Skin for Pocket Tunes, Premiere mobile audio player in Other Graphic Design

Held by NormSoft

Summary

Status
won
Status Comment
Congratulations to the winner, leangabot!
Entries
69
Prize
$500
Details

A closer look at this contest

Created:
Fri, 09 May 2008 20:19:35 +0000
Ends:
Fri, 16 May 2008 20:19:35 +0000
Modified:
Sun, 11 May 2008 06:49:51 +0000
Last Feedback:
Fri, 16 May 2008 15:03:32 +0000
Comments:
34
Designers:
15
Feedback:
107%
Brief Summary

We are the creators of Pocket Tunes, the premiere audio player for mobile phones and PDA's. We are about to have a major release and part of the appeal of our program is that the user can change the look of the player by changing the skin. So WE WANT MORE SKINS!!

Make sure you read the Brief for specific information.

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Showing 1 – 50 of 69

Showing 1 – 50 of 69

The following designers have withdrawn all of their submitted designs:

Discussion

  1. User
    Alexzalk
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    Fri, 09 May 2008 20:28:19 +0000
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    how would you like the skin made?

  2. User
    NormSoft
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    Fri, 09 May 2008 20:40:26 +0000
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    Make sure you review the brief. As mentioned in there we need a PSD file and there is a link to a sample of how a skin was created. It is for a different orientation but the brief also includes information on the screen sizes we need.

  3. User
    atrox
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    Fri, 09 May 2008 21:55:11 +0000
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    Question: If you need many more skins, why don't you jus buy the top 10 or something like that?

  4. User
    NormSoft
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    Fri, 09 May 2008 22:42:54 +0000
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    HI atrox! We're guaranteeing one prize ($500) for the winning entry. We'll certainly strongly consider others if the top entries are good. This is our first contest through 99 designs, so if this contest is successful, we will likely offer similar contests in the future as well. One of our goals is to build a good relationship with designers who want to develop more skins.

  5. User
    blstrobl
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 03:23:38 +0000
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    Looks like I need Photoshop then. Oh well, the trial will work too.

  6. User
    NormSoft
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 10:51:43 +0000
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    Some other programs will save into PSD format, Paint Shop Pro does and others may also.

  7. User
    blstrobl
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 12:10:17 +0000
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    Would you also like the XML file along with the PDB (Palm OS)? I might want to add some interactive features in it.

  8. User
    NormSoft
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 12:37:24 +0000
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    For this first contest, we will be coding the XML. We have a new version of our skin compiler tool that's not yet available, and that is not necessarily compatible with the existing one. Please also note the required resolutions for this contest: 240x240, 320x240, 240x320. We prefer that the design work in all three resolutions, but if you have to pick, then the order of importance is: 320x240, 240x240, and then 240x320.

  9. User
    NormSoft
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 12:42:24 +0000
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    I should probably add that, if you want to download the existing skin compiler and write the XML, that will definitely help us out, but it's not at all required. If you have a Palm OS device, you will also be able to test the skin yourself, so it may be something you want to try to see how your skin looks and acts on a real phone. The skin compiler can be downloaded from http://www.pocket-tunes.com/skins/ptsc.php

  10. User
    blstrobl
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 12:53:07 +0000
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    I already developed a Skin for Pocket Tunes which you are hosting and have a TX to test them with so writing the XML is no problem. Knowing a few more details might however allow a more accurate representation of the skin to be created (such as the pixel height of the fonts in the new compiler).

  11. User
    NormSoft
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 13:13:39 +0000
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    Fonts in the skin can be of any size. You can also reference external TrueType fonts, though we prefer that you stick with the default sans serif font. (Otherwise the customers will need to install extra fonts along with the skin, which is cumbersome. If you do use an external font, it must be one you can give us rights to distribute freely.) In addition, you can also define your own non-scalable fonts by providing bitmaps for each glyph. This is most often used for number displays, for example, where you only need to provide the glyphs '0' through '9'. It cannot be used for free-form text areas (e.g. title, album name, playlist area, etc.).

  12. User
    One1Site Design
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 14:15:27 +0000
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    would you mind paying through Western Union? I've created some skins previously for a romanian company and I think you will be interested in some of my designs.Who knows? :)

  13. User
    NormSoft
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 14:19:32 +0000
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    Thanks for your submission Exiart, looks good. There are a couple of things, you can put "Pocket Tunes" up in the upper left in place of "PTPlayer", that would free up a little space in the main area.

    The other ting is that our application supports Album Art display. So you want to add that somewhere. There is limited screen space so it is always a trade off between the size of the album art and the amount of other information you place on the screen.

    So check out the "Wants" section as I have added some items that will impact your skin. But really great start!

    There are ways to add multiple views via tabs or buttons on the skin. However be careful about that because too many will confuse the user. Generally a maximum of three views is best. An example of a skin that uses multiple views is the Enhanced skin here, http://www.pocket-tunes.com/skins/index.php?id=129. This skin allows for 3 views, the one you see in the picture, plus two others accessible by tapping the icons to the left of the speaker icon.

    I'm going to add some more to the brief in the "Wants" section so make sure you check that out as it will give some more direction.

    I like where you are going with the skin. The buttons are cool, could they be bolder or more 3d ish. Not sure exactly what to say for direction on them but I like them, yet want something added to them to give them more definition or something. Would like to see a more interesting background than a gradient. It's nice but if you can mess with the background a bit, that would be cool.

  14. User
    NormSoft
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 14:35:14 +0000
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    Unfortunately, we cannot send payment via Western Union at this time, sorry.

