Good work! I like very much your style: a mix of ultra-modern and soften effects. I see the evolution in your graphics. Also in your website I see it. It’s a long way for the artist in search of the definitive inspiration. I know: you have good legs for this road. Ciao/Bye 
szc… I like it… think it looks very proffessional… super job…
For your next project could ya come up with a new look for the simple user interface? That iis soooooo easy for the novice user
to understand and use. (Much easier in my humble opinion then all the other skins out there) Would love to see it have just abit
more of that Avast look to it without losing the ease of use. For instance, I installed Avast on a friends system and sat her in
front of it and had her do a scan without my telling her what to do. She was able to do it very simply. For those of us who
are used to where things are, and how they work, the skins that are available now are fine… WE know them. But we do also
need to realize there are many people who really fumble around and find them abit confusing. I’ll confess that I use it myself,
after using a few of yours, and one of Rejzors, and only switched back to it cuz I just found its quicker.
When you say Simple User Interface, I think you mean non-skinning interface, because this one that uses skins is also Simple User Interface… differs from Enhanced User interface. That Simple user interface (the one that you have in mind) is accessible only when you don’t use skins, therefore there is no skinning option in Simple User Interface. All we can do with SkinBuilder is make skins for this skinable part of avast!.
Sasha… oh dear thumps self on head I probably worded it badly. Yes I do realize its not really a “skin” But could you make a skin that is as simple to use, organized as this one is, but has a look something along the lines of what you are working on now… Is this a little clearer? lol
Well, since skins are not supported by that interface, I really don’t see how could I make something like that for that particular interface… except… maybe, make it not for that interface, but for skinning interface. Then we have another problem… options in non-skining interface are completely different, actually they are exactly the same, but the way they are presented is completely different. I can make a skin, for existing scheme of options and commands, but I can not rearange options. As we all can see, simple interface (non-skinable one) has different scheme of options. In SkinBuilder, I can make just buttons for those that we see in skinable interfaces. I can not put Scan CD/DVD option direct on skin. Alwil guys are those who have “keys” for code, not skin designers. Sorry… :-\
yep I meant for skinning interface and awhhhhhhh well… You explained that well and I now understand why the skins all are setup as they are…
Sasha,will you make sensitivity sliders teh same width as Menu bar?
Something like this:
http://img115.echo.cx/img115/5643/asw12356my.png
Try to make them same width,so they will look like it’s integrated there and not floating.
No, actually, this is what I had in mind RejZor…
http://img22.echo.cx/img22/6687/newskin24zy.jpg
I know that area reserved for those sliding panels is little bit wider than those panels, but I didn’t want to make everything look stiffed or to crowded… I don’t know… I can try to make that area smaller and that way to fit those panels (little bit wider actually).
However, I can make those sliders wider like on your screenshoot, but IMHO they don’t look too pretty that way, and also our goal is always to make skin as small as possible just because all those users that still use low resolutions like 800x600 pixels. Also Folder Selection (see your screenshoot) doesn’t have (and never had) sliding panel or slider.
Cheers !
Hm,i’d still go with same width of these slider boxes as Menu bar above. And also remove the frame(outisede edge,make it transparent) from these slider boxes and make that dotted rectangle isnide slider boxes transprent too (or remove it).
But on the other hand i’d make the Menu bar a bit shorter and do the same design trick as mentioned few lines above (same width as this new shortened Menu bar).
http://img222.echo.cx/img222/7671/newskin25zy6lq.png
I don’t know,i never really liked that stuff floats around. It’s better that it looks like its on tracks or that it’s attached to some area.
I’m not sure, but when I see how it looks now (resized to the edges), it doesn’t look too good. Too much useless space on both sides of the sliders… On my previous screenshot it looks a bit cleaner. I think, I’ll just go with shrinking that area where panels should show. As I said before, I don’t wanna make everything look too crowded. Dotted line will be removed, but brown outline in those sliding panels must stay. EDIT: or, maybe I’ll remove that one too, I have to check few things first…
Animation of those sliders will be simple in this one… or something like avast! Brushed, or completely without animation (or as less movement as possible)…
Tray fade in/fade out effect.
I hope you understood that part where i said that you should make Menu bar shorter (the one above these slider boxes) and make slider boxes below same width.
