[Debate] The Grey Skin Look

[leah]

I don't mind these kind of skins. I mean, my forum's going into a gray version. In my opinion, if the forum still looks good, it doesn't matter. It still has color...as long as you have catchy gradients, a banner and a background, the color doesn't matter, in my opinion.

Yes, I agree that gray, black, white, etc. can get boring, but if you have catchy graphics, as I stated before, it won't be. At least it isn't to me and the majority of the people who have already reviewed the new version of my forum.

[sumsumbubblegum]

The grey skin has got its advantages/disadvantages:

Advantages:
-->its clear and its easier to read all text within the skin
-->it makes members who've got colourful profiles stand out more and then their profile expresses originality.

Disadvantages:
-->makes the forum look less unique + bland
--> Gives the impression that the general forum itself will be boring
-->Gives the impression that admin slacks off when it comes to making the board look well.

Overall, I think it would be best if the grey skin is an option at ones board.

[Raven]

I think the content would indicate whether it'll be boring or not, not if it has a grey color in the scheme. It isn't that bad, black isn't the greatest color in the world, yet it's popular and no one complains about that. If good images are on the forum and the grey has another good color to blend with, then I think it'll be fine. Just as long as it's not all one same grey color.

[leah]

I don't honestly think that the gray skin theme makes the forum look less unique. As I said, not if the graphics are good. It's good to add a little color now and then, though. As long as you have some variety, I think things are fine.

But you can't please everybody. I mean, everybody is going to have the skin color that they hate. Some people hate gray skins, but some people hate colorful skins as well. Missy, one of your points is something I COMPLETELY and TOTALLY disagree with. (I'm not yelling, just making my point.) And also took it as an offense.

Now, I didn't make my skin, but it takes just as long and it's just as hard to work with gray, black and white as it is with blue or pink. I mean, you still have to find the right shades, make sure your graphics look good, etc. Completely disagree.

[myke]

katqueen said:

I don't honestly think that the gray skin theme makes the forum look less unique. As I said, not if the graphics are good. It's good to add a little color now and then, though. As long as you have some variety, I think things are fine.

But you can't please everybody. I mean, everybody is going to have the skin color that they hate. Some people hate gray skins, but some people hate colorful skins as well. Missy, one of your points is something I COMPLETELY and TOTALLY disagree with. (I'm not yelling, just making my point.) And also took it as an offense.

Now, I didn't make my skin, but it takes just as long and it's just as hard to work with gray, black and white as it is with blue or pink. I mean, you still have to find the right shades, make sure your graphics look good, etc. Completely disagree.

I completely disagree. I do not think it is as time consuming and as difficult to work with actual colors. Most Grey forums I have come across has all been monochrome Grey. Everything is all one shade, the title & category bars, both bgwindows, etc. Then, sometimes people throw in only a hint of color, they may have colored links, or may have Grey gradients with a small bit of color in there.

The design itself (minus the same monochrome shade everywhere) looks okay. However, with 50,000 forums using the exact same style, it becomes a bit repetitive, and then begins to look like the forum designer just copied a style off of another forum he/she saw.

While I do not have any actual statistics, I can say from my time spent in GOAYB and seeing hundreds and thousands of forums each month for several years, the monochrome Grey forums are significantly less successful and active as the forums that come up with original, and unique looking skins. These days do I rarely see a Grey monochrome forum become successful. Some are an exception to this, as successful ones do exist out there, but if you want to capture members interests immediately based on the look of the forum - what they will see first, then I suggest not going the way of the Grey look, and suggest using your imagination and creativity to create a unique looking skin.

[leah]

Well, for me it seems as it is. Maybe i'm just the oddball. That's usually wthe way it ends up anyway.

In my opinion, if the graphics look good, and the colors aren't blinding, the design is okay. That's the thing. If the graphics look different, it won't look the same. I mean, there could be plenty of blue-colored forums that look the same, but nobody ever mentions them. It's the gray ones that they notice.

[myke]

katqueen said:

Well, for me it seems as it is. Maybe i'm just the oddball. That's usually wthe way it ends up anyway.

In my opinion, if the graphics look good, and the colors aren't blinding, the design is okay. That's the thing. If the graphics look different, it won't look the same. I mean, there could be plenty of blue-colored forums that look the same, but nobody ever mentions them. It's the gray ones that they notice.

Blue colored forums that look the same vs grey colored forums that look the same, is no contest from what I've seen. Grey wins everytime.

I don't even thing graphics help on grey forums, as if the forum is not all grey (graphics included) then they have the hints of color I mentioned above, and maybe an all cored banner. For example they may have an all grey forum, but an all blue banner, which I do not think gives the forum a good color balance, and is also one of those designs that has been used and used time and time again.

But, like you, that is my opinion.

[hisroyaldudeness]

The board I am a main admin on, has a grey skin, I don't think it is monocrome, but then again, it is the first board I have worked on.

The colors I don't like is the boards where the skin is creativly titled "multi colored", when the admin just typed in random colors. Those boards I visit, immediatly get the back button, lol.

[deadeyetzw]

I have given people various options so they choose the skin to use. The grey one is the most popular with most of the older (40+ age) members as it is a lot easier on the eyes. Many people doing designs do not take this into effect, particularly when using greens and reds.
I conducted asurvey on the site to find which skin they preferred and how I could improve the various skins.

[BluAngel]

I have created a grey skin for my boards, but also have one of several different colours to choose from also. (I think at this moment, I have almost 10 for them to choose from). I have to admit, that putting together the grey skin was in some ways harder than the others, and it can appear very bland and boring. I chose to make one because I wanted members to have a choice to have something colourful or something a bit less so.

[kelendria]

I use grey too but use different ways of making it look different.
I've used base colours like white, black & grey, they don't have to be boring if you use your imagination.
This is also why I don't use templates, I found they always seemed to be grey (this may not be the case now!)
They have different skins to choose from on mine, if they don't like grey use something else!

[Lifeline - click my eggs?]

My say on this is that gray skins are just getting more and more common, and they do not dreaw members in too well. I prefer to use a uniform color-- for instance, dark teal for my forum. Gray is just too overused for me, but it's not horrible, persay.

[Plankton213]

Grey skins look fine to me. When I see a grey forum, I think "That's an okay board" I don't think they are that common. I see a lot of blue and white forums also. Like this forum. It's all white and blue. I see these colors more than grey.

[myke]

scoter said:

Grey skins look fine to me. When I see a grey forum, I think "That's an okay board" I don't think they are that common. I see a lot of blue and white forums also. Like this forum. It's all white and blue. I see these colors more than grey.

There are more combinations of shades and colors that can be used in 'blue & white forums' then there are in the grey looks. If you have 100 forums with the blue and white scheme, they all can look very different from each other, but one hundred forums with the grey look are going to tend to look like one another after a while.

[quickbow]

Grey skins can be summarized in one word...boring. I like them slightly more than super-bright boards that make you want to wear sunglasses, but I think you should just choose based on your theme. For instance, I have a rpg site with the setting of a forest, so i use greens, browns, and blues, and have a picture of a forest as a background. My advice is to choose what fits with your scheme, and never use default skins.

Rebel Yell!