Kaleidoscope...

kaleidoscope.net/schemes/new.shtml

Kaleidoscope was basically WindowBlinds for the Mac before OS X...

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, way to insult all the skinners who would of 'ported' the uber-cool Mac blinds. Hmm...I wonder who's gonna port them now, since all the WB skinners make crappy themes...

Ahh...lots to learn tankfu.

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]

"Ahh...lots to learn tankfu. "

educate me...

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.

Or just sit back and wait the mass of Kaleidoscope ports...

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

How about instead of locking it that people just try to be civil.

Tankfu: Yes, there are a few Kaleidoscope ports to WindowBlinds but not that many.  While Kaleidosocpe themes may look nice in the little preview screenshot, most of htem are little more than bitmap substitutions that make the Mac look like an out of control candy land.

There are LOTS of really good WindowBlinds skins out there. It's a matter of taste of course. 

But porting a kaleidscope theme is a lot of work and getting permission is often difficult.  I ported a few myself long long ago.

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...

Uh oh. Hmmmm.....

Some of the kaliedescope stuff looks cool.

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...

 

What are the names of the 3rd and last skins?

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.

The last skin was notebook (I know because I did that port).

Yrag, I didn't personally attack any individuals. Also, last time I checked, I owned the site. But by all means, continue antagonizing me. I can say this, Journeymen don't call people "morons" and then snap at the site owner. Especially ones who don't have any skins on the site.

Getting back to the topic, the Mac has a much higher density of graphics designers which I think lends to why so many Kaleidsocope skins were of great artistic quality.

It was also very difficult to create kaleidsoscope skins but not technically difficult (if you know what I mean) whereas WindowBlinds skins are easy to create but technically difficult to create high quality ones. Hope that makes sense!

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

^ Link didnt work. Seen some of his stuff though

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.

Well Sorry that was to page 2 of his profile.

https://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?wp=1&sort=updatedate&searchtext=allen%20bond&Order=Descending&library=1

Actual Link

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.

Allen Bond has a few good themes... thanks for the link.

I didn't mean to cause a bunch of controversy with this thread (or hurt anyone's feelings), rather I had hoped to spur some users to study the aspests of Kali schemes that made them look AND WORK so well as an interface.

I attempted to make a kali scheme way back when, but Frogboy is right in that they were difficult to make. I haven't even attempted to make one in WB yet, but I'm sure it's not as easy as copying and pasting.

There were so many kali schemes with "novelty" features like rotating bars and pulsing springs etc, but WB has actual POWER in some of the features you can add. I have a WB theme that has a Quicklaunch Toolbar embedded in the titlebar so that I can get to my main apps quickly. I've senn two others use such a feature to add toolbars etc. If I were into making WB themes, I would try to push those features to new levels.

Anyway, this thread was NOT meant to do anything but offer constructive criticism. I was certainly more tactful than a client would have been to a graphic designer with which they were not happy. I've had that kind of un-reasoned criticism before and I try not to give it to anyone else.

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.

I'm guessing "crappy" was the offending word?

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.

Forums aren't known for their ability to bring out the eloquence in people, but I will state my opinion plainly and boldly, without malice and without calling attention to any individual.

And when we are talking about the kind of themes I like, I AM an authority on that. I could also create a list of reasons why a great deal of the themes are lacking to back up my opinion but I doubt very seriously that it would be taken properly. People will take issue with anythign anyone says if it makes them "feel bad". We are a world full of people who are too sensitive and political correctness runs amock.