Goustan BODIN

I suggest you go walk in the jungle (I’d be happy to oblige), then I suggest you spend some time in a rural village there (I know the right place), to have an idea of what you’re saying, before pushing this ‘debate’ further. 
Just note that opening a ‘window’ on western design is actually opening for them a window to the world. They will take it f…[Read more]

//I just self-censored a pamphlet which has nothing to do with the topic. Let it just be said that the average Lao has never had a chance to go to the West, even less study in harvard//
Now, I will certainly not underestimate their capacity for Art, which is clearly demonstrated to anyone who visits the exhibition spaces in Luang-Prabang.
I also…[Read more]

Haha, I can see and understand where your ‘cranky contrarians’ come from ! 🙂
I would probably take a similar stance myself if I was dealing with people with a common cultural background and to whom we had in common any form of ‘landscaping references’, which you refer to as “the same old same old, everything irrigated,  respond to sun and shade b…[Read more]

Thanks Eric, I remember Andrew recommended it to me already, and I shortlisted it for further reading.

I back-up Andrew : saw the drawing specs on ISA website (they provide PDF and CAD if I remember well) +  matches the field practice when I was doing planting.

I quite disagree with the ‘machine intensive’ comments : you do *not* need to work at such an accuracy that you need an NSA super-calculator to do your renderings. This will cost you an arm in Hardware investments for no purpose.
Like others said, keep you layer number down, blending and masking to what is required, 150dpi and you’ll be just fine,…[Read more]

you got my vote 🙂

Pline by far most efficient to me (voted already), though I prefer Spline. Barely ever use line.

move your butt on Linked-In, make a website/blog/FB, update your profiles everywhere, register to relevant job boards and set your alerts for all these websites. Now, you control everything from your email.
Make sure you display experience relevant to the region you aim for.

+ what Tosh said.

Contact ALSA (Alain Landscape Studio and Associates) on my behalf.
http://www.alsa.net.cn/

agreed, I’ve seen a few K euros/dollars in cash on the markets in Asia quite a few times. My fees won’t require a suitcase to move the cash around… scotch tape will be fine 🙂

I did try my luck on Elance for a couple of months to check it out, and my conclusion is that the competition bring the prices down so low that it’s not worth investing more time into it. (May be others have a different experience, should be an interesting topic for another thread…) So well, Elance is a buyers market. If clients believe they…[Read more]

Hmmm, just what I thought, thanks for putting me back on track 🙂

I was thinking about something ‘off the tracks’, let’s call it thinking ‘out of the box’ ! 

-> This job they want me to freelance is a planting design test to check my skills prior to hiring me (or so they say). So well, if it works, I’m thinking that I will have to fly there to go for a final interview, check their office, find accommodation…[Read more]

Thnak you both both dearly for your advice, keep it coming ! 🙂
@Rob :
Thank you for describing the regular process, though I must admit I don’t like too much what I hear (waiting for months ; 17% 🙁 ). I asked my prospective client if they have experience and to tell me how they proceed, while I contacted my friends in China and asked for…[Read more]

Sketchup warehouse has got plenty of sketchup models plants. I am surprised your company doesn’t already have such libraries. May be a bonus service you can offer ?

Thanks for sharing, Rob, very interesting article.

The first comment is spot on :
“This article begins as it should with an acknowledgement that “restorations” are now a “huge business” and like most businesses, they are designed to compensate those who are engaged in them, not to benefit the environment or the public. “

I face that everyda…[Read more]

If you need a specific plant, use “cut out” + latin name in google, set image size to large, sometimes you get lucky 😉

I’d have liked to see more numbers from that study…
But like they said, this is cost based only and does not take into account other benefits (whether these are as important as some would like to believe is another story) : health, comfort, fun, aesthetics…

does this type of product which we usually call here “artificial wood” fall under the “plastic timber” category ?

http://www.artowood.com/gallery-en.php

Sorry, just improving my vocabulary