I’ve been delighted over the last few days to discover that Prim Perfect has been drawing mentions in several design blogs. Admittedly, these are not always 100% flattering – one – Creative Review – took issue with the cover of Issue 3, and another – Things Magazine – commented on the medievalism of the same issue * (well, it just happened to be castles this month. They should have come last month when it was the Galaxy!).
But what seems to me important is that design heavyweights are now just being to look at design in Second Life as an issue. That seems to me to be a very big step forward.
So far, a lot of the stories we read in the external media are about real life companies coming into Second Life – see, for example, this article today on the BBC, where the presumption is that external companies coming in from the real world is a Good Thing. Creators in Second Life, if mentioned at all, are simply portrayed as illegally copying design from the real world. The implication is that ‘good’ residents should be buying their clothes, their furniture and everything else from ‘legitimate’ stores – i.e. stores which have a real world existence. The fact that Second Life has its own valid and even astounding creativity is completely ignored.
The exciting work that is being done in world is all too often overlooked – which is why ANY mention in design magazines is a promising sign that such a limited attitude is changing.
Hopefully, that balance is starting to be redressed. And I’ll be more than delighted if Prim Perfect can play a part.
In fact, I’m determined that it shall.
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* Things said: PrimPerfect … which seems to embody the oak’n’brass neo-Middle Earth aesthetic. Orcish Modern, perhaps.
Prim Perfect 
The exciting work that is being done in world is all too often overlooked – which is why ANY mention in design magazines is a promising sign that such a limited attitude is changing.
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It’s the old paradigm:
First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you
Then they fight you
And then you win.
The outside design world is slowly moving off of #1. And that’s a good thing.
It should not come as a shock that companies see the financial potential in what’s happening in SL. What they don’t seem to understand is the creative spirit that thrives in this world and the beauty of creation that makes this place special and magical. The creators within SL have come up with some of the most jaw dropping and fantasy filled things that only the wildest imaginations could think of. It is what attracts me to this place and keeps me coming back.
What makes me proud is that SL has existed and thrived primarily with little direct interjection from corporate America. It is the creative drive and sense of independence that most of us in SL posses that keeps this world in good shape and a blast to be a part of.
The amount of people (like myself) who say things like “I would have never thought I’d take such an intrest in…” are plentiful and common place in SL. People tend to rediscover themselves in this world and that energy can be felt from person to person, creation to creation.
That word “creation” is the back bone of what makes this place special and what makes the future look great for Second Life and its inhabitants. I salute all of those with the spirit to create big and small and who contribute to the overall impact that SL has on the “in world” community and the ripple effect it has on life as we know it in the “Real World”.
2L for life!!