[HATRED winamp skin]

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the release of Haibane Renmei, which is a great time to post art. Good art, you ask? Oh the best - early 2000′s wallpapers from the dregs of the internet, of course! 

Nothing says “graphic design is my passion” like throwing black font on a black background because, like, its the Black Parade? It has to be black???

Another genre of Wallpaper at the time was the ‘anime + poetry’ blend, which Haibane was a poster child for:

Posted by “Knight Of Lain” in 2005 as their first wallpaper, King tier shit. This genre really died out by ~2010, but I think early internet had a lot of quasi-spiritual, “Christian-ish but I don’t like, read the bible ya know?” teens for whom Haibane’s ennui & iconography really hit home. Those people are either practicing capital-W Witches or Gwyneth Paltrow now.

Something I did discover when browsing DeviantArt was the people who uploaded “wallpapers” that were just screenshots? Of their desktops? So like their UI was still there, so you couldn’t really download it as a wallpaper:

At the time that would be frustrating, now its perfect Y2K-core vibes. “Posted in 2006″ yeah I gathered that, show me the Warcraft 3 mods don’t tease me like this!!

To diversify a bit, I did find this Winamp skin in the Museum, fully ‘flipped image’ and everything like how it was done at the time:

I find this particularly amusing because I know why it exists - Serial Experiments Lain was hugely popular with the techno scene for obvious reasons, so there are tons of winamp skins for that show, and Haibane is related to Lain, so even though Haibane shares like none of Lain’s aesthetic in that regard...why not right?

On the more professional side, Megatokyo Author Fred Gallagher absolutely did a Haibane-inspired sidestory in his webcomic in 2007! He loved the anime and I think its ‘genre’ was something he was trying hard to emulate in the late 2000′s:

Link if you want to read it, though the Haibane elements are more aesthetics than plot.

To end this a little meta, Haibane wallpapers, like everything back then, were built out of “constituent parts”, official art from scanned artbooks and promotional material, cut & recoloured in photoshop. One of the big source ones at the time came from this image, if I recall correctly:

Which is funny, because it kindof isn't from Haibane Renmei? That isn’t Rakka. Its from Yoshitoshi Abe, in a doujin he published in 1998 *called* Haibane Renmei, but it was extremely different from the show. Its just a collection of standalone art jumping between cute and gothic-creepy, and these angels live in modern Japan:

The latter creepy stuff is actually kindof funny, as you can tell this guy is definitely designing for Serial Experiments Lain at the time - which shares that sensibility deeply - but its an aesthetic that would barely survive in the actual product by the time the *true* predecessor doujin of the anime, Haibane of Old Home, would be released in 2001. But since so many Haibane fans *were* alt-edgy goth loving freaks due to how Haibane was situated & transmitted in western anime cultural spaces at the time (and its inherent themes, not taking that away), pulling from the extant creepy art out there was a natural instinct. So that og image just...became Rakka.

You can check out the 1998 doujin here in full if you want - if you are a fan of NieA under 7, the other anime based on one of ABe’s doujin, you will definitely notice some proto-characters for that story in this.

(Also since it has happened before, every art featured here is unironically great, their creators are great for making them. Cringe is dead, I love all of this) 

Yaoi winamp skins From Winamp Skin Museum ✧.* > 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

now listen up rookie. this is what you are going to do.

you are going to make a folder at C:/users/<user>/music

you'll then install soulseek. you set your downloads folder to the music folder you made earlier. got it? okay good.

now you search some bands you like, some albums you like, anything. you now download those songs. cool?

next, you'll install wacup. when its done installing, go to options > preferences > media library. add folder, and set the folder to C:/users/<user>/music.

after that, go to winamp skin museum. you're going to download as many skins as you like.

after that, go back to wacup, options > preferences > skins and right click on the list of skins > open skins folder. place your freshly downloaded skins in there.

now you are going to open and close wacup again. options > preferences > skins. double click on the new skin. close preferences.

now... you listen to your music recruit. isn't it wonderful.

Hey I seen your post on WinAMP and was wondering if you can link resources to get started with it (mostly where to get it because the official website linked on wikipedia page gives me a website that displays... a too modern music player than what I've seen so I'm wondering how you got it). Thanks!

aha! Very understandable. Sorry im a little late to this ask, but you can use WACUP! It's basically old Winamp with modern stuff under the hood from what I understand. Once you download that, you can go to the Winamp Skins Museum and pick out your favorites to get you started!

