Bringing out the good stuff in Second Life®: fashion, hot spots, freebies, etc.

Sometime in late March 2008, I walked into Bland, a clothing retail store that Rachel Breaker was then just opening. It was kinda cartoonish, kinda retro, but especially it was colourful and fun. Soon enough, that is, not many months later,  the Tableau team that had been very exclusive until then announced a newcomer on the sim, and as I excitedly went to check out the shop that had been set up in the sky, I recognised it to be the Bland brand, except it had by then some new additions besides clothing, like toys and big, colourful armchairs, all of which confused me somewhat at the time. Fast forward to today, the Bland name has been scrapped, all of that old stuff, especially the clothing, is probably no longer for sale, and it has made room instead to a growing collection of toys and pieces of furniture that are not only still playful, outrageously so even, but which, build-wise and texture-wise, are now onto an entire other level. To see for yourself, here are two of her outlets in Tableau and here in Thibedeau. I just don’t understand that there are not whole sims built by Rachel all over the grid by now. She could rival the Greenies’ Home Rezzable all by her lonesome, or a Pixar movie even. Standing in anything she makes is like… standing in a whole different SL! She makes anything look as if she had made it out of play-doh, and it’s just mind-boggling, and kinda dreamy, and it feels goooood.

The Swimmer series can be seen in its entirety at Del May’s exhibit, in Poetik Velvets, along with a selection of dark, mysterious images. Largely untouched, these are stunning me with their nakedness and simplicity.

Miss McArdle is a veteran sim developer in SL. She animates, textures, scripts, makes sculpties; has had long-standing experience in planning, designing, and building full corporate sims, usually as the project manager and head builder (Enel, Sun micro, DemmanioRe, Next Experience). You can check on her work on flickr or at her workshop sim, Ironfist.

Pictures provided by flopsie (the last four taken with a shadows-enabled client).

Mad, mad skills! Reda Bertolucci and Emilie Freund, of NOTsoBAD, have started selling their services roughly six months ago and here is what they have accomplished so far:

1. Urban planning, building and contemporary interior design for a modern, corporate sim. Check it at Cash Services HQ.

2. Landscaping and terraforming for private homesteads. They make their own plants, rocks, ground textures, ect. The look and feel is each time very unique, so you’re sure to not end up with some run of the mill beachy island.

3. Custom builds on a theme. You can see their gorgeous, lush hacienda on the “Elle et Lui” sim. Every texture is baked, with unique shadows and lighting.

4. Community full sim planning. At Cicada, you can see an example of what the NOTsoBAD team can do when put in charge of building a project from the ground up (they’re not at fault for the club and tacky vendors in the marketplace, though).

Versatile and perfectionist, these two french fellows are part of a handful of people that can show off the true potential of what Second Life can look and feel like if you’re dedicated and hard-working enough to bring this high a level of professionalism to what you put out on the grid.

Barnesworth is one of the most recognised developers in SL, having been contracted to create sims for corporate companies, universities and Linden Lab for years.
You can visit the idyllic welcome area of Violet for an example of his outstanding skills in building, designing, texturing and landscaping.

Gutterblood, one of the founding team members of The Wastelands community, has recently unveiled his own project: Error, where you can meet him in person, as a showcase of his all around versatile building and texturing skills, which are now officially for hire under the company name of Rot Dev. Everything, everything in Error, has been created by Gutterblood himself. If you’re looking for someone to develop your personal project and want the most bang for your buck, this is the man. This is not to say he’s cheap, but that you would be employing a lot of ressourcefulness packed into one builder.

Lindsey Warwick is a skilled sculptie maker who can bring the finishing touches your project needs for extra realism. You can see examples of her work on Hobo Island. She specialises for now in planar sculpties: blankets, rugs, cloths, banners, curtains… And she’s for hire! Contact her in-world for custom commissions.