CELEBRITY DESIGN
Ever since Helmut Newton got the chance to design an issue of Francis Ford Coppola’s literary magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story, major artists have been eager to design the quarterly publication. Big name alums now include Gus Van Sant, William Eggleston, Ed Ruscha, and David Bowie. This winter season, the eccentric singer/songwriter/actor/cult icon Tom Waits is designer-in-chief. On newsstands until March 1, the issue provides a first look at Waits’ personal photography, and gravelly penmanship. Running beside his handwritten notes, nearly 100 of Waits’ black-and-white photographs of oil stains left in parking lots across the country give the issue “a starkly beautiful, low-fi aesthetic,” says editor, Michael Ray. Waits writes in his introduction: “See whatever you see in them—they are astonishing shapes and mysteries of the natural world.”

ATHLETES VS. DESIGNERS
With a stable of superstar female athletes like Serena Williams and Mia Hamm wearing the ubiquitous swoosh logo, Nike has been shifting more of its product development and ad dollars from footwear to its lucrative line of women’s sportswear. In a bold return of service that should keep it a player in the $40 billion-and-growing industry, Adidas has recruited fashion designer Stella McCartney. The collaborative collection is designed in “a soft, mature, yet feminine palette” that McCartney is known to use. But her pretty palette of colors—dusty rose, light polaris, and continental gray—will need wings in order to compete with the inspiring images of Williams and Hamm in action.

AMERICA'S TOP 40
When Animal Planet needed to package three hours’ worth of footage (of puppies playing) to run against Super Bowl XXXIX last year, they turned to film and TV title design firm, Montgomery & Co. of Culver City, Calif. Puppy Bowl was such a big hit, it’s now available on DVD at The Discovery Store, and they’re working on Puppy Bowl II. Jerry Seiner, Montgomery’s creative director, hopes lightning will strike again with the on-air design package they’ve created for VH1’s “Top 40 Videos of 2005.” In addition to the main title, Seiner designed a timely narrative structure for the two-hour show, to keep viewers tuned in. During the countdown, each video title pops out of an attaché case to emphasize the secrecy of the list. It’s perfect because supposedly even Scooter Libby didn’t know the winners before it was broadcast.

HOOTERS IN THE HOUSE
Following the launch of its presumably successful airline, Hooters, the brand name associated with buxom waitresses clad in white tank tops and orange short shorts, is opening the doors of Hooters Casino Hotel in Las Vegas this February. The 711 rooms will be designed with a “Florida casual” look—poles apart from the standard, upscale casinos like the Bellagio. But what will lift and separate Hooters from the run-of-the-mill Vegas glitter is its staff. The casino vows to have the largest group of Hooters Girls in any one place on the planet, somewhere between 200 and 250. Months prior to the opening, Jay Schwartz of IdeaWork Studios was hired to design the hotel’s website, which includes a virtual tour and, soon, a pool cam. It’s hard to imagine bringing the entire family to Hooters but as Schwartz is quick to point out, compared to the exotic scantily clad Vegas showgirls on the strip, the cheerleader look of Hooters Girls is modest. Hmm. But if everyone is equally welcome, why is there a red siren icon on the home page that reads, “In case of wife or boss,” with links to Tiffany’s and the Employee Improvement Journal? ,

CORRECTION
Last issue (V21N6) in this column, a piece about the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art incorrectly stated that it was located in St. Louis, Mo. It is in Kansas City, Mo.