Although I was disappointed with my previous Ikon purchase (the Eternal Eyes), I wanted to try the new Destiny Eyes, since I read that it includes a new smaller size, XSmall. The previous smallest size, Small, was still too big for my preference, so I had to give these new eyes a try since they looked nice in the vendor ad.
These are the new sizes – XSmall, Small, Medium, Medium Large, and Large. The previous sizes were Small, Medium, Medium Large, and XLarge (this size is gone). There’s not that much difference between Small, Medium, and Medium Large.
This is the vendor ad for Ikon eyes at The Boutique. I’ve been burned before by Ikon eyes, cos in addition to the size being too large, the eyes in SL lacked the same clarity as the ad. What I think Ikon did, was use the high-resolution texture and morphed it with a real life eye for the ad, instead of taking the picture in SL.
Ikon ad vs. my eye in SL
It does bother me that the ad shows the eyes texture at a higher resolution than the eyes that are sold in SL. I knew in advanced that would probably be the case, from my previous experience with this brand. I still bought the Destiny Eyes, but I would have liked them more, if the ad didn’t irritate me so much.
Am I too picky about this? Do you guys think the texture clarity is “less than” the ad? Does this bother you?
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It’s the main reason I’ve never bought any eyes from that brand. I didn’t know what it would actually look like in SL and I wasn’t comfortable with that. :'(
In all honesty, I love Ikon eyes. My favorite are the Ardent eyes. On my screen, they look great to me (well I think so anyway 🙂 ) I tried the Destiny eyes, but I didn’t care for those. I’ve never felt that the ads misrepresent the eyes, and to be fair, the creator features a lot of actual SL pics (from various customers) both in the mainstore and on their flikr page. Maybe a good solution would be to offer demos of the eyes so people can try before they buy.
From the time I first opened my store, I’ve made sure to display customer pictures created by them, not me, wearing my eyes. I did this to show off my eyes on a vast variety of avatars, and to show what they really look like in use, in-world, and not just in my vendor graphics. I spend a lot of time daily on Flickr tending to my group pools, which is where I get those pictures for the many portraits on my store walls that cycle through images. There is at least one dedicated to each line of eyes. A couple months ago, I also added displays in-store that link directly to my various Flickr groups (there is a dedicated group for each line of eyes), so that customers can pull up and browse through literally hundreds of pictures of people wearing the eyes. I have gone to some trouble to let people see my eyes as they really are, with no intent whatsoever of trying bait and switch them.
I have bought the Ikon eyes previously sold at the boutique called “ardent” in several styles and the more recent “destiny” eyes. I was very much pleased with the clarity of the “ardent” eyes but not with the “destiny” eyes. I agree with your post that the ads are mis-leading and the high-rez of the ads do not match the inworld product, and until you pointed out that they were morphed with a human face post-prod I always assumed it was just loss of quality in image texture due to sl. I still wear the ardent eyes..but not the destiny ones. 🙁
I save out my textures at 256×256 resolution, and use them at that size in my vendor graphics. The vendor graphics are actually shrunk down a bit from that resolution. The SL rendering engine will only display system eye textures at 128×128 resolution, unfortunately. So although the higher rez texture is there on the eyes you buy, it is being forced-scaled down by the engine. This only happens to system eyes. An advantage of prim and mesh eyes, is they attached objects and not subject the system 128×128 forced-scale, so you can see the textures in all their higher resolution glory, if you zoom in. It’s probably the main advantage of mesh eyes over prim eyes.
Thanks for that explaination, I never knew what the point of having mesh eyes was, now i see there may be a purpose to them! lol I do agree, your products would be better served without the morphing, Use SL avatars in your ads. Not human real life people. Just takes away from the product in my opinion. I do love my Ardent eyes.
Ty for your reply and explanation Ikon.. I do have to say this..I buy as many skins as I do eyes, of course from different stores/vendors..and I find myself always going back to the “ardent” eyes now. In retrospect I don’t think you are trying to fool anyone with your ads..I think you are probably doing the best you can to represent them in a “glamorous” way..just like shoe designers or many other designers in sl do..they ps the photo abit. Now depending on the individual shopper they can over look it or not. But please keep up the great work. And I never used mesh eyes or rather knew the resolution for mesh eyes would be higher than system eyes. I will keep that in mind..ty again.
I do concede that the RL (literal) setting of the eyes in the vendor ads can make one a tiny bit uncertain of the full effect on your avatar but I fully understand the creator’s wish to want to show the off to their best possible effect…however if that means presenting a look that just can’t be achieved by us, that is maybe problematic. Extreme close up eye pics in isolation without the full effect on a whole face do not always look particularly great, perhaps why other creators prefer to display their eye vendors in different ways.
Despite all this and from a good deal of experience, I have innate confidence that any Ikon eyes I buy will be of some of the finest detail and quality around, but I still buy many brands that might have different but also very appealing effects and merits.
Just a minor addition, the new XS size was actually added to the previous Vanity range too and the group has a monthly gift so you can “try before you buy”.
I have a real problem with any brand whose ad is misleading in any way (SL or RL). I work in marketing in RL and brand showcasing is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to what I will purchase, and/or endorse ,or put my name to. There is a highly competitive eye brand out who is pretty neck-in-neck with Ikon who has no need to use morphing to display their eyes beautifully. When you see the ads you know exactly what you are going to get. So in a nutshell, Gogo, I do NOT think you are being “too picky.” I am crazy picky about ads when it comes to eyes and skins as well. The biggest reason we need sincerity with eyes is the fact we, usually, are unable to demo (unlike skins, hair, etc).
Per my reply to Tracy, I have zero intention of misrepresenting my eyes, and is why I give people immediate access to hundreds of pictures of my eyes on hundreds of avatars, all created by customers, not me. Here’s the links:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikonsl/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_sunrise/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_utopia/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_horizon/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_eternal/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_lucid/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_ardent/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_vanity/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikon_destiny/
I am proud of my eyes, and have absolutely nothing to hide. I think my vendor graphics look nice. I think once you try on any pair of my eyes, whether from the free group gift of from a single purchase, you get an idea immediately of how the eye looks on, in-world, and can see for yourself whether my vendor graphics are somehow grossly misrepresenting the final product. In my opinion, they are not. The vendor graphics show my eyes at a higher resolution than the system eyes are allowed to display, but that is the only difference, and I don’t think it’s anything that should call into question my character? 🙂
It is your store and your product. And you are quite successful. I have purchased some of your eyes over the past couple of your years and I also have the choice to not do so. What I am doing here is responding to Gogo’s statement about the morphing and her question about being too picky.
And when I go to a store in SL, I want to look at the ad displaying the product correctly, decide if I like what I see, buy the product and go home. Sorry, I do not want to spend time looking through FLickr groups to make sure they will look correctly once I put them on. Many of the photos in those groups are photoshopped as well. In my opinion, I should be able to look at a simple display and be able to choose by it alone. This is my preference. If the ads were of SL avatars wearing Ikon eyes then I see no need for all the extra time you have put into making sure there are pictures everywhere of avis wearing them. This is just an opinion.
But why are you taking the effort to create and uphold a flickr group (which surely not every costumer will see), simply for the use to show your costumers your product in SL? Why creating a Vendor picture, that is to 80% not taken in SL and saying afterwards, that you have nothing to hide and are proud of your product? Why creating a problem and a complicate solution and say then, that you do so much to *not* mislead your costumers? Especially a delicate product like an eye would need the display of the SL face, to be able to judge the look of it in a face. Its the same as portraying Mesh shoes on 3D feet in a program – the (horrible looking, I know) SL body is important to decide, whether a product looks good or not. I dont want to offend you, but I genuinely dont understand and would be greatful to hear an answer.
Are you Viola Leigh from Redgrave? or just someone trying to impersonate her? (i’m curious)
Hey nuria, I dont think that anyone would be interested in impersonating me, so yes, it is me 🙂
Hello Viola:-) Thanks for let me know, unfortunately i’ve seen some people using creators names for all kind of purposes. Trust me, i have a huge respect toward your work but if we are going to be picky it is hard for me to understand your questions and concerns regarding IKON vendors when (IMHO) some ads of your store (specially skin ads) also has been evidently post-processed/photoshopped (whatever), i mean that they neither look in the avatar 100% as they look in the ads. I do not think that Ikon it’s creating a problem as i do not think that the purpose of the Flickr group are a solution for “a problem”…I think that she (or he) just try to embellish the ads like most of the merchants do, and (again,IMO) the point is that above all there is NOT that big difference between the ad and the product in-world…i’m pretty sure that 99% of buyers do not notice the difference in the resolution of the eyes. I do not know Ikon owner at all, but i’m slightly annoyed because actually there are some stores that totally misrepresent their products in the ads, I think this blog post have a wrong target.
Hey Nuria 😉
The products we offer in vendors are always shotted inworld and always are presented on the SL avatar (if necessary for the shot), not morphed together with real life body parts and not rendered in a 3D program. We always offer the bodyshapes used for the picture and only optimize very minimal things in Photoshop. We do sometimes use background images not from SL, often heavily blurred, because we feel that this does not affect the product, since you can choose any background in SL you wish. Of course we try to get the best out of SL with windlight settings, zooming in, atmospheric shadows. I know these are not the default preferences of SL, but everybody has the opportunity to create this atmosphere in SL. We try to guarantee the possibility, that one can look just like on the vendor, though it might be coherent with some preference changes. I joined this conversation as a costumer myself and never understood the idea of joining a SL product with real life bodies or body parts. I feel as a costumer confused whenever I see these radical morphs, because you can never achieve the look of the vendor. And i dont understand why vendor pictures have to be drastically divergent from any SL result with the product. In this particular concern with IKON vendors, i will never look like in the vendor picture, whatever windlight settings i use, because SL brows, skin, makeup and the shape do not look like that and I can not get them to look like that. I especially don’t understand the need for this, when the product is of great quality and looks wonderful for itself (like the IKON eyes). Because of that I hoped to hear an answer to his choice of workflow. This is an open discussion and I am always curious to hear the opinions of a wider range of people and to learn what we could improve in future and of course I am open for constructive criticism. I sincerely respect Ikon and his work and I think his products are of great quality and would look just as great if they were shown with a SL face. But this is just my subjective opinion and not meant as an offense. Also i think that this discussion left long ago Ikon products for themselves, it is more about the display of vendors and the divergence between a vendor and the final inworld product in general.
