couldn't give 2 sh*ts wether you sell or not. I'm just commenting on the fact that your styles, original as they might be, lack. Not because theyre not minimalistic or anything like that. They just lack. Do all the gloss and bevel you want, but atleast blend it well, and not go overboard. My criticism to you, is that your work isn't useable for longer than a day. What's the point in making a theme if 80% of the people can't use it for longer than that? You admit you have room for improvement. My advice to you is improve your photoshop skills. Go read some tutorials. Somethin. Read up on colour coordinating.

Your VS's are pretty solid, and I don't see many people going on about bugs etc, that's not what I'm talking about though. That might be why your stuff actually sells. Atleast people know it all works. You post in a WIP forum to get feedback, but you only seem to want certain kinds of feedback. I really think you should listen when people tell you things like "it doesnt blend, too much bevel" and stop getting defensive about it. I get that you get picked on alot, and people are tougher on you cos you actually sell your work. Comes with the territory mate.

ANYWAY.

"but theres criticism and there is critisizm, don't you think folks can see who is just commenting in a blatently negative manor. U did the same thing over at Customize.org.."

Reptoire was nice. I didn't come down on you at customize in any way at all. I said "Guilty pleasure for sure" and I meant it. I have no idea where you got the "U did the same thing at customize.org.."

k, well, i suppose enough is enough at this point, seriosuly tho i fail to see where all the bulkyness is.. i rarely use bevels ober about 3 opixels anymore, so i dunno really what al the fuss is about.. the glassing is rarely over about 40 % opacity either so i dont see how it can be overdone.

V.

i love how when people bash your style you bash minimalism. i have always told you that i hate the bevels and most elements in your styles, but i respect your work. you always seem to bring up about how much you sell your themes also like you are the only one that can.

i get asked atleast once a week to make visual styles or graphics for companies. most of the people who contact me i have never even met or talked to before. you act like just because people buy, in my opinion, your ugly themes you know what's best for everyone else when that is not the case at all.

stick to what you do, but don't constantly try to point out how you think you are better than everyone else. it gets old fast.

WEll Stevofc, whats good for the goose... in the same way, i get tired of hearing the same about maximalism .. if u will.. the only reason i brought up sales is to prove that just because a small corner of the Net are minimalists, Most aren't. and that i can do minimal if i want to but it would never sell, cos there are a million decent useable minimal themes already.

Next free VS i do with be a fairly minimal, barely beveled dark theme.

thanks to an earlier conversation of ours cant wait!

Update.. worked on captions some and taskbuttons.

My God. No.

you do realize you have NO room to talk right?

you haven't made a good theme since i first started posting on neowin and thats over 2 years ago, why dont you just leave neowin for another 6 months?

I'm not sure many will miss you, i know i wont

Quoted for truth.

Winswy - The VS is pretty good. Wouldn't pay for it as those kinds of themes seem to be a dime a dozen just like the minimalistic ones, but I can see why people would like it.

I don't really know you Winswy and I am not a member of the "minimal" or "maximal" community, I see things I themes and if I like them I get it and critique it, and if I see things I don't like I just critique it. I have read this entire thread and looked at your themes, free and paid, and this one you are working on right here. First off I will be honest, I don't like the theme. I see you say that good "minimal" themes are a dime a dozen around here, deffinitly, but there are about just as many "maximal" themes, just less in the Neowin community.
I mean these types of themes are quite common on a site like ThemeXP. Generally with thick bevels, glassy buttons, large diffrences in colour. This is not a bad thing, but its not quality in my personal oppinion. There is no such thing as bad art, I could urinate on a canvas and one person may say "disgusting" but another may say "beautiful", this person may even buy it from me. This dosn't change the oppinion of the person that said "disgusting". they are just going to think the same. Even if 1000 people said "beautiful" there will still be just as many more that thinks "disgusting". Don't get angry at the people that think this is ugly, thats just what they feel, not what your theme is, also saying "I sold 1000 of those themes" is not the best of ideas to me. Its great that you are making money doing something you like and making themes you like to make, but don't use those people as a "haha, your wrong my themes are great, 1000 people bought them, they must be great.", because maybe a person that bought used it only for an hour and dislikes it.
Thats my 2 cents.
Have a nice day and keep on making themes.

it's ok. but, i don't think i would use it... they're right! you're getting mad over nothing they're just making suggestions mate! ChaNinja's themes are imaginative... well thought if you ask me. Just please please stop taking their suggestions the wrong way. if some one say something neg turn it into something positive. now im off to download sum themes from LS

Actually, my last two themes souluna remix and creampuff both received deviation of the day at deviantart, something that I never received with the crap I made before those themes, and those themes have had more downloads than anything ive made before.

