Mesh Love! Le Lunch at Le Bistro
Kidd’s Play with Dop Kidd Feeling Rustic with
Maxwell Graf
from the founder
This winter felt like my debut as an overly stressed circus performer juggling more than I was trained for unable to give any one item my full attention, but the lights and big top will not be my home and the large red shoes are not quite my style. The only time I felt relaxed was when I logged into Second Life to spend time with friends and family or when I was peeking at all of the amazing new releases for my home or new mall. When I finally paused for a moment I realized spring was rapidly eating away at the dismal winter and the days were a little brighter ushered in on warm winds thattickle the rolling hills of verdant grass. Walking barefoot through fields with arms open wide how can someone not feel free? I wanted to hold onto that feeling so it was time to dig up the backyard and plant items from the amazing landscapers of Second Life and I spent time with DoP Kidd who is incredibly sweet. We also spent some time with the incredibly funny Maxwell Graf of Rustica, Drusus DuCasse of Zanzo it was an honor they made time for us! Mesh love and more is packed into this long awaited issue we do apologize for the delay! Recently Royal Living sponsored an amazing event, Champion Horses for Autism and we could not be more proud to feature all of the sponsors in this issue. Try something new - go wild and buy that one funky piece to build a room around. Feel a little free!
xoxo,
Happy Decorating!
Gracie
Gracie Kangjon, Royal Living Magazine
about the editor
Alexandra Bayn has been the editor in chief of Royal Living Magazine since the beginning and the reason it even exists. I fully admit stalking her in the bushes and waiting until she agreed to work with me to create this dream of having a magazine a reality. Alex said she could never create a magazine so everytime someone compliments this publication I smile and make sure to tell her because she has certainly done that and more. She is an amazing cretive talent and even better friend. Alex has been overwhelmed with hardware issues and real life and wasn’t able to take this issue to completion, but that doesn’t make her any less a part of the Royal Living Family. She has a wonderful way when I am stressing to say something random and I immediately crack up realizing once again I could not have had a better person to work with on this project. Until next time lady when we are laughing in the middle of the night and being called nerds!
x
, o x o
G
e i c a r
Writer
Writer
Aribella Dinzeo Photographer & Writer
Jonay Twine
Photographer & Writer
Journey Lorakeet
staff photos by Snowy Melody
Altonia Jewell
not pictured
Iliana Llew Jewell Mu
Magazine lay
d
wellyn unro
Writer
Kaileigh Dreamscape Photographer
Stephen Venkman
Lead Photographer
Tara Voskhod
Builder
Zone Twine
yout for this issue, and Dop Kidd / Kidd Creations feature photos, by Elysium Eilde.
Table of C Letters from the Founder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Curl Up with Some Coffee . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Amisha’s Painted Canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Kidd’s Play with Dop Kidd . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Featured Photographer: Skip Staheli . . . . . 60 Sprung on Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 My Evening with Maxwell Graf of Rustica . . . . 74
Contents Never Desert Style - Tableau . . . . . . . . . . 86 Le Lunch at Le Bistro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Quiz: Is an SL Family Right for You? . . . . . 94 God is a DJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Time is Ticking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Dear Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Drusus Ducasse of Zanzo Interview . . . . 118 Leap into a New Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Imperfect Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Curl Up with Some Coffee Written & Photographed by Journey Lorakeet
Curl up in your space while sipping your morning coffee the sun slowly rises peeking in awakening the world to another beautiful day. Vibrant color and accessories claim this space as your own and comfortable tidbits placed in the recesses welcome all to share in your space.
Nook /Bedroom: Nuwiggles. IBroc Computer *Y’s HOUSE* Glass top table [Garden] BP* - Drowsy 2011 /letter in the bottles (iTuTu) pear bowl The Loft - Alex Pouf Grey Yellow LISP - Bookreading Prints - Red LISP - Trinket Box, Tulip [Scusi] Sweet Bed (modified) The Loft - Headboard Solid -RC- Nana’s Golden Geese - Flock
[North West] Iron Side Table Little Alarm Clock / black {theosophy} Whixley Lamp (iTuTu) Hydrangea pot - white [ARIA] Sibylla wall mirror ++NODe++ - Hunger Rack (SUS304) LISP - Portable TV on Trunk Nordari. - chobird.curtain (TLND) Paper Lamp - Cream T “AMIARI” - Rug / Paris
Living Room: Nordari - rain in east europe. house by Jordan Giant *Tatty Soup* - Lyde Couch Lime, Rusty Grass Tin DIGS - Cairns Armchair / Eton Blue *Y’s HOUSE* Hot Green Tea set-08 [LEMON] (iTuTu) Hydrangea pot / white, room fragrances 09,10 Nuwiggles. - Reclaimed Coffee Table (With Lace) Nuwiggles. - Sheep Prop BP* - decanter/grape juice , laundry bags - old, blue Cheaky Pea - Vita Rug w/book Nylon Outfitters - Poppies in a bucket Trompe Loeil - Organic Mesh Trees / grey,yellow .:it’s Cake:. brick Fireplace Mudhoney - Wall tv, candles, books Wall paintings by Sandra Suy fucifino - Orleans Collection Framed Art (iTuTu) Raindrops Deco lamp (L) /artilleri/ Plant w/pots El patio - empty pots set Nordari. - sand.curtains m.fox gumball machine / Pale Orange “AMIARI” - Retro’s Fit - Moss lamp LISP - Pile of Books & mug [North West] Pretty plates II, Chaise Pigeon (leafs) LISP - Funky Lispette Record Unit [f] fucifino.flower urn.berry Second Spaces - pile o’ games [Starstruck] Langar Sofa Fuschia Floral [Lauria] Inspirational Frames
Interview with Amisha March Photographs By Stephen Venkman
Amisha’s Painted Canvas
As consumers viewing end products we tend to forget about one of the most essential elements in any build, the texture. Texture is what makes Second Life beautiful and it is the difference between an average item and a brilliant piece. InSight Designs offers a vibrant eclectic collection of textures perfectly suited for either the professional creator or dabbler; it would be nearly impossible to visit this shop and not become inspired to create. Recently Amisha March, creator of InSight Designs, spent some time discussing her store and Second Life experience and we thought this was perfect opportunity for our readers to take a peek into the world of color and art! It is always such a pleasure to speak with the person behind the products and Amisha graciously explained InSight Designs opened “in early 2009, we sat down and had a bit of a brainstorming session and came up with insights, the theory being that hopefully I can bring a bit of “insight” from my background with products and design and Lubo certainly has great insights in programming and languages. It was well thought out as now we have all our products from CG tex-
tures, digital papers, photographic textures and resources under one brand. Lubo quietly works behind the scenes on the blog and online shops whilst I have recently gone into licensing my patterns to the greetings, fashion & textile industry, all parts of the business are a happy balance of what we love to do.” Judging from the quality of work that is on display at this shop it was shocking to learn that Amisha is “self- taught in Photoshop and although I had certain skills before joining SL, Second life has undoubtedly greatly improved my skills by pushing me to create more innovative textures, seamless textures, enhancing images and discovering a real love for just being creative. That’s why I love writing tutorials and the Free Texture Grab, because without spending hours checking out tutorials at the beginning when I was learning all these new things in Photoshop and playing with other peoples free resources I would not be where I am today.” The dedication and practice has certainly paid off with this product line Amisha said that typically “If I am creating textures specifically for second Life then I can spend anywhere from a couple of days to a week. It may be that I pick up from a texture set I have already started or I have a new pattern that would look great as a fabric, however,
the process from idea to finished product includes not just the making of the textures but the thought behind the textures, the advertisement, display, uploading, listing and blogging. Luckily a lot of the work is enjoyable and crosses over into other areas of my life such as my hobby, product photography.” Miss March did not recall how she initially discovered Second Life in 2006 but vividly recalls “being hooked from the beginning, I had never seen anything like it, Second Life has let me meet new friends from all over the world, work with different people on some amazing projects, travel, live and work in a different country and of course I meet Lubo Plubeau, my real life partner.” When asked how Second Life has changed over the past six years she explained, “How different is it now? That made me think, as new things came along like shadows, wind light, sculpties and now mesh it’s amazing how much Second Life has changed. One of the best improvements for me would be when Second Life viewers allowed you to set permissions before uploading, with over 100 textures at any one time to upload, manually changing each permission was not a task I enjoyed! But I do wish Linden Lab would
