Cool Hunting

A La Carte Map Guides
by Laura Neilson For globe-trotters looking to creatively plot out a future destination, A La Carte's hand-drawn maps buck the trend of the technology-driven applications in favor of a unique analog map that doubles as a crafty souvenir or an artful gift for an impending traveler. Each beautifully-designed folding map comes with a welcome letter offering important information about the destination. It includes details like...

Humble Vintage Bike Hire
by Rebecca Harkins-Cross For moonlighting in Melbourne's obsessive cycling scene, The Humble Vintage steps in like a long-lost friend, offering vintage bicycles for short-term hire. Not just a more aesthetically pleasing way to explore the city, the experience allows tourists to roll incognito by skipping logos, mountain bikes and fluorescent helmets. Born in July 2009, after founder Matthew Hurst rented a bike during a...

Cool Hunting Video Presents: Prospect.1 New Orleans Biennial 2008
Prospect.1 is New Orleans' first biennial and the largest-ever international contemporary art show in the United States. Similar in style and scope to Venice, the exhibit consists of site-specific art installations, as well as several galleries in museums and elsewhere in the city devoted to it. As the front page of the event's website proclaims, it's designed to bring media attention and tourist dollars...

Cool Hunting Video Presents: Whartscape
Homegrown in Baltimore, Whartscape is a touring music festival featuring nearly one hundred bands, thousands of attendees and a lot of sweat. We were lucky enough to be there for the 3rd annual Whartscape and caught several performances including Ponytail, Double Dagger, Girl Talk and Dan Deacon, the festival's co-founder and main impresario. In an interview with him conducted over iChat, he explains how...