Ever since the Marc Frank Montoya’sThe Block Hotels shut their doors in December of 2008 action sports fans have been missing out on any really good places to sleep with their favorite brands in a themed hotel room. A Laguna Beach hotel is changing that with some help from SoCal’s Riviera Magazine and eight action sports fashion brands.
Through a collaboration between the La Casa del Camino Hotel, Riviera hooked up Roxy, Billabong, Billabong Women, Rip Curl, etnies, Lost,Quiksilver, and L*Space with some of Orange County’s top interior designers to create branded rooms in 10 of the boutique hotel’s 38 rooms. The resulting spaces run the gamut from beautifully modern (complete with Nelson Swag Leg desk and platform bench) to what can only be described as ASR trade show booths with beds and bathrooms.
Our favorite was the etnies eco suite (shown above with etnies vice president of marketing Don Brown). Using a skateboard theme (the only one in the hotel) etines worked with designer Eve Lowey of Studio Chameleon in Newport Beach to come up with a cool, environmentally friendly space. “The inspiration for the etines room was all about taking the skate eco design and bringing it together,” said Don Brown. [click to continue…]
We got word this morning that Sinisa Egelja, the creative mind behind the emergence of the Airwalk skateboarding footwear brand, has died.
Sin, who was always eccentric, had one of the most creative minds in skateboarding. His footwear designs, which seemed delivered from the future, where endlessly boosted, ripped off, and appropriated by employers, competitors, and corporations. That coupled with personal troubles, made things extremely difficult for Sin, and for his family and friends during the past few years.
The last time we spoke Sin was especially hyped on his interview in Sneaker Freaker #10. The magazine, which came out in the summer of 2007, had finally given Sin the opportunity to tell the Airwalk story from his point of view (click the link to download the PDF). It was going to set the record straight once and for all. Sin believed the story would help put his career back into forward motion. Read it, and you’ll understand why. But things didn’t exactly go the way Sin had hoped and his life continued to be plagued with difficulty.
Our thoughts are with Sin’s family and friends who did so much for him over the past few years. Sadly, we don’t have any more details on his death. As soon as we get them, we’ll pass them along.
Thomas Meyerhoffer is one of those “designers” who makes everything look a little too easy. He’s designed products for Apple, Scott, SonyEricsson, and furniture for Capellini. Of course, his real passion is surfing. And he’s been creating these hour-glass looking longboards for a couple years now. The San Francisco Chronicle checked in with Meyerhoffer last week to see how things are going.
Many designers add. Meyerhoffer took away. . . He cut out the sides, creating a distinct waist and hip that extended the contours – and benefits – of a short board. . . He tapered the tail to increase speed, but kept its length to balance the weight up front. There, the width remains to make nose-riding possible. . . “I was pleasantly surprised,” said Maverick’s surfer Peter Mel. “I didn’t know how good it would feel for how odd it looks. It just had a real nice flow to it.”
We still think they look too weird to ride. And, honestly, why would anyone want a longboard to turn like shortboard? If you want a board that turns like a shortboard, then ride one.
The 100 Best Green Companies were selected based on sustainable practices sections from the 100 Best survey process, completed by 372 employers last fall. Participation in the 100 Best survey is voluntary and free of charge. Companies had to employ at least 15 Oregon workers at the time of taking the survey.
Who was number 1 on the list? A developer. Hmmm. . .
Ken Achenbach has always known how to turn ideas into dollars. Here’s another one as seen on Cldfx.com:
The backpack features a vertical snowboard carry, an internal padded laptop sleeve, a fleecelined goggle pocket and lots more. You better be fast if you want your own COC Mission Pack, the online shop isn’t online yet, but you can save a Pack by writing an email to COC. They’ve also got a colabo on the Crossfire Glove, we keep you updated.
Wonder if a free pack is included with the price of camp?
When students of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California were asked to redesign the school bus and to “improve the efficiency and safety of buses and to imagine at least two other functions for them in addition to transporting students,” Andrew Kang knew exactly what he wanted to do:
Andrew Kang, sponsored by Subaru and DC Shoes, designed a bus that can be converted into a mobile skateboard park, with ramps that unfold. The bus also functions as a portable art classroom whose interior can be repeatedly painted.
A bus like that would make going to school worthwhile.
The New York Times knows skateboarding is cool. And what better way to show how hip a young couple can be than by profiling Jay Shapiro and Claire Bigbie at their wonderfully skatie pad in San Francisco’s trendy Noe Valley neighborhood. The profile is filled with lines like these:
After Ms. Bigbie graduated in 2001, the couple lived in London for a year. Ms. Bigbie — who had been collecting furniture since she was 14 (about the same time she started skating) and had designed a skateboard clothing line by 16 and graphics for the indie record company Tooth + Nail by 18 — worked at the British furniture design company Precious McBane. . . Mr. Shapiro became an assistant to Richie Hopson, a British photographer. . . .When he was offered a job as a team manager for Think Skateboards in San Francisco, they returned, and Ms. Bigbie became a stylist for the do-it-yourself magazine Ready Made.
And that fellow skateboarders is exactly how you end up with an envelope a&d designed $1 million house in SF. Notice our tone? That’s just us being jealous and petty.
One of Athen’s Greece based architectural firm Archivirus Architecture clients requested a “skatetable habitat,” according to a story on Arplustest.com.
According to architect Athanasia Psaraki, the Ramp House is a project which tries to reconsider and redefine the living space. The result of the client’s request is a curved form interior, which “set the whole house as well as the inhabitant’s life, into motion”. . . .It is intended to be a ‘ramp house’ and not a ‘house with a ramp’. Straight lines are curved and the flat surface becomes a ramp or a bowl. Basic house elements such as the fireplace and storage units are hidden inside the ramp forms.
Okay. Next time we’re in Athens we’re finding this place.
Mini and sleek aluminum trailer maker Airstream have teamed up with with furniture brand Republic of Fritz Hansen to create the ultimate surf travel collab.
The concept will make its debut at the Interni Design Energies exhibition in the courtyards of Università degli Studi di Milano during the upcoming Salone del Mobile show held in Milan. I know it’s a mouthful, but stay with me. . . . Republic of Fritz Hansen is a Copenhagen-based firm specializing in functional, minimalist design. . . . Using the outdoor lifestyle aspects of surf culture, the firm has created a fresh new look for the Clubman and Airstream caravan.
Looks cool, but we wouldn’t want to drive it to Costa Rica.
Now we actually know someone who has done work for “the President of the United States of America.” Check out the new logos that designer Aaron Draplin worked on.
Creative director Steve Juras led designers Aaron Draplin and Chris Glass in the assignment to create two logos, one for projects completed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the second for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) team. Stay tuned …
