Day 74: Starting a Business in a Hurry
New Citizens Plaza is one of my haunting grounds.
While wandering through a couple weeks ago, I noticed a sign about a fashion show. And, well, you know me...they said "fashion"! :P
It turns out this is a show for alumnis of Rainbow Drake's excellent Adv Clothing Creation class. This is the class that got me started making cloths with texture map templates. So, on an impulse, I signed up as a designer, noting that she needed 3 outfits for some future date in December. The $300L donation is for a good cause (to support New Citizens), so I dont mind.
I thought, no problem: I just pick out 3 outfits, clean them up, and send it to her.
Rainbow sent me a Notecard requesting a bunch of stuff for the fashion show. I thought I would deal with it later.
Today, I realized that ALL items for the show is due by Friday, Dec 8, 2006 at Noon Linden/PST. OMG! Panic! What exactly did she ask for anyway?
1. $300L for the fund raiser (OK, no problem...no new hair for a week :( Hey, its for a good cause!)
2. 3 outfits (OK, no problem. Dust off a couple outfits, clean up, and package)
3. Two 512x512 pixel display textures with company logo and the outfits (Uh oh...company logo?)
4. Your modeling needs (easy, 3 girls with my body settings :P)
5. A notecard with a 4 minute speech about the design and inspiration behind them (OK...I can write that up I guess...)
6. Page for the show catalog: A notecard with descriptions, images of the 3 outfits, company logo, and landmark to store (Landmark to WHAT?!@&%@%? *Yikes*)
Then I realized that you cant just show your outfits. People may get annoyed if they like something and theres no way to buy it.
That means I have to come up with a company logo, write a speech, describe outfits, and create a whole bunch of displays by noon tomorrow.
Wait, dont I need a company name to have a company logo? And where am I going to *have* a "company"?
So in a rather big hurry, heres what I managed to throw together today:
I surfed the web for a company name, and came up with Sirena Fashions. Sirena means mermaid (and siren) in both Spanish and Italian. I dont know either Spanish or Italian, so I will have to take their word for it.
Anyway, Im a mermaid. So Sirena is a cute name :)
The show is on Sunday, Dec 10, 2006. I dont actually *NEED* a store until then. I just need a "Landmark" to a future store location. This buys me 2 days to throw a store together!
I own 2 adjacent plots of 512M land. The first plot was purchased for $512L under the First Land program (which is a great deal for SL Residents). The second was purchased for $3800L from an individual seller. Since they are in the same sim and adjacent, I doubled my prim count and can extend things between the 2 plots.
I havent actually used the 2nd plot yet, so this seemed a good opportunity. I walked over to the 2nd plot and created a Landmark. Now I have 2 days to put a store here...
Running back down the list, I needed to choose 3 outfits. So here they are, along with their display graphics:
The Unicorn Tapestry Dress from Day 64.
The Grey Sweater Dress from Day 61.
And for sentimental reasons, the Yellow Dress from New Paris on Day 58.
Next item: Two 512x512 pixel display textures. OK, put the above graphics in a blender and here it is! (I love Photoshop!)
Next item: Modeling needs. Fitting would be a problem because there are prim belts and skirts on all of these outfits. So I need the models to have the same body size as me on the following 4 critical areas that affect prim belt fit:
Shape/Body/Body Thickness
Shape/Body/Body Fat
Shape/Torso/Belly Size
Shape/Legs/Hip Width
The actual for-sale outfits would need to have a number of different sized belts. I havent work that out yet. But I have 2 days :P
Next item: 4-minute speech. OK...blah blah blah
Next item: Catalog page. OK, throw in sections of the 4-minute speech, photos of the outfits, company logo (got one now! :) ), and the landmark.
And Im finally done (its 6AM on Friday)! Wow, is this what fashion designers do for a fashion show?
Anyway, if you are in SL this Sunday at Noon, drop on by New Citizens South to see the fashion show! Its free! And there should be a number of designers there, including me!
And for once, Im not walking the runway. Oh, I feel sooooo Donna Karen! :P
8 comments:
mermaid = sereia
Not quite the same, in portuguese. ;)
Wow Natalia! That sounds amazing! I'm very interested in the fact that you are opening a store : ) I can't wait to go shopping! The fashion show sounds fun and I can't wait to see it.
Oh, a shop with Natalia's outfits? I will be there!
Natalia, I wish I could help you at the New Citizens Plaza out on Sunday, but alas I will be working :( so all I can do is send you my support from afar. Talking of New Citizens I have just turned 14! (days that is) and I would like to thank you for peaking my interest in SL and I can not tell you how much enjoyment it has brought me. Even the fact that my graphics card keeps crashing me out and as a result everyone I interact with must think I am splitting my time between SL and the local Methadone Clinic I can not remember having this much fun in ages. I wake up every morning and eagerly read and then re-read both Sorcha and your Blogs, best of luck Sunday, anyway the men with the white coats are coming with my next dose of pills.
Taimi
Gosh Natalia, you are going to be a fashion-powerhouse! I bet all the big designer stores are now going to be worried.
Sakura Hilra
Ana, you speak Portuguese! Heehee thats close to Sirena. Im really bad with names...so really just needed something! :P
Sorcha, the shop is going to be really cool (theres a mermaid tank around it :) )! I hope you come see it once its done so we can go swim in it :)
Lauralee, please come to check out the shop! Im trying to make it a fun place for humans and mermaids to visit. :P I figured it will be a good place to give out things like scripts and items mention in the blog as well.
Taimi, dont worry, I think New Citizens is providing the models. Trust me, there are a lot of silly girls like me who want to model in SL :P If you are around, just come and enjoy!
I know how annoying computer problems can be! But I am so glad to hear you are having fun in SL! Thats what its all about :)
Sakura, heehee thanks! At this point, the store is just for fun, a way to share a few outfits, and give out items I talk about in this blog. I love doing this blog and want to focus on Miss Second Life for now...theres the casual and sexy outfits to do still :)
I am very worried about how things would fit on others (since all of my outfits are prim heavy with belts and flexi skirts). Still need to figure that one out...
Natalia Wrote: "I am very worried about how things would fit on others (since all of my outfits are prim heavy with belts and flexi skirts). Still need to figure that one out..."
Well, why don't you make them modifyable? I do that for my High Heel shoes I sell so my customers can fit it however they like. Oh and please post your store's Slur location so we can visit. Good luck.
Sakura, I do provide Mod permission to all the prim objects. Unfortunately, I made most of the belts and sashes with multiple prims. They can be made bigger, but grows in all dimensions at the same time (and gets weird very quickly :P).
Besides, I know many people (including me) are shy about tweaking prim attachments.
Im still debating whether to give Mod/Copy or Mod/Trans permission to objects. I would like people to be able to return things if they dont like it (which means Mod/Trans). But that makes it even more scary to change attachments (you cant make a copy before you start changing things...) Frankly, I just want people to have fun wearing the outfits *sigh* :P
Here is the SLURL to the store (heehee just figure out what a SLURL is :P): http://slurl.com/secondlife/rieul/151/30/77/
It is also in Search/Places (under "sirena").
But give me a couple days to figure out the sizing issue first *wink* ;P
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