At MXskinz, it started out with two people skinning like crazy, and then as time went along, so many wonderful talented people have contributed to the site to make it the variety that it is!

Here as a big thanks to each of them, MXskinz will feature a skinner each month or so! Thanks so much to all of them!


Name: Kenneth Ray, but people have been calling me by the moniker
"kenray" since I was but a tike, and I go by that...sign my
income tax forms that way.

Net Nickname: Kenray...I guess it's kinda unimaginative for me not to "skin" my name,
but it just didn't even occur to me back in 1995...

Where do you live? I live in Durham, North Carolina, USA, just on the outskirts of
Duke Univ. East Campus. (it's really lovely here, and the "Triangle",
being Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, is ranked #16 in the world
for Biomed studies and development...there is a lot of opportunity
about)

What programs do you skin?
Almost anything that is "stand-alone," uses an "INI" file and is freeware.
I almost never skin winamp, because it's square form is too restrictive,
but by the same token, I will occasionally skin MusicMatch Jukebox,
which is twice as restrictive...my favorite program to skin is Coolplayer,
because it is totally freeform, and is the smallest fastest & all
around best MP3 player...

What programs and graphics do you use to make your skins? I am a glutton...my uncle started me on Photoshop and Illustrator
back before they had version numbers, and I still use them daily,
along with Corel Draw (which does some things no other program
will do...if you know how to work it). I use all of the Macromedia
products. If people realized how great the FLASH and Fireworks
programs are for graphics in general, they would use them often while
skinning...
I use a lot of dingbats, fonts and such, so I run MapofCharachters
constantly...it start when the computer starts... (coordpad and Mapof Characters are available in the "Orphan Apps"
section at teknidermy magazine)

Website URL: jeez, which one...? I do business out of kenraydigital.com, but i am
responsible for so many at this point it would be like writing a book
to list them all...current faves would be lisa-ray.net (my wife-and great
songwriter/performer), harmonizedrecords.com (just because it is so
clean), and of course, www.teknidermy.com, the online skinners
journal of which I am the slightly irresponsible editor (heheh)

Hobbies: Photography, Frisbee, trying to learn at least a few pleasant phrases
in as many languages as I can, gardening, and music. I really really enjoy learning to play cover songs on the acoustic guitar,
most especially if it is a song no-one would ever expect to hear played
on an acoustic guitar...like, just recently, I have learned to play "Dancing
Queen" by Abba, "Here Comes the Rain Again" by the Eurythmics,
and "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos. The all time freaker-outer, however,
seems to be "Under Pressure" by Queen...I have played that at open
mics and seen people with their mouths hanging open...hehehe.


Do you have a favorite skin? Well....I guess, like a musician, my favorite is always the one I'mworking on now...but, if I had to choose a set which I turn to over andand over again, it would be the "Sputnik" Suite by Treetog. I think that,
at least for me, is like the "Stairway to Heaven" of skinning. The all-time classic by which everything else will be measured....

Do you have a skinning philosophy? Absolutely, and I can sum it up in two words: "get weird". There are enough people out there who are already going to be making every sort of plastic or metallic box you could possible ever imagine, so go and do something bizarre...I still get a note every now and then about the
Coolplayer skin "Generator," which is this 3 dimensional Bryce
contraption...the notes aren't always that nice, but I can tell that skin
gets to people on some level that most of my work doesn't, and it is
because it is just so strange and different...

How did you get interested in skinning? Well, it was music Match actually. That was the first program I ever had with a "change skin" option on it. I was utterly fascinated the second I realized what that was all about. Once I figured out how the skins were put together...I just had to make one of my own. I never really
stopped after that. The first skinning site I ever found was skinz.org,
and that was back in the "glory daze." Skinning was still a rather small,
loving, appreciative, well-spoken, patient, helpful, informative club back
then...things that very few sites are today. I still love to do it, see it and participate in it, though...

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