Looking for the best architects

Hi, can someone assist me?

We have a RL consulting business and need a great architect to handle the SL part of the business. Where is the best place to find such a person/team? I have already looked at the developer directory and will likely start there but I heard that there are in-world instructors who are fantastic. Kindly email me directly at [email]CJ-3dtEngf0@TGNDCorp.com[/email] with any suggestions. My SL name is Scrappy Opus.

For odds and ends stuff like landscaping and art, check out the academy of water design The waterfalls Margot Abattoir does are off the scale amazing. Think Jefferson Psaltery does the big statues. Ones so real I can do palmistry on its lifeline lol

For houses and stuff, the best builders are maybe Juro Kothari, Ingrid Ingersol, and Barnesworth Anubis (hi Barnes!) These are my favorite, and aside from Barnes I really don't know any of 'em from Adam, so this is the Unbiased Tina Gascoigne Report for today. *smiles*

Unbiased report number 2 *looks shifty*

Matt Kraken.

There are actually a few RL architects in SL if you look around hard enough.

If your business venture is one that generates publicity for SL, the Lindens will sometimes look for the right people for you too.

Having said that, this is best posted in the classifieds section.

*Whispers* you got told off.

You're one of the few people they picked to do an infohub that looks halfway decent. But, yikes, they usually give money making kinds of things to their friends (aka, the right people), and most of those guys do crappy work in comparison to some of the best guys work. You gotta know that one by now!! How you got to build an infohub even boggles my tarot cards


BTW thankyou for my great shop window!

My statues will be on display at the Louvre Museum in Tompson, one in particular, beginning today. Tango. I'm refining another to be placed there, but most of my things you'll not find at the academy location. They are commissioned works in private collections basically. And, no, I agree, the Lindens, as far as I've seen, don't really seek out the best, by far, for either themselves or those interests seeking architectural help from them to enhance an inworld presence. I do, however, see the same names over and over again in the builders and designers they suggest to rl-based companies. A type of funneling practice to benefit their associates, I would assume. I share the land with the academy for a workplace and have found the artistry there to be above the usual cut and twist things here. It's a very refreshing concept and space.

I would second the recommendation of Juro, although I think it says in his profile that he isn't taking on more work right now. His new Habitat (sounds rather familiar to any Brit) furniture shop is the best commercial building I've seen in SL. It's certainly the most convincing high street shop I've encountered. It's not especially big or experimental but the eye for detail and execution is top drawer.

I don't know him personally either.

I must admit that I haven't been greatly impressed by the Linden buildings I've looked at, having expected to see the best that SL has to offer.

Dearly Darlings,

I too love Juro's work. Midtown Bienenstich does wonderful work too. I'm not sure if he's booked solid. I have not seen him here in SL for ages.

Ever Yours,

Mrs. Showdog Tiger

Scrappy, don't let the smokescreen fool you. There are many great architects in SL who are willing to work at their trade. They are just a bit more humble about it. So, keep your eyes open for the great builds around SL, and don't pass up the humble ones. I will contact you in-game, or will have the ones I have noticed contact you.

Good luck with your venture.

Prim

Be very careful in hiring people to build things for you here! I could write volumes about this. I build now, but at first I hired, hired, hired. One builder made a house for me, but the doors would't open and the textures were all off. Another guy skipped out in the middle of the build saying he was leaving SL (after I'd paid him! )Then there was some landscapers build that was so amateur I just paid him off, saying I had to sell my lot. He's left the game, so np with him reading this, I hope!

Mainly I'd go with the people that have track records, have great builds, are not associated with Linden Labs, (mainly because I agree with Jefferson that they're kind of walmart quality, ie, instead of having the right stuff they're basically suck up's ) AND explore the hell out of the world to find those great builders no one has heard of yet. The humble guys.

Well, for what it's worth, I sent him an application, along with my references and background information. I'm not one of the "huge names" in SL, but I have built two whole sims, and my customer service record is exempliary.