not change the Marketplace so much, although I like all the new improvements updating all our listings every time is a chore.” Mesh is the latest wave of excitement for residents and Amisha is equally delighted exclaiming, “Mesh was one of the things that have gotten me out of our little studio and back into Second Life. I had a mini shopping spree buying everything from furniture and clothes to checking out mesh cars and buildings. It’s exciting and hopefully once the bugs are ironed out it will greatly improve Second Life and the selection at the moment is amazing. It’s only going to get better and I for one am very excited to see it take shape and the beauty of mesh is you can do more for less!” Textures are the result of a creative moment much like paint splattered across a vacant canvas Amisha is inspired by “Going outside and taking a walk it keeps me sane when I have been stuck indoors all day, I’ll walk down to the river or window shop with my camera and come home refreshed, we don’t switch off very often, even when I go home to the UK I raid my mum’s crochet patterns and vast fabric selection and take photos of the wonderful bricks and textures in the area. Deciding what to make next is more
spontaneous and instinctive, I am lucky in that I research trends and am always looking at patterns, colours and textures everywhere we go, sitting watching telly, Lubo will point out a faded wall or whilst shopping I’ll notice key colours. Lubo is my rock; he’ll say what’s good, offer other suggestions and has a different look on things which pushes me to break out of my own personal style. I also get a lot of inspiration from bouncing ideas around with friends and customers, (RL and SL) I have a couple of friends in particular that whenever we get together we are forever talking about did you see this design, what about a texture like this and we generate a lot of ideas, enough to fill several notebooks!” It is always difficult to manage the time needed to be creative and manage a business while finding time to spend just enjoying Second Life with friends, but Amisha says what she loves most is “the creative and the business side. I like having control over how I work and the fact that I can choose where to budget, how to spend my time, and I like talking to customers and answering questions. I can then switch back to arty mode it’s a good balance for me but what does suffer is my social life in SL because sometimes I view SL like another program I work with. I will flip between PS
and illustrator or Maya and PS and then mix in SL for testing and uploading and they all kind of make one enormous creative workplace. I do try to get out and about and take snap photos in SL to blog about and my friends either work in SL too or understand how busy life is when you log on that’s why I prefer Plurk and Facebook I can keep up with friends and not feel too bad that my time is limited in SL.” Every texture panel is a bit of Miss March’s inspired creativity or a moment captured during her ‘artsy mode’ so when she sees a piece of hers used in someone else’s creation it is extremely rewarding! “I love seeing photos and seeing people build these wonderful, unique and interesting creations is amazing but hands down comments and IM’s are my favourite which range from the random I love your textures to the newcomers that start using our textures and say that it’s made a big difference right even the seasoned builders that say they usually create all their own textures but have started to use ours makes my day! I’ve noticed over the last year more and more people are crediting texture artists in their work on blogs and forums, this is fantastic and unexpected. I am a big blog and social media fan and if I
find other people’s work that is amazing it will appear on our blog or be invited to our flickr groups. I like to promote other peoples work and share all the awesome designs out there.” Occasionally there will be a blog or some other item indicating a texture was resold or used in violation of the creator’s permissions and it can very upsetting for the original artist. Amisha expounds on these matters by saying a “common misconception are (I guess what most full permission sellers have to deal with) the fact that textures have to be copy, modify and transfer so that builders and designers can create and resell their ideas. This can lead to some issues over being able to easily resell or use them outside of Second Life, but the majority of people care about their own businesses and designs and respect our licenses. Luckily we have not had any real issues with copying or reselling of our textures, its part of the overall business we are in and you have to be prepared. The key is not to wait until it happens but be proactive in preventing it; we provide quality textures and have built up a respect among creators that works both ways. We are also part of trade organizations and illustrator associations that help protect our work. They are there to help protect our rights (copyright and intellectual
property rights) and it also helps us keep up to date with news that could have an impact on our business.” InSight Designs is also one of the few texture stores that take part in a lot of shopping events and hunts! Miss March said that “Spruce up Your Space was one of the first to invite us to take part in an event and we love it. But I think in general over the last year again it’s become much more common for events, hunts and expos to include texture artists and other full permission content creators. Full permission creators are a
big part of second life and it’s nice to be included and recognized and it’s a fantastic opportunity to work in a different area, you can really explore new ideas and designs and look at them in a different way, it’s thinking outside of the box and it’s that thinking outside of the box that pushes better ideas and design.” The furniture collection available from InSight is a sign that they do indeed push for better ideas and hopefully this line will expand. “I always have plans to expand but as soon as I start another texture pack I often move on to a different idea. I enjoy
building it wasn’t all easy at the beginning I had to spend time to learn how to manipulate prims and make items with less prims but with the same amount of detail. This is where the texturing takes over and building becomes a means to making interesting textures and I get quite excited when I start adding textures to anything. It improves our process of making textures, it’s the same with making sculpties or mesh, if you don’t build at least a little how do you know how textures work or how they fit on a certain piece or what sort of textures people will need. It is a constant learning and improving process which I love and Lubo is always tinkering with new scripts so between us we have a few new exciting projects coming soon.” Stop in and grab a little inspiration for your own home even small changes like re-texturing a single wall can make your home new again.
Kidd’s Pla
Interviewed by Gracie Kangjon
Dop Kidd - multiple pages
ay with Dop
n • Photography by Elysium Eilde
The true beauty of open fields under crystal clear blue skies is difficult to capture and re-create in Second Life, however, visitors to Kidd Creations are immersed in the intense beauty of nature and unique landscapes are within reach. Over the past year we have been trying to meet with DoP Kidd but due to hectic schedules we have finally managed to catch up with him and it is a true honor and pleasure to introduce him to our wonderful readers.
experiences Dop joined in 2007 and while he says he feels like a star for being interviewed he added that he thinks Second Life has not changed all that much because the “atmosphere is still about the same like an enthusiastic conquest of the playful and curious, creative and joyful where residents as builders of this second earth had the feeling of participating in a single adventure holding hands with the Lindens.
Feel like a kid running through the fields or rolling down a hill or two after all that is how Dop feels he explained, “I really feel like an old kid who still plays with high-tech Lego bricks. I am completely honest when I say I am still quite amazed all of this exists this was science fiction when I was a teen. SL is a field game for kids of all ages with its playful side so I thought it would be nice to call my garden the Kidd Garden; just like in kindergarten that space where one plays making up stories while forgetting the real world exists.
However, around the time of 2009 I feel that something in this partnership the trust and respect perhaps even affection has been damaged. If I regret a part of this evolution of Second Life it would be the erosion of human relationships, especially between the police makers and people that need each other for this world to exist. Those relationships are values that are not virtual in our virtual world.” We can all appreciate a sense that some people in world may forget about the human side of this experience, but while we are separated by screens we are all connected in our society.
