Take me to New Ephemera, please

Cruising through design websites looking for the next big publishing idea I came across a reference on Design Observer to an imaginary destination created by Amanda Spielman, a 29-year-old graduate design student at MFA Design program at the School of Visual Arts. She had created a brochure as part of a design assignment for an island city she calls, "New Ephemera," located just east of the Sea of Enumeration. The city overlooks the Bay of Water, with the Untold Islands just offshore.

Cradled in the Pleasing Mountains, New Ephemera's main industries are winemaking and bookbinding. It also boasts the world's largest flea market, a Vegetation Museum, "Pools of Certitude," and a place you can go to soak away cares, the Subterranean Honey Baths. The brochure encourages you to "find peace in the gardens, satisfaction in the gourmet selection of wine, cheese, breads and seafood, and intellectual stimulation in the renowned multilingual libraries and extensive museum collections." It also suggests you soak up the sun on the nearby beaches, or go biking in the Outer Bivouacs to breathe in all the abundant fresh air.

When the brochure made it out into the world with its designer's phone number listed, more than a dozen people called to ask for more information, what flights go there, and hotel availability. Foolish hearts; they didn't know enough about the world to ascertain that there could be no such perfect place. Still, it's nice to dream about one.

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