Hi again Viola:-) We agree in almost all, i’m talking myself also as a consumer.. I still do not understand what’s the issue since what it’s morphed in IKON vendors is just the small visible part of the face (eyebrows,skin…) not the eyes itself which are the product FOR SALE and the relevant part. You stated that you will never look like IKON vendor picture, because SL brows, skin, makeup and the shape do not look like that and you can’t get them to look like that….I could understand someone would feel upset if IKON were selling the eyebrows,skin,make up and shape from that vendor but the product for sale are just the eyes, and in this case the vendor picture of the eyes itself is not drastically divergent with the result of the product in-world. The eyes have a slight higher resolution in the vendor? yes…but IMO that it’s not a big deal and as i said i’m pretty sure that 99% of customer do not notice that small difference on the resolution of the eyes because they look just great in-world. You can imagine someone buying the eyes and complaining to IKON because the eyebrows, skin, shape and makeup do not look on their avatar like in the eyes vendor? (lol…maybe it has happened). Well, thanks for your response, always it’s good to share opinions, and apologies about my english^^
I’d would rather the vendor photo be of an AV wearing the eyes, ideally with little to no makeup, but rarely does that happen anywhere. Skinnery’s come close.
I have been looking for new eyes. I will pick these up. I think they look very good, even if not exact as in the picture. The quality is very nice.
Ikon’s latest release has a colour that is nearly identical to my mum’s eyes, which are quite rare. If the ring of the iris was a wee bit thicker and more of a blue spruce (that does not mean an actual blue) shade it would be spot on. I got them because they remind me of my mum’s and I have about a dozen other ikon eyes in varying shades. I’m a fickle pickle with my look so I have as many eyes as skins, if not more, because not all eyes work with all skins. Gotta find what creates a look. 🙂
I wear Ikon since forever now and I have no complaints whatsoever about quality and never felt any difference between ad and actual eye. Perhaps it’s your settings?
I replied to the some of the other commenters first, but now I will address you directly, Gogo. Every time I see you comment anywhere on my eyes, in Plurk, now here, it is consistently negative. The eyes are too large, too saturated, too this, too that, for your tastes. With this post, you are escalating things a little. You have been ‘burned by IKON before’, etc. That’s some harsh language. The point of your post is to essentially that I bait and switch customers with some vendor graphics shenanigans, grossly misrepresenting my product. It seems to go so far as to call into question my ethics. I think that’s going a little far.
I am proud of the product I make. I think my vendor graphics look nice. And I think the hundreds, thousands of customer pictures I display in my store and give people direct link access to in my Flickr groups shows off how my eyes look on actual avatars, hundreds, thousands, of actual avatars, in-world, and all the images are created by them, not me. No massaging.
You have a right to your opinion. You have a right to hate my product. That’s fine. I guess I just it didn’t feel like it has turned personal. Cuz it kinda does? And we have never even met!
It’s not personal. I find that my critiques have helped many designers improve, whether they like how I said it or not. Besides, consider this free publicity, I bet you will notice a lot of sales from new customers. I didn’t write this post with the intention to hurt your sales, it is to talk about eyes that I liked enough to purchase, with a few points I didn’t.
Gogo, so far so good, keep up the great work. However, in your reply to Ikon, saying it’s “free publicity” is a bit offending to me as a reader. I’m not a cow or lamb that is shepherded on by your blog and don’t always visit each designer you blog about. I like the content and cuteness but have a mind of my own. Also, yes, if you say something negative about a designer I won’t really believe it unless I see pictures, which you take the time to post.
I wanted to state this to Ikon him/herself. Even Gogo’s photos show that you have beautiful eyes but that there is a difference in ad resolution versus actual product. If you can fix it great, if it’s too difficult you can write a disclaimer, or as one intelligent reader remarked, set up a demo version
hi Sherry! Thanks for being a reader! No, I do not think you, or any readers are a sheep, but I do think that Ikon is getting free publicity, even if people do not rush out and buy right away, there’s some awareness created for his brand now. I bet many who read this post won’t forget about his brand, and maybe even start paying attention to his future releases.
Keep up the great work, your eyes are the most beautiful eyes on the grid, you should be very proud of your work. I don’t think you need this kind of publicity, you have done a great work and have lots of customer without this. Flickr pictures and blog pictures proves it. .. Hugs <333
Ikon, as you know, I love your eyes and I know how committed you are to your customers. Ignore the haters, you should know better, some people are never happy and you can NOT change that, no matter how good or bad your eyes are.
just because someone finds an issue with something they paid money for and aren’t satisfied with, does not make them a ‘hater’. constantly getting positive feedback and kissing a designer’s butt will not help them improve their product if there is a problem with how it is being represented or the product itself. it is not true that people are expressing their concerns because ‘some people are never happy’. that’s bs.
The title, the tone of the post and the ‘been burned before’ was clearly a hater’s tone/words. Bad intentions, bad karma … just to generate traffic, some people will stop at nothing.
I get great traffic, even on days I don’t blog.
I absolutely agree with what you said Claire. A blog with numbers like Gogo’s and with her influence, she can’t say it was “publicity”. A lot of people read this article and won’t visit Ikon due to someone not choosing their words as wisely as they could have done. Basically the ones that know the store will still go and the ones that don’t probably won’t, ever. I know Gogo has every right to do whatever she wishes with her blog hence why I avoid this blog. Whenever I give it a shot I end up seeing a negative post about a product. It may be due to the fact that I rarely visit this blog.
Usually I just avoid these pointless discussions but this time I feel the need to add my own comment.
Ikon does a splendid job and the details are more than amazing. I don’t need to defend the store as the quality speaks for itself. Go check out the store!
There is one more thing though and this is also what made me read the entire article.
The title “Ikon Eyes, stop morphing” made me believe Ikon was actually using RL eyes and selling them. Seeing as I love the store I started reading only to find out that it was a complaint about the ads. Please, please, PLEASE Gogo clarify your titles. That was very misleading.
I love Ikon eyes. Sometimes mine lack clarity (in my viewer at least) but after a couple of rebakes, they’re up to par. I have also gotten really favorable comments from other people about my eyes.
I just have to comment since I blog eyes specifically.
I don’t use any fancy lighting other than an optimized windlight that closest resembles what textures would look like in an image editing program.
Any eye texture applied directly to the default avatar eyeballs will blur & fuzz just a bit, no matter how clear the texture itself may look. Why that is I do not know, but the only way to get one’s eye texture as clear as it looks in one’s editing program is to use prim, sculpt, mesh replacement eyes or hit Rebake & snap your picture just as the textures sharpen.
Now, I’ve collected a ton of eyes over the years & even make my own, by far Ikon’s eyes hold their clarity extremely well against many many others (even mine :P).
while I dislike image morphing myself, my opinion is that in no way do the promos misrepresent what you’re getting since Ikon’s eyes are frequently shown on many high traffic blogs, Flickr groups, personal Flickr accounts, and the many SL residents in-world wearing them (you’d be hard pressed not to come across anyone with Ikon eyes).
All in all it is personal preference.
I LOVE Ikon eyes and I wear them all the time (the Ardent set). I agree about the sizes, that even the small was way too large for my avatar on previous eyes, which was a shame because many of them are gorgeous, but the new XS is great. I think the sizes could run smaller actually, and just have greater difference between them. I hardly notice any difference between most of the sizes you posted with.
It does annoy me when designers use RL pics for their ads instead of ones taken in SL. It creates a sense of worrying about what the product will really look like in SL, but honestly I swear by this brand and IMO they are certainly worth buying.
The texture difference is only slight compared to the ad. Honestly, they’re eyes and unless you’re right up in your avatars face taking pictures specifically of the eyes, you won’t notice the very small difference in texture resolution. 99% of the time you won’t even be able to see what color the eyes are because you’ll be zoomed out so far anyway, walking around in stores, or even taking full body shots where it’s barely visible –Let alone the details on those eyes. So that part doesn’t bother me at all, but I DO wish designers would stop using manipulated RL pics for their ads and just take them in SL to let us see what the product actually looks like.
I have noticed a huge trend in this lately, not just with Ikon, but with other brands as well. While they do offer nice products… I am really irked when they Photoshop the work to death, and make it look even better in the ad than the product really is. If you have the skills to make your ad look that amazing (which in Ikon’s case they just used the other texture so this is different), then why not make your items look even better int he first place? Every designer wants their ads to look great, but don’t mock them up so much that they’re entirely different!!! I mostly use contrast to brighten mine up or used the liquify tool for edges that anti-aliasing didn’t smooth enough for me. Adding extra shadowing, wrinkles/folds etc in the ad where as the original item doesn’t even have that…?? That ticks me off. I won’t buy clothing from stores like that. I see so many AMAZING ads done, but the clothing is “meh” when you actually get it on.
I love IKON eyes and have been wearing them for a while now. I think it all comes down to personal preferences. I do think its a bit harsh implying that the ads are some how misleading. Have you seen some other vendors ads? Constructive criticism does help designers that welcome and want honest feedback. However one must question the real motive behind constant “criticism” of brand that you obviously just don’t like.
If I don’t like something I generally stay away from it/the brand/anything affiliated to said products or person. Maybe you should meet in-world with Ikon and have an depth conversation about all the things you don’t like and maybe that would resolve any deceptiveness you feel is occurring?
What’s wrong with her expressing displeasure on her own blog?
I never paid attention to the ads vs. the actual product. The two sets that were offered at The Boutique I have liked with Destiny being my favorite so far. I’ve bought eyes in the past from several stores and wasn’t happy with the color. I feel that the best way to know if you like a set of eyes on your avatar is to buy and test. Without demos its a risk and I’ve accepted that. That said I’ve had one dealing with the maker of IKON and he graciously handled the situation and it made me open to continue to keep and eye out for his next releases. Even though I was not satisfied with my previous purchases at the time. Which had nothing to do with how the product was represented in the ad. I don’t think there is any malicious intent to mislead in his ads.