I started suggesting my work publicly around 2009 and we are already in 2012 as time flies it is proof that while playing time passes quickly as it tends to do in a dream.” As we discuss the early days of our Second Life
Our first lives give us experience and passion which we can either explore in those lives or finally experience in Second Life for Dop as a “kid I was very interested in doing things with my hands my favorite toys were Legos.
When I became a young adult computers were beginning to become more democratic it became a new tool to express my creative inclinations and over time it became a real life job in graphic design. I have been working in Photoshop for twenty years, but I did not work in 3D modeling before Second Life. Just like many people I started by just walking around in SLife from time to time until the day I found a rose flower on the ground one of those old famous roses made of a ton of Lego-like prims but it was full perms. I took one and tinkered with each prim to make an outfit for my avatar that is how I discovered anyone could freely build in Second Life. This was a childhood dream come true it was a huge high-tech Lego set at my fingertips when sculpty prims became a Second Life-changing experience. The spirit of a sculpt is like origami paper close to the logic of nature by doing more with less, a thriftiness art that I have tried to integrate into my 3D modeling apprenticeship. I am a small craftsman at most that likes simple tools and the constraint tends to serve the imagination and drive to excel.” Dop decided to concentrate on landscaping items after first “creating custom large builds with old and un-sizable mega prims
in order to create a sim wide build but with low prims. Prims became an obsession for these types of builds combined with trying to hide what could be called ‘the smell of prim’ which means trying to hide the repetitive geometry of primitive elements the eye can perceive. It is intrinsic characteristic of the work for plants to hide the prim geometry and build lightweight especially when making grass because it deeply involves all of these technical criteria, and it was also a kind of ultimate utopia of making in a single prim an item that represents the multitude which nature does so well.” “The magic of working with plants and landscaping items is the never ending diversity of shapes, styles, colors as a creator it is not only a challenge your work never becomes boredom because of the challenge surfing the narrow ridge between realism mixed with a bit of surrealism. I try to follow my intuition and not limit the type of work I will do and to listen to what people tell me their need unfortunately the lack of time doesn’t allow me to answer every wish but all of the feedback I receive are like seeds some of which take root and grow. I hope people enjoy the items from KIDD Garden this is my ultimate goal to give pleasure, joy,
or peace because I know that for some people who live in cities their land in SL is their only window on a landscape, and for others these items represent memories of their childhood or their home country.” “The landscapes people create using items from Kidd Garden can also be a little corner of paradise they can’t really afford in real life or a meeting place for friends, but I hope for everyone it is a kind of expression of our intimate garden. Prims are not empty soul their substance is made of our dreams, so to me, the true hidden sense my little work in SL is to ensure that each item made is the best catch dream possible and people do the rest of the work using these pieces with their own dreams, talent and inspiration.” Picking a favorite dream is difficult and after a bit of poking Mr. Kidd revealed his favorite items “are the ones I just finished because to make a series of items requires a long period of time, and when I finish I tell myself it will be nice to move on. It is also because I learn all the time and the last children are the ones who benefit from learning the latest tricks. I am never satisfied and am surely the slowest builder of the metaverse I always feel late late late like the rabbit from
Alice in wonderland. I am totally unable to finish a plant series in the time frame of its corresponding season.” “ I’m currently working on grasses that will be sizable and tintable with an integrated texture changer to incorporate a large range of varieties which I think it will work by seasonal themes. This means there will be many varieties in one grass including some new that I have not released because so people can swap anytime I expect over the time to add this system to most of my grass items without changing the price. It will also give me more freedom to create new varieties and new shapes for different kind of reliefs since I won’t have to showcase each option with as many varieties because each will be included in each single item. However, this will be a massive project!” He added with a smile, “I won’t tell more on what is written on my to-do list because it would take days, but what I could say is I will continue to turn my work toward items that are not done by others and try to keep a good balance between quality and low prices.” That is another massive perk of shopping at Kidd Creations while the items are extremely high quality many of the prices are low
even some sets for only 10 lindens! Dop explained his philosophy on cost for his customers by saying, “The question of prices and the ‘business’ side of the store is a prickly issue for me because I don’t have at all the soul of a merchant. I feel more like a craftsman who has opened his shop backdoor to public. I think the way each designer builds his business reflects who they are and I come from a time when people knew how to manufacture things of both good quality and low cost. I believe in the ‘popular’ product in the best meaning of the word, what has naturally resulted in a policy of selling. I do not claim that my sales methods are suitable to everyone rather it is a choice I made to turn my work towards an audience of individuals to ensure that my items are accessible to small needs and humble wallets.” “SLife is a game for many people and today there are many young people without much money available so it is a must to keep the cost low consequently the permissions on my items are set in such a way to balance between the expenses of being having a participatory presence in SL as a creator and funding that while taking into account the playful nature of this second world. I think it’s important to participate in social life of
the grid which is why I want to invest in lands to suggest a real in-world experience, and on the other hand I wish that people could come to KIDD Garden like it is a candy shop for pleasure and gluttony and that way it will not cost more than some candy to pick some fun. In fact my policy is pretty simple I try to adjust my prices depending on the range of items suggested and sold that’s how I divided my prices by three over two years, and today I am able to offer series of products at 1 or 2 L$ per unit and I’m pretty happy with it!” Putting this much effort into each set of landscape must leave very little time to socialize but Dop does feel that his work is how he has a chance to catch up with friends. He says, “in fact my life revolves around work not because I’m a workhorse but because I have my natural interests a work much Professor Calculus in the Tintin stories? That’s it for me - always working on silly ideas in the back of his studio, consequently, my coworkers tend to be also my friends or vice versa both in RL and SL. Work is a natural platform of human exchange to me I take a great pleasure to be in contact with creative minds and there are many unknown people who are extremely
creative, it is these ones whom with I like to be and work.” “Yet, I rarely go out of my studio in Second Life so I am not acquainted with many other designers. I do not know if it’s a good or a bad thing, but I think this absence of benchmarks allows me to retain a certain freedom of spirit, references train as much they distort, I love this quote from Winston Churchill that says something like “Everyone knew it was impossible to do. Then one day someone came who did not know, and he did it.’ “ “This also reminds me of people who have stores where I was at first a customer and whom I always admired their work, Lilith and Dolly Heart from Heart Gardens, of course Lilith is one of the greatest graphic designers in SL but she is before anything a pioneer by having been able to perceive before anyone else the potential of this virtual world. She saw the beauty where there wasn’t yet providing an incredible diversity in the domain of landscaping as luxurious as nature itself. No one could deny that she has transformed the face of this second earth in her work there is talent an incredible power of work, but mainly a vision, a unusual capacity of
imagination, I really admire these qualities because they tend to radiate naturally and positively over the world, and I am still today a happy customers of her work.” It is such a pleasure to meet nice people and just from spending a bit of time with Dop his talent and personality shines through his creations as well making everyone feel happy so it is surprising to learn that he claims to have a bad temper in real life and not surprising to learn “I was born the day humans walked on the moon” because he has reached for the moon with his creations!
“To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature.�
Auguste Rodin
Mister Skip Staheli has graciously agreed to be the featured artist for this issue and it is truly an honor to feature pieces from one of the most talented artists in Second Life. Skip was selected as Second Life’s best photographer during our 2011 Regal Awards, and he is favored by many across the grid. Visit his gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37690108@N05/ to immerse yourself in beauty and light.
Sprung Over Mesh by Gracie Kangjon
Mesh has finally shown her true colors - at first we were skeptical but now?! Hopelessly in love! Less prims and beautiful! MESH just might be our soul mate!
