Kuro Neko meets….Lost Thereian from Naughty Designs
Greetings, people and nekos. Today I have for you an interview with Lost Thereian of Naughty Designs.
Kuro Neko: When you first started SL, did you have a gameplan?
Lost Thereian: I came to SL a few years ago with little experience with computers and no experience in computer graphic art or 3d programs (Photoshop, Poser, 3ds max, Maya). I found a review about Second Life in a gaming magazine and became pretty fascinated with the whole idea of a 3d virtual world. So I went out and bought a graphic card to try out this strange new world; never really intended to come here and sell things. Well I made friends fast and become pretty addicted.
I started making candles, beds, and sculptures (lol) and sold them on a friend’s property. Later on I bought my own property and decided to start making goth apperal for men and women… I made a few hairstyles myself for ads because I was not happy with what was available at the time. It turned out people wanted to buy the hair as well. So on this small property I owned I began to sell things in this square shop I had built in 2 minutes. Well a lot of people liked my stuff including Midnight City (who were really popular and well known at the time) so I ended up moving my things to their sim as well…and well popularity grew from there.
Ambyance2 Anubis (named her stuff Naughty Jazzze at the time) invited me to her shop with another friend of her’s to sell my stuff there as well. We became really good friends fast and started doing a lot of things together, later naming everything under one name: Naughty. We later on purchased an island together (Naughty) and took our time (about a year) building a shopping area, beach, and other cool stuff. That’s pretty much how I got to where I am today.
Kuro Neko: I consider your Alina skins range probably the best skins in SL. How much time on average do you spend on getting them looking so good?
Lost Thereian: Well I took the time later on to really learn how to make a quality realistic skin for women. It really took several months and tons of trial and error to come up with Alina. In ‘06 I finally released a female skin line to the public (without the name Alina). It was a pretty successful line but I was not completely happy with it. I took them down and revamped them, then naming them Alina….and that’s pretty much how they got to where they are now.
Kuro Neko: What was the first thing you ever made, and did you sell it?
Lost Thereian: I think the first thing I made was a chair learning how to use prims. The first clothing item I made was this realllly low rise revealing goth punk skirt for women. It was pretty awful. I never sold it.
Kuro Neko: When was Naughty born?
Lost Thereian: The name “Naughty” probably came about in ‘05 in our small shop in Zazi. We wanted to start advertising more and expanding and just ended up turning everything from “Lost.” and “NJ” into “Naughty”.
Kuro Neko: Who do you consider to be your inspiration in SL, if any?
Lost Thereian: My inspiration would definitely have to be Ambyance2 Anubis. She’s someone I can really trust in pretty much all aspects. She has great taste and always tells me if something looks cheesy or whatever. I would definitely have to give her credit for getting to where I am today and not putting out some of the shit items I’ve done in the past.
Kuro Neko: Do you find making a good skin or hairpiece more rewarding than the customer’s praise you get for it, or vice versa?
Lost Thereian: It’s the customer’s opinion that really counts. I’ve done a lot of things that I’ve liked personally, but customers really hadn’t…which isn’t such a rewarding feeling. This gives me an idea of what they like and that’s really important. Seeing that a lot of people are interested in my products I’ve worked so hard on and are actually willing to spend their money on it is a very rewarding feeling.
Kuro Neko: Does SL take up much more of your time than it did a year ago? And, is SL work now your full time job?
Lost Thereian: Second Life is a very different place than it was a year ago. It does take more time now than it used to. A lot of the time spent here I use to hang out with friends, but now my time is dedicated to customer IMs and creating new content for Naughty. I also have set the bar high for myself on what is quality and that really takes time to achieve.
Me and Lost at my home.