I think it would be lots of fun and a real challenge to reproduce real world architectural projects inside SL for a RL firm. Best of luck to all those who apply!

If someone has done 2 whole sims that's great. But volume doesn't necessarily mean quality. I've seen more than my share of more than 2 whole sims being nothing more than 2 whole junkyards of mediocrity or laughable junk. But the owner still has to pay the idiot that put it together for him or her.

Vist Dane Zander's Lost Gardens of Apollo IMMEDIATELY for a reference of one of the best sims in SL. Compare this sim to the work of anyone applying to do work for you and you'll know basically if you're dealing with a schlep or a great designer.

Quite so, kyela. I agree that the Lost Gardens are quite nicely done, and a good measuring stick for what can be done in SL.

One also has to consider whether the designer, or group of designers, who built a particular sim is available and interested in being hired to do other work.

I think any builder who applies for this should be ready to point to sims or builds that they have successfully completed, and to give references of satisfied customers. They should also offer, as I have, to do a 'test build' for the new client, to see if they can actually read architectural blueprints and duplicate real-world designs within SL. Certainly I think that the original poster, Scrappy, should visit some sites where the candidate's work can be seen - even if it is just meeting with a builder in a sandbox.

This is an example of the work of Jefferson Psaltery. He is a superb sculptor. But this is only one great builder that you can find here. Don't settle for mediocrity as Kyela suggested. Excellence DOES exist here. You just have to sift a bit )

http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/pic.aspx?id=105764&sort=PictureID+desc

Thank you all for your many suggestions! I will follow your leads.

Scrappy

Number 1 Tip: Make sure they are Prim-Savy builder. The more they can save number of prims for most similar shapes, the more they can use prims for something else.

Example, say you want a 50-steps staircase. People tend to use 50 prims. That would be a great mistake, because a good builder can use 25 prims for 50 steps. That's half of the count.

(I am working on a city in Meijis for Luc Aubret.)

Tina. When I say Lindens, it encompasses a large mass of people. Some of them are very aware of residents work due to their past experience being regular residents or the nature of their tasks.

The hub thing was some sort of open competition which received laclustre response. I suppose it was because the rewards weren't lucrative enough for the more commercially driven residents. So, after the competition was closed, some of us were approached by them to do voluntary work. Meaning, unpaid work. So I accepted because I thought it might be fun. I can safely say, I'm still not finished with it, since its more of a hobby thing than a contractual thing. I will be happy enough that they let me maintain and slowly improve it.

The 'failure' (as judged by others) of many a Linden project probably stems from them making it too much a democratic and fair process. This is contrary to what a lot of us believe, that they practice cronyism. We should all know by now, judging from the real world, using a democratic process does not guarantee that a right choice is always chosen.

So, I would say, if everyone keeps accusing them of cronyism, their best bet is to actually practice it.

Ah, I almost forgot, I'm supposed to make a shanty shack as an alternative venue for your tarot readings. And welcome to teh forums!

The picture does my work too much justice, thankyou.

And just a comment to Cottenteil, if I may. (In an extant thread)

If democracy were in play in receiving economic opportunties/rl in this VR, then why do the same avatars names seem to always decorate those lucrative builds. No, Cotten, there is a clear funneling of much *substantial* rl business in the direction of a handful of designers. Whether they are cronies or employees of LL, is hard to say. At this point, I'm sure names have been *alt*tered.

That said, I think that good designers can do very well here. Good luck to you with your infohub.

When there was an announcement that LL was going to let go of the infohubs, a number of people posted to ask for the preservation of various hubs -- usually hubs in their own neighborhoods. Some people wanted the open space, some wanted the traffic, some were nostalgic, etc. Torley participated in this thread in classic Torley style, and corresponded with people who'd posted, arranging to have volunteers create new builds for the hubs. If someone wanted to save a hub, Torley said, "Okay, here ya go, build it!" It was a great example of LL's "Your World, Your Imagination" philosophy at work. I worked on the Hyles hub, with the help of some friends. It was pretty cool, the way Torley handled this whole thing, and some wonderful builds have come from it. I notice the hubs are getting a lot of traffic now, which makes them a great meet-and-greet place for newbies, and it's good for the neighboring businesses (many located near the old telehubs for the traffic).