(And hey, if you want a more personal skin to start the whole thing off, I'm gonna reveal one of the more minor secrets on the Astral Guard website...)

Oh hai tumblr! I made a few more Winamp skins, for fun!

It was mentioned on the Webamp Discord that there weren't any Minecraft skins in the skin museum... and I took that personally. Though I haven't played much lately, I love Minecraft and have sunk many hours into exploring and building.

Also mentioned, that there weren't skins coming up for the Frutiger Aero aesthetic. I imagine there are skins that fit the bill already, but I went for one that targets it specifically. Glassy, glossy, blues and greens, shiny orbs, FISH!

Both skins can be found on my site, or in the Winamp Skin Museum (here and here).

someone at work shared this and i've been scrolling forever

The cutest Winamp skins from the Winamp Skin Museum website ^_^

Round 1C

Elliott Smith’s Either/Or: Separate from the rest, where I like you the best, and keep the things you forgot. Either/Or is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, recorded in 1997 in the dissolving days of Smith’s former band Heatmiser. The album is characterized by its raw, introspective lyrics and Smith's delicate yet emotionally charged vocals. The tracklist explores themes of love, addiction, despair, self-destruction and self-reflection with haunting tones, often accompanied by Smith's finger-picking guitar work; Either/Or would go on to be regarded as an album of profound tragedy, and would regularly feature on rankings of “saddest records.” The album's intimate and minimalist production adds to its appeal, making it a beloved classic in the indie folk and alternative genres. Either/Or did not chart on release, but Smith would briefly be cast into the international spotlight when he performed the standalone single Miss Misery at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, due to the song's appearance in Good Will Hunting and its subsequent Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Regardless of chart status the album was critically acclaimed, and has only grown a stronger cult fanbase following Smith’s untimely death a few years later.

Winamp: If you can’t remember your top 3 Winamp skins, you may be too young to vote in this round. Winamp was a pioneering media player for Windows-based computers. Created by Nullsoft and first released in 1997, Winamp gained immense popularity during the late 1990s and early 2000s for its user-friendly interface, endlessly customizable (and deeply weeby) skins, and robust audio playback features. It allowed users to organize and play their digital music files, supporting various audio formats; Winamp also offered an array of plugins and visualizations that enhanced the listening experience. Beyond its functionality, Winamp became an iconic symbol of the digital music revolution and was cherished by a generation of users for its simplicity and versatility. Despite its decline in popularity in the mid-2000s, it remains a nostalgic symbol of early digital music. For an absolutely vital nostalgia trip, visit The Winamp Skins Museum.

[POSTAL winamp skin]

Video game Winamp skins Source: Winamp Skin Museum

A growing collection of curious sites and oddities that, for whatever reason, I think should be appreciated

Legend of the Green Dragon - A browser based role playing game, based on Seth Able's Legend of the Red Dragon

Arngren.net - A place to buy things

The Emulator Zone - Download emulators for classic gaming consoles

Nestopia - Superior NES emulator for mac

The Secret History of Carnival Talk

Real Vampires Website: How to get blood, made easy

Last Words - Cockpit voice recordings, transcripts, Air Traffic Control tapes

Sinister Cinema - Online catalogue of old B-movies, horror, noir etc. for purchase

MS-DOS Software Library - Download software for MS-DOS

windows93.net - A delightfully interactive in-browser Win93 experience

BonziBUDDY! - Infect your PC on purpose with the original BonziBuddy

batheinmymilk.com

Million Dollar Minesweeper - Minesweeper electronics

isitchristmas.com - A site that tells you whether it is Christmas or not

Go Away - classic early internet reading

Soviet Moves Online, with English subs

shoudiworkforfree.com - Useful infographic for freelancers

McMaster-Carr - A hardware supply site with god-tier web design

Winamp Skins Museum - archive of old skins for winamp, has every skin you could ever want

2Advanced Studios in Winamp Skin Museum https://t.co/LB4bbFk8lJ https://twitter.com/WebDesignMuseum/status/1629478822566395904