I’ve bought 2 pair of eyes from Ikon, and I agree with you. They look nice..but I can get nice anywhere. Usually at a lower price too. (Heck, I’ve gotten much “nicer” as freebies as well). /shrug
Personally, I don’t think you’re being too picky. Regardless of whether there is access via Flickr to other pictures, the majority of shoppers look at the vendor and assume that it’s the product they are going to receive. If the image has been enhanced in any way then it is not a correct representation of the product for sale. And I know some people are going to say that lots of sellers do it, well, maybe they do, but I’m still saying it’s not a fair representation of the product. I don’t want to have to trawl through Flickr pictures to find out if a vendor picture is misleading. I want a vendor picture that shows me what I’m actually buying. Just my opinion on enhancing vendor pictures, not these particular eyes or seller, as I don’t own them or any other product by this seller.
I wear quite a few eye brands in Second Life, but IKON is by far my favorite. One of my favorite things to do in Second Life is make pretty, high detailed close ups of avatars, mostly myself. Of course, this is just my opinion but I don’t think you will find a higher quality eye in SL. They make the most AMAZING head-shots, in fact, the eyes usually end up being the focus them. And I know it’s been said, but I have to agree that IKON does a good job of giving you a first look at happy customers. His flickr groups and pages are scattered all over the store, as well as posted at his event placements. The first seven days out of each month, you’re given the chance to go pick up a free eye color, and always from his newest line.
This isn’t the first post you’ve dedicated to vendor graphics, so we know how they can annoy you, but I do get a bit of an angry/personal vibe from this.
It’s not personal, please everyone stop saying that! I blog about SL products, and express my opinions without any malice. I don’t know Ikon, why would it be “personal”????
If this is your unbiased, objective and “without malice” opinion, please remind me to never get on your bad side! <3
Good point.
I’ve worn Ikon eyes almost exclusively for a few years now and I have never had a problem with them. They are my preferred eye brand and I’ve bought many pairs over time. I’m not crazy about morphs either but I’ve never been disappointed with a purchase.
I love Ikon eyes. I wear the XL(sad to see them removed) and I get asked all the time where I got them.
Sorry you’ve lost your XLs. It’s always a bummer when something we like goes the way of the Dodo bird.
In a nutshell, I do think you’re being too picky because you see exactly what you’re buying. I would think if you were going to make a plea to stop designers from morphing, you would pick one who makes more than just eyes, and where the product being sold really makes a difference (especially when the product itself is photoshopped) . The eye being sold is not photoshopped at all, just placed in a morphed eye, and it’s going to look different in avatar eyes anyway because they all have different shapes. I don’t see how anyone can’t get that when they’re looking at the displays, knowing they’re buying eyeballs ~ every eyeball you buy will be influenced by the shape of your own eye. I guess that’s why some some of us feel there’s a personal vibe here ~ there are far too many other examples where your complaint would be more obvious.
BTW, I don’t see what the problem is with your eye vs. the vendor ~ they both look great. I like it a lot better than your other eyes.
The eye in the vendor ad has higher clarity than the SL eyes, even Ikon confirmed this in his comment here. Please read and comprehend all the responses before leaving a long irrelevant comment/argument.
I did read his explanation and understand that, and was presuming that was already a given. Obviously I should have stated that in order for you not to dismiss my opinion so quickly, but no need for you to get insulting. I’m not stupid, and you asked for opinions. It’s too bad you apparently only want opinions that support yours.
I have been reading Gogo’s blog a long time. I don’t think her comments were personal at all. The picture in the ad is better than the way the eyes look on an avatar. Ikon has explained why this happens, though I agree with Gogo that an ad *should* match the reality of what a purchaser would see on themselves. It’s just the honest and right thing to do. With all that being said, I am going to buy some Ikon eyes because the comments here were so positive for these eyes anyway.
I love ikon eyes, the quality of this eyes is just amazing, variety of colors and sizes is a really plus. One of the things that people is always looking at my avatar, are the eyes, they always stand out. The clarity in the eyes is just amazing, they look natural and real.
In my opinion, this post is UNFAIR to IKON eyes, and compare to the eyes you always wear, IKON eyes are just simply beautiful. You always try to make some brands look bad, just because you dont like or dont know why, but is unfair to any of the SL Creators, that put a lot of work and time in their work.. If you, in your personal opinion, doesn’t like it, just move on and don’t do this to other people work. Will you like to see other people making look bad to your work? That doesn’t make you a good blogger. Your are just creating controversy.
“Stop Morphing”?… where did you get that?, did you talk to the creator before you doing this post?.. or is just what you think?
Ikon eyes look on my avatar exactly like they look in the ads.
Ps. I dont know IKon creator or have nothing to do with the store, I’m just a girl who really loves this eyes and I am very disappointing to see you doing to this lovely shop.
This post was clearly made with bad intentions.
Shut up. I hate when people like you try to censor others.
She is NOT smearing a brand name, she is not actively telling people to not shop there. She is simply saying that she bought some products and was not 100% happy with them, and then explained in a clear and concise manner why she felt that way.
I am always looking for new eyes to wear, and it’s hard because at times what you see in a vendor ad or even on another avatar may not look exactly the same as it would on your own avatar. I’ve bought some eyes from Ikon in the past, and I don’t have any significant complaints…the eyes were a satisfactory match to what was seen on the vendors, and it was just a matter of how the color looked like on my own avatar.
I don’t know why people are saying this post was made with “bad intentions” or it was “personal”. Gogo is just saying what she likes/doesn’t like. I have heard people say it’s hard to find blogs that give honest critique because everyone cries foul play and make the opinion bigger than what it is. Some of you are acting like Gogo said to stop buying Ikon eyes completely, and she’s not at all. It concerns me because I wonder how many of you know what constructive criticism means, and how well you would be able to handle it if it was given to you. How can we improve without feedback? Sometimes the feedback that isn’t constant praise is the best feedback in order to help us grow.
Here are my 2 reasons:
1. The title sounds like a demand (a call to action, as if consumers were being taken advantage of).
2. “I’ve been burned before by Ikon eyes, cos in addition to the size being too large…” sounds like he did something personal to Gogo.
Both admit they’ve never interacted. If you have a problem with a purchase, address the seller (THAT’S what constructive criticism is, Monica, not creating an entire post to dis one person. What else is the purpose of this blog? She at least could have mentioned other vendors who do the same thing).
My friend had her payment refunded by Ikon, without ever contacting him, because he read her Plurk comment that stated why they didn’t work for her. It made me buy more, because it said to me that he wanted his customers to be happy (and we had never spoke, but I later told him that’s why I bought more) and his next line of eyes worked much better for my friend and she got a lot too. That’s not an action of someone who “burns” people.
And people would probably be more ‘afraid’ to publicly disagree with Gogo.
I’ve bought plenty of things only to dislike them later. For every thing that you see mentioned on my blog, there are 10 more things that I’ve sent to the trash bin. Tons of other people morph their ads (skin designers who use rendered hair, for example) and yes, people grumble about them too.
Okay, so let’s see…
“Ikon Eyes, stop morphing” – the title suggests that Gogo will talk about Ikon morphing something, and then we learn that it’s about the eye vendors. There is nothing disrespectful about this title if it’s true, which we saw it was. And it implies nothing about consumers…not sure how you are reading into this more that what it is.
“I’ve been burned before by Ikon eyes, cos in addition to the size being too large, the eyes in SL lacked the same clarity as the ad. ” – sometimes it helps not to take stuff out of context and to read the whole sentence. Gogo explains how she was “burned”. Now, maybe you or I would had used a different word to describe this, but she used a strong word to express her views. You can’t take a word out of context and denounce the entire post, especially when she explains point by point what she means.
“If you have a problem with a purchase, address the seller (THAT’S what constructive criticism is, Monica, not creating an entire post to dis one person. What else is the purpose of this blog? She at least could have mentioned other vendors who do the same thing).”
If you didn’t get an item, or you got the wrong color of something, or if the texture didn’t rez properly, then i agree – contact the seller directly so you can get your item fixed. If you are bringing something up for discussion, why not do it on your own blog? Gogo can’t make anyone do anything that they don’t want to do. And as you can see based on the replies, people did have something to say, so the purpose of the blog was to discuss, as indicated in Gogo’s questions at the end of her initial post. Had she wanted to talk about merchants morphing ads in general, that would had been the topic of her post. And I think the only thing that would had accomplished was to bring even more people in complaining that she is “bashing” their favorite merchant…so you can’t win with stuff like this. And constructive criticism does not depend on whether the person is told directly or in a media platform…else we wouldn’t have any RL reviews critiquing products, establishments, or entertainment.
“That’s not an action of someone who “burns” people. And people would probably be more ‘afraid’ to publicly disagree with Gogo.”
Well, Gogo said this is what happened with her, not with everyone. Your friend could have had a positive experience – that doesn’t mean Gogo can’t have a different one. The two experiences are not dependent on each other. And I don’t get the last sentence – people can agree or disagree with whomever they want, but don’t distort the issue at hand. Maybe that’s why you feel the way you do because of who the OP is and you are not reading what is actually being said…which is pretty biased to me.
Amen! I completely agree with your statement! I come here to read Gogo’s honest opinion on product she tries out. I would grow very tired of her blog if it was all “oh this is wonderful! go buy it!”.
You know people can be dissatisfied with a product and blog about it with out it being a personal attack. SL is the only place where a folks feel no one should ever post anything negative ever. I enjoy reading Gogo’s opinion on the things she buys. I don’t always agree, but I respect her opinion and the fact that she has the courage to stand up and say it.
Gogo and others,
This is the kind of eye vendor photo that appeals to me, even if all the eye don’t. These are pics of Umazuma Metaluna’s recent eyes. If you notice, she isn’t even wearing the lash alpha. Just one of her “no makeup” skins she created with just her eyes. I know exactly what I get when I get a pair of her eyes. I wish more photos were unadorned like this. If you notice any tweaking, please point it out, because I am no expert. 🙂
http://www.flickr.com/photos/umazuma/8472047588/sizes/l/
Thanks for the link! I think the ad represents the SL product well. I’ve bought some things with horrible ads, that turned out to be really pretty.
Btw, I have bought her eyes but not all of them. My first sentence implied differently. 🙂
Holy Cow! I come to check on my favorite blogger’s website to check out what’s cute today and see this huuuuuge string of complete backpedaling, press releases, and people being outright rude.. Gogo has every right as a blogger, who *reviews* products for others.. As a consumer and a figure who others trust to give an honest opinion and overall run down of the products. She mentioned things she likes, and things she doesn’t. If anything, this is going to bring Ikon more traffic and business, not negative views from others. I have ikon eyes.. They’re okay, I wear them quite a bit, but I do have to admit that sometimes the ads just don’t show how the actual eyes will look on your avatar. It’s very clear, in just the pictures Gogo has referred to, how vibrant the ads are in comparison to the actual product. I’m not saying Ikon is intentionally misleading anyone, but it can be disappointing for some people… Gogo, keep giving us your honest opinions and assessments.
Seeing these ridiculous comments, makes me feel better about no one reading my blog! lol
BTW I’ve never had Ikon Eyes before, and definitely won’t now that I know the owner acts this way.
You go GOGO! Keep up the amazing work!
Trixie, I don’t think Ikon Innovia responded in a way that was at all unreasonable.
Overall though, Gogo gave a balanced critique with positive points as well as the criticism, and Ikon Innovia addressed the negative points and took the time to respond to peoples concerns and comments.
I don’t like morphing in ads either, but i don’t think Ikons’ are a particularly heinous example of it! These eye’s are lovely.
Trixie…”Now that i know the owner acts this way” ??….what the hell is wrong with the owner actions?…have you read her respectful and informative responses to this post? or you just have landed here to drop sh*t through your mouth and to promote your blog? Sighs…
I wouldn’t have noticed the difference between the Ad and the real product however I am sure glad you brought it to our attention. I will be more watchful for ads like the IKON’s and the quality of product I buy. I’ve been a reader of your blog since 2008 and I rely on your honesty and keen eye for detail 🙂
i am by far not an blogger but just a second lifer….i am not a creator, but i am a consumer…i love ikon eyes….you have the right to express your thoughts on this matter.
this is an absolutely fair critique, but i’m not surprised you’re getting flack for being honest and admitting that there are things that you don’t like about the product you bought. there seems to be some strange sl ethic to adhere to when you want to show something in your blog(where ANY negative opinion is treated as being ungrateful and scathing), and i’m glad that this hasn’t discouraged you to shy away from giving criticism. i would hope more sl creators are welcoming of honest reviews like the ones you write here because it’s these kind of clear, helpful suggestions that help you become better, not the blogs that merely say “thanks for supplying me with blog material, <3 you so much xoxo).
anyway, re: the eyes, i was also disappointed by the lack of clarity in sl vs the ads! i had bought these recently and noticed the same thing; not to say i don't find these to be of great quality anyway, but the disparity of quality is what makes me reconsider purchasing another ikon product in the future. that, and the blatant soundproof wall that the creator jumps behind when they are presented with anything resembling a voice of reason. oh wellz.
See, these last 2 posts demonstrate that readers now personally distrust the seller. I don’t think you can get a better quality eye imho, and the implication that these are poor quality is inaccurate and unfair.
Actually the IKON creator admits that you can get a better quality eye with mesh or prim eyes. IKON only sells system eyes.So no they aren’t the best quality and a close up photo such as bloggers often take will show that. Gogo showed that in this post. She didn’t make her eye blurry for the shot that’s how it looks. Yes IKON art is beautiful but the quality is not as good as it could be. And when people are shown that the vendor looks different than the product, it’s natural that some will feel distrustful of the creator. That isn’t gogo’s fault that’s the fault of the person who made ads different from the inworld product. I’m sure most people won’t care, I’m sure IKON will make more sales from this blog post. But if it bothers gogo then there is absolutely NOTHING inaccurate or unfair about it. What is inaccurate about the truth?
Just a small clarification, with mesh eyes you can get higher resolution…that’s not equal a better quality since the quality (look) of the eyes depends basically on the texture.
I’m wearing IKON eyes. I like how they look but I don’t like when the ad is different to how items look in real. And I don’t have the time to look if there are pics on flickr from other users…I expect a realistic picture of the item from the seller at the store or on the marktetplace. What I don’t understand is why IKON doesn’t offer demos. Maybe there is a reason(?) but items like skin, hair, eyes can look on every av different. This is really something I don’t like…to buy stuff which I maybe never wear.
Another great example of “If you don’t like it, don’t blog it”. As a few of your diehard readers have said, “I never heard of it until now”. Guess what? If you didn’t blog them, they still don’t know.
Plenty of stores are using 3d rendering pictures of their products for their vendor ads (biggest shoe store in SL comes to mind). How is this different except you just don’t like the eyes. Eyes, just like any other product in SL is personal preference.
“If you don’t like it, don’t blog it” is hands-down one of the stupidest sayings to ever repeatedly come out of the SL blogging community.
Blog what you want, voice your opinion, and to hell with all the people who can’t handle an honest and balanced review. Seriously sick of all the wannabe blogging police.
She bought the item herself so I think she’s entitled to say whatever the heck she wants to on HER blog. If you want someone who kisses designer’s a$ses and says everything looks great, then maybe you shouldn’t read this blog.
As a new merchant getting ready to open a store and a avid shopper, I am well aware of touching up vendor pics. My favorite viewer that I use for my day to day SL is Niran’s viewer. However I choose not to use it for vendor pics. It is a very taxing viewer for most PC’s it needs a high end gamming machine to get all you can out of it. The graphics are unsurpassed. I use FS viewer for all vendor pics so I can most closely represent what the majority of SL users will see. I want to be honest with my future customers. And show them the product as closely as they will see it.
I used to wear Ikon eyes a while back, but made the switch over to a mesh eye brand because I found they had a better resolution quality (and I also get this glitch where my eyes never rez and found using mesh eyes solved that problem nicely) and have occasionally checked back to the Ikon main store to see if he’s added mesh eyes *hint*
I think what Gogo has actually touched on is the catch 22 of marketing on sl. There is some presumption that the quality if the item in the vendor is equal to the quality of the product inside. It really cant be helped, if you have a certain aesthetic, and in a lot of cases all it takes is one glance at a badly composed advertisement to stop you from buying something. And I’m definitely a sucker in sl for a cute store and sim where a creator has carefully cultivated a atmosphere. There is this trend with certain skin vendors lately…the chin has almost been outlined in black and the under-chin is highly shaded…it looks really cool in the vendor, but if the skin was actually like that inworld, I’d be pissed. However, there is a nicely provided demo so I try it on and see that the skin is pretty nice and I buy it.
Lesson here is one word: Demo’s! lol. I think someone mentioned Ikon has out a group gift that doubles as a demo for his eyes. My conclusion is that I will allow sl artist’s their creative license at stylizing their vendors as they please, as long as they provide me with a nice free demo so that I can see how their product actually works for me before I buy.
I noticed Gogolita’s side-by-side comparison picture of the aqua ad and of her wearing the eyes in SL, and her picture is kinda bright and washed out – probably her windlight settings or something – but it appears to me some detail is lost because of her overbright picture. It’s not a fair comparison, IMHO. I got curious and went to see for myself the designer’s flickr group to see what the eyes look like on other people, using different settings. And erm.. I don’t see what the problem is exactly? Here are just a handful of examples, but these eyes look pretty darn clear and detailed (and pretty!) to me:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetsexycrazy/8847626062/sizes/k/in/pool-2185585@N24/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ikune/8801241419/sizes/o/in/pool-2185585@N24/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mokatana/8750124403/sizes/l/in/pool-2185585@N24/
I personally would never look at the details of those eyes (on real avatars) and think they looked bad compared to the vendor, or compared to other eye brands, even mesh eyes. I think they look great. Am I alone in this? This whole thing sorta seems like a mountain being made out of a molehill… and I’m not even sure there is even a molehill? Just a mountain of… publicity for this site? Maybe that is the whole point?
MY whole point is, if you are trying to illustrate a quality difference between two images side by side, then you should try harder to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Gogo’s avatar pic is washed out, and detail is lost. In seconds I easily found several pictures taken by others that looked more… accurate. If your whole case is based on minor differences in detail and resolution, you should at least be fair and responsible and not err that way yourself with the ‘evidence’ you present. It seems a bit disingenuous and hypocritical, sorry.
Different Windlight settings does not change the fact that their clarity is less than the vendor ad. I really love it when people try to blame my Windlight settings, pic taking skills or lack thereof, my computer, my eyes… etc. All the pics you posted looks exactly the same as my pic, they prove the same point, Fuzzy. THX!
If you call that fuzzy, I’ll take fuzzy any day. They look fantastic. I think a lot of people in SL feel the same way I do, and that has why Ikon’s business has succeeded. People see other people wearing the eyes and like them and ask where they got them. They have seen in them ‘in the flesh’, on actual avatars, and wanted them for themselves. Like another commenter said here, you’d be hard pressed to not to have seen Ikon eyes around, pretty much everywhere. I bet most people go to the store ready to buy. I think the vendor graphics they encounter when they get there are probably almost arbitrary? Regardless, IMO, and I am entitled one too, I think the vendor graphics represent the final product well enough. I think they look detailed both on the vendor and on avatars. I’ve seen it on myself, and in his store pictures and on the Flickr site. So yes, I think you ARE being too picky, I think your comparison pictures don’t fairly represent the product in-world (your av is all washed out compared to the vendor),and I think some of your language is accusatory and condescending. And I think if you are gonna style yourself as some kinda fashionista consumer advocacy champion, you should maybe pick fights with unethical designers making bad products? I believe most of SL begs to differ with your poor opinion of Ikon eyes, and your big ‘case’ against his vendor graphics is rather overblown and ridiculous. I don’t think we, the consumer, need you to protect us from mean old Ikon and his terrible eyes! haha Gawd.
TLDR; it is fuzzier than his ad, that is the point of this post. It’s about as good as other brands in SL.
something i noticed on the row of 5 eyes where gogo shows the different sizes, is that she said the small, medium and medium large didnt have much difference… in fact, as I stared, it looked like the eye in the 2nd from the left and in the middle were identical, so I did a screen grab off her flicker and compared the 2 in pshop and they are exactly the same image. not the same size, but the EXACT same picture repeated. all my ikon eyes are definitely different sizes from each other. might just be an honest messup by gogo, but on the other hand, shes doing some bashing here, so maybe that mistake wasnt so honest. im wondering too if there is some unfairness going on!
I think my original collage have all the right sizes posted, but I went ahead and did a new one. They look VERY similar, at first glance, you’d hardly notice a difference.