What’s Next Marais Gossip Bench Pop Shot Camera and Photo Frames
Cheeky Pea Maude Bed (Made Available during the Royal Living Showers & Flowers Hunt 45L!)
Abiss Black Lacquer Chandelier
The Loft Frezza Sofa
Monger Bean Coffee Bear
MudHoney Laura Sofa
Pixlights Mesh Lounge Sofa
The Stuff Store The Juke (Classic)
more Sprung
Escapades Rock Cabin
The {Rotten Peach} Flower Jars
T D
g Over Mesh
Baffle! Coastal Daybed Trompe Loeil Teardrop Bed
Tiki Tattoo Duo Curvy Sunlounger & Drink Provider
My Evening with M
Maxwell Graf of
Rustica Interview by by Gracie Kangjon Photographs by Tara Voskhod
The relationships we form in Second Life can at times seem to be a revolving door ushering ‘friends’ in and out quickly some easily forgotten, however, Maxwell Graf, would take a lifetime to forget. Maxwell Graf is the talented mind behind Rustica Furnishings. Maxwell has been a plurk friend for ages, but when we ran into each other one night in world I almost tackled him for an interview. He rattled my nerves by suggesting a live interview – no notecards just a conversation between two people who loved prims and Second Life. What I later learned after spending an evening on a personal tour of his latest creation is that Maxwell likes the extraordinary and his attitude is far from mundane. I have not had so much fun getting to know some-
one in SL in a very long time. Max’s latest creation is contained within a beautiful sky dome, but this is no ordinary dome the sky scenes change as well as the water reflects in the small stream below. This fully mesh house is the first as Rustica it was a massive learning project that took three months to create and it is only fifty prims instead of the 250 the home would normally be if regular prims were used to build it. This new home will also be available in a petite version! Max was a great teacher while I have this magazine I have zero building skill, but he patient explained and showed me elements of what it takes to complete a project of this size. I gained an even greater respect for designers as he explained that the mesh home was done with “procedural textures. This
means that each texture painted to fit exactly on that surface because of the UV maps every piece is hand drawn. This means that individual shadows and light maps and all the surfaces are in a specific shape. I paint textures into the object rather than dropping a texture onto a shape I would have never gotten as complex of a texture with a prim or sculpty.” Max’s fireplace was the first mesh piece of furniture I had ever seen in Second Life and it was overwhelming how different the future would be once more people mastered mesh building. Max had prepared for mesh ever since he heard the announcement two years ago. He admitted going to “Blue Mars for a bit to mess around with mesh! I spent about a year there learning to build with
mesh and I was also going through a lot of copy bot issues in Second Life at Rustica. This was my form of art therapy without worrying about the monetizing and all of the things that go along with it. Copy bots were taking more than just my work it had taken the joy of creating. I had a year to get ready for mesh in Second Life.” Max believes that none of his pieces are the best he can do because “the more I do the next piece will be better than the previous. I am lucky that for some reason I think I have been able to imprint a particular style on my work when someone sees it they know it looks similar so it is probably from Rustica. When I accomplish that with a piece I feel I am doing my best. I want to keep evolving so it is better than last year. When I left
Second Life to explore and find the joy in Blue Mars I think I lost part of my theme because I had three sims with a massive castle people could explore. Now I only have one sim, but I have come to realize there is a whole group of people who have not been here or ever saw my store. I think my castle was good for those new people to come and enjoy a place on the grid and get lost for a while.” When I asked how Max came to find a home in Second Life he explained “in 2006 I was an advertising direction and I went back to North Carolina (United States) to do product design. I decided to do a job designing towel racks and interior items in a 3D modeling program for Home Depot, Lowes, etc. so if someone has redone a bath-
room in their RL home it is most likely some of it might be my work! I was also play Guild Wars for about a year around the same time I spent so much time looking at castles and fantasy items I was mesmerized as you can imagine you can only do so many knobs before going nuts! I wanted in the gaming industry and read an article about SL and was drawn to the idea of building your own game without being part of the company. I got a premium account and land before I even logged into the game.” Within a week Max built a conference room to use with contact at the designing firm to hold virtual meetings with the engineers and members of his art team because he worked from home and telecommuted. “The first meeting they goofed off the whole
time and never took it seriously. I had imported textures and we could all sit and look at the photos while discussing ideas, but my co-workers were dueling light sabers while management could not get around this world being a video game. The more I stayed in here I was building a castle on mainland and I built steadily for the next six to eight months expanding my parcel while building furniture because I could not find any I liked.” This was the birth of Rustica. Why Rustica? Max has “a naming process I write down about 50 ideas that come to mind and I gradually narrowed it down I selected Rustica because it embodies the type of thing I wanted to create here. This world is machine made everything is perfect, but that
is against nature. My favorite part of Second Life is to create things that seem broken down I am fascinated with dirt, decay, dirt cracks, walls and corners worn down from use. This is one of the reasons I love castles they are in a constant state of decay. To create an item that has a loved worn down look you have to consciously decide that with every piece as you build the challenge isn’t in the perfect window or wall it is more of a challenge to tilt it realistically as the building ages.” Max almost joined the fashion community as we all know the selection for men is limited and compared to years ago the market has expanded greatly. However, the fashion industry was not well suited for Maxwell. Mr. Graf feels “90% of the competitors
in the home and garden market are friends. In the fashion circles it is very dog eat dog almost violent in a sense with total disregard for competitors. I did not want a part of that my creations are like my paintings on a canvas while people are walking through my work and it is extraordinary to see. They are in my painting and I am in theirs it is a 2 way mirror of our own creative process and we can see everyone’s on display. It is the coolest concept that is incomparable anywhere else other than in Second Life. Then on top of that it is the ultimate combination of all other mediums I had stated as a fine arts porcelain sculptor, pen and ink, ice exhibits but in coming here I get to put everything together. I can even record sounds to play with light sculptures, models, painting
textures – 500 mediums in one while people hang out at the same time.” Speaking of hanging out with people Max found love right here on the grid. “ I met Lyric six months after I got here in a pose ball store at 2:30 AM on April 1st a bunch of people wanted kissing or cuddle poses in the castle and it had never occurred to me that people do that in here. I fell for the oldest line in the book, “Can you try this pose with me?’ Five years later we are in real life living together I even moved across the country to be with her and got more than I ever bargained for in this life. For six months I had no idea that people had pixel sex in here. THE PIXEL SEX – AWESOME! I never partnered in Second
Life and yet I found the best thing that ever happened to me. Lyric does not build with me but she helps me with customer support at Rustica which helped me spend more time with her. She is extremely supportive of my projects when I am spending sixty hours a week building.�. Max has seen a lot of changes over the year and is very active in the Second Life Community. He has seen the greatness of mesh, but is bothered by standard sizing that is ushered in alongside the clothing. He believes that is the worst introduction into Second Life so much so that he even teamed up with an ex-Linden on a privately funded kick start project to create an alternate viewer. Linden Lab policies killed this movement after raising 5k USD to develop the view-
er. Basically what would happen is it would eliminate the need for standard sizing. Max is very upset about this because he feels “it a tragedy you now need to change yourself to fit into something which brings in a social stigma we formerly abandoned from real life. People are now forced to select a body size. I love to shop in real life it is a joy to take a few hours and walk around. I know for women in real life or even men that anxiousness when shopping if you are not model thin or too thin that is now part of our world when there is a simple work around if we had been allowed to continue in our development. They have now introduced social stigmas� One other change Max would love to see implemented in world is required updates
that would force people to do mandatory updates. If everyone did this “it would aid in stability. If everyone was running the same system people would not have issues with old code and we could turn that off to stabilize version two.” Overall Max is just passionate about his experience in world because this is “cutting edge hardcore virtual environment technology there isn’t anyone doing this and the people who are here are experiencing something very rare. This is a new experience as a species we are communicating 24/7 with people from every part of the world. It is a miracle with the technology and economic achievements aside the uniqueness of the experience for people to sit at home and have a business or ride a horse or listening to live music in your living room at an actual concert! This world is a cross section of humanity from all sides of the spectrum people bring what they know in here there is magic in that alone.” Max does not foresee changing his style at any time he does not only cater to those members of our role playing community he has a surprisingly large amount of people who just enjoy castles. “ I will never do shabby chic or modern.” He is interested in venturing to craftsman style homes – I guess
we will have to wait and see as for me I begged him whole-heartedly to create a Victorian home maybe my wish will come true especially since it is now in print! Max said he wants to try a more contemporary home and explore the architectural components in the future. Being overwhelmed with Max’s infectious excitement for the Second Life experience I asked him to do word association with me……he obliged but also said I should not be surprised if he shows up in a thong for his photo session and well……we can only say Max is a Renaissance man from building to humor to …modeling. Rustica is far from rusty! Max’s Word Association Prims, Max said Build Mesh, Max said Build Better Couch, Max said Potato Sculpty, Max said Therapy Gor, Max said Blood Textures, Max said Happy
Get Carried Away with Royal Living
g Magazine
Tara Voskhod photographed by MandyLeigh Sweetwater
Never Desert Style - Tableau
Nevphotographyer Desert St y l e by Gracie Kangjon
In the last issue of Royal Living Magazine we announced the winners of our Regal Awards and winner of the best shopping sim was Tableau! A little visit to this shopping sim should be on everyone’s must do list; of course, do the residents of Second Life really need an excuse to shop? This sim is absolutely beautiful and perfect for photo shoots or wandering around soaking up the ambiance of this decaying desert town with exquistely textured adobe style homes.
