Wednesday, September 26, 2007

What goes into making a designer?


Ok Im going to rant a little about something I see all to often thrown around that I find extremely irritating. I normally make it a policy to not to do this but I feel that on behalf of myself and many other designers something needs to be said. Today I saw an all to frequent comment on a blog "After all, couture and fashion cost naught but thought and time in Second Life plus maybe a $10L upload fee. " I am sorry but this quite frankly is a very uniformed statement and is most likely true of someone who may just beginning to toy with the idea of designing. Before you get out the pitchforks to start the fires burning let me explain all that really goes on behind creating a good quality designer.

First thing you need is software while there maybe other software thats free in my opinion in the long run your going to need Adobe photoshop currently priced at $999 or $349 for an upgrade. Next thing youll need is a wacom drawing tablet, the smallest wacom intuos 4 by 6 is $229.00. You will also need a reasonably good high quality monitor, I state this because while some will say well I have a monitor already it may not be suitable. The reason is color monitors are fairly cheap these days but the cheaper ones tend to give you poor color values. Next you will need some training, there are many ways to obtain training, theres a ton of tutorials on the net or you will need to pay for training. Again these are my opinions but I think your best bet is go to your community college and sign up for a class and supplement with tutorials you find. Cost for a class will vary here your talking about a $100 plus materials and parking.

Ok these to me are the basics for a beginning designer who has looked at it a bit and decided they really want to do this. Now lets take a look at what goes on beyond the basics. I'm basing this on myself and some designers I know who are pursuing design somewhat seriously. While community college classes and tutorials are a great start to go beyond that your going to have to get advanced training, that comes at a cost. Typically classes run anywere from$800 to several thousand dollars depending on the intensivity of the course or workshop you are taking. Add to that books and magazines you will need for reference. Next you will need a high quality digital camera, a good camera of the quality you need is going to run you about $700, you also need a tripod and lighting, you can get a reasonable tripod for $80 lighting is quite expensive a beginning lighting kit will run $300 to get the bare minimum.

Some of these things you will not need in the beginning of your designing career but as you improve you will need to add them. Ok you say did all that done right? Well that depends on your desire to improve and the quality you desire to reach. For me and professional artists I speak to training and learning is a process that never stops unless you wish to become stagnant and not grow. In addition to taking classes in photoshop I recommend taking classes in drawing, painting and color in design using real medium not the computer. Why you might ask? this gives you a basic fundamental ground to work from so you will understand why things work.

This doesnt even touch the costs and training 3d modeling which is starting to become one of the tools that designers are needing.

One last thing before I get off my soap box, the phrase "its free all it is is your time" well many of you have or have had a job in real life where you collect a hourly or weekly paycheck. I highly doubt if you went to work tomorrow and your boss said oh we have decided were not going to pay you today after all its just your time yould be very happy.

I recently saw a tv show the name escapes me but it was based on the cost of your time on normal mundane activities such as doing laundry, dog walking, taking your pet to the vet to loading your ipod they calculated the time these things took and how much time you were losing to them each week and it amazed me when you started totaling it all up how much time we lose just running errands. The focus of the show was the many services out there that you can hire to perform these tasks, who knew you could hire someone to load your ipod and set up play lists? My point is your time has value and it doesnt really come free as its at a cost of something else, it takes time to take classes, it takes time to seach the net for tutorials, it takes time to make dinner and do laundry.

So perhaps before someone says its just your time it costs you nothing maybe think twice....

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Perfect for the Fashionista

Port-A-Hud Never misplace a Landmark again!



Porta Hud is prolly one of my most favoritest things right now and I think once you try it you'll love it too!
Ever been afraid to delete a Landmark for fear youll NEVER find that cute little store with the most perfect outfits?Regularly bombarded with landmarks, have hundreds or thousands of the little suckers in your inventory, then Port-A-Hud is for you!


