As part of Hard Rock Las Vegas’ resort-wide remodel, Las Vegas design firm Chemical Spaces was commissioned to design several one-of-a-kind pool suites intended to accommodate VIP guests of the resort. Local designer Mark Tracy, Chemical Spaces’ owner and principal design consultant, designed and oversaw installation of the individual suites. The suites were designed with the intent to cater to Hard Rock’s young, hip, and music-oriented guests. With each suite boasting a unique theme/motif, the suites each walk out to the newly-designed Hard Rock pool and bring a new element to the Hard Rock resort.

MIAMI BLUE SUITE The intent of this design was to create a party suite with a modern, airy, Miami feel. The primary feature is a giant Cshaped bed lined with blue, imported Italian tile. LED rope lighting and mirrored toe-kicks beneath the bed create the illusion that the bed floats above the floor. Laid-out like a party lounge, a solid-surface DJ table in “Milk Glass” foregrounds the second most noticeable feature: a wall of turntables and jam boxes framed in LED-lit alcoves. Additional features include custom-designed minimalist furniture, a custom, color-matched rug produced in Sweden, floor-to-ceiling sheers, sconce lighting, and mirrored ceiling niches. The primary challenge was a demanding timeline, having been hired late in the construction process. .

GORILLA SUITE The design concept of this suite was to create a dark twisted take on a library/cigar bar. The design features Wenge wall paneling cut into custom shapes and divided with silver, metal striping. The metallic-silver porcelain wall tile contrasts with the rich hardwood floors and gives the suite a modern feel—but the bronze mirrored ceiling, croc-skin custom furniture, and giant hand-painted wall murals of girls and gorilla make this a distinctly dark, savage, sexy urban jungle. .

PUNK ROCK SUITE The intent of the Punk Rock Suite was to create a London-style, punk rock party suite. Bands of recessed mirrors and hand-painted lines in every direction, hand-painted wall murals, and spot lighting on the walls and ceiling pack the room with movement and action. Stone-like grey wall tiles, black hardwood floors, custom modern furniture and a custom, hand-made Union Jack rug complete the London underground feel. .

TREE LINE SUITE The concept of this design began with the concept of creating a hotel room with the illusion of a two-story tree line in the center. Starting from this feature, the hand-picked colors of tree branches were the basis for the color scheme for the rest of the room. Hardwood floors complement the nature motif. Cream walls of textured tiled anchor each side of the room. To create contrast and clarify that this space is still a party suite, a rich blue band spanning from wall, to ceiling, to wall, divides the room down the center. The blue mural features hand-painted smoke in dark blue, leaves and skulls in metallic gold, and LED rope lighting to illuminate the art. . .

Last night I uploaded two photos at the same time. As of this posting one had 96 views on Flickr and the other had 1,389 views. Some other facts: The photo with 96 views used a fisheye lens that cost 4x more than the other photo. (Thank you to Pro Photo Rental for coming along on the Las Vegas Blog World Expo photo walk and bringing $40,000 worth of equipment for all of us to try!) Shows that exotic equipment isn’t guaranteed to bring in views. The photo with 96 views required better camera technique to make than the other photo. The photo with 96 views is of a far more recognizable landmark than the other photo (the Bellagio in Las Vegas). Yet one photo has gotten more than 13x more views. Why? A few things. 1. Promotion. I Twittered the photo that got a lot of views and kept the conversation going on both Twitter and on FriendFeed throughout the evening. Also, my first Tweet about this photo was designed to get all six of these items communicated to my audience. 2. The subject. The photo with all the hits is Hugh Macleod, famous blogging artist who did the art on the SXSW bags and the TechCrunch party posters and, among bloggers and other influentials, is very popular (about 20% of all business cards I have from well-known bloggers, including my own, were done by Hugh). 3. Scarcity. There are thousands of cool photos of the Bellagio. But how many photos of the Las Vegas Convention Hall of it empty with one person standing in it have you seen? 4. Socialness. People “favorited” the photo of Hugh 17 times while the other one was only favorited twice. Each time someone clicks “Favorite” on a photo, it is sent to their audiences. Plus, if you’ve registered Flickr on FriendFeed it will get reshared there. Also, many people retweeted my Twitter message and sent it to their friends. 5. Humor. Hugh’s blog is called “gapingvoid.” The fact that I got him to stand inside a gaping void long enough to make a photo of him is funny. 6. Serendipitous. The photo with 96 visits was prepared for. We were on a planned photo walk. We all had our cameras, expensive equipment ready, and were looking for photos. The one of Hugh? Totally unplanned. A friend had to pick something up at a Kinkos down there, I saw this opportunity, pulled my camera out of my bag, and took 20 seconds making the image. If I hadn’t carried my camera everywhere I would never have gotten the more viewed shot. All of these demonstrate how to succeed in the media business. The same formula works with blog posts, videos, or photos. Oh, one other thing. The Web actually works against the photo of Hugh. It’s hard to see him on the average laptop monitor. This works a lot better as a 16×20-inch or larger print (I’m going to make one for Hugh, cause he’s brought me so much joy). Other things I’ve learned from the photos I uploaded last night? Laughing baby photos pull 3x more than regular baby photos. Also, photos with women in them outpull photos with men in them. Keep in mind that I haven’t applied ANY of Thomas Hawk’s lessons (he does a lot of post-processing, er, Photoshop manipulation to make his photos more “social.”) Watch his photo blog and see just how much more interesting his images are than mine. That’s cause none of mine have any post-processing done to them yet. Anyway, just some fun on a Sunday afternoon. Here’s the two original photos. 96 views, Bellagio at Night:

1,389 views, Hugh Macleod standing in South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center:

Filed under: Apple Corporate, RetailApple opened two new Apple Stores last weekend -- one in Ridgeland, Mississippi (that state's first store) and another in sunny Las Vegas (Nevada's fourth and the third in Vegas). As usual, we asked any TUAW operatives who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. Reader Dave took some nice shots in Mississippi.So, did you go, and more importantly, what did you get? Let us know in the comments. Here's hoping you scored a T-shirt!In related news, there's an interesting map at ifoAppleStore that overlays Apple Store locations with population density in the US. Of course it makes sense to put stores where the most people are, and that's just what Apple has done.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments