Welcome to Skinmasters! A series of interviews with top graphic designers and skinners on deviantART.

The first interview of the series features one of the most crazy artists I ever seen. It's a pleasure to know him not only as a friend, but as an artist. The famous Skinner/Themer of this week is Stephen Cabby aka *mrrste


_{Warning: Explicit funny language}

Stephen Cabby aka *mrrste is a name known in many deskmod forums and specialised sites on customization. He has made some great skins, and many WindowBlinds ports of the most famous OS X guikits. You should definitely check out his works! I've selected a few for your viewing pleasure. (What is not for your viewing pleasure is this picture of him: [link])

Here is a small talk I had with him. I tried to keep him serious, but that's a really hard work.

Hello Mr. Stephen, for those that haven't heard about you... could you give us a brief biography?

This is too much pressure, I might deploy a poop lol. Unleashed in the east - best dressed in the west - sorted in the north - without a doubt in the south. The King of Kingbees - Phoenix from the ashes risen. UN-defeated Undisputed feather weight champion on all 5 continents. World record holder with a highscore of two gazillion in tetris. Two time recipient of the Nobel prize for super bestest guy ever, and war time consiliere to the cosa nostra. I split the atom, invented the x-ray, discovered the cure for aids and invented the iPod. I performed and choreographed the fights for Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, game of death and still do stunt doubles for Jackie Chan on the weekends. I taught Michael Jackson everything he knows (recent activities his own doing)wedgied Einstein, outsmarted ali and even out super freaked rick James. In this world of tension pressure and pain I am known by men and women of all origin and faith for my wisdom, compassion and ability to talk utter sh*t.

Or I'm just Stephen aged 27 from the UK, in brief.



Cool, let's talk about your skins. When did you start to make them?

hmmm, must be about 2-3 years ago now. My friend Diafragma aka ptrcstn hounded the hell out of me to learn skinstudio so I could mod and create some themes. I eventually took the plunge and made the best theme ever to crash a PC. It looked awesome when your computer wasn't switched on. My 1st ever release was some icons inspired by the movie Blade. I'm sure I could do a better job on them now but at the time they were revolutionary for me. My skins finally progressed through self learning and a lot of help from Duyvan and Astyanax who were instrumental to me. I've been lucky in those respects, I have had a LOT of top skinners around me to help from day 1.







What graphic tools do you use? Any recommendations?

WAREZ seriously though, I use quite a few different apps depending on what I'm doing. My main tool is PaintShopPro X. It's a little older but I prefer it's interface compared to the newer versions. It offers a couple more options I couldn't live without that Photoshop CS3 doesn't, but I use CS3 to do the stuff PSPX can't too. For icons I use Iconworkshop, for animations I use Jasc Animation shop. Now I want free stuff from Adobe and Corel for promoting them.



Where did your inspiration came from?

What first made me aware of skinning was The SkinsFactory. Their media players skins stirred a feeling in my jeans that only Sex Trek: The Next Penetration had previously managed. Now my inspiration comes from everywhere and anything. The good thing about the skinning community is that someone can find inspiration for something in someone else's work.

Hell, even a fellow skinner and friend, who I shall not name......*iiswiis, is working on a skin inspired from his cup of coffee. Personally, when you start seeing sh*t in your coffee it's time to switch to de-caf, but it goes to show inspiration is everywhere.







Has deviatART been an influence to you? How big was that influence?

I don't think I'd be where I am today if it was not for DA. Apart from offering a place to show and submit my work, it helped me meet a lot of new people. I don't really bother with any other forum other than DA cause it seems everyone is here. Smoovie has always called me a glory whore and I guess he is right in a way. DA makes me and my work feel appreciated but who doesn't like that? There, I bigged up DA now give me a free subscription and I mentioned smoovie otherwise he will just start calling me a whore instead I also run the DeskModding club on DA to help promote new artists and work, but I've neglected it of recently because I've been busy.



Who are your favourite designers on deviantART. Could you name a few?

There is sooooo many to choose from. Some work blows me away and some just look like someone had a seizure while holding their mouse with photoshop open and then clicked submit. For each category I'll just name my top 3: YY.Jing aka *yingjunjiu, ~susumu-Express, ~danillooc, ~HitechLoon aka Improv, Dario Arnaez, David Lanham, Jonas Rask, *smoovie, =allhopeislost, *Psychopulse, ^manicho (suppose I best mention him lol) *zeolyte, ~emrehusmen, *badboythemer and the list goes on.

Of course there is loads more. Just about everybody on my watchlist really.



Where did your nickname come from?

Mr because I'm a MR and Ste is short for Stephen and what I usually get called. The extra R in Mrrste was because some fool already took the name Mrste when I was setting up my very first Internet connection with AOL dial up. Of course now I would never want to change it too Mrste but if your reading this Mrste..... swivel on it.



Your website, Hollywoodgui.com. Could you make a public invitation? What is it about?

H GUI was created by Me, Smoovie and Astyanax. It's a place for anyone who enjoys customisation whether newbie or experienced. People come to us to post things that they can't or don't want to post anywhere else. Anything goes really and we cover all categories. We have things unique to us that that you can't get anywhere else. We are home of the only complete video tutorial on creating your own skin. Apart from the developers own site, He made us exclusive with the latest build of FindeXer with a new one on the way and an interface I helped on and of course many skins etc only to be found on HW. All are welcome so come and pay us a visit



What kind of services do you offer? I'm sure there is a lot of potential clients reading this interview

$20 a feel but no kissing.....oh you mean work? eeeek , Well I take my work seriously and I'm very critical of myself. I can skin just about any app and create either individual icons or full packages. I've got loads of work I've never finished because I keep re-doing things till they are just right. I try my best to come up with new and unique designs and can find myself working on 2 things at once usually. I like to think I'm reliable. If I commit to something I will finish it and make sure it's good enough.



Any advice for those that are starting to create their own skins?

Just take your time and create something you want and would use yourself. Everything takes practice and I'm still learning everyday. My Tutorial is a good starting point though (shameless plug). I've not had any negative feedback from it and have seen new skinners created from it. Don't be afraid to ask for help and you cannot, CANNOT, be easily offended by criticism because you are sure as hell are going to to get it. Just grow from it.



Any final words to add?

Cheese, bumhole and Goose....always good words I think. I want to thank everybody for their support and helping me get where I am today. Last year was my defining year so I dedicate it to all you guys and gals that help make it. But I want to thank a group of people in particular, namely - Duyvan, Astyanax, Tyre, RippernKind, JosephYang, Amber, Smoovie, Xizor and Rissol that all played key roles in the very beginning. Also a big thank you to DA for your support and thank you for the honour of this interview and keep an eye out for my new stuff. Do I bend over now?



Yes man. Bend over . Thanks for your time Ste! I'm glad you took the time for this interview.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed making it!

Cheers,
Mauricio aka ^manicho


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These are a series of interviews to the best skinners on scene.
If you have any suggestions for future issues, please [link]"email me} or send me a note.