A Final Word on Icons and Cursors

Creating your own icons and cursors can be as satisfying as creating some of the higher-profile theme/skin elements, such as backgrounds and visual styles. Because all the software we previewed in this chapter is available as shareware or demos, you can try them to determine what works best for you.

Because a large part of skinning is about personalizing the Windows desktop, being able to take digital photos or scanned images and use them as the starting material for icons and cursors enables you to create any number of skin elements without actually drawing them from scratch. As with all the elements involved in creating a skin, you want to have fun but also experience good results. Take a look at the icon and mouse pointer sets included with themes and skins you download for your skinning software. This should give you an idea of the artistic energy that went into their creation. These examples will also provide you with some food for thought as you create your own icons and mouse pointers.