Most people visiting shopping sims are looking for new releases, exclusive items, sales those types of things I tend to get lost gazing at shadows and unique builds. At Tableau I spent hours touring this sim, and even as a novice photographer I believe I captured several beautiful shots during my visit. Stop by today pick up a cute item or two or grab your classic I <3 Tableau Tourist Tee please just do not forget to snap a few photos to send home as post cards to friends! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tableau/128/128/2
Le Lunch a
Written & Pho
Ok, I admit it. I am an SL food freak. Just like in the real world when families gather everyone ends up around a food table or in the kitchen! It is a room that is home to many memories of comfort and family... talking, laughing..sometimes crying. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not really a big shock that people would want to bring that feeling to their Second Lives also!
at Le Bistro
otographed - Altonia Jewell
So! I was ridiculously delighted when I first stepped into Le Bistro and saw the beautifully crafted food items Ms. Amera Pomilio has displayed in her shop. She had so many family-oriented meals, it was apparent that Ms. Pomilio has as many warm memories pertaining to food as I do. One thing that has set her apart from other Second Life food creators is the detail she has put
into her creations. Many of her items go through all the steps youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d take to prepare the foods! To me, it completes the picture so perfectly.
making meals for as long as I can remember. One day it hit me, this could be so much more fun if the food actually did what we RP it to do!
I was so impressed with her work that I just had to get into this womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head a little bit more:
Alty: With so many nationalities/time periods/lifestyles represented in SL, do you get any requests for specific types of foods? Any odd ones?
Alty: What inspired you to become an SL chef? Amera: Honestly a mix of RL & SL. In RL my grandmother is a Chef and I grew up in her restaurant or in the kitchens for holidays or Sundays making meals with my family. In my SL, my lovely children and I have RP
Amera: Yes there are so many wonderful cultures here and I get a ton of requests and suggestions! But interestingly enough the only thing I think that is odd was actually requested by my boyfriend Shaun. He requested that I make ox tails. Which I found were not that much of an uncommon dish
by my customers IMed me letting me know they were so pleased I made them. Alty: What do you love most about what you do? Amera: I love being able to bring families closer, as well as give them something to do. Family means a lot to me in RL and in SL, so to know that something I did bring everyone close is a part of my job I absolutely love. Alty: What would you like our readers to know about you? Amera: I really want everyone to know I am very approachable. I love to talk to my cus-
tomers! I love to hear how you use my products with your families. Receiving pictures and note cards brightens my day and helps me to remember why I work hard to what I do here. Another wonderful thing about Amera and Le Bistro is that she is very generous to her group. Her loving and giving nature shows through frequently through gifts and fundraisers. She clearly is here to make people happy and in my opinion, she is doing a fantastic job!
Quiz
Is an SL Family Right for You?
The Bayn Family photographed by MandyLeigh Sweetwater Lisp Hot Air Balloons Botanical Drought Trees Artilleri Playground HeadHunterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Island Sand Castle Fd Decor Pinwheels
1. When I see child avis I:
4. I see myself as...
2. Have you ever visited an adoption agency in world?
5. Second Life should be about:
a. freak out b. they have child avis in SL o.O? c. think it might be fun to play a kiddo for a bit d. fall in love! I have many in my SLfamily.
a. Those exist in SL?! b. I heard about one once, but never went c. I visted once or twice, but really didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get it. d. OMG yes and I have had a panel!
3. I see a lot of families in Second Life, but I think:
a. those people have serious issues b. they are ridiculous c. I never had one but it might be cool d. MY FAMILY IS THE BEST!
a. An adult ofc I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need a SL family b. sister/brother type without the large extended family c. a mother or father but I would not want to be a kiddo d. kiddo/mother/father/uncle/aunt/niecey/nephew my family is HUGE a. exploring new places b. creating new items c. findnding love d. making new friends from around the world
6. If I could relive my childhood I:
a. would NEVER b. would if I could change everything c. think it would be fun for a while d. OMG YES!!!! Bring on the crayons !!!!!
Is an SL Family Right for You? Mostly A’s
Family in Second Life is not going to be a positive experience it seems pointless and ridiculous to our A people! Perhaps you enjoy exploring or building friendships we would not recommend popping by the local adoption agency or any child friendly places because you would more than likely have a breakdown :/
Mostly B’s
B people may be open to the idea of finding a family in Second Life, but are not totally ‘sold’ on the idea. SL Family would be fun for short periods of time but would get boring if it went on too long. You might feel it would be overwhelming with everyone around all of the time or maybe you would be better suited to be a distant Uncle or Aunt…but not the creepy kind! :D
Mostly C’s
answers
This should be the next area in your Second Life on which to concentrate! You have an open mind for finding your family and C people more than likely already have some in their lives that are just like family without the title! ASK them to be your fam! \o/ They probably are feeling the same way but are afraid to ask too! Copy and paste this: Hai :D Wanna be my Mom/Dad/Brother/Sister/Cousin once removed on my Mom’s Side? :D
Mostly D’s
We should have seen you our A people coming with the family tree growing beautifully out of your profile and lack of pick tabs! (We still need to convince the Lindens to provide more of those ;/) Your Second Life is full of fun and jungle gyms or at least cookie jars! Your massive family may be overwhelming for others try to ease them into your life and remember…….you are the fav even if everyone else will not admit it! -_-
God is a DJ Royal Magazine’s roving reporter Magnesium Magic embarked on a tour of the Second Life Club scene and caught up with a few popular DJ’s to interview them about the way they connect with a crowd and the music that they like to spin to keep the vibe in the club groovin’.
