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Hmmm, I love Domino. I think of it as the alternative, like "design-lite." Sometimes, I get sick of the same old same old in mags like Met Home and Elle Decor (I still subscribe though, so I'm not that sick of it). I like that it drops some of the usual pretentions, and does not assume that its readers have $100K per room to spend on design.

My biggest personal peeve is AD - ever since they featured Sylvester Stallone's HEINOUS Miami Mansion on the cover years ago, I cancelled my subscription and never bought another issue. Lord knows I subscribe to just about every design magazine out there, but I won't even pick up an AD at the dentist's office. Ugh.

Guys, if you think there is a hole in the market, start a design magazine that targets males. It seems women are to these types of mags what the 18-35 demographic is to TV ratings.

OK, wow, everyone is snotty about Domino but they somehow think that there are actually shows on HGTV that aren't cheesy as all get-out? When I was studying landscape architecture, I'd check out the outdoor design shows and they were god-awful. I can't say I ever put any of the shows on for more than 2 minutes, but I get the general idea that the majority are the opposite of good design - like Country Frank on Trading Spaces bad.

I can't say I've seen Small Spaces. The only design shows I've ever liked were Area on the Style Network in its 1/2 hour format (the later hour long Trading Spaces-esque format was excruciatingly painful), the TV version of Dwell, and I think I may be forgetting one more, but that is it.

OK, I admit it, I LOVE to chuckle over MTV Cribs - all that gold plated stuff, all those shrines to Scarface, Snoop Dog opening his pantry and saying "ho-hos", Redman's crappy townhouse with the broken doorbell, his cousin asleep on the floor and the "dollar box" on the top of the fridge (actually, that was a pretty good idea)...

what happened to the recipes and cooking suggestions? I really liked that feature.

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

Maxwell was working a HOT new look on tonight's Small Space Big Style! He's blonder, he's sleeker, he's Summer chic-er!

You GO! :)

i got a question.. how do architectural designers make a living in manhattan? how do you charge for your services? and how do you convince a client that you can offer them something in exchange for their hard-earned money? how can you convince yourself that what you offer is worth what you charge? is it just me... struggling with these questions?

Not only was I wowed by Maxwell's hot look I was pysched to see Robert's Golden Handcuffs in motion instead of stills. Tres Cool.

Maxwell and Roberto in the same episode! I've died and gone to heaven and no one is more shocked than I.

Maxwell and Robert both rock.

I liked the whole episode and better than the first one last week. But, I still think 4 abodes are too many for a half hour. Two would be better, three might be ok. One fabulous place in an episode would be really wonderful.

Rant: some of these other shows, like Mission Org, go on and on with the same old tired theme and formula and focus on only one dreary place for a whole half hour, while this show packs 4 sometimes fabulous spaces into a half hour. Why? Maybe HGTV is just trying out the concept to see if it will fly and hopefully give individual spaces more airtime in the future? Rant over.

What about the bathroom setup in that first tiny trailer? I don't think so. But, I'm glad this show is willing to show outside the box thinking.

I thought the same thing about Maxwell, Patrick (the other one). Wow! And the show really did justice to Robert's beautiful space and his personal style. The whole "riding the bike up to the entrance" set the tone beautifully -- very playful, elegant, lovely space.

i just got the 2nd issue of Domino- and I don't want to like it... but I do! I prefer World of Interiors, Vogue Home, etc. but it's a really fun magazine and with so much packed in, there somthing for everyone and lots that spark my interest. Good job everyone at Domino!

Does anyone have an opinion about the quality of the furniture at Bo Concept? I'm thinking about getting some storage furniture there - a sideboard (a cheap one) or something like that.

lc--
Don't get me STARTED on Domino. I too want to love it, but it is SO geared to women in its tone that I can't even read the captions. It's one thing to cater toward a female target audience, but I think it can be done without alienating the male audience. Please, all-female editors of Domino, don't lose sight of men who are interested in the subject matter you peddle. Just don't address it with an annual "Guy Issue!!".

And in one of the captions about Ione Skye, the writer says, "The reason why she is *so* Domino.." I hate that kind of tone so much in a magazine. Ugh.

