Saturday, March 10, 2012

I Can Haz Promotions: Anatomy of a Blogpost - Advertising

Tower of Human

I realized that, in the tail end of the last Anatomy of a Blogpost post, I left off with taking that shot. The final piece of a Blogpost is advertising - and also the most boring part of it, frankly. First of all, I had joined a wide number of feeds. I don't get a lot of traffic from them, but joining is What Is Done. There's a section on my blog which lists all the feeds I've applied to, and I believe I'm on all but one. Secondly, I send out a notecard to the designers that I reference in the text. I credit everything I wear, but I only send a notice to the creators when I talk about their items in the text of my post (though in one embarrassing case, I referenced them in the text but failed to have a picture clearly showing their product - awkward!). Some of this is self-protective; in the case of my usual items I wear, I'd be contacting those poor designers every couple of days. Some of it is because it doesn't seem fair to claim I'm promoting someone without spending the time to note what I like about their creations.I'm going to give you the text I use; feel free to swipe it if you're stuck for a semi-professional manner to alert creators to your blogpost.

I just wanted to let you know that I featured your store on my blog in the post address below.

[blog address]

Thanks so much for your beautiful creations! Please keep up the wonderful work.

Sincerely,

Deoridhe Quandry
With designers who are personal friends, though, I just IM them with the address and some smart-ass remark.They like me anyway. Thirdly, I add the address of my blogpost to the description of each picture in the set I took, even if they aren't in the blogpost, before adding the pictures to as many groups as I can. I have found groups by looking at the lists of other people, and I try very hard to stick to the rules of each group. Over time, I've gotten a bit of a following on flickr, but I'm still small potatoes compared to a lot of fashion blogs. I'd love to be more popular - but you can't exactly force it!

Sea Curves

This look really came together, even though the shoes I started with ended up by the wayside (you'll see them in a later post). I am slowly becoming addicted to Paris Metro's dresses. Sometimes there are serious alpha occlusion issues, but in the case of this dress those effects simply add to the style, making them seem even more fluttery and featherlike. I love the shade of blue, too, and the lovely gloves which came with the dress. I ended up tugging the hair out of my inventory - it's an old release from Tribal Soul and is an awesome, over-the-top design for your best styling cocktail look. I love the piling on top, and since the hair is modify-ok, I could easily move the few strands cutting through my hair into a better place. I capped it off with a hairflower from Rose Princess, which is sadly a store which is no more; I picked it up in their closing sale, and I'm really glad since the flower and feather combination is very unique and striking. My cosmetics come from my two favorite cosmetics stores; Elymode's eyes are among my favorite, and though Mock does do eyes, I'm really fondest of her lips - which are well made, unique, and come in a huge variety of shades to match any outfit. I joined Mock's group recently, and I have to say her group gifts are frequent and well worth the group slot and joining fee. Elymode is another pay-to-join group with wonderful group fits and the occasional chance to get an entire release as a gift! I received a set recently, though I haven't had a chance to blog them yet.

Ocean Cascade

The stockings are a transplant from Sn@tch, who always do glorious accessories (and clothes!) and add just the right amount of darkness to the bottom. I capped them off with adorable flat Mary Jane shoes from Duh! (available in a wide variety of colors, and a perfect traditional style of shoe for your Lolita wear in particular). What made me giggle was that as I was taking these pictures, another set of promotional items from Duh were entering my inbox! Sometimes I swear designers know when I'm thinking about them! I added in a truly original set of stone necklaces from Elemental, which I wore a turquoise set from recently, and I really like the styling of it as well as the slight shininess which makes them look like polished stone. The final striking piece to this look are the wings, which are a double feathered set from Favole. If I wasn't so attached to my Fancy Fairy wings, I'd be wearing Favole all the time; not only are they interestingly made and often quite unique, but they look amazing from any angle, which is really a lot of fun.I love how they react to light in particular - like in the picture below, each feather simply seems to catch the light.

Pathwalker

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow (mesh)
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Solstice - midnight blue
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: Mock, LipGlimmer - Burning Sands
Glasses: Air, Cresta
Hair: Tribal Soul, Rehab - Platinum (promotional item)
Hair Accessory: Rose Princess, B-Feather Chain Cross - blue
Jewelry: Elemental, Liquit Logic Cabochon Set (promotional item)
Wings: Favole, Wrath (promotional item)
Dress: Paris Metro, Feather Leather Blue (promotional item)
Stockings: Sn@tch, Ribbed Tights
Shoes: Duh!, Mary Jane - blue (promotional item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Metamorphoses
Light Settings: TOR EUPHORIA smoky blue

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only 

Edited to add on 3/29/2012: For anyone drawn here by Paris Metro's kind advertizement of me as "bad mouth", you may also wax lyrical on my lack of journalistic integrity in this post. You can also check out old examples of said lack of journalistic integrity on all my posts featuring Paris Metro, where my praise of the clothing is a clear indication of what a poor judge of fashion I am and how little respect I have for creators in Second Life.

2 comments:

  1. I am sorry you chose to feature my work in such bad light, in front of another alpha...any feather, any fur would respond in this way in front of another alpha such as the background you choose. As a serious designer in rl and sl, its a challenge, but a great challenge to create beauty within presets such as transparencies and alphas of digital networks. However, negative press does not offend me, inaccuracy does, your comment "alpha occlusion issues" is not journalism at its best, as a great journalist would complete the report on how this happens throughout the grid, with feathers, fur and any alpha texture needed to create an outstanding dress. Thank you for your efforts.

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  2. I'm a little baffled by how you think my post was negative, since I complemented your outfit and indicated how much I liked it. I'm also surprised that this mention of alpha occlusion bothered you - especially as you indicated it does cause problems and it's not the first time I've mentioned it when I've covered your clothing - but I am not a journalist, I am a Second Life blogger who occasionally covers fashion. I also dislike greatly you telling me how I have to cover something, given 1) you grossly misunderstand what I'm doing and what my role is (blogger vs. journalist) and 2) your seeming desire to read my post in the worst possible light (I don't know in what world "in the case of this dress those effects simply add to the style, making them seem even more fluttery and featherlike" is a bad light).

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