Here’s what they had to say about their experiences in Second Life...
DJ THLEMAXOS REWELL “Music has always been a part of me ... I started DJ’ing when I opened my own club.” How did you get into Second life? A friend that played presented me with this awesome world. He showed me Second Life since my RL wasn’t that great back in the days. What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? Music has always been my passion, after I opened Energy Club it wasn’t that hard to make that dream come true. How long have you been a DJ? almost 2 years. What kind of music do you play? Electro electro house • Progressive house • Techno Vocal trance • Dirty dutch • House • Dubstep Schedule: Monday - element gol 10am-12pm SLT Friday - energy club 12-2pm SLT What are your current top 5 favorite songs? Funkagenda - Shinjuku (Michael Woods Remix) Afrojack & Diplo ft. Grace Regine - How I Like It (Kid Kaio & Rowel Sinester Remix) Mashup Candys - Fuck You (Original Mix) Nick romero - Toulouse Adele - Set fire to the rain (Thomax Gold Remix) What would you do if you woke up and found out SL disappeared and no longer exists? It wouldn’t be a big problem to be honest.
DJ GASPARE ALECTORIS “i’m an italian Deejay ... spinning since first days of SL, before SL I was spinning for webradios. What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? Is the best thing that I do in both worlds! Did you do much DJ’ing real life prior to SL? At the moment I spin more in SL than RL. But usually in the summer i spin more in RL than SL! What kind of music do you play? Electro and Electro house. But I love to hear Dubstep and other styles too. Do you have a website/soundcloud? http://soundcloud.com/Monster871 Schedule Energy Club - 8-10 am SLT GOL element - saturday 8-10 am SLT I spin more times in the week, I always do coverage. People are always posted about my sets following me in my group. What would you do if someday you woke up and found out SL disappeared and no longer exists? For me it doesn’t matter the game, for me the real friendship that I have in second life is what counts. I’m already used to have them on skype, facebook, or msn. so i’m happy to keep contact with those persons. So is there any advice you wish to give someone that would want to follow in your footsteps? Train with a console, and specially not with a software. Trying to find the right tempo with the ears that isn’t comparable to mix with a sync button!
DJ SANTIAGO MAESAR “I’m from Portugal and I play house music as a hobby, even real life ain’t for the money but for the passion I have for house music.” How did you get into Second life? I got into second life because I broke my foot. What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? My motivations to start DJ’ing was the friends I have in rl and the passion I developed through years meeting people into the club scene, that took me in that way, and made me explore the side of the DJ booth. I had to feel that my music was making their bodies move, as I felt when someone played for me. What kind of music do you play? All genres of house music and subgenres. Schedule? I don’t have schedules I play only when I feel like, same thing as eating. What percentage of your SL today would you say is DJ’ing compared to other things you have interest? DJ’ing in sl is my only interest, if it wasn’t that I wouldn’t be on sl. So is there any advice you wish to give someone that would want to follow in your footsteps? My advice would be to practise a lot on small clubs, and always ask advice to people that already spin to get better before someone create a idea of what you are, when you could be much better if you were patient to learn and get better. Usually you are never a reasonable DJ if you don’t play already for 1 year at least.
DJ REX SCORFIELD “i am a chilled guy from the States ... “partyin” in SL’s best club - yes im biased :D” How did you get into Second life? Guess as most of people - boredom ^^ What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? Well as every noob lmao I ran around SL and bumped walls and humped trees lmao. And after a while I landed in some clubs and then one thing leads to another, I always was a big music lover - so I decided to give it a try - 3 years later now I think no ones ears should get hurt listening to me now lmao. What kind of music do you play? Mostly Electro/Partybreaks/House and Progressive... and if the crowd is up for it some Hip Hop. Schedule? Well my only perm Set is Saturdays 4-6pm slt at Beachwood Club. Other than Beachwood I also spin at Zain whenever they ask me :D As a owner of such a well known club, what’s a funny story that you could share with us? Well there was some funny moments in the Club history - we had Djs that “couldn’t hold it” and ran from their set, we had Hosts telling people to use a Dick-tionary, we had Djs in Skirts hosting, hosts teleporting in and stuck in xcite animations, we had Banana invasion - all of a sudden 20 Banana Avis showing up and dancin around lol, Djs on cam stripping and one even emoting on stream coz he forgot to log off.. What event or story of a highly-promoted event that you were proud to participate in and brought you the most smiles over Lindens? Fight for Japan - as I have a lot of japanese friends, the earthquake disaster came really close to me. So I was really proud and happy we did that event :) What advice would you give for someone that wants to open a club? Well the same I give to all joining SL - try to be drama resistant :D
Where would you say you spent most of your time as a noob learning your way around the grid? Everywhere, I tried to see as many clubs as possible as I said I loved the music scene from Jazz to Rock clubs, Hip Hop and House music... went into search and teleported around, met nice people and hanged with them, learning stuff by time.
Any shout-outs or “final thoughts”? Well thank you for the Interview :) and yes to everyone that wasn’t at our club yet (Beachwood Club) we’d love to see you around sometime, and make sure if you see me or any management member just say hi. And also a big thank to all our regulars who made us who we are today. Thanks a lot and we hope we still rock and shock the Music scene in SL as we did in the last years. :)
DJ SOLOMIN VENTRIS Hello everyone, my name is Solomon Ventris, born on 24/08/2010 in second life, I come from Italy, I’m married to Kalyenne Resident. In second life I enjoy working as a DJ. How did you get into Second life? I have friends in Real Life who were here before me and out of curiosity I entered this world. What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? The main motivation is the passion for music since I was little I always listened to music of all genres, then I started growing to love house music and its various styles. I wanted to give a meaning to my second life starting to get the DJ to share with my passion and what I have inside. What kind of music do you play? My favorite styles are electro house, dutch house, tech house and tribal house. Schedule? Wednesday: 2-4pm SLT Scoutlounge and 6-8pm SLT Beachwood Thursday: 10-12pm SLT Energy Club Saturday: 1-3pm SLT ToonTopia Sunday: 4-6pm SLT Gol Element How would you define yourself as a DJ? i’m crazy lol, i started here in second life to play, you think I bought my first console the last
Christmas.I took this passion with great professionalism and seriousness, and I want to continue on this road for one day become a good dj. The important thing for me is to see that people enjoy. Where would you say you spent most of your time as a noob learning your way around the grid? I tried not to stand naked at the beginning hahaha, after I have explored this virtual world to visit various places. In my exploration I devoted most of my time to fight in the land rpg. Besides DJ’ing, what you enjoying doing on SL? When I’m not a DJ, I go with my wife Kalyenne to listen to my dj friends and go shopping. Did you do much DJ’ing real life prior to SL? Two months working as a DJ on the radio in real life, but like I said it all began here in second life, I’m trying to turn this hobby into a business in real life, but this takes time and especially luck. So is there any advice you wish to give someone that would want to follow in your footsteps? I think you need 5 rules to become a good dj that for me are very important: 1) do everything with passion 2) lots of practice with the console 3) keep updated on new music 4) have respect for the DJs, clubs, and people. 5) Be humble.
