Hasta La Ideas

Discover the “Storyverse” of real world places, music and movies from your favorite book

Taking an ambitious approach to filtering information online, Small Demons is a new site dedicated to opening up the worlds inside of books. Not just another search engine for what’s inside your favorite novel, Small Demons collects and catalogs the millions of references to real-world and fictional music, movies, people, and objects that are found in literature. Your new favorite restaurant could be on the next page of the book you’re reading, and Small Demons hopes to provide a place where you can draw meaningful connections between stories and everyday life.

The site uses both algorithms and human touch to make these links and open up what Small Demons calls a “Storyverse,” or the expanse of details that support a good story. “A computer can tell us how many times a song appears in a book. But it can’t tell us that it is the song that the couple dances to at the wedding reception or the song the jilted lover plays after being dumped. It can’t tell you the emotional resonance of it. So we are going to be relying on librarians and authors and gifted amateurs to come in and help us fix and add and weight and evaluate all the data we are generating,” says Richard Nash, the start-up’s VP of Community and Content.

Founded by former Yahoo Product VPs Valla Vakili and Tony Amidei, the original idea for Small Demons came to Vakili while on a trip to Madrid and Paris. He also happened to be reading Jean-Claude Izzo’s celebrated Mediterranean noir novel Total Chaos, the first book in the French author’s well-known Marseilles Trilogy. Vakili changed the Paris leg of his trip and headed to Marseilles, finding himself enchanted by the fact that he was enjoying the same scotch and walking down the same streets as the protagonist in Izzo’s book. The story in Total Chaos had a life beyond the page, and Vakili realized that many more books had the same experiences to offer.

Small Demons is currently in beta, and you can apply for an invite here.

Style editors and a luggage giant unite in this utilitarian collaboration

When our friends at Selectism got the chance to design a new bag with Tumi, they created a bag suited for their constantly-on-the-move lifestyle. “We travel a lot for our jobs and most of the time it’s short trips,” explain Selectism editors David Fischer and Jeff Carvalho. “Events here, exhibitions there, meetings somewhere else. Packing for those short two day trips is always the trickiest part, because you do not want to check in anything, yet want to be flexible on arrival.” Noting that most bags are designed with a single function in mind, they came up with a design that was sensitive to varied needs.

The all-in-one bag design looks a lot like Tumi’s Alpha Sport Duffel and serves a similar function when flying. It gives the traveler a compact bag for short business trips that has room for a change of clothes and a section with an organizer for a laptop and accessories. Where the Selectism collaboration differs is in the detachable front and side pockets which can be converted into separate bags. While the main clothing compartment stays in the hotel, you can take a slim business brief and a tote along with you to carry the day’s necessities. The two spacious totes allow you to carry back more items than you brought, an added bonus for shoppers and convention-goers alike.

Functionality is everything when you’re on the road. Unobtrusive and compact, the bag does exactly what a good bag should: It puts the needs of the user first. Fischer added “Rather than getting inspired by other bags, we looked closely at what the bag needs to be able to do, what it needs to carry, how it should function. We analyzed our personal travel needs, which we believe are the same for many others out there, with only very few bags matching those needs.”

When asked about how he approached working with Tumi, Carvalho replied, “We tried to stay true to the brand, while offering something new to the Tumi client. Something a little younger, more refreshing, while being classic and timeless. We really wanted to make sure that a long time Tumi client can get excited, just as much as somebody who might be new to the brand.” Selectism’s sharp details include red leather accents, a chestnut-and-black striped interior, subtle Selectism logo badges and gunmetal zipper tags. The navy body and brown leather handle with bronze straps are subtle sartorial twists on the Tumi tradition.

Starting today the Tumi + Selectism travel bag is available exclusively at Park and Bond for $495.

Quench your thirst for what’s happening around the world with a new website dedicated to global nightlife and more

Sparkling water may not be the source that springs to mind when planning your next night out, but Perrier hopes you’ll look to them when sorting out where to go and what to do. The just-launched Société Perrier helps keep the discerning global nomad up to speed in the areas of art, music, fashion, travel and nightlife entertainment through its easily navigable website.