Here’s a new collage; I’m wearing a full body alpha so just the eyes are showing. It is a screen shot, with the sizes clearly shown,.
you ‘think’ your original image is accurate? how about verifying it like I did? it takes 1 minute – the 2nd & middle pictures ARE identical, pixel for pixel – you repeated an image. thank you for doing this new image, cuz now we can now clearly see the difference in sizes. but i must say, whats the problem with the sizes in the first place? Size DOES matter to you – you complained about them previously being too big, so now that theyre smaller, youre gonna complain about them being too similar to each other? hard to please much? seems to me these subtle variations give us choices? i must say, i totally have the impression you are trying to find fault. i dont blame the owner for feeling a bit attacked.
The focus of this post isn’t about size. I simply mentioned that they’re similar. Some people in SL don’t have huge eyes, and they want xxxs.
so is the problem, in your view, that the eyes aren’t small enough? or that the size choices are too similar. i guess i am dense but i still dont get it.
…also, did you verify that your original eye sizes image repeats an image? cuz it does.
Good lord, did you even READ the post or the reply that was given to you? Yes, I guess you ARE dense.
She gave an opinion and people come back with “don’t be so mean to Ikon!” I wouldn’t be surprised if Gogo has had zero interactions with the Ikon creator – why would she have bad intentions?
Come on folks, make up your damn minds – do you want real critiques or what? And people wonder why bloggers tend to candy coat their reviews of products! Sheesh@
*didn’t mean to add the @ sign after sheesh LOL
I went through the pictures, even the ones someone posted links of above.
I made one with three eyes side by side http://www.tinyuploads.com/images/flQD5U.png
First is of http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetsexycrazy/8847626062/sizes/k/in/pool-2185585@N24/ as ninfel linked above.
Second is of IKON creator.
Third is of Gogo.
And lastly a high resolution pic of the human eye
http://www.health-energy-fitness.com/attachments/Image/iris_pic2.jpg
Quoting Gogo,
“What I think Ikon did, was use the high-resolution texture and morphed it with a real life eye for the ad, instead of taking the picture in SL.”
Parts of the IKON vendor eye pic seem too realistic like the skin texture on the brow, the brow, the creases on the eye lid. But the vendor eye/pupil/iris/cornea picture doesn’t seem morphed into a real life eye.
I do think Gogo went harsh on the creator, who seems clearly upset. Any SL creator would because in SL reputation seems to matter a lot. And even rumors of non-original content, product mischaracterization do more harm than good to a content creator.
Again, if I were a blogger I wouldn’t be so sure/certain of making such claims. For all you know, you probably have a graphic engine on your computer not as fast as the creator’s.
Advice to bloggers: If you don’t like it – don’t blog about it. I bet there are many unoriginal, copybotted items floating around SL, which don’t seem to be featured on anybody’s blog.
(I am neither creator nor a blogger, but I enjoy reading Gogo’s blog. I think she does a great job.)
No, his Eyeball (Iris) texture is NOT a morph — it is higher resolution than the SL one. SL eye texture = 128×128. The file shown on the ad is a lot higher clarity/res. So he took that file, and put a real eye picture on top of it.
Regretfully. I’ll be dropping this blog from my regular readership. While I encourage constructive criticism and positive dialog, this post offers none of those things. Sorry Gogo. You could have handled it much better and likely with far better results if you’d applied yourself. An open-minded and sincere dialog with the creator published to your blog might have even encouraged some change of perspective. Instead you chose to use combative language and respond to his attempt to open a dialog with arrogance and pettiness. You did neither him, nor yourself any favors in my eyes. I’m disappointed.
Bye.
Eshe, you are right and you say it very well.
Gogo, I suggest you read Eshe’s comment again and think about it, instead of going ‘bye’ like a child.
I can’t take someone seriously when they wrote “love letters” on their blog and is passive-aggressive towards me. The sole purpose of her post is to point a finger at me and say “bad blogger”. I also don’t believe for a second that Eshe reads my blog regularly. People who read my blog regularly already know what to expect here, whether they love it or hate it, they don’t lash out on their own blog about it. So, BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE.
Wow…..
Agree…wow..but i’m not really surprised:-D
Unfortunately, I must agree. I’ve been reading your blog for around 2 years now, and your cocky attitude has shown through before, but never like this. You’re responding to ever post you don’t agree with like a passive aggressive 14 year old boy. You seem to have forgotten that you are infact, just another person sitting in their chair, behind a computer screen, spending hours upon hours blogging about pixels. People DO want your opinion, but not like this Gogo… I’m sure I too will get some childish “bye” response, but I think it’s important for you to know exactly how your reputation is shifting amongst people who actually enjoyed your blog.
I respond the way people comment. Bye.
I agree. This used to be my favorite SL fashion blog. But this thread is laced with pettiness, negativity and the overall condescending air of a person who has gone from helpful, fun blogger to a legend in her own mind. I used to enjoy your blog, even through the occasional blown-far-out-of-proportion bad reviews. Posting freely is one thing – using a popular blog to attack another person, personal or otherwise, is another thing entirely. This was just too much, even for you.
Aww…too much time without drama in your blog, right? *giggles*. Yes…IMO i think you are being (extremely) picky . The post title itself (“STOP MORPHING”) sounds quite accusatory plus sentences like “i been burned before by IKON eyes” or “the ad irritate me so much” do not sound like constructive criticism at all ..no no no^^ (though we all know why you need to create controversy from time to time).
Seriously, IKON eyes looks just wonderful in-world,… Thanks IKON for such nice work, i’m happy to know that there is now a smaller size!
reserve *giggles* for children
Apart from the giggles, well said Nuria. Nothing constructive about this post. Messed up there…. *shakes head*
Apart from the giggles, Nuria is 100% right. Not constructive and accusatory. Will you not allow this comment …. again? Why, I wonder.
Ty Claire! giggles from a child 🙂
First of all, I love everything about this post, including the comments section, haha!
I wouldn’t have noticed the difference between the ad eye and my avatar’s but I can usually spot a morph/partial morph pretty easily. I bought my first pair of Ikon eyes a few weeks ago after seeing them time and time again in pictures of bloggers I follow. When I went to the store I wasn’t disappointed by the selection or the quality of the ads, I did notice the picture feed but decided to ignore it because of rendering issues that day.
As much as I don’t agree with a creator’s choice (any creator) to use morphs to display their products it didn’t stop me from browsing IKON and taking my time finding the right shade of blue-green that I was searching for to compliment my avatar’s new tan for the summer.
I knew it was a partial morph going into it and I was still happy with my purchase and the quality I received when I put them on.
In regards to Gogo’s post I didn’t see anything wrong with what she had to say or how she said it. There have been times I’ve disagreed with her but respected her opinion and went right on with my life, haha. Ikon’s responses to this post were professional and explained why the ads were higher resolution, I have seen comment sections where creator’s have torn up their own credibility and professionalism by trying to e-fight with commenters or the blog writer. This post and comment section have done nothing to tarnish my view of Gogo or Ikon. So kudos to them both.
Though I do think some Mesh eyes should be on Ikon’s To-Do list, I would be in line tomorrow! 😉
So this is all a big kerfuffle now isn’t it?
I for one have had Ikon on my eyes list for a few years and I do like the vendor art, I’ve not tried the eyes if memory serves but I do like the presentation. I just don’t really spend as much on eyes as I do say clothing and skins so they are not a big part of my sl experience.
All this fuss has made me check them out again and if I had not already dropped a few grand on a new skin and clothes and hair I would have grabbed them at the boutique.
Gogo’s blog is my primary blog for sl though I’ve got say 10-20 more lying around that I dip into and I accept that it is a review blog. I expect unbiased balanced not all sugar and sunshine reviews and that is what I get and I have never understood the practice of “Dont like Dont blog”. It comes across as fanboyish (to steal a phrase from gaming) and that as we know doesn’t lead anywhere but mudslinging and being anti improvement since nothing I’d argue is perfect and everyone I hope does want to get better at something.
Ikon’s response was perfectly fine if a little hurt and that isn’t really unexpected, criticism constructive or otherwise is painful. Creators the world over go through it and I do not see why SL ones should be exempt.
Gogo’s response to some comments have been a bit frustrated (in tone) I would say and with the sometimes mild to outright personal attacks Ikons no doubt loyal shoppers have sent her way its also not something to be surprised about.
I as a consumer want to make an informed decision about my shopping choices, is a blog review the end all and be all of a product/brand? Is debate bad?
No not at all.
Will I make up my own mind using said knowledge and my own personal preference?
Yes I will.
Gogo, there is no such thing as being too picky, but I am a notorious crankypants.
I have no skin in this game. I wear Ikon eyes, switched to them from my ancient Miriel eyes because Ikon finally did an XSmall size in some of the recent eyes. If you had asked me last year about Ikon eyes I would have said:
1. Don’t like the vendors, wish there was slightly more consistency in color names.
2. Fairly priced. for current pricing models.
3. Some of them are not to my taste, bu the ones I like Look good, but don’t come small enough for my tastes…maybe someday.
As of a co(uple of months ago, the IKON Lucid Moor XS replaced my Miriel Vivid Naturals in Strong Green as my “default eyes”. I am VERY picky and for Ikon to have actually been able to replace my Blessed Miriels is a feat. If I was to go “Swedish Blond” for some reason, I would use the IKON Lucid eyes in Floe XS.
On another note, I have also criticized what I call “glamour bloggers” who overdo the blur and glow in their pictures so that it’s hard to see detail “so you can see what stuff really looks like in SL”.
Notice what I just said, “What stuff really looks like in SL” I have learned that I cannot trust vendors, so I rely on blogs to help show me what stuff REALLY looks like. I am utterly opposed to of morphs or excessive use of image manipulatoin or use RL images in vendor displays. What I want is vendors that show how the thing REALLY looks in SL…I don’t want to have to go to some external flickr group or website to see that…I want it on the vendors. Because adds that do that sort of thing ARE misleading, because some peole are not even going to check, trusting the designer, or might not want to take the time.
As for Gog being to critical or mean….well IMHO she’s not…besides her blog her rules. She gets to say what she wants. Must we only tell designers what they want to hear and ignore faults? That’s what some seem to think. Gogp rarely criticizes anything for that matter, since this is a glamour blog at heart. We’ve all been “burned by products that didn’t look as good as the vendors, or a creator we like releasing an item with a few more faults than we expected. Saying such things isn’t mean or being personal it’s saying the truth of the matter.
Anyone who reads Gogo’s blog not expecting ‘extreme pickiness’ is reading the wrong blog.
