J.Crew Spring in a Modernist Neutra Setting

J.Crew has taken a strong visual turn with the spring March 2008 catalog:

It’s distinct for its use of landscape architecture and architecture to contrast just a hint of what the model is wearing.  There are no happy, jumpy groups of people (at least on the cover) with white linen jackets in stupid little row boats.  [...]

The ‘Paradiso’ font by Brian J. Bonislawsky at Astigmatic

 

MyFonts.com, in their most recent email newsletter, has this to say about the font: "On a stroll across his home town, the Vegas-based, self-proclaimed ‘Professor of Fontology’ found a similar source of inspiration in the Paris Resort and Casino. Its logo has a high “ooh-la-la” factor, with a capital P that is decidedly lustful."
Not to [...]

Kapalua Bay Beach on Maui named 3rd Best Place to Propose in the USA

TripAdvisor has released their Top 10 places to propose in the country.  Coming in at number three is Kapalua Bay Beach on Maui.
This is just great.  Now people will think that they have to propose on the beach, get married on the beach, and go on a beach honeymoon.
Even more surprising is the fact that [...]

Herbal Essences Great Escapes, Little Escapes Sweepstakes

Herbal Essences wants you to stop and smell the essences. Their wild sneaker-wearing camel campaign is pushing hard. I personally don’t want to smell the camel or the sneakers, but we awarded their Hello Hydration ad the Rapidsea Commercial of the Year for their Lovely, Scented Desert (LSD) oasis imagery. It’s positively [...]

Rapidsea Commercial of the Year ~ Hello Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner by Herbal Essences

We already posted the worst print ad of 2007, and the year is winding down further.  Even though there is still a month left, it seems like a great time to crown Rapidsea’s over-the-top TV commercial of the year.  There’s just no way that something crazier will come along.  According to the commercial, "Herbal Essences [...]

American oases ~ water and palm trees in America’s deserts

When you first think of the word "oasis," the Sahara and other famed deserts usually come to mind.  However, the deserts of North America have their own palm tree oases.  Jim Cornett has written a short article here for The Desert Sun in California on native desert fan palms and oases in the US, which [...]

US officials being investigated for $730m US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq ~ $138m overrun

The biggest escape resort in the world currently under construction is the US Embassy in Iraq.  Perhaps nowhere in the world is an American safe zone with a few happy moments more desired.  They call the area "The Green Zone" for a reason.  According to the AP and MSNBC, the embassy itself will sit on [...]

Dubai ~ replacing New York as the center of the 21st-century world?

If you’re at all interested in Dubai, you may want to pick up a copy of the November 2007 issue of Metropolis magazine.  The issue is easy to find; it has a huge skyscraper on it, the Burj Dubai:

The cover design is great.  It shows the printer’s marks at the top to illustrate that the [...]

Bang & Olufsen ~ Desert Escape in Ocean Paradise

It is always interesting to see how luxury companies try to tell people with resources how to live.  Bang & Olufsen recently sent out their 2007/2008 product collection corporate magazine, and on pages 2 and 3, they had this:

The most remarkable feature of this picture is that it has a desert scene from, say [...]

Lowe’s household goods ~ unexpected paradise in the desert

More and more, images of desert paradise are being pushed on us.  Much of it has stemmed from the push to get us to buy homes in Arizona.  This ad from Lowe’s appears to use an image from the Moab, Utah area for the landscape in the background.

The deserts of Utah have yet to [...]