A 1-issue old magazine trying to make their title a catch phrase? Why would that be annoying? ;-)

other Patrick-
i agree the captions/text make me gag. but i just don't read them- along with a lot of other magazines. real simple is the best example of that- the photos are beautiful, the text is awful!

i also think the design of Domino is lame. but content-wise I think they're doing a really good job, and that's what I care about most.

Re Small Space... the show just seems to keep getting better. I agree, though, that 4 homes is too much. I'd be happy with 3 (2 if the places or people are expecially informative). Someone help me out here - during that tiny-shed-on-wheels piece, hasn't that been showcased in ReadyMade or Budget Living or something before? I had that deja-vu feeling watching it.

Re Domino, I haven't received my 2nd issue yet (maybe it will be in the mailbox tonight) but I get the gender-themed thing. I hadn't realized how irritating that could be until I was flipping through a magazine last night and read an article about those "dinners to go" places where you put together a week or more worth of meals. It lumped all consumers of such as "moms". My first reaction was supreme irritation and feeling left out or dismissed. Someone in marketing could prob explain the whole target audience thing, but I feel like mags, etc. are missing out on a lot of other readers this way.

lc--
Since I do some writing, the thought of buying a magazine I know I will never actually read is really hard to come to terms with. But I absolutley see your point.

If they can't get the tone right, and it alienates me, I'd rather glean much of this very same information from the many other catalogs, websites, magazines and blogs that consider me a welcome part of the audience. I pick up O at Home, and even THAT makes me feel more included in the readership than Miss Dominatrix does.

It's irritating to have that femmy twist to Domino. Just a glance at AT and the various competitions would show that men and women love design. SSBS showed 2 couples (m/f and m/m), 1 woman, 1 man; I liked that mix.

ha! I just looked back at my previous post- and my use of words like "gag" and "lame" make me look like the girly girl reader we all agree they're gearing the magazine towards. I must be in a cross-over consumer group, because I'm definitely more a Nylon, British Elle, Vogue reader- than a Lucky, Cosmo, InStyle reader.

Lemon-slice-squeezer-quest:

The Obscura piece brought a quest to mind. I'm looking for one of those small metal clamp-like devices for squeezing a lemon slice for teatime. I don't know how else to describe it. The last time I saw and used one was in Prague. Anyone see something like this in US housewares stores? I've been unsuccessful with Sur la Table, Williams Sonoma, etc.

Hey I'm glad you mentioned Lucky lc because that is the very successful template that Domino staff are so obviously using. Conde de nasty had a runaway success on their hands with Lucky so applied a similar (but gadgeted and automibled up) model to Cargo and then to Domino. I'm guessing they will have similar success with gender differentiatde product as they did with Lucky and Cargo.

No offense to anyone (especially ptoo cuz you know you're my man - well I know you're someone else's but you know what I mean) but I think if Domino doesn't work then there are plenty of others that do. I can't imagine any bloke complaining that Lucky is too feminine and I see Domino in the same way. It's simlpy geared towards women in general and certain types of women more specifically.

Libby--
Did you try Broadway Panhandler?

jamie pup--
No offense taken! But Lucky came out of the gates unabashedly talking Kate Spade bags and Jimmie Choos, so since the subject matter itself seemed actually female-focused by virtue of products made for women, it wasn't (to me) a matter of exclusion (just like I don't get mad that Parenting only speaks to parents, or that Field & Stream targets hunters...).

Since the subject matter of Domino is home design, I think it sucks that they so blatantly attach gender to that category. As an aside, I also think they do it in a way that is too girly for many of the (straight) women I know. And by doing so, I think they are shooting themselves in the mules.

But I agree there are alternatives. God knows I subscribe to most of 'em. And yes, I get a tad annoyed when even in those, most shots are styled with a pair of high heels at the foot of the bed, and there are constantly tie-ins to what's happening in (women's) fashion as it relates to interiors, but somehow most other mags get the balance right. Like I said, it's the difference between targeting one and alienating another...