I actually like your themes a lot .

As for Winswy: This isn't a popularity contest. If you don't want to improve yourself, you'll never be able to improve your themes either Themers release themes for other people to use, if you don't want advice on how to improve your themes, why even post this theme for negative opinions? And as for 'I won't take advice from you' crap: that's just totally immature.

ack! mine eyes!

@ rj2k.. i improve my work by spending countless hours DOING it.. if someone who had actually produced a body of decent work was to offer some advice in a constructive manor i would actually and have been quite receptive.

sorry dude, bur very little of what any of you negative as$es says around here makes much of a difference on the outcome of anything i design, I understand there is going to be resentment towards me because i AM actually making money with my work, it's all good, what U don't realize is for every little snide remark i get from the usual suspects is doing nothing other than bumping my thread and getting me more hits.. for every assenine derogatory comment you make, theres 50-100 more people clickin right thru to my site.. that probably bothers you too huh?

Call what i do crap all u want, i could care less bro. My work is about to get me moved into a nice place and a secure future.

btw... 1 million hits in 2 mo.

I must be doing something right then i suppose?


oh and @ alezeino, ur works not bad at all but to offer up a comment like.. "My God, No"

Thats just the kind of sensless remark that will put a person on the defensive. Think about it..

Geez, don't get all offended because people don't think you're as hot s*** as you think you are. If you don't like peoples comments, how about you not post it. Simplest solution, less "omg you arent even on my level" comments.

Anyway the VS looks OK..

Awesome work man....Next one you make, instead of black n green, make it black n blue!!!
great visual style

WIll be in Green , Red, and Teal, all Backlit LED.

Almost done..

Couple of other windows and progress bar...

I think as an advice, you need to get a little away from the typical WindowBlinds blocky look.

You do have talent in creating styles & themes as seen before, but i think your insperation should come from somewhere else

WEll, honestly, i could make a quality VS of any type of concept, i personally prefer something with depth and have had more success with them as far as sales... i would however not mind entertaing the idea of making a VS based on perhaps a poll of what would be most popluar as far as color \ texture, shape...etc... that actually sounds pretty interesting, i may have to post a poll.

Redesigned Taskbar and blue scheme, sorry for low qual image..lots a color means lots of K

I redesigned the start menu.. i think it loks a lot sleeker and more LED'ish..

and RED..

Max Styles themes all suck

Thanks for that constructive comment....why don't you troll elsewhere. Idiot

the newer start menu is definately an improvement to the old one.

The only thing I don't like (about the start menu) is the word "controls", maybe a line of the LED-type lights to separate the sides or something. Its just personal preference I guess.

One thing that I would change is the minimize/close buttons It seems that your VS is mostly rounded, and having squares for those look wrong. I think it would look alot better if you used the same type button as seen in your log off/turn off your computer section of the start menu.

yep, thankyou for your advice, i am definately considering that now as far as the caption buttons go, but their such a bloody pain in the rear

I just dont know about the controls issue, it looks a lot better in use than it ever does in a screen, ill think on that one a while tho.

thanks again,

and to.. StenvonW, you give my homeland a bad name my friend. Pitiful.

my god, ur one of the most stubborn motherf'ers i've ever seen.

relax that ego, drop the pride and actually listen for a second. everyone says those 'negative' (your words) feedbacks for a reason, they don't just say it because it's fun to come in a winwsy thread and repeat for the 50 billionth time: it's too glossy/bevelled/cheesy.

now i expect you to retort with sales figures or how much effort you spend not listening to people who know a lot more about design that are actually trying to HELP, yes help you. for what reason is beyond me when all you do is get defensive & ego-trip about product that clearly isn't 'all that' to anyone who has a clue about good, functional design.