The origin of skin names
Saturday, June 7, 2003 by grayhaze | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
How do you come up with a name for your skin? Do you put much thought into it, or just use the first name that pops into your head?
As an example, the original 'dinks' skin was named after a close friend of mine who I fell for in a big way around the time of the skin's creation. 'dinks' was the shortened version of her online name, and at that time we used to spend hours talking online, sometimes into the early hours of the morning and beyond. She's no longer a part of my life now, and I miss her dearly.
So the name of the skin had more to do with what was going on in my life at the time than it did with any aspect of the skin itself. Does anyone else have a skin named with some secret backstory?
BTW, 'metalX' was a play on words, intended to be pronounced 'metallics' and cashing in on the emergence of XP and OSX. 'tactile' was one of those 'first thought' names, because I thought the rubbery look of the skin, and the tile shaped buttons, fitted the name perfectly.
As an example, the original 'dinks' skin was named after a close friend of mine who I fell for in a big way around the time of the skin's creation. 'dinks' was the shortened version of her online name, and at that time we used to spend hours talking online, sometimes into the early hours of the morning and beyond. She's no longer a part of my life now, and I miss her dearly.
So the name of the skin had more to do with what was going on in my life at the time than it did with any aspect of the skin itself. Does anyone else have a skin named with some secret backstory?
BTW, 'metalX' was a play on words, intended to be pronounced 'metallics' and cashing in on the emergence of XP and OSX. 'tactile' was one of those 'first thought' names, because I thought the rubbery look of the skin, and the tile shaped buttons, fitted the name perfectly.
Apocalypse_67
Reply #2 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:31 PM
Reply #2 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:31 PM
I usually name my skins depending on the theme. eg. NYC Subway, Matrix_Xtream, A_67 (sort of an ego thing 
) some others I have made and then named them with the first thing that crosses my ming. eg Relic & Gauntlet.
) some others I have made and then named them with the first thing that crosses my ming. eg Relic & Gauntlet.
MadIce
Reply #3 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:31 PM
Reply #3 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:31 PM
A lot of my early skins had the name XIII in it. XIII (in gothic) was the logo of a company I used to work for (the Thirteenth Production). Working for that company was one the most enjoyable periods in my life. I even have the logo on the back of a jeans jacket, on an ice hockey shirt and on a T-shirt.
Chris
Reply #4 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:35 PM
Reply #4 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:35 PM
I've always liked essorant's skin's names: nascent, sinter, tidy mind, seer, jarta. They're very evocative. The more unusual names peek my curiosity and occasionally have me scurrying to google to try to find their origins.
Jafo
Reply #5 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:38 PM
Reply #5 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:38 PM
I call them all sorts of things.....particularly when they are not working as they should...
MikeB314
Reply #6 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:40 PM
Reply #6 Saturday, June 7, 2003 6:40 PM
I wish I had some sort of system for coming up with names. Sometimes it can be the hardest part of making a skin. Often I try to think up techy, spacey, futuristic sorts of names. Sometimes a name just jumps out at me while I'm working on the skin. If all else fails, I ask Hippy if he can think of something (*cough* Colony *cough*). 
Sylva
Reply #7 Saturday, June 7, 2003 7:45 PM
Reply #7 Saturday, June 7, 2003 7:45 PM
Sometimes I can;t seem to think of a name for a skin to save my life, so I just make up a word, search for it on google or something to make sure it's not actually a word in another language (you'd be surprised at how many "made up" words are really words afterall) and if I still ike it in a day or so, I'll use it.
Other times I'll use a temp name while creating the skin (usually just a number) and the first time I try to test it out a name will just pop into my head out of nowhere.
The strangest times, a word will pop in my head before I start a design, and, amazingly, whatever I start working on just happens to fit the word.
Other times I'll use a temp name while creating the skin (usually just a number) and the first time I try to test it out a name will just pop into my head out of nowhere.
The strangest times, a word will pop in my head before I start a design, and, amazingly, whatever I start working on just happens to fit the word.
eieio
Reply #8 Saturday, June 7, 2003 8:05 PM
Reply #8 Saturday, June 7, 2003 8:05 PM
Well, I haven't made very many WB skins but only my first had a name from the beginning (Entropy). The word just popped into my head as I started learning SkinStudio, so it was going to be Entropy no matter what it looked like 
The rest were all named either very near the end or after completion and were named based on what feeling the skin invoked in me.
The rest were all named either very near the end or after completion and were named based on what feeling the skin invoked in me.
CerebroJD
Reply #9 Saturday, June 7, 2003 11:19 PM
Reply #9 Saturday, June 7, 2003 11:19 PM
I do skins for WMP. I just thing of a word that suits the skin and put Skin after it. Like TrekSkin or TooSmallSkin.
Lecrayon
Reply #10 Sunday, June 8, 2003 1:18 AM
Reply #10 Sunday, June 8, 2003 1:18 AM
The names of my skins always come first, the skin later based on that name. 
Styl-X Design
Reply #11 Sunday, June 8, 2003 1:22 AM
Reply #11 Sunday, June 8, 2003 1:22 AM
I didn't do much wb skins jet, but I will put them on my own site from now, and my upcomming skin I will call it a name with an A, the next with a B etc.
MarkMcQ
Reply #12 Sunday, June 8, 2003 5:06 AM
Reply #12 Sunday, June 8, 2003 5:06 AM
I just look around my room and see if I can find something to steal the name from.
Very first big suite I ever made, waaaay back on days of yore, was a totally awful thing called 'Exhumed'. Name from that came from the old PC game which happened to be lying about 30 centimetres from me on my desk when I was looking for a name.
Other than that I just try and think of something that is distinct, so I'll be able to think back and remember what skin it is.
Very first big suite I ever made, waaaay back on days of yore, was a totally awful thing called 'Exhumed'. Name from that came from the old PC game which happened to be lying about 30 centimetres from me on my desk when I was looking for a name.
Other than that I just try and think of something that is distinct, so I'll be able to think back and remember what skin it is.
EventHorizon
Reply #13 Sunday, June 8, 2003 5:56 AM
Reply #13 Sunday, June 8, 2003 5:56 AM
Im the opposite of Lecrayon, first I create the skin (or wall) and then I spend as much time as is necessary coming up with a sutible name. Sometimes it takes a while....
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Reply #1 Saturday, June 7, 2003 5:08 PM