  15. User
    NormSoft
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    Sat, 10 May 2008 15:18:36 +0000
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    #2 - really nice job on the skin xxttaa. I like the clean look of your design. You can combine the Play and Pause buttons as one button if you'd like. I assume the square right above the title is the album art?

    I wasn't sure of function of the icons beside "Pocket Tunes" so let me know on those. Currently Pocket Tunes can display the Time and the battery status. I didn't see a "Choose Songs" button so maybe one of those icons at the top was for that. If not make sure you have a way for the user to access the "choose Songs" so that they can select a new set of tracks to play.

    Overall a very nice design.

  16. User
    NormSoft
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    Sun, 11 May 2008 01:22:59 +0000
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    #5 - quite liking that one, though we like the pixalated stuff to the right of from #4. So maybe that part with the rest of #5. But good job on that design.

  17. User
    Lachlan
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    Sun, 11 May 2008 06:50:26 +0000
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    I am pleased to announce that this contest is now a guaranteed contest!

    What this means is that the contest holder has pre-paid the prize to 99designs and guaranteed that a winner will be selected.

    Good luck everyone!

  18. User
    NormSoft
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    Sun, 11 May 2008 16:12:50 +0000
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    Thanks for the submissions so far. We really appreciate the work you are all putting into your submissions.

    I wanted to remind everyone that the skin has multiple orientations. For the most part we have seen Landscape orientations. That's fine for showing off the skin but make sure your design will also work in Portrait mode where you have a length greater than the width. Most of your designs should be fine in Portrait but bear in mind you lose 120 pixels to the width in portrait so some designs may need to be tweaked for portrait.

  19. User
    thyinteractive
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    Sun, 11 May 2008 16:39:44 +0000
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    @ Gabs... Wow design.. i especially like the pixelated bg in #11 ....

  20. User
    NormSoft
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    Mon, 12 May 2008 00:36:57 +0000
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    We see that a lot of people are using icons(like the shuffle, Internet Radio and repeat icons) that are already in existence and used on skins we already have like the Sleek skin in the example PSD. While that is fine, we'd like to encourage you to create your own icons where possible. We're certainly not committed to the ones we have already except for the Pocket Tunes logo of course. So feel free to use your own creations for the icons.

  21. User
    gabs
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    Mon, 12 May 2008 10:26:53 +0000
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    Thanks, thy!

  22. User
    jcontreras
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    Mon, 12 May 2008 16:46:18 +0000
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    Great contest!

  23. User
    jcontreras
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    Mon, 12 May 2008 21:23:28 +0000
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    Trying to upload my proposal but doesn't work. A massage error appears.

  24. User
    NormSoft
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    Mon, 12 May 2008 21:28:17 +0000
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    Check with 99 Designs, we don't control any of that so something may be messed up on their system, don't really know. But check with them on it.

  25. User
    scorpionagency
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    Mon, 12 May 2008 22:03:36 +0000
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    It's a system wide Bug, none of the contests allow Uploads at the moment, I sent a bug report in along with several others over an hour ago. I'm hoping it gets resolved soon.

    CH, Due to technical difficulties you can request an extension on your contest :)

  26. User
    NormSoft
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    Tue, 13 May 2008 15:52:24 +0000
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    Wow! Great job everyone. We're really impressed with the quality of the work we are seeing. It looks like we are going to have to give away more than one prize. The entries are just too good to have only one winner.

    I am about to eliminate more entires. Please understand that we're just saying that as it stands the eliminated entries are not there yet compared to some of the others. We still encourage you to re-submit based on our feedback and what you see we are liking. New ideas are great, check out the feedback we have given, ask us questions. Tweak your entries to get them closer to what we are looking for. Make it really hard for us to choose the winners.

  27. User
    xxttaa
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    Tue, 13 May 2008 15:59:38 +0000
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    Nice buttons leangabot:)

  28. User
    leangabot
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    Tue, 13 May 2008 20:54:20 +0000
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    Hey, thanks! :D

  29. User
    NormSoft
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    Fri, 16 May 2008 15:30:43 +0000
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    I just wanted to let everyone know that once the contest closes we will be meeting very early next week to decide on the winner(s).

    Thank you everyone who has entered the contest!!

  30. User
    jcontreras
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    Fri, 16 May 2008 15:46:40 +0000
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    It has been fun ! Good luck to everyone.

  31. User
    NormSoft
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    Tue, 20 May 2008 15:50:49 +0000
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    Congratulations leangabot for entry #82 which we have declared as the winner.

    HOWEVER, we are going to award 3 runner up prizes of $500 each, for entries that were very very good as well.

    The runner up prizes go to:

    #44 xxttaa
    #96 thyinteractive
    #75 Pcok

    We will pay the additional prizes via PayPal or Credit Card. We will need the same as what we are asking from the winning entry, a full PSD with all buttons in their various states and all screen orientations. I will send a note to each winner through 99 Designs to arrange payment and delivery of the PSD.

    Thank you all again for the great entries. It was extremely hard to narrow the winners down even to 4 entires.

  32. User
    jcontreras
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    Tue, 20 May 2008 16:29:55 +0000
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    Congratulations to winners and runners...great designs!

  33. User
    thyinteractive
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    Wed, 21 May 2008 02:23:29 +0000
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    Congratulations to winners,runners ....

    thanks,jcontreras !!!!!

  34. User
    xxttaa
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    Wed, 21 May 2008 12:14:09 +0000
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    congratulations everyone....thank you so much, NormSoft!