Sta.sh
However, since I received so many suggestions, I’ll be splitting the feature in 4 different articles
Hello my dear deviants! Welcome to another article in the series for Project Educate: Fan Art Week. This time we’ll be talking about Fan Skins. As usual with the previous articles, we’ll start with the definition.
Skins
“In computing, a skin is a custom graphical appearance achieved by the use of a graphical user interface (GUI) that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit the purpose, topic, or tastes of different users. A skin may be associated with themes.
Software that is capable of having a skin applied is referred to as being skinnable, and the process of writing or applying such a skin is known as skinning. Applying a skin changes a piece of software's look and feel — some skins merely make the program more aesthetically pleasing, but others can rearrange elements of the interface, potentially making the program easier to use. Although often used simply as a synonym for skin, the term theme normally refers to less-complex customizations, such as a set of icons and matching colour scheme for an operating system — notably, this is how the term was used in association with Windows 95 and Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95.” -Wikipedia.
Examples of Skins on deviantART:
If you create for example a skin for Mozilla Firefox, using Fan Art created by yourself, then it belongs to Fan Art > Skins. In other words, you need to create it from scratch, or if you’re using stock and/or resources, have permission from their respective owners and give proper credit. Just like with Wallpapers, using official images from your fandoms and claiming Fair Use can result in your submission being rejected by deviantART, according to FAQ #32: Fair Use and Your Submission.
For more info on using resources and stock:
FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?
FAQ #193: How do I prove that I had permission to use someone's work?
FAQ #217: What are "Stock and Resources" and can I use them in my submissions?
FAQ #257: What sort of permission do I need to use someone else's work?
What doesn’t belong in Fan Art > Skins:
Photos of your hands, face, legs, etc. It’s not that kind of skin, guys! 
Photos of celebrities.
Your current desktop wallpaper, theme, etc. If you didn’t create it yourself, it doesn’t go there.
Fan Art drawings or paintings.
Motivational posters.
Screenshots of any kind.
Unfortunately, our Skins category has been so misunderstood that we couldn’t find a decent quantity of examples to illustrate this article. Hopefully, this information will help to clarify what goes into Fan Art > Skins and we’ll start to see wonderful fan created skins for all kinds of user interfaces.
Once again, thank you for reading. We still have more articles in honor of Fan Art Week, so don’t miss out!
The Definition
Skins “In computing, a skin is a custom graphical appearance achieved by the use of a graphical user interface (GUI) that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit the purpose, topic, or tastes of different users. A skin may be associated with themes.Software that is capable of having a skin applied is referred to as being skinnable, and the process of writing or applying such a skin is known as skinning. Applying a skin changes a piece of software's look and feel — some skins merely make the program more aesthetically pleasing, but others can rearrange elements of the interface, potentially making the program easier to use. Although often used simply as a synonym for skin, the term theme normally refers to less-complex customizations, such as a set of icons and matching colour scheme for an operating system — notably, this is how the term was used in association with Windows 95 and Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95.” -Wikipedia.
Examples of Skins on deviantART:
How does this apply to deviantART’s Fan Art Gallery?
If you create for example a skin for Mozilla Firefox, using Fan Art created by yourself, then it belongs to Fan Art > Skins. In other words, you need to create it from scratch, or if you’re using stock and/or resources, have permission from their respective owners and give proper credit. Just like with Wallpapers, using official images from your fandoms and claiming Fair Use can result in your submission being rejected by deviantART, according to FAQ #32: Fair Use and Your Submission.
For more info on using resources and stock:
FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?FAQ #193: How do I prove that I had permission to use someone's work?FAQ #217: What are "Stock and Resources" and can I use them in my submissions?FAQ #257: What sort of permission do I need to use someone else's work? What doesn’t belong in Fan Art > Skins:
Photos of your hands, face, legs, etc. It’s not that kind of skin, guys! Photos of celebrities. Your current desktop wallpaper, theme, etc. If you didn’t create it yourself, it doesn’t go there. Fan Art drawings or paintings. Motivational posters. Screenshots of any kind.Fan Skins in deviantART’s Fan Art Gallery
Unfortunately, our Skins category has been so misunderstood that we couldn’t find a decent quantity of examples to illustrate this article. Hopefully, this information will help to clarify what goes into Fan Art > Skins and we’ll start to see wonderful fan created skins for all kinds of user interfaces.
Once again, thank you for reading. We still have more articles in honor of Fan Art Week, so don’t miss out!