Sou the slider boxes would still be from one side to another,but with less empty space on each side. If you still don’t know what i’m talking about,tell me and i’ll take some time and paint it 
I know, I know… I’m using my spare time right now, and I’m playing with this. I’ll make exactly as you showed in your screenshot, but I’ll completely resize panel area (not panels) to she size of actual panels. Also, I already removed dotted line, and I have to say that it looks much better and simplier. If you have enough time, I’ll post screenshoot in next, let’s say 15 minutes…
Hehe ;D I’m a great designer,but when it comes to actually throw all the bitmaps together i’m “finished”. Not that i wouldn’t be able,but it just takes too long to make anything that can be actually used as skin.
You have some serious graphics editing knowledge,so it’s like playing with toy for you (i guess) Anyway i’m glad you listened to my advices.
I always listen to good advices, and you know that, but still if I see something is “fighting” with certain things on the screen, I have to “kill” that idea in the roots ;D
Here is how it suppose to look… I left 2 pixels on each side of the panels (left and right), because it looked really strange if I strech it all the way from left edge to the right one… I think it looks neat now, anyway, much better than before I believe…
Just one more question… do you think… oh… first I have to explain what I mean… take a look at those fonts. Actually, those fonts are exactly the same (only one font - Verdana), but those wordings that actually presents buttons are non-anti-aliased, and those on sliding panels are anti-aliased (smooth edges).
Do you think we should keep them all sharp and non-anti-aliased like those at the top (Program MENU etc.) or should I make them smooth like those you can see on the sliding panels ? I kinda like those sharp for a change… I tried to make difference between those that are in use (clickable) and those that just shows us the names of the panel…
Slider panels look perfect now Is that text above them “Program Menu” finished? Coz somehow it looks weird. Also make avast! Antivirus main text title a bit bigger.
And try to make that text to be outlined with orange. Just to see if it looks nice.
If not,just make this title text a bit bigger (around 50% bigger) and place it in the middle vertically.
Oh and the Question,minimize and close buttons. Do they need those extra two lines inside? Looks a bit funny on static picture. Maybe it’s different when all states are enabled,but i’m still not sure. I’d just keep the middle part and remove the thick places on left and right side of the buttons.
EDIT:
Yup,i agree with you. Sharp text looks better.
Just move the Program Menu text in the middle of the bar
Haha, I’m just in process of changing those buttons, although I tried to make them same as those arrows on the web site… we think same… I had good idea yesterday and now I’m using my spare time to make it reality. Regarding which text are you talking about that is not finished ? PROGRAM MENU or something third ?
Edit: Program menu is instead of MENU. It’s a button and it’s a clickable… same as MENU from previous skins…
Also, I have to find a good place for START and STOP buttons… any idea before I start ? Because it’s much easier than redesign everything later…
Program menu text looks different than the one on other buttons on right side panel buttons. Also place it in the moddle like on other buttons.
avast! antivirus text should be a bit larger and placed in the middle of that area vertically as i mentioned above.
I’d add scan/stop buttons under www.avast.com URL.
But i’d make them to appear only when removable media/local disks are selected.
I belive you could link up those buttons to appear only when scan sensitivity slider is opened (the one for On-Demand). Animation activation and linking is independend of skinning engine if i can remember correctly from my MacLoverOS X project…
Othewise i have no clue on where to place those buttons. Skin looks so good without them ;D
Yes that’s true… but we have discussed this before I believe. It’s very “touchy” to play with placing those buttons inside display area… but what I can try is, to shrink that display area a bit and then place those buttons below www.avast.com
Program MENU is centered right now, but I don’t see where you see the difference from the rest of buttons on the right side panel (Resident Scanner, iAVS etc.). It’s exactly the same font and non-anti-aliased.
I decided to use all non-anti-aliased fonts. It gives more professional look and it’s much more readable and sharper.
avast! antivirus sign is enlarged by 48% now, and I tried with orange outline… uuuuuggghhhhhh… yuck, yuck, yuck… something like “ampren supa” if you remember those soups, haha…
http://img90.echo.cx/img90/6772/newskin5sl.jpg
EDIT: also those small buttons in the top right corner are changed now, and they will turn into orange when you hover over them…
As far as START STOP buttons goes… I would put them in that corner above the orange part of the LOCAL DISKS button, but in the line below www.avast.com… if you know what I mean. That’s the only logical solution. If I place them exactly centered according to www.avast.com, then it doesn’t look good. START and STOP are not the part of the display are, so there is no need to center them… and, they have to be visible and “close to the hand”… I tried to put them below www.avast.com, but you can barely notice them… they look like they are part of that http link…