2008 is gone, and as we look forward to another great year in skinning for 2009, I wanted to take a look back at some of the skins that were either the most popular, most talked about, or just plain cool.  We saw some skinners quietly fade away, and we also saw some long-time skinners make new appearances along with new skins.  We also have quite a few new Master Skinners on WinCustomize, and we have more promotions coming soon.

So lets take a look back at some of the skins from 2008.

WindowBlinds

Starting off the year, one of the first WindowBlinds skins was a Master skin from SKoriginals called Powder.  This is a light colored skin with plenty of detail to go around, and certainly deserving of the title of Master skin.

Around the same time Stardock Design released its first skin of the year titled ‘Elegance’.  This is another light colored skin properly named because of it’s smooth and slick design.

One of the most popular skins on WinCustomize was StealthOS by MikeB314.  Early in the year MikeB graciously updated the skin to work with Vista and take advantage of the latest features in WindowBlinds 6 and SkinStudio 6.

A skin that generated quite a bit of buzz outside of WinCustomize was iLCD by OFFICA WoD.  This skin offers a unique design that mixes design elements from Vista and OS X.  Most of all, it was a clean and usable skin.

The next notable skin was Dragon by Stardock Design.  What makes this skin stand out is the start menu which has an incredible animation. 

If I had to award a prize to a skin with the most creative and unique design, hands-down the winner would be No Load Limit by I.R. Brainiac.  Just look at the screenshot and you will see what I mean.

Another skinner who pushes the boundaries of creativity is kittymalone, and one skin that comes to mind is Temple Oblivion.  This is a skin with a much darker tone than others, and kitty is one of the only skinners who can pull this off with a WindowBlinds skin.

Another skin that took WinCustomize by storm was Vienna 3 – Rapture by vStyler.  Every part of this skin was well though out and implemented perfectly. 

A skinner who made a return this year was APB, and she brought us a beautiful WindowBlinds skin by the name of Sirach.  This is a more minimal looking skin, which was also great for re-coloring.

Although Vista has been out for a while now, Aero-inspired skins are still very popular, and skins like Clear Black by Butch123 give users the ability to keep the Aero feel with some added changes.

The next skin that was very popular during 2008 was Thundera by Z71.  It has a very bright color, but its designed in a way where it’s still usable on a day to day basis.

One of my personal favorite skins of 2008 was gaiety by mkorashy.  This is a fantastic skin, and was only the second one he ever created.  I definitely hope to see more this year from him.

People have always asked about a 3D looking skin, and theAVMAN seemed to pull it off with 3D Metal.  It’s an awesome looking skin, and the time put into this is incredible.

Another new skinner who has been submitted some great works is jester382.  One of my favorite WB skins from him is neovision which makes great use of darker colors and minimal design.

One of the last WindowBlinds of the year, and one of the most popular in the 2008 GUI Champs, was Plastic Fantastic by vStyler.  This is a skin that is easy on the eyes, but yet has great color, and a minimal design, but still has plenty of details.

Well that is a wrap for 2008 WindowBlinds skins, and remember these are just a few of the hundreds of WindowBlinds skins that came in throughout the year.  Take a browse through the gallery to see all the other great skins.