That’s the appeal of Gogo! She’s incredibly discerning, she doesn’t blog stuff with an attitude of ‘meh it’ll do’.
As a reader of her blog for several years now (and someone who does not know her personally, this isn’t a friend defending a friend) -Gogo doesn’t criticise things often on this blog, and when she does, I see that she does so because she believes there’s a problem and it tarnishes the item for her, ‘trashing her hopes of something great’ (eg: skins with seams that don’t line up, I remember that one!)!
I’m pretty sure Gogo doesn’t receive payment (gifts aren’t payment) for blogging and I’m, therefore, pretty certain that she is under no obligation to contact a seller of a product and discuss issues she finds with said product.
Moreover, if she wasn’t a blogger, and said to her friends ‘oh X product isn’t as good as I’d hoped for Y reasons’ no one would have an issue. Why, then, do people who voluntarily view her blog have a problem with her expressing her reasoned opinions?
I, personally, have heard of the eye brand in question and had it recommended highly to me.
Were I to choose to buy some of said eyes, I would go to the MP or inworld store, not flickr to make a judgement over whether or not to make a purchase. A lot more people would only go to the inworld store to make their purchase. It’s all well and good to have alternate ‘improved’ ways of viewing a product, but if what is inside the box is different to the label, then that is a problem to me both as a reader of Gogo’s blog and a prospective customer of that eye brand.
Oh for goodness’ sake! The vendor image is 256 x 256, the in-world is 128 x 128. Both Gogo and Ikon agree on this factual data. The rest of it is all window dressing and drama. I think Gogo runs a good blog and I’m glad that she runs it with some critical discernment. I wear Ikon eyes and am happy with them and will continue to wear Ikon eyes.
It’s more than a size difference, it’s the resolution too.
size = resolution = pixel x pixel measurements, all the same thing. anyway…
Gogo? do you think the eyes look bad on your avatar? on other avatars? do you think they are an inferior product? do you think the choice in sizes is a problem? cuz this all seems like much ado about… a good product? i truly dont get it. if the product sucked i could see you being in an uproar about misleading ads, but… it doesn’t. so what’s the problem again? …that warranted a dedicated post to the subject? what are you guarding us poor consumers from, exactly?
It’s a discussion, I’m not “guarding you” from anything. In fact, as I have already said here, my post probably introduced Ikon eyes to a bunch of new customers. Lots of designers ask me to blog about their products, even criticize it if I find flaws, cos they know it will result in exposure/sales.
I’ll ask again, cuz context is everything here: do you think the eyes look bad on you or other avatars? do you think they are an inferior product? do you dislike the size choices?
@Igraine I can’t answer for Gogo but I will answer for myself. I heard many people rave about Ikon eyes so when my friend wanted new eyes I suggested we go there. I loved the look of the eyes in the vendor but when he put them on they didn’t look the same as on the vendor – they almost look creepy. On him they seemed to look inferior to other eye makers.
I’m saying this as an avid Ikon fan…I mean, I don’t wear any other eyes lol.
But it’s Gogo’s blog, and she’s got every right to express her opinion. I don’t agree with every single one of her reviews, but she is sincere and well-intentioned in her opinions. I don’t believe her to be malicious, or out to ruin anybody. Do we really want to read a blog where the writer doesn’t really offer any genuine opinions or insight into the products they show? I think an honest answer is…not really, that would be pretty boring. And hey…the upside, if it does expose more people to Ikon (which clearly have a lot of passionate customers) then hey…double win 🙂
‘It’s not what you say but how you say it.’
Are you kidding? Being ‘exposed’ with an attack blog is not a ‘win’ for Ikon. The only one winning here is this blog’s traffic. That’s no accident. I personally find Gogo’s replies to many of of the commenters, including the designer, to have a cocky, dismissive tone. She is oh-so popular, so any mention by her is good for your business? That is one of the most intrinsically arrogant statements I have ever heard her make, and she makes plenty. Her ‘critiques’ (read: slams) ‘help’ designers? Wow, someone has a high opinion of herself! Like her views represent the bar in good taste? Hubris. And go ask Glam Affair and her other targets here how helpful her ‘constructive criticism’ has been for them. Sorry, but I don’t see ‘well-intentioned’ or ‘sincere’ anywhere here. I see an attention monger looking for fault with a popular brand that she personally dislikes, making a big deal over nothing, and generally being UNhelpful all around. It’s disingenuous for her to keep saying all this will only help Ikon, like she has only the best of intentions. BS! She never once cuts them a break, no matter what people say in the brand’s defense. She never concedes the merits of a single reasoned counter-argument, never admits the issues with the photos she used, never gives one inch. She is relentlessly critical throughout. Well-intentioned? Sincere? No. I disagree.
Please do ask Glam Affair if my critique about the gray skin tones, did indeed help her improve and changed her tones COMPLETELY.
Totally agree. This post is just generating traffic for the blog via controversial contrarionism, end of. Pathetic,wrong and hurtful? Who cares *coughs*
And yet Glam Affair is one of the most popular skins in SL. I don’t think Aida’s sales were hurt by anything Gogo has ever said.
i’m sure they weren’t. in fact i had never tried on a glam affair skin till that post was made, went there to check it out, and ended up buying a fatpack!
i’m don’t really care about eyes, been wearing the same prim ones forever, but now i know about ikon. and i went there too. but didn’t buy any, not because of this review but because they didn’t have any mesh to offer.
so the ‘controversial’ threads are awesome for the person being reviewed.
I think the IKON eyes are good. However, I have not bought any of them myself, for two reasons:
1. I cannot find my exact colour there! But that’s nothing bad, it’s a wee bit special.
2. Morphed ads irritate me. I do not udnerstand why people have to edit a nice product in such a strange, partially mispresenting way.
The eyes ingame, as you can see on Gogos pictures, are clearly not as high res and clear as those on the advertisements. Thus, wether or not it is intentional (I doubt it is), it is not representing the real eyes you get. And that’s what I want on an ad! I do not want to have to browse endless Flickrpages to get an idea of the actual inworld look. I want to see it there, right in front of me.
I do not understand why good creators use distracting, too photoshopped ads to advertise their products. It’s not necessary. For the same reason I absolutely avoid fashionblogs with pictures that are edited too much. I want to see the actual product, not a heavily emphasized one.
Omg. Some of the people commenting here are total fucking morons.
Chill the hell out. This is not an “attack” blog; far from it. You people wouldn’t know “honest review” if it slapped you in your stupid faces.
She says she bought them because of the new smaller size being advertised, and because of they way they looked in the advertisement. She said “they looked nice”.
Then she said it wasn’t as small as she’d hoped, and that the texture in SL is not as clear as what is represented on the ad.
Why are you all going apeshit over this?!
Since when did we all start construing phrases like “I am disappointed by this” or “I’ve been burned before” as “combative language”?? You idiots don’t even KNOW what a harsh review would sound like.
(Hint: this comment is a harsh review of your capacity for understanding.)
Well done Melanie, you have portrayed yourself very well. Seriously, do you think your opinion is more valid or understandable with such speech? I think that you are missing capacity for understanding what constructive criticism really means…
I don’t give a rat’s ass how I’m “portraying myself” here.
Also, putting you on notice from this point forward that anything you have to say, I cannot take seriously and will therefore ignore. I know who you are, and you’re dumber than a pile of rocks. You are yet another member of the herd that misconstrues ANY type of criticism as an attempt to discredit and crush.
Deny it all you want, but the internet remembers.
You want to keep being totally disrespectful and transform this into something personal,ok your choice…i’m not going to play your game but please do not lie! you don’t know me AT ALL…and i’m not going to deny anything because there’s nothing to deny nor nothing to hide. But it’s so easy to throw stones, insults and hate speech hidden in the anonymity…
Criticism is part of the cost of doing business whether it be in real life or in second life. The difference though in sl because of the perception as it being a “hobby” for most is that we should be holding content creators hands and stroking their egos in the process. We ARE spending money though in SL – whether it be earned in world or purchased using one’s real life income. How is what Gogo is saying on her blog different from what we say in real life about the things we buy?
I’ve been around SL for quite a while and I’ve never heard of this blog or its author. Irrelevant really, but friend linked me to it today saying “Want to see a power-tripping blogger lose her mind?” – Obviously, my answer was “duh.” I wandered around before jumping right into this IKON post. I liked the idea at first, but now…after reading this post, and the author’s obscenely childish and unprofessional comments, I’ve decided this blog is sort of “consumer reports” meets “real housewives of the local loony bin.” I mean really, Gogo – you ought to be ashamed of yourself. You’re expected to represent your blog and maintain a professional position with your readers. Instead, I’ve seen you call them “idiots” and other names more suited to a high-school cafeteria than a blog run by a GROWN WOMAN. Pathetic!
Journalistically speaking, this post is utterly saturated with bias and and implied disdain for the IKON brand. If you ask me, (and I realize you didn’t but since unsolicited opinions seem to be a theme of yours, I’m going to continue) you write trash reviews like this purely for the attention the conflict brings to your blog. Not an attack? What a joke! I’m not surprised that the IKON owner felt his well-respected brand was attacked with language such as “I’ve been burned by the brand before,” it CLEARLY is. Anyone with an iota of common sense can see that. I was also surprised by the causally inserted “cos” that followed soon after…seriously, are you 14? Oi.
What I think you’ve so grotesquely neglected to realize is that for you, this (blog) is all a hobby. Hobbies are great and necessary, don’t get me wrong – no intentions here to belittle; but for the designer of IKON, and many other designers, it’s their JOB. i.e. their livelihoods depend on their work in Second Life. If you have a negative opinion of a brand or product, you’re still expected to review it fairly, by using language that doesn’t embellish, exaggerate, or more importantly, OFFEND.
tl;dr – grow up.
TLDR yourself. I never called anyone an idiot.
You’re correct about that – it was another response. My mistake. Beyond that, addressing your reply: TY for proving my point.
Good job confirming that someone is sending a bunch of people here to complain rather than let the regular readers who enjoy honest criticism respond. Gogo should not worry about the opinions of a bunch of sock puppets armed with talking points and a combative attitude.
The thing is, blogging is hard work and far too many bloggers just gush over everything, whether it’s deserved or not. Gogo is the most popular and most widely read fashion blogger in Second Life – probably the reason the creator got so upset. The reason why – because she does not gush over things that have flaws, because she gives honest opinion. Too few bloggers do that because they are afraid of this exact thing – an entitled designer who thinks he is above criticism flogging his customers and friends to harass and intimidate. Thankfully for Second Life’s consumers, Gogo is not easily intimidated.
