# Deciding on a custom "Skindle"



## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Finally getting my navy Hokusai Wave cover from Oberon has opened the accessory floodgates for me and my first-generation Kindle: I've emailed Melissa from Borsa Bella about a custom Kindle bag, and I've been designing skins over at mytego.com. I wasn't originally interested in a Kindle skin because I was concerned that it would distract me while I was trying to read, but I've read that many people feel the white of the device is actually more distracting, and I can see how that would be true... plus, I want to "dress up" my Kindle even more now that I have a gorgeous cover. =) I mean, really, a nekkid Kindle in a cover this beautiful is surely some sort of crime:








I haven't seen any skins on Decalgirl that strike me as really "me," and I'm loath to buy a skin from 3acp.com after reading that their skins leave residue once removed (although their skin #138 is super cute...), so I'm looking at mytego.com for my Skindle needs. These are some of the designs that I've come up with today:






















_Please don't reuse these designs; I make them using primarily my own photographs and/or artwork._

I'm almost certainly going to go with the first one, at least for now. I want to start off with something kind of subtle and unobtrusive, color-wise; also, it makes sense to me to open a cover with a wave on the front and find seashells inside. 

Even though I'm going to start off with one, I can see how skinning can be addictive, _especially_ with the ability to create custom skins!


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## MonaSW (Nov 16, 2008)

Very nice selection! good choices for both color and theme.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

I think that shell one is going to look fabulous with your wave cover!  Can't wait to see it.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Thank you, ladies!  I'm having so much fun making these; I know mytego.com takes forever to ship their custom skins, so I really ought to put in my order ASAP, but I keep waffling over which skin to get! I like the seashell one and it looks decent in the mock-up that I did in Photoshop to see how it would look on my Kindle, but, with the option to make custom skins, the possibilities are endless.






















_Please don't reuse these designs; I make them using primarily my own photographs and/or artwork._

Decisions, decisions!


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## Kind (Jan 28, 2009)

jesspark said:


> ​




This one is nice.​


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

My husband likes that one, too, Kind. What I like about it is how cool it would look with a corresponding screensaver to fill in the blanks:








Oh, I wish I could get 'em all!


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

jesspark said:


> My husband likes that one, too, Kind. What I like about it is how cool it would look with a corresponding screensaver to fill in the blanks:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I like this one the best. The seashells are a nice, but this one seems to be better with the cover.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

That'll be my next one, then.    I put in an order for the seashell one a little while ago... so now the waiting begins! Three weeks is going to seem like forever; I'm glad my Oberon cover didn't take that long.  =)


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## pomlover2586 (Feb 14, 2009)

I vote for the dolphin one!


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## kindlevixen (Jan 13, 2009)

I love this one:


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Great job(s) - I like them all, but I'd have gone with the seashells too.  Looking forward to seeing the final result!


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## kjn33 (Dec 8, 2008)

jesspark said:


> Thank you, ladies!  I'm having so much fun making these; I know mytego.com takes forever to ship their custom skins, so I really ought to put in my order ASAP, but I keep waffling over which skin to get! I like the seashell one and it looks decent in the mock-up that I did in Photoshop to see how it would look on my Kindle, but, with the option to make custom skins, the possibilities are endless.
> 
> http://pics.livejournal.com/jppix/pic/004w0z4c.jpg[/img]
> 
> ...


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## Sweety18 (Feb 14, 2009)

VictoriaP said:


> I think that shell one is going to look fabulous with your wave cover! Can't wait to see it.


I like that shell one too, looks very beachy


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

"Beachy" is definitely my style, Sweety18! =) I've lived in Florida all my life, I surf (poorly) and scuba dive, I used to work with dolphins and other marine mammals at a well-known marine facility, and my condo is decked out in very tropical, tiki-inspired décor.

Finding appropriate skins for my Kindle has been difficult -- Decalgirl's "Tropics" design didn't really do it for me, for some reason; and 3acp's design #138 is super cute (if a little bright), but I want to wait until they resolve their adhesive issue before ordering -- so I'm really happy to have the opportunity to put together my own skins. I just hope the one I ordered turns out well... if so, I'll probably be ordering more.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Some new contenders for skin number two (provided I like the construction of skin number one, of course!):






















_Please don't reuse these designs; I make them using primarily my own photographs and/or artwork._

The first two are personal photos from Hawaii (specifically, from the top of the Diamond Head crater) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California; the third one is a favorite fresco of mine, the dolphins in the Queen's Megaron in Crete (seen here; it's also the inspiration for my dream Oberon cover). Taking a horizontal picture and making it vertical was difficult, and I'll probably wind up editing this post a dozen times to reflect changes I make to the third skin, but I'm pretty pleased with the overall look of it.


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## Neo (Mar 30, 2009)

I REALLY like the jelly fish one, it's awsome!!!!!!!!!


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks, Neo! My husband took that one -- they're a type of jellyfish known as "sea nettles," and they photograph _really_ well when their habitat is lit the way you see at Monterey Bay and other aquariums. They're stunning! (Haha... literally.)


