Don’t you often wish that your favorite music would follow you around as it seems to do in the movies? Well it seems I am being granted my wish these days. Whether sipping a pomegranate martini at Drink, trying to hold a yoga pose at Exhale or shopping on Newbury St, I find myself being serenaded by one of Stephane Pompougnac’s Hotel Costes compilations. And I admit… I love it!
Pompougnac began his career as a DJ in France at the age of 18 but is perhaps most famous for his gig spinning at the Hotel Costes at 239 Rue St.-Hónoré in Paris. He released his first Costes compilation in 1999, setting the tone with his unique combination of world sound, soul, house, and old standards. “My Funny Valentine” by Big Muff says it all. Eleven Albums later, his albums are still relevant and fresh. I have tried many other artists, but none seems to have the staying power of Costes… they grow on you slowly and you can listen again and again.. and again. I would complain about the over-exposure, but for some reason everytime I hear “Sous Le Soleil” I get a little groove in my step and can imagine I am sipping a Rhum Vanille on the beach in St Barths. It just makes me smile.
A little while ago I was lucky enough to have drinks and dinner at Hotel Costes in Paris (how could I NOT go!). You enter the hotel through a hall of mirrors (pretend you know what you are doing) and are eventually led to the boudoir-like dining area. The opulent, chic and seductive atmosphere did not disappoint and the people watching was definitely amusing. I sat back and could imagine the days when it was actually Pompougnac spinning in the little DJ booth. Very romantic. The hotel bar is now a classic rather than THE place to be, but this seems to fit with Pompougnac’s music… it has staying power.
For those of you interested in taking the Costes plunge, I recommend starting with No. 4… it is still my favorite.
Enough with the snow! Every time I bundle up to walk to the post office or test my car’s all wheel drive capabilities to get out of my on-street parking space, I start dreaming of being somewhere other than Boston. Somewhere sunny and exotic…. and beautifully designed.
My favorite place to start is at Tablet Hotels. This site features a collection of hip, boutique hotels all over the globe with a focus on design. The emphasis is on an international more modern sensibility. One of the best aspects of the site is the wide range in price options. I have found some great reasonably priced hotels in Barcelona (Hotel Cram) and Paris (Hotel Therese) but I also come to Tablet to drool over the gorgeous tres cher options like Amanyara in Turks and Caicos. A girl can dream…
Amanyara, Turks and Caicos
If I am ready to plan a “real” vacation, I usually follow up the helpful reviews at Tablet with a few other sites.
I visit the hotel’s own site to view additional images and check pricing (although I usually find Tablet to have the best price)
I do a search on TripAdvisor.com to check out reviews from other travellers. This can be very helpful… I was very excited about the very cool and inexpensive Hotel Deseo on the Playa del Carmen in Mexico until other travellers warned that the outdoor lounge in the middle of the hotel usually was going until 2am… not necessarily a deal breaker, but good to know if you are looking for seclusion and quiet.
Another great site with good reviews is Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Alas Brad Pitt and Angelina did not write up the reviews here, but they are lively and fun and have a Brit (non-American) perspective which can be interesting.
Design Hotels also has some overlap with Tablet and some other good options and reviews.
So pick up your mouse and start planning…. I’ll cover how to get there next time.
Today is all about beginnings. A new year. A new president. Hope that anything is possible (at least for today!). In the midst of all this enthusiasm it seems appropriate to begin my own humble venture…roxx.com. No more procrastinating or waiting for the perfect time. No excuses. If President Obama can take on a failing economy and two wars in addition to the usual presidential duties, I can certainly take on a blog! So thank you Mr. President… for giving me the kick I needed and also for inspiring my first column.
As a designer I admit that I was under the Obama spell the first time I visited barackobama.com. I still use this site as an example to clients (no matter their politcal leanings) of the power of web 2.0 and of good design. It is clean, elegant, and inspirational and reflects the man it represents. It runs efficiently, has depth of content and connects to me through personalized content and email campaigns. It tows the line between being something bigger than me and something I am a vital part of.
I should have known this guy was serious when his campaign proved to be serious about typefaces. The signature font –Gotham–is none other than the work of respected typeface designer Tobias Frere-Jones. Frere-Jones did his research for Gotham by looking at vernacular lettering in New York City starting at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. It is a typeface that is clean, bold and elegant yet also carries history and meaning for it’s subject. (Adam Tschorn of the LA Times explores the use of this font in his article “The Character Issue”.
port authority terminal, nyc
Gotham was only part of a larger identity program whose center was the now-famous “O” logo design. These guys said it best…
Once the Obama campaign identity was firmly in place, they did something novel.. they asked us to participate in the design process. They asked the public to take the logo and design a t-shirt for the campaign. The amazing thing about this contest was that by signing up, anyone could download a full design asset package that included the Adobe Illustrator file of the logo with all the layers intact to play with as we saw fit.. how crazy is that? Not only could we wish we had designed the logo, but now we could dissect the various layers and blends that created it and make our own variations. Talk about transparency. Wow. Ok… maybe only exciting to a design geek like me, but pretty cool none-the-less. Playing around with various designs for a T-shirt made me feel that I was somehow contributing to the campaign…and felt lucky to be in such good company… the quality of designs submitted was pretty impressive.
The campaign went far beyond inspiring T-shirt designs. There is actually a whole section of the site called Runway to Change devoted merchandise created by various fashion designers. There is also an Artists for Obama section which includes the now-famous poster by street artist Shepard Fairey. I have to admit that I resisted the many emails asking to send more money after Obama had won but I broke down with the offer of poster by Fairey if I contributed just $25 more. (A side note for you Bostonians: Fairey will be featured in an exhibition at the ICA starting February 6th. – a chance to explore Fairey’s career and a terrific new building in Boston designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
If Obama is as masterful in running the country as he has been in running his identity campgaign I can only hope for good things from this president and for the future of design.