Oh yeah, favorite architect: Seifert Surface.

If the selected few produce reasonable quality work, then my point still holds. That they should practice some form of favouritism based on merit. Whenever they made something democratic and free for all, the results have been mixed at best (The big squirting dicks at burning life comes to mind). We do this often in RL companies too. We almost always stick to the same vendor if they are reliable. LL is no different.

For example, I thought the Bell's & Spurs project was a very decent effort. I don't know much about the history of this production, but I think its a good example and I did enjoy both the movie and visiting the sim itself.

Basically, the theory went that Linden Lab wanted to put a dent in the interests Anshe Chung had around such points. She and Guni are amazing examples of succeeding in the face of company-placed hurdles, whether those hurdles are intentional or not. I don't think anyone will ever forget that one.

Now to the aesthetics of the new infohubs built! To me, each and every one is a bit special. Each is so different, but each so well done. Kim Anubis' is adorable. Prokofy Neva's is my personal favorite, though. But to recommend an actual architect to do, let's say, the build of a real life consulting firm (whoa Scrappy), I'd have to say that Cottonteil M.'s beats them all for this. I don't know whether she's done entire sims, but I'd give her my vote to try.

I recently saw an marvelous build in Emerce by Lucid Vindaloo. Smart companies would do very well to visit this build. Many of the builds here, are however, from the 'blessed' of SL. Data Linden is on the landgrab tab. Cough. But, the work here is not bad. Aimee Weber's American Apparel shop looks clean and non-scary..probably a big plus to companies viewing a purple dance club when their rep leaves orientation island. ( She wants to bridge the rl/sl gap for selling her wares/skull and crossbones thigh-highs ). Justin Bovington/Fizik Baskerville's Riverrunsred style is as great as ever. Visit the Avalon sim to view more of his work.

So, take notes, explore, and take pictures of the things/style you prefer. As you can see by the many suggestions here, you'd do well to do your own footwork. Highly promotional people and 'service' groups in SL, the ones that use each and every tool in the metaverse to market...from all the exchanges to all the 'magazines'? Well, they can disappoint. They may be wonderful at pushing their products, but then, nothing else would probably make them sell.

Thanks, Margot -- glad you like the Hyles hub. I really enjoyed touring all of the new hubs, and I have some favorites, too . . . I like Cottonteil's a lot, and the one Salazar and friends did in the city sims (they are always doing such cool things). There's a cool hobo build, too, and Bear Lodge is pretty.

Anshe (along with other parcel owners) was understandably concerned about the effect the end of the Telehub system would have on her property values, but I have never before encountered the theory that LL did it just to hurt her business. That doesn't make much sense to me.

The builds in the two Emerce sims were created for a particular event (SL demo at eDay, a RL conference for European marketing companies). LL invited members of the SLDEV group to participate -- for the most part, people and companies listed in the Developers' Directory. Anyone can submit their info in order to be included in the Directory. Data Linden managed the Emerce sims and parcel distribution (very smoothly, I should add!), hence the name on the tab.

If I had to name the "winner" of Emerce, from the viewpoint of a marketing company's goals, I'd pick Moopf. Lots of other great builds around, though, and The Magicians had a blast building the Flying Pig Enchanted Mine Car Ride.

Yes, when I first saw your name (kim) on a build in an infohub, it gave me a bit of hope that maybe not all opportunities for the high-profiling of one's work wasn't minorly hacked

Now, if you get one of the contracts from a real life company, I'll really have a reason to smile, and have second thoughts!

Btw, the classiest pair of earrings I ever got in SL, was a pair of small pearl ones~