May 04, 2nd issueHey all, Blogskins Press brings you our second issue so far! Thank you all for the lovely support, it is appreciated a lot (:
I know that this is the exam period, and most of you are probably mugging now. But it's the weekend, take a little break!
This week, we interviewed
sweet-melancholy over msn:
My first impression over msn of sweet-melancholy is that she's quite shy. Then she became really talkative, telling me really weird but funny stuff in between questions. (No offense xD) Before that I already knew that she was quite a nice person from her comments etc, but I was a little afraid she might be a dao kind of person. It has been really nice interviewing her, that's all I can really say :)
How about some background information on yourself first?Hellooooo, I'm Kathleen, but most people just call me Kat. Anyway! I'm 14 and studying in RGS, my CCA is Chinese Orchestra, I play the Zhong Ruan! :D
Raffle's Girls' School? ._. Smart!No, I'm not. Okay maybe a little, if not that would mean I'm retarded o_o But I'm a normal girl, y'know! Undergoing similar problems etc. I think stereotypes are stupid, somebody should just altogether ban them. o_o
How did you start blogskinning?It’s quite a long story xD
I started last year, roughly around March. I got the idea when I was down with food poisoning. It was my second day resting at home, and I was pretty much recovered, and the idea just suddenly popped into my head. “Why not I try my hand at blogskinning?” And so I did.
I was kind of a silly girl back then. (oh yeah, my first account was InnoCenTxX, but it has long been deleted already) I would spam poor Blogskins.com with 3 skins a day, and they were very sloppily put together. I still remember my first skin, oh my gosh so embarrassing! It was an utter disaster, my codes were completely screwed (seriously).
Okay I think I’m digressing. ANYWAY! After submitting about what, 70 skins, I was ready to start anew. That was around May? So I created my sweet-melancholy account and deleted my InnoCenTxX account. I must say, it was a really new start. I became more critical of my work, I didn’t submit everything I made. I was so pleased when I got my first SOTD, I never DREAMED I could even make it that far in so short a time. And the rest, you can figure out on your own, anyway I have crapped enough o_o
You're the FC. How did you feel when you first found out?I thought Blogskins.com was screwing up. It was really coincidental, because right before I visited my profile page, I went to li0nheart’s profile page, so I thought that somehow it had lagged so much they thought I was the FC.
I was/ am tremendously honoured that Myles (and Kelli!) thought that I was good enough to be the FC. I was so shocked and elated my hands could not stop shaking for quite a while xD Then I saw the typos. And I laughed, because it’s just really funny, don’t you think. And there is the huge typo still, smack on the front page for everybody to see it xD
What does being FC mean to you?It means being a good role model to other blogskinners etc. I’m sure you’ve heard about these stuff before. Basically, I feel that I have the responsibility to maintain a high standard (which I really hope I have!) of blogskinning at Blogskins.com, and maybe maintaining the peace and harmony at Blogskins.com? I really don’t know… Maybe just being me, and not pretending to be someone I'm not.
What is your take on being FC?It’s tough, really. Because you’re under everybody’s critical eye. And it’s quite hard to tell who really likes you as a person and who is sucking up to you. But on the whole, being the FC has been a really good experience, and I can say this with a fair amount of certainty.
Any blogskinning tips for the others?(uh yeah, these tips don't just include the technical aspect of blogskinning)
1. “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”.
Seriously, it works. Giving up is just the worst thing you could do to yourself.
2. You don’t have to have photoshop to be great.
There are a handful of great blogskinners who don’t have photoshop at all. Their skins are still of high standards, and generally well-received. You have to use your creativity you know?! Think out of the box!
3. If you seem to be copying the blogskinning trend, don’t visit Blogskins.com for a while, maybe 2 weeks or a month.
Originality is the best blogskinning policy.
4. Don’t become blinded by the popularity game.
Stay true to yourself. I know that this sounds so cliché, but it’s true, VERY true. Make skins because you ENJOY doing so, not because you want to become popular, by gaining the most SOTDs and dishing out the most 5 stars ratings.
5. Brush spam may be the way to start, but it is NOT the way to go.
Brush spamming is not true art. I’m not saying that using brushes is bad, OF COURSE NOT! I myself use brushes, but I try to moderate it. By becoming too dependent on brushes, you are taking away your creativity y’know?! I mean, brushing is so simple. Upload brushes, brush brush brush, ooh it looks pretty, upload blogskin, ooh everybody thinks it’s pretty so I shall brush spam forever and let my creativity seep away. It’s a sad case when such a thing occurs, you know.
6. Original images, or original codes (or both) or nothing at all.
Seriously, if everything in your blogskin is copied from somewhere, it can’t really be called YOUR blogskin anymore. It’s what? A collaboration? o_o And that is quite stupid. The very least you can do is have original codes! Referring to others’ is fine! As long as you have their permission to do so! But once you’ve had enough practice, you should stop, yep.
That’s quite a lot already, so I think that I better stop here xD
How has Blogskins.com changed you?Blogskins.com has made me more open to criticisms. I can now accept criticisms and work on it. I have also learnt how to respond to difficult people. (e.g. flamers) Blogskins.com has taught me some pretty important values, like integrity. And I’ve become more sociable now; I used to shut myself off from the rest of the world most of the time, but after interacting with so many different people, I realize how nice it is to have friends, yea.
How did your username come about?It came from a book, I think. I saw it and thought melancholy sounded really cool (even though I’m still unsure how to pronounce it xD) and ta-dah!
What inspires you?My emotions. How I am feeling at the moment I am blogskinning really affects the overall mood of my blogskin. You can’t make me do an emo blogskin if I’m feeling happy, really. The effects are just disastrous.
Music also inspires me a lot nowadays. :D
What are some difficulties you face when blogskinning?Colour combination, GAH! So difficult at times!!
And multi-browser compatibility, this is a tough one. Sometimes it works in FF and screws up in IE, or vice versa. And that is HORRIBLE!!!!!!
Inability to achieve the desired effect I was hoping for is something that I find difficult too… I mean, I can just see the desired outcome in my head, and I just can’t achieve it! That’s very frustrating ):
And when codes screw up and you don’t know what’s wrong? That’s pretty horrible too!
And lots of stuff, really.
Randomly-generated question: Do you like cheese?Funny you should mention CHEESE. I used to LOVE cheese like nothing else on Earth. I could eat them whole, three or four a day, and not get sick. Now I eat a little and I feel like puking. But melted cheese is the way to go!
That's all for this week, look out for the next issue soon!
`Elaine
Labels: interview, sweet-melancholy