DJ CAE DIESELbut at the moment I’m living in Belgium” How did you get into Second life? Through a friend that was drunk lol What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? I was a DJ Real Life already... So when I first entered on SL and saw that the music scene was a big thing, I started getting more interested in using my music to show everyone on SL. (Actually it was because of all the wild ladies that would scream my name) haha. What kind of music do you play? I love to diversify depending on the club that I’m playing but I’m 100% House Music! But I can DJ all types of House music. For all the interested people reading this, what is your schedule? What times, days and clubs you play at? Schedule: when I’m spinning everyone knows through my groups. Besides DJ’ing, what you enjoying doing on SL? I love breedables world. It’s my addiction and hobby on SL, alongside with music obviously. At the moment I have a ranch with breedables horses. How would you define yourself as a DJ? Crazy.. a person that have fun with the music, because if as a DJ you have fun and enjoy what you doing, all the people will feel that energy. I love when they tell me they are dancing in their houses RL. That’s how I define myself, a crazy person that makes people have some fun. You were the owner of Beach Lounge, do you remember any funny story that happened? Yes, a lot of funny moments. A remarkable one was probably when I did a day dedicated to all the gay people, and in my set I got like 4 RL phone numbers of different men lol.
Many people when joining SL, has the desire of finding someone special and willing to meet him/her RL. That happened with you, you wanna tell us how everything occurred? Yes it did happen to me. One day I was DJ’ing in a club and I found my “half pineapple” hehe Today I’m married to her Real Life and we have a daughter that is my little princess. Everything happened because of SL.
DJ TITOSO FRIEDE “I’ve been a DJ in SL for 4 years and RL DJ for 8 years.” How did you get into Second life? I came to SL in 2005 with real life friends, after some time .. and came out with Titoso Fride in 2007, returning again in 2008 as a DJ. What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? Just to have some fun, and since I was DJ in RL aswell I thought I could keep doing what I enjoy. What kind of music do you play? Progressive House • Dutch House • Dirty House • Tech House • House • Deep House • Techno • MInimal Schedule? I only spin on events..or when clubs need cover/backup. Besides DJ’ing, what you enjoying doing on SL? I just log to spin some tunes... When i’m not spinning I hang around RL with my girl. What would you do if someday you woke up and found out SL disappeared and no longer exists? hahahaha... It would be really good if this happen :p Did you DJ in real life prior to SL? My RL job is as manager, other than that I sometimes spin in clubs of friends of mine. What are your current top 5 favorite songs? Pfirter - The Dub Tracxk - Len Faki Umek, Beltek - Back In The Race Swedish House Mafia - Save The World Gala - Freed From Desire Dirty South & Thomas Gold feat. Kate Elsworth - Alive
DJ KONIKOLA LANDAR “people call me Koni ... I am a DJ from France.” How did you get into Second life? Some friends talked about it so I entered this crazy world. What were your motivations to start Dj’ing? I live for music, I was born for it. I play guitar since my teen years. What kind of music do you play? Real life I play Electro. In SL I mostly mix all types of House music and some Dubstep when i’m in the mood. Do you have a website/soundcloud? http://soundcloud.com/dj-koni and http://housetleg.blogspot.fr/ Did you do much DJ’ing real life prior to SL? I used to, don’t have much time now. I produce some now, that can be seen on my soundcloud. Besides DJ’ing, what you enjoying doing on SL? At the moment I Just log to do my set at GOL. What are your current top 5 favorite songs? Knife Party - Internet Friends (Organ Donors Psycho Bitch Re-Work) Modulation - Groovy Movie (Original Mix) Tocadisco - Jump (Original Mix) James Egbert - Back To New (Original Mix) Madeon – Icarus (Extended Mix) How would you define yourself as a DJ? I think since I like and enjoy spinning, I want people to feel the energy of my music.
LISP Balloon Lantern Clock
LISP Vine â&#x20AC;&#x153;Viteâ&#x20AC;? Bistro Clock (Color Changing)
Time is Ticking! By Gracie Kangjon
We live and play in a time zone mostly likely different than the one we live in and play with friends from every time zone on the planet it is enough to drive us bananas! Is it no surprise that a beautiful clock would not only become a beautiful accessory for your home but also very essential to figure out time zones and bedtimes!
*Chronokit* Clock No10 -pro
{mebbery} Clock The Sun Rays
opeller (FREE)
Thistle Friends and Family Clock
Intrigue Co. - Retro Kitten clock Agora Prefabs Chalkboard Clock
, r e n g i s e D Dear
d e v i l e r o m l e e f e m o h y m e k a m I n a c t o n How d n a e c a p s n e p o h c u m o o t e v a h I n i . . . . h t i w e t a r o c e d o t s m i r , p d e h n g g u i o S en t n e d i s e R l e c r a P l l u F , l e c r a P l l Dear Fu
d e c a f s a w I e n o , n o i t s e u q d o o g a s a s â&#x20AC;&#x2122; h t a h h c i T h w , e m o h n w o y m n i y l t n e c e r . n a l p with r o o fl n e p o y r e v a d n a s m o g o n r i l e e g e r f la y z o c a e t a e r c o t d r a h t i s e k a e m r c o t That s a w d i d I t a h W . s m i r p d e t i . s m r i i l a h h t c i , w s e h c u o c , s g u r a e r a g n i s u s e c s a e c e i p ate sp e r u t i n r u f a e r a g n i t t i s e h t d e a r e a t e s r a g I clu n i n i d e h t d e c a p s n e h t , a e r a e e k n i l o s o g t n n i i h t e s u o s l a n a c u o Y . y a w a t e ) m i r few fe p w o l y r e v e r a t s o m ( s r e d i v i d k o m o o b n ro e v e r o , e r o m n e v e s e c a p s e t â&#x20AC;&#x2122; n n fi o e d d I to , g n i l e e f n i d e v i l e h t r o f s A . o s g e s v k c a shel n k k c i n k s a r a f s a s g n i h t y n a m m i r p w have o l y r e v e r a e v a h o d I s g n i h t . e e h m t o t t but o l a n a e m t a h t s g n i h t y l l a m r o , n s e s a and v r e w o fl r e g r a l s a h c u s s m e t i r r e o h o fl Ot , ) m i r p w o l y l l a m r o n o s l a ( l s e e e r f u t e c c i a p p s a e k a m n a c , s g u r l l a m s , s pillow ! s p l e h s i h t e p o h I . n i d e a r v i d l a i h R l more -Ande
reBourne dome house [mesh], couch, & chairs NOTsoBAD Leon desk set (includes chairs & props) UrbanizeD limited edition art piece & wall decals The Loft Bago Rug & Caster Coffee Table {whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next} Breakfast Tray
Skins, Prims and Fashion Oh My! Interview with Drusus Ducasse of Written + Photographed by Iliana Llewellyn There is an oasis of style and fashionable items known collectively as Zanzo. Gentlemen of the grid will find hot skins and clothing alongside amazing accessories and home items! The versatile creator behind this brand is Drusus DuCasse spent some time with us to share about his wonderful creations!