Port-A-Hud


* Allows you access to your landmarks without opening inventory (good when inventory loads are SL-owwwww)
* Allows you to quickly arrange your landmarks into categories for easy finding
* Allows you to display your landmarks in ascending, descending order, or selectively by starting letter or symbol.
* Allows you to search for landmarks by any search criteria
* Allows you to delete your landmarks* Allows you to send multiple landmarks to others nearby* Allows you to quickly get to where you want to go!
* Provides quick SLURL's of your current location (great for bloggers!)
* Conveniently "flips up" out of the way when not in use.
* A variety of diffent background images (skins)

You can find it in the games area of the store on the back wall by the Snarkie Sharkie careful he doesnt bite you!

Dominus Designs

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Stars for Charity

Queen Galaxy Auction sets for Red Cross


Hi all a quick reminder that today is the last day of the Jewelry Expo and the last day to place bids on the auction sets. Alienbear Gupte of Alienbear Design Has donated 3 gorgeous sets for auction the details and craftmanship on these sets is exquisite. they are also a wonderful compliment to the celestial wedding gowns I recently released. Make your day complete by adding this set to the gown.

All the money from these sets are going to the red cross so not only can you own a beautiful unique set of jewelry your donating to a wonderful cause. The Red cross is involved in so many diverse efforts that need our support from disaster relief, blood drives to a multitude of international efforts that help children and families with immediate and long term support. They are one of the organisations that comes in we we have disasters such as Katrina and the flooding in the midwestern states.

"The American Red Cross responds to approximately 75,000 disasters a year, including Tropical Storms Dean and Erin, floods, house fires, storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters, providing aid to more disaster victims nationwide. This means that every eight minutes a disaster strikes and a family turns to the Red Cross for help. The Red Cross stands ready to turn the compassion of our donors into action. With your support of the Disaster Relief Fund, a fund that requires constant replenishment, the Red Cross can be there for the victims of the recent storms."


Please find it in your heart to make a donation if not to bid on a set a donation of any amount I am sure would be appreciated, you never know when you might be in need of help.

Monday, September 03, 2007

A Star among the Celestial Heavens

I have to admit when I got a request to do a wedding gown with stars I was a little stumped on how to design the gown to give it the sexiness the bride requested with a touch of glamour and elegance that would tie it all together to make a regal but sexy bride. After tossing around a few sketches this is the final outcome. Im really happy with how it has turned out. The set has 18 pieces all together I originally did the skirt in all satin, after I was all done I mulled over it for a few days and decided I really wanted a touch of lace to soften it a bit so I have included both the satin version and the lace version. The bodice is adorned with pearls diamonds & stars. I have created 6 variations of the top inculding sheer, opaque and one with little stars on the sheer bodice. The skirt has a jeweled draping of prim sapphire stars with tiny seed pearls and diamonds draping from it, the back bustle is also adorned with more saphhire stars. there is a sparkling bustle overskirt with tiny little stars that cascade and sparkle over the gown. A No sparkle bustle included. A ceremony gown and reception gown are included as well.

I wanted something special to go with this gown and asked Alienbear Gupte of Alienbear Design if she could design something to match this gown and she has created the wonder Celestial Jewelry set which compiments this perfectly it has tiny stars like a starry night in the celestial heavens with pearls a great set that will suit many different occassions. The Sapphire Tiara in included with a veil and face veil in the Celestial gown set which can be found at my main store Allure by Sparkle Skye
Set details - The set Includes a ceremony gown with train, prims stars & pearls adorn the bodice of the skirt & bustle. There is an optional sparkling over skirt with tiny little stars that cascade & sparkle over the gown. Also Included is a reception skirt also with an option sparkling over skirt. A prim sapphire & diamond tiara, veil & face veil is also included



Celestial Wedding Gown in Sky Blue Allure by Sparkle Skye
Celestial Necklace Alienbear Design






Celestial Sky Blue

Celestial Bride in Sky Blue Portrait

Store Shot

Details Shot of Bodice, Celestial Tiara & Celestial Jewelry

Bodice has 6 variations including sheer and opaque. The gorgeous Celestial Necklace was designed for this gown by Alienbear Gupte of Alienbear Design the necklace has beautiful detailing and 2 tiny stars dangling down the back of your neck and comes with matching earrings. I love this set as it has a modern feel and is extremely versatile can go from a formal event to a casual outfit.

Celestial Gown in Sky Blue available at Allure by Sparkle Skye
Celestial Necklace by Alienbear Design