http://www.pompeiad.com Pompei A.D. LLC, C3: Commerce, Culture, and Community – creative services firm specializing in architecture, design, and experiential branding for retail, museums, spas, hotels, real estate development, and events. http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_348 ]]> Brittany_Myers Books 2008-07-09 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_348 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_282 Louis Vuitton generally feature celebrities like Gisele and Scarlett Johansson draped over a bunch of handbags, appearing as flawless as a china doll. Their new campaign is different. In a limo, next to a classic Louis Vuitton duffel bag, with the Berlin Wall in the background, sits Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian politician and former leader of the Soviet Union. The caption reads “A journey brings us face to face with ourselves.” The ad also states that Louis Vuitton and Gorbachev are supporters of Green Cross International – an environmental organization which Gorbachev is the chairman of. ]]> Brittany_Myers Advertising,Fashion,Louis Vuitton 2007-09-13 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_282 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_279
1 Seljalandsfoss Waterfall: This waterfall, off the South East portion off the Ring Road (or Highway 1 – which travels around the entire island) drops 60 meters over the cliffs of the former coastline. There is a pathway behind the waterfall, where this photo was taken.
2 Natural formations in the rocky plateau of Dyrhólaey
3 The Black Beach in Dyrhólaey near Vik on the South coast
4 Claudia above Skogarfoss waterfall
5 Skogarfoss waterfall
6 Gullfoss waterfall in the glacial River Hvita, dropping twice for a total of 32 meters into a long canyon.
7 Glacier Vatnajokull – the largest glacier in Europe, and the largest outside of Antarctica - Claudia explored it by snowmobile.
8 Jokulsarlon Lagoon at the south end of Glacier Vatnajokull.
9 Jokulsarlon Lagoon
10 Lava fields on the side of Ring Road
11 A view of the Myrdalsjokull glacier from the Ring Road
12 – 15 A view of the countryside from the Ring Road
16 The "hotel" in Kirkjubaejarklaustur – a village of only 160 people off the Ring Road ]]> Brittany_Myers Travel,Photography,Outdoors 2007-08-31 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_279 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_265 launched a new program allowing residents and tourists to borrow bikes for a small fee – 1 EUR/day up to 29 EUR/year – to use for short commutes around the city. Riders can pick up a bike at one of 750 different stations spread throughout the various neighborhoods. The program was conceived by the city’s progressive mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, as a step towards his goal of reducing car traffic by 40 percent by 2020.

As Mayor Mike Bloomberg struggles to pass legislation aimed at reducing New York City’s heavy car traffic and the associated environmental impact, this novel Parisian plan might turn out to be a useful model. ]]> Pompei_A.D. Urban Planning,Green Design,Sustainability 2007-07-20 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_265 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_154 The artist is always engaged in writing a detailed history of the future because he is the only person aware of the nature of the present." – Wyndham Lewis

In order for design to be relevant and compelling, it must embrace the culture that it hopes to join, and part of our responsibility as designers is to stay in tune with the emerging cultural shifts within the communities we design for. Pompei A.D.’s design concepts are creatively informed by the effervescent surrounding world, and this category explores our countless sources of inspiration, observation, and motivation. ]]> Pompei_A.D. 2007-03-28 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_154 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_142 Good Magazine features a brief piece on Portland eco-retailer Nau. Nau was conceived as an active-wear company for the sustainability crowd, and has plans to open 4 new real-world locations this year. These stores, which they call webfronts, are intended to drive online sales through discount purchases on in-store kiosks.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about another popular online retailer moving into the real-world. On 37Signals' blog, there was an interesting interview with the founders of Threadless.com, claiming that, "The store exists to drive traffic to the site...it will be more like a community center."
It will be interesting to see how the online assets of these retailers create space in the stores for more culture and community oriented offerings. ]]> Pompei_A.D. Community,Retail,Technology 2007-02-28 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_142 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_129
"Delhi, said Pir Sadr-ud-Din, was a city of djinns. Though it had been burned by invaders time and time again, millennium after millennium, still the city was rebuilt; each time it rose like a phoenix from the fire. Just as Hindus believe that a body will be reincarnated over and over again until it becomes perfect, so it seemed Delhi was destined to appear in a new incarnation century after century. The reason for this, said Sadr-ud-Din, was that the djinns loved Delhi so much they could never bear to see it empty or deserted. To this day every house, every street corner was haunted by them. You could not see them, said Sadr-ud-Din, but if you concentrated you would be able to feel them: to hear their whisperings, or even if you were lucky, to sense their warm breath on your face." ]]> Randhir_Singh Art,India,Photography,Randhir Singh,Travel 2007-02-12 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_129 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_146
Visit this post from the Leo Burnett blog.

"...rather than using different media channels to communicate the same idea, you can use each channel to communicate different things...Each channel is strong and self-contained enough to live on its own, but can then be pulled together into a greater brand narrative. The most interesting part is that this pulling together doesn't necessarily have to be done by one person - social relationships can help forge those connections, forming a brand community that shares and builds on each others' experiences with the brand." ]]> Pompei_A.D. Branding,Community,Marketing,New Media 2006-12-14 http://www.pompeiad.com/articles/16_146