[WIP] new fullscreen skin

[barberio]

Hi folks! :)

I am currently working on a new fullscreen skin, and would like to know what you think about it.
This is just a first concept. So everything can be changed.

I would appreciate if you could give me some impressions and suggestion on this one.

http://www.abload.de/img/v0.115st.png
directlink to image (http://www.abload.de/img/v0.115st.png)


When it's done it should be:
- a fullscreen skin
- for all resolutions
- dark
- good-looking ;)

So, what do you think...?

[garbanzo]

i love everything except for the buttons. they just don't fit with the hard lines in the rest of the skin.

great concept, especially the overlay labels. looking forward to this one!

[OtisBee]

how about having a more rounded shape for both the labels and cover frame?
also it might be a nice touch to have the current white "album" and "title" thingys replaced by some decent icons (maybe a CD and a musical key) and besides to have them shown inside of those labels.
in order to maybe improve a subtle impression of depth some carefully used circled gradient on the background could be cool.

well, it's just what i feel inspired to, when i look at your preview. :)

[barberio]

i love everything except for the buttons. they just don't fit with the hard lines in the rest of the skin.

great concept, especially the overlay labels. looking forward to this one!
I agree on the buttons. But I didn't have an idea for a replacement yet.
Maybe I should use the label design to make some toolbar buttons. I can imagine an overlay/shadow effect on mouseover here like I did in "Experiment".

how about having a more rounded shape for both the labels and cover frame?
also it might be a nice touch to have the current white "album" and "title" thingys replaced by some decent icons (maybe a CD and a musical key) and besides to have them shown inside of those labels.
in order to maybe improve a subtle impression of depth some carefully used circled gradient on the background could be cool.

well, it's just what i feel inspired to, when i look at your preview. :)
I will try, how it looks like with rounded corners. :)
About the icons (insides the labels): I'm not a good icon creator. Did you mean, I should put them inside the black or the white labels?
The backgroung needs some tuning indeed. And a circle gradient sounds good. I will see if this harmonizes with the pattern.

Thanks for your input so far, guys. :)

[barberio]

http://www.abload.de/img/v0.2i8qw.png
directlink to image (http://www.abload.de/img/v0.2i8qw.png)

Some changes here:
- removed the masked lines on "Artist"
- background new
- new concept for progressbar and volume
- new toolbar graphics (fits better than the circles now)
- rounded corners on cover and textpanel (I like the rounded cover; what do you think of the panels (squared or rounded)?)

Tell me your opinion... :)

[OtisBee]

yeah, i always have trouble creating icons myself, but maybe there are some cool symbolic fonts you can use.
for instance the CD labeling software company "Sure Thing" is giving away some free symbolic fonts which all deal with the topic of "multi media".
i actually thought to put those iconlike fonts into the dark labels and to completely do it without the current white tags. :)

the rounded corners are looking much better, imo.
although i think that they could be even more rounded.

i also like your concept for both the volume- and progressbar.
it'll be interesting to see them in action and i hope they'll be just as functional as they are nicelooking already. ;)

the gradient you applied to the main background is really a change for the better and i wonder if it would look cool if the "title" and "album" labels would use a different dropshadow, so that those labels would appear even more floating above all other elements in your skin (especially the cover).

i've noticed that you also have changed the overall font appearance and i have to admit that i liked the previous fonts better.
yeah well, you probably haven't decided about the final fonts yet, so nevermind.
but the current one looks a lot like the odd "Comic Sans" and personally i seem to be kind of allergic to any fonts looking any similar to that. :confused:

but that's just me, i guess. :p

[barberio]

Thanks for your suggestions, Otis.

I have continued working on the skin meanwhile.
And it works well as skin. Means, it runs on my desktop right now. But there are still many things to do.

Regarding the icons, I have decided to keep the white labels. Just because I really like the appearance. :) Maybe I could release an additional style with icons. We will see.
The rounded corners look better. That was a fine suggestion. I have tried it with a higher value for the corners. But I got used to this style while working on it, and want to keep it.
Dropshadow: I will try this for sure. Sounds like a good idea!
I am currently using Gautami for the textlines and Arial for the time display.
The font choice is something I always do when the skin is nearly finished. So all is possible here.
I would use some other fonts which look great, but I can't due to copyright restrictions. :(


The following shots are made from the desktop already...
http://www.abload.de/img/v0.3bn1x.png
directlink to image (http://www.abload.de/img/v0.3bn1x.png)
This is a sample for a possible basic style. I have been busy with creating the proper skin graphics, so I could test it on my desktop. The toolbar buttons are new and have an orange-like style on mouseover fitting to the other orange parts of the skin.

http://www.abload.de/img/v0.3.1n9wr.png
directlink to image (http://www.abload.de/img/v0.3.1n9wr.png)
Here, the ratings are old (just placeholders).
The progressbar and volume are animated, but only from left to right.
I have tried other ways with more "movement" but couldn't get used to it.
Maybe I will do them again. Although the current ones are funny to use.

That's it so far. Thanks for your always welcome helpful suggestions.


Update: 06-11-2009
http://www.abload.de/img/v0.80xpu.png
directlink to image (http://www.abload.de/img/v0.80xpu.png)
Added ratings, new progress- and volumebar.
Would be glad about your feedback, my friends. :)