You are literally doing the exact thing you’re insulting others for doing. I understand you’re trying to defend gogo, but a comment like this is not helping her at all.
While it was very convenient for you to leap to blame someone else’s sharing of this article for the negative attention that it’s getting, Gogo brought this upon herself. What’s at fault is her writing – the bias and argumentative wording. I find it utterly irresponsible. And please, read for comprehension next time as I noted that obviously, review writers will have have negative opinions time-to-time. It’s the words she chose to use that are offensive – not that she had the opinion and chose to share it. I couldn’t care less if she doesn’t like these IKON eyes. I’d welcome just about any opinion, positive or negative, as long as it’s presented fairly. I mean, hello? Her responses here reek of egomania. The designer is understandably offended by what she writes about his product and she offers up “consider this free publicity” instead of oh, I don’t know…considering that what she wrote, even if intended to be otherwise, *was offensive* and get to work retracting the offensive statements and conjecture.
So, I’m sure any blogger would enjoy having nothing but kind, supportive comments from their regular readers. I’m sure that would be much more pleasant…but when you’re in the position that she is, and you dish out an article like this, it doesn’t take Miss Cleo to figure out its welcoming might not be so grand.
Have a good evening.
I have tried to stay out of the fray with all this, past my original few comments, but I won’t stand for this, Cajsa. I haven’t ‘flogged’ anyone here ti ‘harrass and intimidate’. I haven’t encouraged or hinted at people to do so. I didn’t arm people with talking points. It’s patently false to say I have done any of these things, and neither you nor Gogo has any evidence that I have. Despite her comments in Plurk and yours here.
Is it possible, just possible, that the people choosing to disagree with Gogo and her supporters in this post have their own independent points of view and are simply expressing them? If they dare to disagree, or bring up positives, or point out errors, then they must be mindless fangirls of mine? That is kinda crazy, is certainly condescending and dismissive, and is patently false. I don’t have that much influence, sorry. Dashes *that* conspiracy theory.
And finally, I have treated you personally Cajsa very well in all past interactions. I was generous, professional, courteous and succinct. I see that doesn’t matter now. Apparently you see my responses here as indicating entitlement. I don’t see how you get that from them, but that’s your right. If you were the topic of a JuicyBomb dedicated ‘critique’ post, it would be interesting to see how you handled it. I think I did okay.
I *really* didn’t want to get back into this, and I will probably drop right back out now, but I won’t stand for groundless accusations and outright lies about things I’ve said or done. Anyone choosing to express any opinons counter to Gogo and her supporters in this issue is acting on their own, folks. Just ask them. They appear to be independent thinkers to me, so I bet you’ll get a variety of thoughtful replies.
PS: THANK YOU to the designers, bloggers, customers and others who have contacted me in-world to lend me their support and encouragement, commiserate and share their stories, and otherwise be very kind. I appreciate it!
See, this is totally what I mean!
You people DON’T USE YOUR BRAINS. AT ALL.
Please show me exactly WHERE in Cajsa’s reply, that she specifically stated YOU are sending people here?
“an entitled designer who thinks he is above criticism flogging his customers and friends to harass and intimidate. ”
You are also REALLY not doing Gogo any favors.
World English Dictionary
context (ˈkɒntɛkst)
— n
1. the parts of a piece of writing, speech, etc, that precede and follow a word or passage and contribute to its full meaning: it is unfair to quote out of context
2. the conditions and circumstances that are relevant to an event, fact, etc.
The subject of this blog post is IKON eyes, and issues Gogolita has with the resolution of the ads vs the system eyes, with a little side meandering into vague discontent over the sizes of the eyes. Ikon Innovia is the designer of IKON. He has commented on the content of this blog post, as have others, for and against. All of this frames the context of the discussion. Cajsa Lilliehook commented on this discussion, so in this context, Ikon Innovia and IKON eyes are the subject at hand.
Now, to examine Cajsa’s specific statements, in her first paragraph, she says, “…someone is sending a bunch of people here to complain….” and, “…a bunch of sock puppets armed with talking points…”. Who else but Ikon Innovia could be the subject? Who else could be the puppet master? Who else would be motivated enough or in the position to “send” people and “arm them”? Clearly, in this context, only Ikon Innovia would.
Cajsa is more directly accusing in her second paragraph, with, “…they are afraid of this exact thing – an entitled designer who thinks he is above criticism flogging his customers and friends to harass and intimidate.” “THIS exact thing”, i.e., this context, this post, this designer. Who else could she possibly be referring to? She even calls the designer a ‘he’, and indeed, Ikon is male.
I don’t think a plausible argument could be made that Cajsa could even remotely be referring to anyone else but Ikon Innovia. It is the context for her comments.
Melanie, you are very quick to call others stupid, implying you are smarter. You are quick to YELL. I think you could be mistaken about your superior intelligence. You have done massive damage to your own reputation with all your hostile harangues and insults. You sound like an unhinged harpy who thinks she is far smarter than she actually is.
So, STFU and let the reasonably sane, calm people talk, please? Go take your meds and lie down a while, take a time out. You’ll feel better, and so will we.
Me thinks the designer doth protest too much. Melanie is right. Nowhere in Cajsa’s comment did she name Ikon – the exact word she used was “someone”. Ikon, even though with your last post being overly dramatic and sounding like a teenager, I will still try your eyes again. Hope tomorrow you have a better day.
Love ya Gogo!
No, Elle, Melanie is not right. Just because Cajsa didn’t specifically mention Ikon by name doesn’t mean she wasn’t referring to him. So she was being careful, so what….it’s just semantics.
That being said, you don’t know their relationship prior to this blog, and it appears that had a lot to do with why he posted again. Calling someone an overdramatic teenager (no, you didn’t say he was one, just that he sounded like one….again, semantics) is insulting, inflammatory and unnecessary. You’re being mean.
AND, the saying he doth protests too much means he’s lying. If that’s not what you intended to state, then you misused the phrase (so I hope that’s the case). I, for one, was not solicited to respond here, and no one I discussed this was, either. To say that others can’t read a post and have an independent thought they want to express without being given talking points is the epitome of arrogance. It REALLY is possible that this many people disagree with Gogo, without there being some conspiracy to bomb her blog.
As far as I can recall, we have not had any conversations or interactions. Perhaps you spoke with someone else who blogs at It’s Only Fashion instead of me.
Please note that every single critical comment here, Gogo moderated and allowed through. She could have just turned off comments, she could have easily only allowed in the comments that agreed with her. She could have slanted the response, but she didn’t because she has integrity.
Short term memory loss. I love it.
Well, I stand corrected. It seems that in May 2012, IKON sent me an unsolicited set of IKON eyes, dropping them on me while I was offline. When I logged in I said “Thank you very much.” I then blogged a few blog post with those eyes.
I guess I would have remembered the interaction if I had solicited the promotional copies. So yes, there was an interaction, a passive one on my side. Ikon sent me some eyes in the hopes I would blog them. I said thank you. I did blog them. I don’t know if that rises to the level of interaction described as “And finally, I have treated you personally Cajsa very well in all past interactions. I was generous, professional, courteous and succinct.” I guess I would reserve that description for occasions when I actually asked for something such as fixing a failed delivery or some such thing.
As an example of the ridiculous nature of this conversation we have Claire Soderstrom’s snide “short term memory loss” comment. Yes, I forgot the conversation. This was in May 2012 – a little over a year ago. Since Ikon logged and saved the conversation in a notecard and sent it to me to remind me of it, I am going to share it. Frankly, I find the idea that I should be expected to remember this “conversation” ridiculous.
2012-05-10 15:14:44 note card
[11:06] Ikon Innovia: Hello Cajsa? Are you there? Rainey Manx sent me. 🙂
[11:06] Second Life: User not online – message will be stored and delivered later.
[11:07] Ikon Innovia: Well I am sending you 21 colors of IKON eyes – 7 from each of our 3 lines. 🙂
[11:07] Second Life: User not online – message will be stored and delivered later.
[12:13] Inventory item offered
[12:14] Inventory item offered
[12:14] Inventory item offered
[20:11] Cajsa Lilliehook: (Saved Thu May 10 18:53:39 2012) thanks so much
You poor, poor lamb. He gave you free eyes, was lovely to you and replied on here in a decent manner. I do feel for you. Disgusting behaviour, Ikon! You should AR him or whatever it is you lot do these days when you decide to pick on someone.
Don’t talk to Cajsa this way.
Or what, you will have ‘another’ tantrum? As long as you blog/plurk/whatever about it hey.
I was just highlighting what a bad person Ikon was for giving her/him some free eyes.
Ikon, take note, don’t do that again, it’s a bad thing to do 🙂
When a designer gives someone things, it’s not entirely ‘free’. There’s the expectation that it will be blogged, which it was.
And that is PRECISELY where you are wrong. Ikon is not that kind of person, he NEVER expects anything in return. But then you would know that, as you know him so well, right? Pulleezze.
An old thread but I want to add that ikon dropped a slew of ardent eyes on me when he first released them. I had a vendor purchase error so I contacted him. He in turn added to my pile of eyes. To date, the ardent eyes are my favourite of his, and I was lucky to get so many colours from him. Let me add that I received freebies from him under his previous brand as well. No, I am not a blogger. 🙂
This sort of reaction is to be expected when a bad review goes toward a store that’s a top seller of it’s category. Just like if she didn’t like a pair of heels from n-core or gos, or a skin from al vulo, people would FLIP simply because it’s SO popular and SO many people love it. Not necessarily because people are being sent to riot, etc.
I do disagree with Gogo’s review, Ikon eyes are perfect IMO and it’s the only store I buy eyes from, and I also think that they look 99999 million times better than the eyes she regularly wears, BUT that is MY opinion, and she is entitled to her own. We don’t and never will all like the same things no matter how amazing the product is. You simply just cannot please everyone.
As for the morphed vendors, I think that it’s fine since they are eyes and the eyes themselves are not edited, just displayed in a different way. You still see what the eyes look like and to me, they look just as clear on my av as they do in the ads, but I’m a frequent rebaker, so that could be why.
