Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1540686
Cool. The word has been with us (much of the PaperCity edit team check the Gen X box) since elementary school, and kids today still bat about the term when heaping praise. We keep seeing "cool" pop up: in a subject line of a daily email blast from another glossy, "Are catalogs cool again?" or as the title of a recent Back Cool to hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous. Don't we all aspire to have some of those characteristics. We started pondering: What is cool today. And since we aren't the end-all-be- all authorities on that (as much as we'd like to think we are), we asked some of the coolest people we know that form our clique — in-the-know interior designers, a few avant-garde artistes, scientists, and academics. One is even director of Cool America Foundation. But we also sought out some off-the-radar characters: a rapper/ restaurateur, a pair of podcasters, and a sculptor/furniture creator. Check out their witty and insightful answers and be inspired for a cool winter ahead. New York Times piece, "What Makes Someone Cool?" That story, written by Christine Caron, provided further insight from a study offering clues as to who gets that distinction. Apparently, it's those possessing certain traits — extroverted, By Billy Fong with Catherine D. Anspon Rebecca Sherman. Compiled by Caitlin Hsu. 38