An apt symbol for the polished, arts-centered site is Société Perrier’s 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II, bedecked in a custom paint job and soon to see a specially designed hood ornament. NYC party-goers will have a chance to check out the Rolls this summer as it tours the city’s slew of exciting events with a trunk-turned-cooler packed full of Perrier, and the car will travel to other cities and events.

Whether it’s how to star in the next Bollywood film or suggestions from a professional mixologist, the multi-lingual site dishes on the raddest happenings around London, Moscow, Toronto, L.A., Mexico City, NYC, Montreal and Miami (with more cities launching later this year). To know what’s on in your town, sign up for the Société Perrier newsletter or follow the feed on Twitter.

Rare and limited edition books from the premier member’s-only site for contemporary art

Building on its model of selling affordable limited-edition artworks produced by marquee names in the art world, yesterday Exhibition A launched its newest extension, BookShop. Comprising one-of-a-kind or limited-edition monographs, the books contain signatures, inscriptions and sometimes even artist-sketched drawings inside their pages.

The membership-based site, founded last December by Half Gallery owner Bill Powers, fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and Laura Martin, introduces one or two new pieces on a weekly basis, allowing them to sell for either a limited-run of four weeks, or, in the case of limited editions, until they sell out. With every piece retailing from $100 to $500 dollars, Exhibition A’s concept not only delivers an antidote to generic landscapes, but also a greater accessibility to prominent artists’ works through such inexpensive pricing. Offerings have included limited-editions by Terence Koh, Olaf Breuning, Hanna Liden, Jules de Balincourt, and David LaChapelle, who created surprising collages—a departure from his typical photography—for it.

The first batch of titles available include a copy of George Condo’s 2004 “Happy Birthday,” signed by the artist, with a whimsical sketch of a figure about to strangle the artist as he appears on a page spread. Chloe Sevigny’s lookbook for her first capsule collection with Opening Ceremony, signed by photographer Mark Borthwick, also features drawings by Dan Colen and Spencer Sweeney.

While most of the editions land in the $150 to $750 price range, Damien Hirst’s “The Bilotti Paintings” is a major exception. Retailing for $9,000, Hirst inscribed the copy with a drawing of a shark tank, a reference to his iconic sculpture, “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.”

Like the popular fashion-based site Of of a Kind, which employs a similar model by selling limited-edition designs by up-and-coming indie designers, Exhibition A fluidly combines art and commerce with editorial. Commentary and profiles on its artists, as well as interviews with collectors and influential tastemakers such as Simon de Pury, Paper magazine’s Kim Hastreiter and Vice Media’s Ben Dietz help round out the concept. Call it the Gilt phenomenon 2.0, expect to see more sites like this reflecting the growing consumer demand for products that are unique and accessible at once.

The latest online shopping-editorial hybrid forms an indie brand community

Montreal’s newest online hub connects the creative community with well-designed wares, from sneakers and wallets to speakers and pocketknives. Like so many digital shopping destinations, Thaylor’s web-based shop doubles as an editorial platform, keeping inspiration fresh no matter the season.

Updated regularly, “Life” showcases the thoughts of talented athletes, writers and creative thinkers alike, offering a deeper look at the people behind various products and projects (including my own case study on tennis rackets). “Market” is Thaylor’s online shop, where you can pick up threads designed in-house or by brands such as Côte et Ciel, Makr, Joey Roth, Richartz, Hummel and Alena. Thaylor peddles a wide range of products designed for urban use, like iPad sleeves, skateboards and high-tops.

To celebrate their launch, Cool Hunting readers who “like” Thaylor on Facebook within the next week will have a chance to win an exclusive prize pack, consisting of a hoody, Henley, Thaylor tee and a Sigg water bottle. Check out their full spectrum of collaborators and goods at the Thaylor website.