You are being a little picky Gogo, but picky is good IMO, I’m just as picky with other things. At least it ensures that your av is top notch quality and not some noobified cheapie bimbo 😀
Like I said we all have our own opinions, and certain things bother some that don’t necessarily bother others. Give her a break.
It is astonishing how people react to a relatively mild, and accurate according to the creator, critique. Personally, if I see signs of morphing in an ad I tend to not purchase it, because I’m not sure how accurate it is to what I’m buying. Sounds like Ikon has a lot of fans, though, perfectly willing to object to a critique of a favorite product by (ironically) critiquing the blog and insulting the blogger.
Pic of the day, stop morphing.
@Drakelli I have to correct in you in your assesment in a couple of points. In the modern sense, using the phrase “Me Thinks the Lady Doth Protest to Much,” is not calling a person a liar; but because of the passion of his retort it could make an outside party believe he is actually “outing” himself for the act. Perception can often become reality for the reader.
Also am I being mean? Possibly, but sometimes one’s cruelty is actually an act of kindness. Instead of acting professional and accepting Gogo’s post as what it is, “criticism”, he is taking this wayyyy too personally. If he believes in product, thats awesome and from what I have seen the eyes are of good quality with a huge following. The vendors ARE iffy though in my opinion. Unfortunately, all I am getting from his last comment is “I was so nice to you Cajsa, now you are just being mean….*cries*.”
one has to wonder exactly what it was that initiated such wild self expression from the SL community about such a non issue. i don’t wonder anymore. Gogo’s a pro. she’s been in the game forever and will continue steaming her juggernaut ahead without a hitch. if anyone wants to get everyone to dance the dance without heeding any of the reactive comments she’s solicited it’s Gogo. she’s quite simply a genius. without her humongous balls and hardened heart we’d all just be bored. good on you Gorgeous. kaching.
Gogo I appreciate that you are always honest about how you feel whether it’s a popular opinion or not. It’s because of this that I’ve been following your blog for years and will continue to do so! Just wanted to say that.
I actually find it astonishing that some people think they have such an influence on the SL market. Also, blogging requires a lot of time and effort and I genuinely don’t understand why you would spend that time and effort on something you didn’t like, rather than something you do like.
I already said I liked it well enough, but I would like it more, if the ad was taken IN SL. None of it is SL — not the eye texture or the eye around it.
I read Gogo’s post. I’ve read most of the comments by Ikon and Gogo.
I have to say that the eyes are still quite high quality and beautiful even if the original ad shows a different quality of eye.
Honestly, when I read over Gogo’s post, there is a lot of talk about the sizes of the eyes and morphing, but I think if you compare these eyes to some of the other eyes in SL or your previous eyes that you were wearing, these are rather high quality and one of the best still in SL.
With that said, morphing advertisements isn’t new in SL or RL. Products are often shown to be different in advertisements than what you actually get. It’s all about how you feel wearing that product, and if it makes your avatar look more realistic or however you want to look, then that should be applauded.
Comments on whether this is giving Ikon publicity or just being really negative and singling out her as a bait and switch designer seem to be out of place. For one, this isn’t the first time that Gogo has criticized a designer who morphs advertisements, as the photo of Lana Del Ray and a flower headpiece from Beusy(? I think, I couldn’t find the post) come to mind in which Gogo also criticized for morphing the two images together. However, that ad like these Ikon eyes received a lot of praise from people as well. So you can take this as one person’s opinion and personal preference. I don’t really like the idea of negative publicity because my first impression of the eyes was a pretty bad review of the quality. However, seeing the eyes in SL and looking at others with the eyes, I think they’re one of the top quality eyes that you could buy on SL.
Anyway, that’s all! Auf wiedersehen.
I just can’t believe you’d bash Ikon eyes that are the most realistic and beautiful eyes in Second Life when you wear Aphotic Gloom eyes that are not realistic AT ALL and look like something a noob would wear in 2009. Just sayin’. No offense to aphotic gloom or anything, but the quality isn’t even 1/1000th of Ikon eyes.
No need to be rude. I never bashed Ikon eyes dear. Learn to read.
Wait… your response to saying that people shouldn’t bash creators is to… bash a creator and try to pass it off as somehow not bashing with “no offense”?
Dude, seriously.
Ikon could take a crap on a picture, smear it around, add a pupil and I would probably still wear it because I’m kinda obsessed with his eyes.
Love JuicyBomb and I also love Ikon Eyes, I’ve always been highly satisfied with how they look.
on a more serious note, even though it does not matter to me how the ads are done (because to me they aren’t misrepresenting), Gogo is entitled to her critique and her opinions. To me, “bashing” would be “Ikon is a piece of shit asshole with no talent”. I don’t recall reading anything like that. Bashing isn’t saying that she would prefer he NOT morph his ads or that she wants a smaller size. That’s her opinion/suggestion/critique as a blogger/consumer. Just because my whopper junior at Burger King never looks like the picture on the board and I said I wish it did doesn’t mean I think it taste like shit. can ya dig it?
LMAO!!!
I <3 Hybie.
Gogo, I think your critique is well written, and not at all accusatory or rude.
I just bought my first pair of IKON eyes a few weeks ago. I kept seeing them all over flickr so I decided it was time I get me a pair. I went to the store, saw the ads, and like you, I was a little worried about them. Now, I could tell easily that it was a morph, and it did make me wonder “Will these look like they do in the pic?”, I decided to buy them anyway, and I am very satisfied with them. Are they exactly as high res as in the pic? No. But they are still pretty dang beautiful and I will buy more in the future. The point is, that Gogo is not alone in her thoughts that the morphing can be misleading. The morphed ads were the first thing I saw and it did make me hesitate. By Gogo commenting on this, is she bashing IKON? No. She is pointing out something that concerns her about the product, and I agree (Not to mention it is such a small concern, and something that so easily can be fixed. I think Gogo’s intentions were to start a mature dialogue, and maybe if this were a concern others have, maybe IKON would consider a new AD technique? constructive criticism people). I love my IKON eyes and I am so glad I purchased them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have any negative opinions about them.
As a blogger, I respect Gogo so much BECAUSE she doesn’t sugar coat things. She could have blogged some crappy high heels from 2 years ago and swore up and down she loved them, just to make a creator happy. Thats not good blogging. Good blogging is critiquing things from time to time. She said everything in a respectful tone and addressed real issues that customers are concerned about. The problem with this post is the overall attitude of the READER. If the readers hadn’t come in and read into what she said to see what they want, then there wouldn’t be a problem. But people came here specifically with the expectation to bash on Gogo or IKON or whoever, just circulating the drama around and around. Maybe if people were more mature and a little bit more unbiased when they read blog or articles, they would leave with a not so nasty taste in their mouth.
You have to be an idiot to not realize those ads are morphs. Who cares? The eyes are awesome. Morphs in shape or skin ads, that’s a problem. In an eye ad? Whatever.
You bought them knowing you didn’t like his work. Who does that? Oh, yea. You needed an excuse to write a “helpful” blog post. *insert eyeroll*
Sounds like with you’re “needs” you should stick to mesh eyes for better definition. But then what would you have to complain about?
Don’t roll your eyes too hard, they might fall out.
The issue is the clarity, yes I know it will have less, I am not complaining about his eyes in SL. I’ve opened up a discussion about the eye resolution on the ad is higher than the in-world product. It’s my right to purchase items, and not completely LOVE EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT IT.
The fact of the matter is that it is well known that there is an OBVIOUS difference between the quality of the product and the appearance in the AD. Its hardly even about the morph, the texture quality is far better in the AD than what is achievable with system eyes in SL, and even IKON said this. That being said I still LOVE my IKON eyes and cannot seem to take them out of my head. Just so it isn’t confused that I’m some sort of Gogo fangirl (though I very much respect you, Gogo) here to just defend her. I’m defending her right to critique.
Just because she happens to be a very well known blogger, doesn’t mean she can’t openly critique items from SL for fear of pissing of the masses. Its her blog, she has every right to say whatever she pleases. I’ve seen far worse critiques in blogs and some down right nasty stuff being said. This is harmless.
Thanks Micah! So true! I have hundreds of SL blogs on my reader, and some “critique” can get pretty hostile. I try be reasonable here and speak the truth, cos I know readers will always point out if I’m wrong or unreasonable.
Hi. I read your article. I am a huge fan of eyes. To me, Eyes make or break a character. If I have killer skin, but horrible eyes, my character looks either dead, freakish, or cartoony. For all people in SL who care well made an avatar, Eyes are crucial.
Being a blogger for male fashion, I have issues about eye beyond those you list in your post:
1) Eye reflection. Too much gloss is not masculine. This is why Ikon eyes in general do not work on men.
2) Eye Size. Male eyes tend to be smaller, and it’s so hard to find a good eye in smaller sizes for men. I tend to just go larger anyway rather than use a less-than-great eye texture just to get a smaller size.
3) Eye white. Levels of eye white and shading make a huge difference with men. Men dont wear eye makeup, so unnaturally stark white eyes often look bizarre when used with a manly man skin. Eye whites in the real world come in more colors than white-to-grey. It would be awesome if prim or mesh eye had the ability to tint or darken just that white part .
4) I would like prim or mesh eyes to also come with an alpha to hide system eyes. I like being able to move the eyes up higher, to create a different kind of look for my avatar.
5) Ads. I understand designers want to show their product in the best way possible. Blurry close-ups of SL avatar is not so desirable, so I understand why real image was used instead. My best solution to this problem, is export a SL head, remap it for 2048×2048 head texture, or even just the area around the eyes, and photograph it inworld. That would be the best of both world. And it’s possible to do that now that SL can import mesh.
6) The best way for me to tell if I like an eye is to try it on (not judge the ad). Sometimes there are demos, or free eyes for group. Those are often my guides for which eye would best for the character I am creating.
I personally have 4 main Go To places for eyes: Poetic Colors for men. Ikon for women, FTL for both, and By Snow for creative eyes. (Also for eye fans, bookmark By Snow’s blog)
Dev
Can I suggest to you Mayfly eyes – they have the eye alpha, they have four shades of whites they come in mesh or eye layer. There are TONS to choose from.
I wear lots of different eyes, IKON being one of them. I like them, they are well made. That being said, I too agree that I do not like morphed ads on ANY product. But, when I bought mine, I bought them because of a blog post, didn’t even look at the vendor ads….
I like bloggers who offer THEIR OPINION on a product; good, bad or indifferent.
Keep up the good work.