IL: You joined Second Life in 2007 - how did you find Second Life? What is the biggest difference from 2007 to now? Is there anything you miss? Drusus: I discovered SL after reading a magazine that mentioned it. It was quite serendipitous, the magazine had like a single sentence summing it up (sarcastically I recall) and so I decided to check it out. It took me several goes to actually get into it; people
were a bit standoffish, the aimless wandering from sim-to-sim, the bad clothing, the limited range of skins - if I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t made quite a few friends in those first few days I might not have bothered. How has it changed? I like to think that the good bits havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t changed, just the way we experience them have - the ability to design, build and sell & the interaction with people from different places and cultures, these are
the shared experiences that are constant and so unique to second life. IL: You have multiple businesses in Second Life! Which store was your first? Why did you select the name Zanzo? Out of the skins, shapes (which are HOTTTT lol), eyes, hair, fashion, pre-fabs (I am tired just typing all of that!) which is your favorite to create? Do you tend to begin in one area and branch out into others? Drusus: Zanzo is very much a co-operative effort with my partner Theodore. In many ways it’s his child more than it is mine – he keeps me on trend and theme, he makes sure we are constantly trying harder to improve our product and many of the concepts we develop come from his personal tastes. Any designer will tell you that making a thing is sometimes the easiest part of the production cycle. The creation of vendors, scripting, the effort you have to put into promotion, customer enquiries, store management – these are all weaknesses on my part but are easily picked up by Theodore. The parts of Zanzo I really enjoy are the design, the creation and the building, all of which I indulge in to an extreme. This is
probably why we have so many sub-brands, we experiment with new concepts and if they work they stay, if not they eventually get phased out. I usually enjoy whatever I’m doing at the time; KKPW our home ware store is always fun, it’s sort of whimsical and tongue-incheek. I hate making hair, really hate it. IL: How did you begin creating skins and shapes? What is your favorite part? Drusus: I made my first skin after being in Second Life for six months. It was awful and I still cringe when I think about it. People thought it was good enough to sell, but it just wasn’t a viable idea until we founded the shop six months after that – and by then I’d moved on in technique and style. My favorite part of skin design is closing Photoshop and going somewhere else – they are frustrating beasts, some days are really good and you get loads done and other days you work for an hour on a few pixels and nothing goes right and you scrub the canvas clean. The shapes in store are all created by Theo – He loves making them, styling them and photographing them whereas I can’t imagine
a more heinous sort of punishment. IL: When did you begin building? Did you take any classes? You have amazing items in your shop I love the style and textures. Where do you find inspiration for your builds? You have mainly accessories do you think you will ever branch out to furniture collections or homes? How would you define your style? Drusus: I toyed with building from the start I think, one of my hangouts had a grouponly sandbox and I would spend hours just playing with prims. This was the early days before sculpts, so it was all about manipulation and clever texturing back then. Never took lessons, but I did always look at how people built something and took note of techniques used by other builders to achieve an effect. Inspiration comes from every day life, it helps if you design for yourself, the things you enjoy making are the things other people appreciate. Our style is often whimsical and fun, but is always a reflection of our own tastes and sense of perspective. We also have prefab shop that has homes & shop fronts called Ambient Designs
IL: You just rebuilt your mall the build is amazing how much time did that take? What do you hope people will take away from their experience at Dead Postman? What type of items will be available - just products from your line or others as well? Any events coming soon? Drusus: Our main store build took well over a month to finish, longer than we expected but we wanted to make it as impressive as possible and good enough to last another two or more years. Dead Postman? We started that sub-brand as a throwback to the huge array of urban stores that we both discovered as newbies in 2007 that were so popular at the time, such as BroGear, Gritty Kitty, and Kalico Kreations. It’s a grimy and dark fashion brand that appeals a lot to urban role players and people who just want an edgy look. Blood, tears, barbed wire... urban style has always been quite big in Second Life. We rarely plan new events in advance, when we have the whim we run one. Sometimes we will decide to run a skin sale on Friday and have it ready by Saturday. We’ve always acted and developed new stuff in a spontaneous fashion like that instead of mapping
out events and a development cycle. IL: If you could begin again would you become a creator again? Any advice for new creators? What is your favorite part of running of a business in Second Life? What is your least favorite? Drusus: Definitely! Creating is by far the best part of running a business and my SL. There are always those really nice moments when you go somewhere and you see something you made being worn by another resident, it’s hard to describe the buzz you get from that. My advice to budding creators is to persevere. Be prepared to work really hard for little reward for the first few weeks or months, it comes eventually but you need to achieve ‘critical mass’ and that won’t happen at the start. Don’t forget your customers are real people and need to be treated with respect. Also, focus on making or designing things that are meaningful to you or that you derive a personal satisfaction from – you make money so you can run a business, you don’t run a business so you can make money.
IL: How difficult is it for you to maintain a personal life in SL? What do you like to do for fun? Is there something people would be surprised to know about you? Drusus: Difficult is an understatement. Most of my time goes into designing, finishing custom jobs or altering the build. I used to do a bit of RP or sit around chatting with friends but now it’s mostly talking in IM. However, Second Life has given me complete and utter freedom from being chained to a desk or a ‘normal’ job and everyday I’m greateful for that. Surprises? I’m not sure, the most surprising thing is that I’m one of a very small number of New Zealander’s on the grid, I have four cats and I’m addicted to the novels of Steven Ericksen. Blog: http://www.zanzo.info/ Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ theodoreducasse/
Leap into a New Home Written & Photographed by Jonay Twine Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that time of year to do a little cleaning instead of organzing your inventory, de-rezzing old things that clutter up your Second Life home, deleting hair or outfits out of your inventory that you simply do not wear anymore I have a better solution! GET A NEW HOUSE! Plus, May is the best month ever because I was born in that month and mesh has arrived on the grid! Suckers for sleek lines and open space in both lives will find a great selection of mesh homes in Second Life. Buying a new house is a great way to begin your summer!
I came across this great mesh prefab from Scarlet Creative (Charlotte Bartlett), and fell in love it so much that I did not even want to bother to decorate it. It has become my own little zen place to esape to when I am logged in-world. (Ok I have to admit, I do leave my boxes lying around, but only sometimes!) Also with this house, you can make it huge (which is my preferred method) or simply rezz it and leave it as is.
A beautiful skybox that is a must have is The Kaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;u Beach Skybox from Trompe Loeil (Cory Edo). It is spacious and comes with a spehere to give it a sort of night time feeling (24/7) Even empty this skybox is to die for, however, this time it was decorated beautifully by my sister Aribella Dinzeo (HEY GURL HEY!!). It is a great single gal house!!
Another fantastic find is the beautiful Beachfront residence from the Abiss team (Frasha Boa and Oggy Bonetto). This home comes with two versions for either a skybox or a ground home; it also offers both a PG and adult variation for summer lovinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. One of my favorite things is that it comes furnished so you can rezz it and let the fun begin!
I live in an imperfect home. Now, don’t misunderstand me. My home is wonderful, beautiful and comfortable. It is a direct reflection of my tastes and needs; of me. And I am imperfect. It is my imperfection that makes me interesting and keeps me from being boring. So too, it is the imperfection in my home that makes it look lived-in and welcoming. Showrooms are beautiful, but they aren’t generally very inviting. Aside from shopping, I wouldn’t want to spend much time hanging out in a shop. But my home invites visitors to find a corner spot to idle away hours with a book, a coffee or a chat. There is life in my home, and the signs of life are the little things that are missing from those showrooms. A living home is filled with the little touches of the people who live in them. The muddy footprint and discarded shoes on the front porch are signs of a tended garden. The news-
paper on the table beside a coffeecup is a sign of a moment enjoyed. Even the half made bed invites you to tackle someone back into it for another fifteen minutes. It’s very easy to create a perfect space in Second Life. The challenge lies in creating a living space; a place where guests feel welcome and comfortable. A space for loved ones to spend time together. A place where you want to spend time. A living home is rarely a perfect home, and embracing the charm of the imperfections makes decorating a joy instead of a chore.
Living homes are ever evolving with the seasons and the needs of their loved ones. The stack of books that moves from chair to chair; the blanket that moves from the couch to the back porch; the flowers that bloom on the table. The little details that add interest also make a home more lived in when they change. When we embrace the imperfect in our lives, we are better able to forgive imperfections in ourselves and others. The things that show character and individuality are rarely seen in showrooms; theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re seen in the little things. Create a living home, and it will be easier to really live in it.