Post by Ruby on Nov 19, 2011 21:23:52 GMT -5
This is the fun sort of contest where everybody wins. New Sel is new... and it needs a new look! We're eventually going to re-design the site, so to prepare for that we're going to get rid of some of our old skins (especially ones with broken images, or skins that were intended for different layouts), and we want a bunch of awesome ones to replace them. We are also looking for a new DEFAULT SKIN!!! Cue the oooos and aahhhhss.
So here is what we want. Fill out this GINORMOUS FORM OF DOOM to the best of your abilities, and Ruby will make a skin out of it. You can list hex codes or just colors, you can give her fully created banners/buttons or just give her images to work from, you can give her specific fonts or general ideas. You can be as specific or as vague as you want, but what she doesn't want to see is "whatever you think looks good". If Ruby wanted to make skins she thought looked good, she'd just... make them Give her SOMETHING to work with.
Once Ruby whips up a bunch of these babies, you all will vote on our new default skin. ALL of the skins will be available to users, however. That said, if there are two really similar ideas (two green, jungle-themed skins for example) Ruby reserves the right to combine. She also reserves the right to adjust images/colors if necessary while staying within the general idea of your skin.
One entry per user UPDATED: You can enter more than once, but Ruby reserves the right to only make one of the skins you suggest if she gets a lot of entries. Everything on the form is basically 'if desired' - i.e. you don't NEED a background image if you don't want. Keep in mind that the black box around the forum is always black and is always there. Same with the cbox - there are no color options for the cbox.
Below is the Form of Doom, filled out for the Snowblind skin as an example. Below that is the copy/pasteable code. To make sense of all the arbitrary colors I'm asking for (what is a 'window background color', after all?) take a look at this. If you're stuck on colors, I recommend googling "color scheme generator" and trying some out until you find one you like. Feel free to ask me if you have questions!
First Impressions
Skin Name: Snowblind
Basic color scheme: Snowy! Blues, greys, and white
Inspiration: A deep forest in winter, in the midst of a snowstorm. How this applies even to New Sel is beyond me, but who cares!
Images for inspiration: x x x
Describe your skin in words: I want the skin to be primarily white with blueish/greyish accents here and there. Banners and buttons should be very atmospheric, maybe grainy? and very cold. Bright and cold. Everything should look like it's seen through a layer of fog.
The Basics
Background Color: White
Background Image URL: Maybe something that looks like really faint snowflakes? Reeeeeally subtle here. Just something for texture.
Tiled background? Yes.
Background Image Fixed: No.
Auto Gradients: No. (You can see an example of auto gradients on the Cosmic Rift skin)
Gradient Height: N/a. I think 27px is kinda standard.
Content Font: Georgia (or any web-safe serif font that matches the fancy font)
Content Text Color: Black
Link Color: Blue-grey
Active Link Color: bluer blue-grey (active link color appears when you hover over a link)
Visited Link Color: greyer blue-grey
Title Background Color: White
Title Text Color: Black
Category Background Color: White
Category Text Color: Black
News Title Background Color: Black
News Title Text Color: Same color as links
News Background Color: White
News Text Color: Black
Window Background 1: White
Window Background 2: White
Board Highlight Color: Super light blue
Thread Highlight Color: Super light blue
Table Border Color: Blue-grey (link color?)
The Images
Banner URL OR Banner Description: Snowy? Maybe a snow-covered log or something, again foggy and as if it's being seen through a cloud. I'd love blues and grays to be highlighted more than white, though, and maybe a touch of green here and there? Flecks of snow would be a nice touch, too.
Link me specific images you want used, if applicable:
Fancy/accent Font(s): I'd like something decorative but legible, maybe with really fancy capital letters? No brush script. Something that looks like it might be carved into a sign for an alpine cabin. I think you'll only need one.
Would you like custom buttons for links? Yes.
What should they look like? It would be cool if they could look like they're dissolving into the background. Maybe that just for the top content links, the rest can have a blue border. You can take bits from the banner to make the backgrounds. I'd like them to be uniform size, regardless of word length.
Link me appropriate images:
Would you like custom read/unread images (to the left of the forums on the main page)? Yes.
What should they look like? Similar to the buttons, one blue, one white maybe?
Link me appropriate images:
Anything else? Nope! go go go.
So here is what we want. Fill out this GINORMOUS FORM OF DOOM to the best of your abilities, and Ruby will make a skin out of it. You can list hex codes or just colors, you can give her fully created banners/buttons or just give her images to work from, you can give her specific fonts or general ideas. You can be as specific or as vague as you want, but what she doesn't want to see is "whatever you think looks good". If Ruby wanted to make skins she thought looked good, she'd just... make them Give her SOMETHING to work with.
