One way to beautifully design your start screen

[Dave Adeth]

A very tedious process but worth the effort.
Every piece of alphabet and picture are thumbnails of websites.

When ever you pin a webpage to the start screen, what ever that is present on the top of the screen, it will be captured as a thumbnail in the size of a square.
Zoom whatever you want to put onto your start screen and pin it to the start screen to get the effects like the above.

thanks.

Private message me for more information to do this if needed
MOD EDIT: Putting your email address is not permitted as per the rules.

If you still cannot do it correctly, then read on for more detailed steps.

i searched for Fire letters on bing. for example. Letter D fire. choose the picture that you like from the images under media.
open up the web that contain that picture.

zoom in to the letters till it fills up the screen in the size of a box.
and press pin to start.
all the letters are are thumbnails of the webpage that are being pinned to start.
try it and you will understand what i mean.
you can make it even more interesting if you use live tiles apps. to make the pictures flip to another picture

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

That does look cool, I must admit. However, gotta admit, it does stray away from the Metro Design Language. But then again, it gives us choices. Some people like that sort of thing. Personally, I prefer the clean look of Metro, but then again, I haven't exactly tried this myself, so maybe it would look cooler if I tried that.

 

[Dave Adeth]

yes, we all do have choices.
i had a hard time settling down with this start screen. initially i just wanted to flush out the whole screen with pictures.
then i realised. i need to see my phone, messaging, email, whatsapp tiles at one glance when i unlock the phone.
so this is my final and most useable design.
at times i still feel like going back to the metro simplicity.
but Windows phone is not for everyone, it's for the individual! haha

 

[abel920]

That does look cool, I must admit. However, gotta admit, it does stray away from the Metro Design Language. But then again, it gives us choices. Some people like that sort of thing. Personally, I prefer the clean look of Metro, but then again, I haven't exactly tried this myself, so maybe it would look cooler if I tried that.

I actually LOVE Metro UI! My only problem is that the tiles can look very monotonous, and too simple - and that can make people think the UI is dull and boring. I think richer looking tiles with gradation, and more depth will enhance Metro even more

But then again, different things work for different people, so I should respect other people's preferences, hehe.

 

[Dave Adeth]

the most important thing. every authentic windows phone user is great!

 

[danj210]

I've used the web site tile pinning to categorize my start screen along with getting a cool thumbnail for a site I'm pinning. Haven't tried doing something like this but it is pretty cool!

Keep in mind, anyone could do the same thing as this just as a cool tribute to something. Like for me I could see myself doing something with a metal gear solid design in it with the olive drab theme color! Haha I'm a huge fan. Point is I could do anything big or small, doesn't have to be the same as the one shown in this thread.

I've only had the new tiles for a few weeks now so I keep adjusting little by little until I find the right setup. Then I could possibly try something like this.

Thanks for the post!

 

[HNNNNNGHHH]

Anyway, I know this isn't likely going to happen, but what if we could set custom backgrounds to the background and the tiles? No, not just to change the color, but also use an image as the background, or have a cutout that splits the image into many different tiles?.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Anyway, I know this isn't likely going to happen, but what if we could set custom backgrounds to the background and the tiles? No, not just to change the color, but also use an image as the background, or have a cutout that splits the image into many different tiles?.

As far as I remember, there are apps available that do that. But I can't remember the names of any apps right now... Bah, darn you memory failure!

 

[Dave Adeth]

I've used the web site tile pinning to categorize my start screen along with getting a cool thumbnail for a site I'm pinning. Haven't tried doing something like this but it is pretty cool!

Keep in mind, anyone could do the same thing as this just as a cool tribute to something. Like for me I could see myself doing something with a metal gear solid design in it with the olive drab theme color! Haha I'm a huge fan. Point is I could do anything big or small, doesn't have to be the same as the one shown in this thread.

I've only had the new tiles for a few weeks now so I keep adjusting little by little until I find the right setup. Then I could possibly try something like this.

Thanks for the post!

Good luck big boss!

 

[abel920]

Anyway, I know this isn't likely going to happen, but what if we could set custom backgrounds to the background and the tiles? No, not just to change the color, but also use an image as the background, or have a cutout that splits the image into many different tiles?.

Strangely enough, I just created this thread! This is the app that you exactly need
http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/219404-wiztiles-themes-share-yours-give-ideas.html

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Strangely enough, I just created this thread! This is the app that you exactly need
http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/219404-wiztiles-themes-share-yours-give-ideas.html

You're a star! Thanks for jogging my memory there.

 

[AngryNil]

Eh, too icon grid-esque for my liking. After playing around with the new start screen for a while, I'm most comfortable with the below layout. I think Windows Phone looks nice with standard tiles It allows for a good balance of both small and medium tiles (large tiles are just a waste of space IMO).

 

[Nimdock]

Eh, too icon grid-esque for my liking.

I kind of agree.

http://sdrv.ms/YVNA7T

At first I didn't have the row of 4 small tiles at the bottom but I decided to make xbox games and xbox music medium tiles side by side since they share the same shade of green.

 

[HNNNNNGHHH]

As far as I remember, there are apps available that do that. But I can't remember the names of any apps right now... Bah, darn you memory failure!

I think one of them is called Wiztiles?

Yeah, I'm aware that there are apps available for that, but it would be much better if that particular feature was natively included in the OS already, instead of waiting for developers to create applications that do just that.

 

[symwpapps]

Hi guys,

If you are into designing your start screen, may I suggest Skinery Tiles. It is the first and only custom tile app that lets you pin third party apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Spotify and more! Check out the other thread for pictures!

http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...st-custom-tile-launches-third-party-apps.html