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

The ninth interview of the series features an artist who has created more skins than I can remember. He has a very distinct style and likes to keep himself to himself. I am of course talking about =lassekongo83

You should definitely check out his works! I've selected a few of my favourites for your viewing



Hello Mattias, for those that haven't heard about you... could you tell us all a little about yourself?

I'm a silent asocial and creative guy. I usally don't have very much to say about anything really. Well, I'm not depressed about being asocial, I like it in fact. What I love to do is to create graphics and things that I can look at. My name is Mattias and I live in Gothenburg, Sweden where I've lived in the same apartment for as long as I can remember. It's only time to move out when I get a job, which is the hardest thing in life if you're asocial.


Your definately creative that's for sure. Nothing wrong being asocial, especially when it has obviously aided in you creating some cool skins When did you start making your skins? I want to know about your name too. It's a very unique one

Back in 2004-2005 I think. I've alwaysed liked minimalistic desktops and to keep things in order in my OS setup. Works in real life too, because I can't throw around objects and then expect to them find fast enough when I need something. And what about my name? Something silly I've been using for a long time. It's a drunk character from a Swedish movie I like, called "Torsk På Tallin."





I'll have to pass on that movie, I doubt I could understand it . Minimalistic themes have always been popular i've found and seem to be on the rise. It very much seems like your personality is deep in your skins. Is there anybody's work you get the same feeling from and who you are a fan of?

In the beginning there was HmmXP by ~Fugacious which was my favorite style for months. I've also been a fan of ~StefanKa and ~hsn who have created some awesome styles. The folks over at customize.org do create some awesome minimalistic desktops. I've been a fan of their screenshots and themes for as long as I can remember. I'm a big fan of ~naalo here on dA who have some really nice desktop screenshots.


Good choices. You have actually mentioned some artists that will be along side you in these interviews I really don't need to ask this but what is you preffered style of skin? As though the answer isn't obvious lol

Minimalism. Clean and simple is what I like, but with some functionality too





Yep, I really didn't need to ask that lol but i've asked everyone anyway . So when you decide to create a skin, how do you start out? o you have a set idea or just play around until something looks good and go from there?

Inspiration, ideas, playing around. Just about everything mentioned in the question above. I start by creating a simple "fake desktop" in Photoshop, and then start building on that. After that I have some finished skins that I use as templates to add all the new graphics to.


That's pretty well much the same way most of us work actually. Inspiration is the key, like you mentioned. Sometimes it can twindle and take forever to finish something. How long would you say it takes to you to finish a skin?

I'm quick when I have many ideas. When I'm working in Photoshop I use the keyboard shortcuts a lot. CTRL+U (hue), CTRL+B (color), CTRL+W (close). It's all in the back of my head now.


Close is definately my favourite button. I've scrapped more skins that I can recall just out of frustration I end up with loads of different unfinished works and keep trying to come back to them. Is this something you have to deal with?

I finish about 80% of all skins I create. It's all about motivation. When you're not motiviated you're usally distracted by something.


Damn you and your efficiency You sound like a pretty motivated guy, you must be working on something?

I always have something that I work on. More or less.

Looks like we might be expecting to see something from you soon on DA then Speaking of DA, has deviatART been an influence to you? How big was that influence?

dA is great. It's a goldmine of inspiration and feedback


agreed. I've not heard anyone say anything bad about DA yet in these interviews. DA SUCKS....... ok it doesn't, but I had to hear it. That's one way to get me fired

Do you have any advice for those that are starting to create their own skins?

Be motivated. Like what you're doing and make it a hobby. If you have too many distractions in your life, such as World of Warcraft, social relations, work, high blood sugar, etc - solve them first. It's a lot easier to be creative when you're calm and relaxed. And yeah that's right, sugar is bad for you!





Dude, sugar owns, have you even tasted pop without it? It's just fizzy brown water . Anyway, you have a very diverse gallery. You obviously have a passion for GUI but is there anything else you are a fan of when your not at your computer?

Photography and long walks in the nature. It's a good combination, because I can do both at the same time. I also like to watch movies and tv-series. I love sci-fi, action and thrillers.

I was going to ask you about your photography. You have some cool photographs in your gallery. You guy's should go over and check his gallery out for sure, especially his sci-f work.

Well, it's about time to wrap this up. I wish you all the best of look for the future and look forward to seeing something new from you soon Have you got any final words you would like to add?


Thank you for interviewing me. Oh yeah, and there's one thing that I need to add. I usally don't give any support for the skins I create. I prefer to spend my time on creating new things instead of answering every single question I get. I do have a FAQ that answers all the questions I've got so far. I work for free and submit my skins with an open creative commons license. Don't expect any answers if you don't think you can find the answer in my FAQ.


Oh, A FAQ sounds like a good idea actually. Not many skinners have one.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed making it. Head on over to his galery [link]


Thank you,
Stephen aka ^mrrste