Hooked on Graphics

It's no secret that one of my greatest pleasures in Second Life is creating and out of all the ways you can create graphic design is really what I love the most.  I'm seldom happier than when I'm researching and putting together something as simple as labels for virtual jars of jam or honey.

I have spent many happy hours "down the rabbit hole" searching for inspiration as my ever-expanding Pinterest sections, such as Graphic Design-Labels, can attest.  I'm also inspired by my creative Second Life friends who share the same passion and produce their own mini-masterpieces on a regular basis.

It took me a number of weeks to come up with the labels pictured above, much of that time spent drooling over Redouté engravings and other examples of ephemera.  If I'm not careful I find that pixel editing can become a bit of an obsession.

I'm also delighted when Second Life intersects Real Life in an almost whimsical fashion. Some weeks after creating my own label for the Queen's Hamlet honey the Chateau of Versailles released the following Miel de Trianon on their Facebook page.

"The honey of Trianon, available for the first time on the online shop of the Palace of Versailles! Produced by the beehives of the Queen’s Vegetable Garden as part of an ecological approach. With delicate flavours of lime, summer flowers and chestnut."

Life is sweet!

French Ephemera: Prêt à Papier

A Paper "Pompadour"

It's no secret that I love this dress. I've blogged about it in Fabulous Fashion and I've worn the virtual version in Second Life, so you can imagine my delight to find this paper version looking out at me from the pages of Victoria Magazine.

Maison Noir Blanc: Messing with Mesh & Materials

Inspiration: Neoclassic Row House

In Second Life, as in real life, I tend to be a "jack of all trades and master of none".  I love to dabble in the different skills necessary to create but I'm very impatient with the learning curve.  I'm really excited about the introduction of Mesh and now Materials to Second Life but I find it hard to make a concentrated effort to get up to speed on these 3D building techniques.

 

All this to say that I need a lot of inspiration to propel me into uncharted territory.

 

The Neoclassic Row House pictured above, was just what I was looking for;  small & stylish, classic & contained.  It's a build that easily lends itself to mesh modelling, or so my untutored self surmises.  And so project Maison Noir Blanc was launched.

French Ephemera: Paris et Poulet

Exposition Universelle (1889) ~ Eiffel Tower, Paris

I have just started reading Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherford; a multigenerational saga that covers 700 years of the city's architecture, culture, society and history.  Yes, I'm in for the long haul on this one and I'm going to enjoy every minute!

So far I've been introduced to  Monsieur Eiffel as he is working on the Statue of Liberty. He believes that this immense undertaking may be the greatest achievement of his career but of course we know that the Eiffel Tower is still looming in his future.  Don't you agree that one of the best things about historical novels is that, in many cases, you don't have to cheat and skip to the end of the book to know what's coming up next!?

And so, having the Eiffel Tower on the brain, I was excited to come across a poster advertising the 1889 World Fair for which it was constructed.  This beautiful piece of French Ephemera set me off on a delightful tangent.