Uhm, that thing on the top left corner..., you may think about an alternate variant to implement the menu functionality
Remove one control: if the player is paused, the user want to stop or continue playing, instead of pausing again (progressive controls)
Duplicate content for the settings (use the menu or use a control)
What i think when i reviewed my skin and thinking in general:
- Don't try to reinvent everything, VLC users have a reason why they love the player
- Don't over-design it as the video will have enough special effects
- Don't use styles from other media players or software, use principles of it, not the product
- Don't think and design from your perspective of use, get the idea on how other people use the player
- Bring every functionality of the skins2 engine, as a lot of people doesn't use skins for a lack of features as the only reason (i'm one of it, even i design skins)
Edit: You may be interested in Balsamic or Azure instead of MS Paint