Once Ruby whips up a bunch of these babies, you all will vote on our new default skin. ALL of the skins will be available to users, however. That said, if there are two really similar ideas (two green, jungle-themed skins for example) Ruby reserves the right to combine. She also reserves the right to adjust images/colors if necessary while staying within the general idea of your skin.
Below is the Form of Doom, filled out for the Snowblind skin as an example. Below that is the copy/pasteable code. To make sense of all the arbitrary colors I'm asking for (what is a 'window background color', after all?) take a look at this. If you're stuck on colors, I recommend googling "color scheme generator" and trying some out until you find one you like. Feel free to ask me if you have questions!
First Impressions
Skin Name: Snowblind
Basic color scheme: Snowy! Blues, greys, and white
Inspiration: A deep forest in winter, in the midst of a snowstorm. How this applies even to New Sel is beyond me, but who cares!
Images for inspiration: x x x
Describe your skin in words: I want the skin to be primarily white with blueish/greyish accents here and there. Banners and buttons should be very atmospheric, maybe grainy? and very cold. Bright and cold. Everything should look like it's seen through a layer of fog.
The Basics
Background Color: White
Background Image URL: Maybe something that looks like really faint snowflakes? Reeeeeally subtle here. Just something for texture.
Tiled background? Yes.
Background Image Fixed: No.
Auto Gradients: No. (You can see an example of auto gradients on the Cosmic Rift skin)
Gradient Height: N/a. I think 27px is kinda standard.
Content Font: Georgia (or any web-safe serif font that matches the fancy font)
Content Text Color: Black
Link Color: Blue-grey
Active Link Color: bluer blue-grey (active link color appears when you hover over a link)
Visited Link Color: greyer blue-grey
Title Background Color: White
Title Text Color: Black
Category Background Color: White
Category Text Color: Black
News Title Background Color: Black
News Title Text Color: Same color as links
News Background Color: White
News Text Color: Black
Window Background 1: White
Window Background 2: White
Board Highlight Color: Super light blue
Thread Highlight Color: Super light blue
Table Border Color: Blue-grey (link color?)
The Images
Banner URL OR Banner Description: Snowy? Maybe a snow-covered log or something, again foggy and as if it's being seen through a cloud. I'd love blues and grays to be highlighted more than white, though, and maybe a touch of green here and there? Flecks of snow would be a nice touch, too.
Link me specific images you want used, if applicable:
Fancy/accent Font(s): I'd like something decorative but legible, maybe with really fancy capital letters? No brush script. Something that looks like it might be carved into a sign for an alpine cabin. I think you'll only need one.
Would you like custom buttons for links? Yes.
What should they look like? It would be cool if they could look like they're dissolving into the background. Maybe that just for the top content links, the rest can have a blue border. You can take bits from the banner to make the backgrounds. I'd like them to be uniform size, regardless of word length.
Link me appropriate images:
Would you like custom read/unread images (to the left of the forums on the main page)? Yes.
What should they look like? Similar to the buttons, one blue, one white maybe?
Link me appropriate images:
Anything else? Nope! go go go.
[b][u]First Impressions[/u][/b]
[b]Skin Name:[/b]
[b]Basic color scheme:[/b]
[b]Inspiration:[/b]
[b]Images for inspiration:[/b]
[b]Describe your skin in words:[/b]
[b][u]The Basics[/u][/b]
[b]Background Color:[/b]
[b]Background Image URL:[/b]
[b]Tiled background?[/b]
[b]Background Image Fixed:[/b]
[b]Auto Gradients:[/b]
[b]Gradient Height:[/b]
[b]Content Font:[/b]
[b]Content Text Color:[/b]
[b]Link Color:[/b]
[b]Active Link Color:[/b]
[b]Visited Link Color:[/b]
[b]Title Background Color:[/b]
[b]Title Text Color:[/b]
[b]Category Background Color:[/b]
[b]Category Text Color:[/b]
[b]News Title Background Color:[/b]
[b]News Title Text Color:[/b]
[b]News Background Color:[/b]
[b]News Text Color:[/b]
[b]Window Background 1:[/b]
[b]Window Background 2:[/b]
[b]Board Highlight Color:[/b]
[b]Thread Highlight Color:[/b]
[b]Table Border Color:[/b]
[b][u]The Images[/u][/b]
[b]Banner URL OR Banner Description:[/b]
[b]Link me specific images you want used, if applicable:[/b]
[b]Fancy/accent Font(s):[/b]
[b]Would you like custom buttons for links?[/b]
[b]What should they look like?[/b]
[b]Link me appropriate images:[/b]
[b]Would you like custom read/unread images (to the left of the forums on the main page)?[/b]
[b]What should they look like?[/b]
[b]Link me appropriate images:[/b]
[b]Anything else?[/b]