Friends & Family / VIP Designs
Life Is Too Short for Boring Colors
Some people love black. Others love pink, bright yellow, or a shade of green that makes everyone else reach for their sunglasses.
And that’s perfectly fine.
I’ve spent countless hours thinking about the colors of Maria & James. Sometimes changing a shade of blue by just a few percent, only to change it back the next morning.
But why should my taste be the only one that matters?
The Assistant Bar sits at the top of your screen, quietly accompanying you through your working day. And I think something you see every day deserves to look the way you like it.
A Little Canvas for Big Ideas
A VIP Design isn’t about redesigning the entire application. It’s about the background of the Assistant Bar and the little Quickie icons that live on it.
That might sound like a rather small canvas.
But a beautiful background, a carefully chosen color palette, and icons that complement each other can give the entire Assistant Bar a completely different personality.
Elegant or playful. Subtle or extravagant. A little rebellious, perhaps.
And that’s what makes it interesting to me: creating something distinctive with just a few colors and a handful of little icons.
Sometimes, the smallest details make the biggest difference.
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder
I have my own ideas about what looks beautiful. And after spending so much time designing Maria & James, I’ve developed some rather strong opinions about colors.
But that doesn’t mean I’m always right.
Quite the opposite. I’d love to see what happens when someone with a completely different artistic background looks at my little Assistant Bar and thinks, “I could do something interesting with that.”
I’m not looking for designers who simply follow my taste. I’m looking for people who bring their own.
And if the result makes me raise an eyebrow at first, that might actually be a good sign.
A Little Art for Your Desktop
I don’t believe that art always needs a large canvas, a gallery, or a place above the living room sofa.
Sometimes, it can be something as simple as a beautiful combination of colors and a handful of little icons on a computer screen.
A VIP Design gives its creator the opportunity to leave a little artistic signature on Maria & James. And it gives someone else the pleasure of having something on their desktop that feels a little more personal.
And because I believe that special things should remain special, VIP Designs will be available only in small, limited editions.
Not another anonymous color scheme chosen by a software developer, but a little piece of someone’s creativity, made for just a handful of people.
A little affordable luxury for your desktop.
Let’s Add Some Color Together
I’d love to collaborate with independent designers, illustrators, and digital artists who have their own ideas about what a beautiful desktop should look like.
Some might already have thousands of people following their work. Others might be just starting out. What matters to me is their creativity, their individuality, and whether we enjoy working together.
I’ll take care of the software and the technical details. The artist brings their ideas, their colors, and their personal style.
And because I believe in partnerships on equal footing, we’ll share the proceeds from every VIP Design sale 50/50. After all, we’re creating something together, so why shouldn’t we share the rewards?
Perhaps we’ll create a design that people fall in love with. Perhaps we’ll experiment with colors that should never have been put next to each other.
Either way, I suspect we’ll have some fun.
And who knows? We might even make a new friend along the way.
After all, that’s what Friends & Family is supposed to be about.
