When I pass a skin sround for testing and such, this is the type of critique I want. Honest and to the point. 

There is only a couple of you out there that will tell it like it is. The rest don't want to hurt your feelings. Friends can be your worst critics in that they won't tell you the truth. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. They will skate around the point allowing room for confusion. It's a tough world, learn to handle the fat raw or get walked on your entire life. Accept that people can be rude. That doesn't make them wrong or less knowledgable.

Yes, I agree. It's a good thing to be honest and to the point. My problem is not the content of the post, it's that TSF has written posts on how wrong it is when people do posts similar to this one about his skins, specially if it's a moderator/stardock employee that has an opinion.

That's very true, with respect to technical issues. When it comes to color, and more subjective items, the issues tend to revolve around personal taste. In another thread, a comment was made and I responded, in retrospect (always 20/20) more emotionally than I thought at the time.

I think that in public threads this is problematic. "Honest" answers should be made in pm to avoid needless, often misunderstood, and poorly thought out exchanges. Often, quick responses are problematic, and we become victims of what we wrote and how it's taken vs. what we meant and didn't say or tried, but didn't succeed in saying correctly.

On the other hand, I believe that open honest criticism should be encouraged....really a very difficult thing to balance, especially when cultural and language difficulties are present (we are international, here).

Wish there was an easy answer to all this, but there really isn't.

I gave the artist (who i assumed was Pixel Pirate) some professional advice which he can take or leave. My choice of words may be a little harsh, i called them "design mistakes" because that what they are to me, but i was very clear that this was my opinion and one person's flaws is another person's uber idea. I probably should have said "design choices". I apologize to Lasse for not wording it better and more accurately.

We did that color scheme for an egyptian theme for Microsoft Game Studio 7 years ago and our wmp skin fits perfect with it which was the original reason i posted. To say "hey we have something that goes with this you can use forum people". As i was looking the art director in me starts nit picking. It's what i do for a living, so naturally i made some comments. The difference is its just me making them. It's not me, Billy, Kol, Roman, Tony all coming in and bashing it which happens to us here. Albeit much less lately. Just one person who does it for a living's personal opinion. I wasn't even bashing it. I just saw some things that could improve it imho.

I'm not calling you out. I don't give a damn even if you'd be Michelangelo reincarnated, and currently restore the paintings in the sistine chapel, you still wouldn't have the definitive answer to what's wrong or not in making a theme. A flaw would be something that is clearly broken, not a choice of a color (which actually (in my opinion) is a color that is very "egyptiesque", and as such (logically) is not out of place in a theme like this, regardless of being used elsewhere or not).

Your attempt to apply a "rulebook" on how to color a theme is nothing but elitist bulls**t.

You are ofcourse entitled to your own opinion. The above is mine.

There's nothing "elitist" about my opinion. I do this for a living you noob. I gave him my professional opinion. I never said i was right. My "so-called rulebook" has lead the world's top entertainment, technology and media companies to my door for 10 years. Wtf have you accomplished?

You take a good long look at my company's client list and you tell me i don't know what the f**k i'm talking about: http://www.theskinsfactory.com/skinsfactory/?page=clients

I edited my other comment in an effort to keep the peace. But i stand by it.

As always this denigrates to something hostile which was not my intention. My intention was if you're going to use this theme you should check out a Windows Media Player skin that fits with it perfectly. You can find it here: http://www.theskinsfactory.com/skinsfactory/?page=view&portID=93&portPage=6

Just credit us if you use it in a screenshot.

I'm not commenting on anything not pertaining to the theme any longer.

Mebion,you might try clicking on the Impulse orb and selecting Preferences,then click on Reset Data and close Impulse.Reopen Impulse and see if the theme shows up then.

I would value TSF's opinion regardless of how it is said and where.

mebion...I think I answered in another thread:

Open Impulse.

Click on the left orb (lightning orb) and select 'change logon'

then, examine logon name and password. type in your name/password if incorrect and 'ok'

then click again on the orb and update. If it still doesn't appear, right click on mycolors and check if installed properly.

If it is and ankh doesn't appear, open a ticket with stardock support. If not installed peoperlt answer appears, update and recheck. If still not installed properly (you will have to reboot after the prior step), uninstall it through Impule and reinstall (the usual proviso about firewalls and antivirals) and reboot.

If it still doesn't appear, you'll have to talk with sd support.

There's something to be said about consistency. If you're going to use the blue gems from the windows and start menu on the start button keep them the same size. This will create a more unified look to the theme.

The Ankh itself looks odd to me. It uses a gold that hasn't been seen on the theme and looks rendered and more like a clay sculpture (the way its uneven) than a symbol of power. It also doesn't have the same crisp and clean look that the theme has so to me it looks out of place.

You're pretty clearly stating that the skindesign is "wrong". It's more than just an opinion.

Good on you.

Ah, there we go... When all else fail, we can always resort to namecalling.

Lasse: Did you do the King Tut icon from scratch?

I think it's wonderful work! I just wish they had given us the unencrypted version so that we could make widgets and such (since it came with none). I truely think it's great just the way it is!!

wow....i like this...very nice

/shakes head again