(and this is coming from someone who used to religiously watch Sex & The City, for godsake. Even THAT show had more intentional gender cross-appeal than the giggly froth of Domino issues one and two...)

Plus, if I want to see "handwritten" "super cool!" notes and arrows pointing breathlessly to funky angled pics, I'll just re-read my Pottery Barn Teen catalog...

That's it, P(TOO)! I was trying to put my finger on the feeling Domino puts across and it IS very PB Teen.

I have my own design notebooks with my own possibly inane and breathless notes, so I don't need a magazine to annotate itself.

Re: Small Space Big Style.

For the most part I like the show. I'm looking foward to more episodes. They do need to scale down the number of places they show. I have to that the host irritates me. His robotic style does not blend well with the interiors on display. What's with the updated Member's Only jacket he wears? And what's up with the tiny foot prints in the floor plans. UGH!

To me the best design show is Sheila Bridges' Designer Living on the Fine Living channel. The show is amazing and I complement Sheila on her willingness to share the spotlight with other designers. It's great to see an African American designer do her thing. Let's hear it for diversity in design!!!!

Libby,
Do a search for "lemon squeezer" on Amazon. I think the thing you're looking for will come up second. It's only $3.95.

Regarding 'Small Space Big Style,' I rather like the fact that they do 4 abodes in each show. Too many of the HGTV programs do a number of unnecessary recaps in the course of the show (not just one but two times!), so I think it's refreshing to just go from one to the other home without going back to review after every segment.

I missed the very beginning of last night's ep - was the guy with the tiny house in the woods Jay Shafer from www.tumbleweedhouses.com? Tiny houses are becoming more & more popular - I love the ones at Tumbleweed, I dream of someday owning a house on a property with a stream and having a brightly painted tiny house near it for romantic evenings (or guests). They'd also be ideal for lakefront homes where you just want to sleep and keep your boat docked. See also www.tinyhousecompany.com/ and www.tinyhouses.net/.

Back to HGTV... What I'm most annoyed with about HGTV is the way it's broadcast in my area of NYC - the sound is NEVER in synch with the picture. Never. Lately, it is the only channel that has constant delays, pixelated images, and sound skips - it's awful!

Diane

Oh, cool, it was Jay Shafer! He talks about the segment in the 'News' section on this page:

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/information.htm

Dontcha just dig his philosophy?

~Diane

Diane, I've been having the exact same problem with HGTV of late here in Brooklyn. It did this a few months ago but then was fine for awhile, but now its at it again. And it does seem to be only that one channel. Very annoying.

Patrick (the other one) --

I totally agree with you about Domino. I HATED the fist issue, and thought is was disappointing that it ignored male readers. I received a couple of their online questionnaires about it, and I told the EXACTLY how I felt. I also felt it was written to glib, and was rather condescending to everyone but the most newbie reader.

The magazine pretty much got panned by the publishing industry. Anyone read MediaBistro's review of it? Laugh out loud funny.

diane & jimkk - hey, at least you guys even get hgtv. pity us poor souls who don't & thus have to suffer the frustration of reading threads like this...arghh ;)

Kathryn - That's it! That's the mysterious lemon squeezer I've been looking for (over a year now!). Thanks - I never think to look at Amazon for anything other than books or music.

Doing the happy tea dance. :^ )

Tea party at Libby's!

If the AT gang lived anywhere near me I'd soooo throw you all a tea party!

Now that my mind is on beverages (and not the mind-numbing data entry project I've been working on for days), another question for this highly knowledgeable group. Coffee recommendations? I live in Starbuck headquarters land but don't particularly like the burnt taste. I did an Illy membership (and have enough espresso pods to probably last a lifetime) and like LaVazza. The local roasters in my area include Batdorf & Bronson. Of all, I think I prefer LaVazza (although I can't seem to get a response through their website to find out if their pods would work in my machine). Anyone have coffee thoughts to share?

(I am really avoiding a return to that damn data entry.)

