I haven't been very active when it comes to making things lately, but it's always on my mind. One of the things I'm interested in is interface design (which is obvious if you take a look at my favorites) and themes for Windows and Ubuntu. The problem that I have with most of these things is that they come up all the time in my deviation stack from the various groups I frequent, but I don't even bother to click on the thumbnails for half of them.

The reason for this is because I've seen them all before. Or at the very least, it would seem that way. Minimalism is great sometimes, but I've seen so many minimalist Windows skins, I don't even bother to look at anything from that genre anymore because almost every one of them is the same as the last.

The same goes for transparency, and Windows Aero remakes. How many times can the same skin be remade? And not only that, but it's not difficult to find dozens of skins from multiple artists that all look the exact same. Sure, the highlight on this one is a little more transparent, and the close buttons on the windows are smaller on that one... but you've still seen it before, and you know it.

So... to any interface/skin/theme designers that may come across this and actually read it... PLEASE, try something new. Think outside the box and don't be afraid to use a bit of color here and there. How about a brown and orange skin? Or blue and green? Red and yellow? The possibilities are quite literally endless.

I have so many different ideas going through my head, I can rarely finish a project.... what's your excuse?