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

I normally try to post custom skin ideas in batches, but I love this one so much that it gets a post all its own! 








_Please don't reuse this design; I scanned and edited it myself._

This image is from an old travel poster that I have framed on my wall. I also have a postcard version of it, so I scanned it, removed the airplane from the picture, and now I'm seriously considering making _this_ my second custom skin. =)


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

jesspark said:


> I normally try to post custom skin ideas in batches, but I love this one so much that it gets a post all its own!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This one gets my vote, Jess - LOVE this!


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks, Meemo!  I can't take all the credit for this one, though; when I'd mentioned to my husband that I wanted to make some vintage travel poster screensavers (which I finally did), he pointed to the poster on our wall and said that, with the position of the woman in the lower corner of the painting, it would also make a great Kindle skin. My own husband is an enabler! =)

I really, really hope that the Tego skin I ordered turned out well, because I'd like to give them a lot more business in the future!


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## Reyn (Feb 10, 2009)

OOOh!  I vote for the last one.  Love it!


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks, Reyn! I don't know if I want my next skin to be the last one, or the Knossos dolphins one, or the Florida treasure map... ohh, so many choices!

Now, as for my original order... I just got it tonight! (Oh, if only I'd checked the mail earlier...) I took several photos, and, as soon as I clean 'em up, I'll post them along with a review.  The short of it: I'm pretty pleased. I could live without the "texture" of the backing paper that's visible/tactile, and it was a bear to get the skin off the backing, but it wasn't _too_ difficult to apply and I'm tickled pink to see one of my husband's photos gracing my Kindle.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Whew! This wouldn't have taken so long, but I realized only _after_ I'd taken photos of my Kindle in its new clothes that I'd neglected to do a coordinating custom screensaver. _Gasp!_ Once that was done, I had to take the photos again, clean them up, and then write a (very long-winded thorough) review. You can read it -- and see the final product -- here!


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Even though I now have a custom skin that I'm very happy with, I still like playing around with different designs to see how they'd look on a Kindle. I put some of them up for grabs (if I'm not going to use them, someone else may as well!), while I file others away in the "future use" category.

The following skin designs are neither up for grabs nor planned for my own future use, since I doubt Paramount and Lucasfilm would look too kindly upon mytego.com producing skins based on their character, but I thought the finished products were too cool _not_ to share:


















_Indiana Jones © Paramount and Lucasfilm, please don't re-use, etc., etc._​
The first skin is based on the British WWII gas mask bag used by Indiana Jones as a knapsack (my husband and I each have one, and, even though they're ancient, their ability to hold together after all these years is impressive!), with "dirt" added in Photoshop to the canvas texture. Due to the placement of the logo on the front, this one looks a little better as a K2 skin; for someone with a K1 who wanted a relatively simple skin, using this without the logo (or with the logo only on the back) might work well.

In the case of the second, this is one instance in which I'd actually order a skin for the back of my Kindle. I love that poster for _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_ so much!

Now, don't even get me started on my idea of distressing a leather cover to make the Kindle look like a replica of the Grail diary from _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_... mwahaha...

Oh, Indy!


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## MarthaT (Mar 3, 2009)

nice, my hubby would love the Indiana Jones one


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## ladynightshade (Apr 2, 2009)

O LOVE that one jess.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks, MarthaT and ladynightshade!  =)

I'm really liking the "Ecco the Dolphin" one, too, ladynightshade; if I had that one done, I'd probably turn the corresponding screensaver into a nameplate: "This Kindle belongs to Jess" or somesuch in a pretty font. The "completed" picture is nothing but the top of Ecco's body and the leading edge of his dorsal fin along with the light-speared water background, so I think it'd work nicely as a nameplate.

I love my custom seashell skin, but I'm definitely wondering how some of these other ones would look...


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

jesspark said:


> I normally try to post custom skin ideas in batches, but I love this one so much that it gets a post all its own!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This one is spectacular.I really like it


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Thank you, Sugar! I really love how that one turned out, too, and it's proooobably going to be my second custom skin, whenever I get around to ordering another one.    I don't know how the colors, which are very bold compared to the seashell skin that I'm currently using, will look as a Tego skin, but I hope it'll look nice! I love that vintage travel poster.


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

jesspark said:


> Thank you, Sugar! I really love how that one turned out, too, and it's proooobably going to be my second custom skin, whenever I get around to ordering another one.  I don't know how the colors, which are very bold compared to the seashell skin that I'm currently using, will look as a Tego skin, but I hope it'll look nice! I love that vintage travel poster.


I am sure it will be fine 
It honestly looks like it belongs on a K1.I mean the way the graphic is laid out,with woman on the lower right side like that 
I bet it will look spectacular.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Exactly! My husband's the one who looked at our travel poster with this painting on it and remarked that it looked like it would fit well on the Kindle -- so I have him to thank for this design.


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