Domino is too busy for me personally and I think a little young, but what's wrong with it being female focused? Lots of guys are into clothes and hair care, but that doesn't mean they should be expected to buy Glamour. In fact, I've often thought that magazines like Architectural Digest are dismissive of WOMEN. Lots of design magazines that claim to be gender neutral actually feature, to me, an overwhelming focus on male designers, gay male homeowners and male architects. When's the last time you saw a lesbian couple featured in a design magazine? Not that they have to be, I'm just saying Domino may not be aimed at guys, and that's o.k.

But those guys interested in hair and clothes have GQ and Detail...

I buy virtually every magazine with the word "home" in the title, and the vast majority of articles (and advertisers) are targeting women, without question. Which I don't mind, because males (straight or gay) are not entirely ignored (and as you point out, are indeed represented) and certainly not alienated in the "bridal shower" way Domino is doing.

I think the representation of homeowners and designers is pretty gender-even over all, but it's interesting to hear you see a male bias ("bias" in the demographic sense). And the editor of every one but one I subscribe to is a woman, so it is certainly not a male-dominated industry, at least not at the top of the masthead.

At any rate, my sole objection is why Domino has deemed that home design shopping is a woman's domain. And done it in a way that doesn't seem to be convincing every woman, either...

Libby,
Regarding espresso pods, I'm a fan of Illy as well, and have been using the pods in my Francis Francis X3 for years. You didn't say what kind of machine you have, but any brand of espresso pod that is states it is E.S.E (easy serving espresso) should be compatible with a machine that uses Illy pods. For example, the Nespresso brand (looks like a thimble) is one that is not compatible. Assuming you don't have a trip to Italy planned, a website called capriflavors.com has an interesting variety of espresso (pods and regular ground).

There must be some sort of balance possible. My concern is that if something like Domino decides to recognize it's male readers it will turn into a couples magazine. I'd prefer just an interesting little home dec mag that not only shows me what the $-people can get but maybe similar things I can mock up with my tiny budget and single-person world.

I'd still be interested in hearing from someone in publishing and/or marketing to better understand how gender translates into sales, advertising, etc. and how old is the information used to make those assumptions?

Thanks, Kathryn. I've got the FrancisFrancis X5. I looked into a lot of consumer reviews before joining the Illy membership thing. My only problem with them was that I didn't want just one type of coffee always sent. Since I'm just me and not an entire office of people, I wanted to change up and get beans, ground, espresso pods, decaf, whatever and it apparently conflicted with their system and made for a lot of customer service calls and incorrect deliveries. Did you get any complimentary goodies with your membership? They seem to change out the free espresso cup/saucer sets pretty frequently.

Libby, If you aren't only looking for pods, Peet's in the CA Bay is fabulous:

http://peets.com/

I agree about the host of the Small Spaces show - really irritating, really wrong for the show. Does Maxwell want to do it?

http://www.ruidosoroastery.com/

Discovered on a trip to New Mexico where it is difficult to get a good cup of coffee. And yes, even in Santa Fe. This roastery will send vacuum packed bags to you. And they are super nice.

Has anyone come across the glacier mural from the Chicago apartment in their shopping travels? Definitely not from IKEA. :)
Enjoyed seeing Maxwell. Have already put in a request for the book at our county library.

so how come no responses so far to pixie's question about Bo Concept furniture? i also would like to know--about quality, service, anything. anyone out there have any experience/opinions to share?

btw, i should add that i have indeed already read people's comments about Bo Concept from the archives--there were quite a few, but they varied so wildly that i only ended up even more bewildered. also, i couldn't tell how long ago all those comments were posted (there's a date but no year) so i figure things may have changed since then.

Apropos of nothing, I'm selling a Crate and Barrel console table on craigslist this weekend. 60 bucks. Check it out at newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fur/90701992.html

I was disappointed in the 1st issue of Domino for most of the reasons cited in this thread. I doubt if I'll buy another issue. Another reason I have: I thought that lots of the stuff they were crowing about was ugly.

Gosh... I'm having tons of trouble with HGTV reception, too! I had the cable guy come out on Friday and he discovered a problem with a connection in the box in the hallway, which should be fixed this week. I asked why it only happened on this station, and he said it had to do with the higher frequency. For anyone who's experiencing trouble viewing HGTV, it's worth a call to Time Warner.

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