It'd be really nice if there were a couple free Trek themes.

For the record, commission Trek themes are in violation of copyright law. Fair use allows Trek-based creations online, provided they are free and nobody gains any profit from them. Paramount Pictures holds the copyright to all Star Trek-y stuff, and unless you have a license from Paramount, you can't charge for them.

Oooo - Sarcasm! I LOVE it tehehe - But seriously - what did you expect from the commentary? Everyone to bow down and say that you are right and console you? Ha! Too funny...

Damn! What the hell are you guys charging your clients? $100 an hour? Must be nice.

It's not stupid Shelley - I'm happy to put 10 hours into a design for $40/hour --- I take into consideration that not everyone can afford a $2000 vBulletin skin LOL - and for every corporate identity package ordered (top dollar of course) - I will show you 100 vB enthusiasts on a budget :P and more than happy to have a custom design that is both affordable and classy.

Jacquii.

Is that the whole point. To have a classy style. I don't care what anyone says, If a style is done in 10 hours then it's going to be far from classy and/or images constructed from scratch giving a element of exclusivity to the client. If I design a style for a client they have every single image done, coded design and all images icons exclusive.

I've just been working on a style from several vb providers and I have had to replace tons of graphics and icons that are stock. I'm not saying $300 is stupid, well i am because i think it is because I agree with you get what you pay for. And, it undercuts your worth if you are a talented in this area.

Most top styling providers can't even design. I can name scores of top stylers for vb who cannot design complex images and most of their styles still have the same repreitive default graphics or royality free images which doesn't offer the client any exclusivity.

Luckily, I hate styling with a passion so I'll very rarely take on work. I know, if I take on a job the client can expect a fully exclusive style, support and every icon and image replaced. 99% of the styling providers cannot offer this service and haven't done as long as I've been present at the vbulletin community.

As it goes, after the two styles i'm working on one of which I'm helping with I'll never style again. I hate it more than being stickied.

Hmmm- Exclusive and custom may be two entirely different concepts from those outside the designer "arena" persee. Most requests in the paid requests section is made by those who are looking for an affordable custom solution - or perhaps even a customized header/icon set to be amended onto a premade skin - THAT's what I'm saying $300 - $450 pricerange is applicable to.

$2000 for an exlusive design you have spent 30+ hours on is to be expected because every designer I know wants to be paid a very fair wage for his/her time and creativity.

ha! I think I am not very crazy about styling either Girl - I do love the money though tehehehe - and I'm not all that bad at it. I absolutely abhor the concept of supporting a style through various vB version upgrades though ARG --- Hmmm - being stickied though is an entirely different stimulation, erm - I mean situation LMAO :P

The people who want to pay for our time and services should be able to realize that some of us might be experts in our fields.

I did far to many vB2 to vB3 style upgrades for far too little money.

To turn the otherside of the debate on it's head, there are plenty of people here that do a wonderfull job for free who are an expert in their field. merly because your a paying customer, paying top dollar your not always going to get a great outcome from it.

I've seen plenty of free projects taken that surpass commercial projects so there's always pros and cons to each area.

I mean. Take the company your working for. Couldn't even slice the 3.0 GDK for people wanting to make easy modifications of the vbulletin graphics. And saving becomes a time consuming task aswell as embedded blending effects from another software making re-colouring difficult for beginners. That's a prime example of poor shoddy workmanship right there.

So your not always going to get what you pay for 100% of the time. majority of the time, maybe.

Hmmm - I'm not disputing that at all - I like to think that I'm an expert at what I do as well - Hell - if anything - I'm asking you where I can sign-up to get this top-dollar paying Clientele :)

Jacquii.

Must annoy alot of people cos I hear that an awful lot.

You can't rip vB themes. Only do your best to copy :)

You can rip them off. If you have access to the .xml file, images and the source files you can very much ripoff style here and they do get ripped off. On the commercial front, many members at these warez sites purchase styles and then post them on these forums where people use them and in my books that is ripping off styles.

Most people even take out the credits removing the brand from the footer which was put there by the author which is also ripping off a style and on numerous occasions replacing it with their name.

To me, this is a classic sign of ripping off a style as well as the author who created it. It happens all the time it's just some people turn a blind eye to it and go into a state of denial.