Death Becomes You 24 Skull Items

Okay, so goth is back in a big way and skulls and crossbones are appearing on even the most unlikely items.
here are just a few on the market!

Just click on any of the images above to purchase or get more info.

See more of my Death Becomes You - cool things with skulls! list at ThisNext.

Don't Your Napkins Deserve Them? Hip Porcelain Napkin Rings

I stumbled upon these wonderful porcelain napkin rings by Dinner-ware. They've got many fun mod designs, but what is really struck me are these 'monogrammed' porcelain napkin rings at 10$ a piece. Get your initials, spell out words, do 'hugs' and 'kisses'...whatever, all and every initial is a fun design-see below.






So what are you waiting for? buy them here.

They Look Good Enough To Eat..Wait, You Can Eat Them!

Monica Passin, president and chocolateuse of Painter Girl Chocolates spent over two years learning to work with chocolate as an art medium: desiging and painting molds, creating recipes, tasting and sharing, selecting the finest ingredients, and getting chocolate all over her guitars. Art-inspired chocolate. Chocolate- inspired art. A complete experience.

ANIMAL PRINT CHOCOLATES: THE ZEBRA
mmm... 2.5oz of dark chocolate with notes of vanilla and spice. "stripes of white chocolate. reminds your taste buds of espresso with whipped cream. made from pure belgium chocolate.


ANIMAL PRINT CHOCOLATES:THE SNOW LEOPARD
2.5 oz white chocolate with refreshing pure lemon and "spots" of dark chocolate. the lemon and dark "spots" balance the sweetness of white chocolate. made from pure belgium chocolate.


ANIMAL PRINT CHOCOLATES:THE CHEETAH
2.5 oz blend of milk and white chocolate create a wildly delicious flavor. its creamy texture melts in your mouth, and you are left with "spots" of dark chocolate that melt more slowly. made from pure belgium chocolate.


ANIMAL PRINT CHOCOLATES: THE WILD PONY
dedicated to those with a passion for horsed and the pleasures of a great milk chocolate bar. 2.5 oz with "spots" of white chocolate. made from pure belgium chocolate.

At $7.50 a bar, they make a nice gift- or dessert! Buy them here.

Product Pick Of The Week: Viteo Outdoor Funriture

I am in love with Viteo's outdoor furniture-as well as the interesting imagery on their website (the full launch, not the quick launch). The very cool product above was a Red Dot Design Winner. An outdoor shower that is activated by the weight of the individual who steps upon it.

Take a look at some of their fabulous imagery (someone at Viteo is a very hip designer)and their beautiful products from their site:

There's no shortage of fabulously designed outdoor products on their website, check them all out here!

6 Funky New Finds

Six Fun New Finds.
1. Juxtaposed: Religion by blank blank. A wooden shelf with the five most widely read books on religion (removable). Limited edition of 50.

2.The Jawbone, CNN highest rated bluetooth headset

3. Havaleena mood torch, a cordless light that comes with color filters and a wooden stand.

4. The stresseraser; a device that fits in your pocket and actually reduces stress!

5. From Defensive Devices comes this ring that actually sprays pepper spray up to 3 feet

6. The LOVE mirror, a nice tribute to Robert Indiana's famous icon.

Just click on any of the images above to purchase or get more information.

Ross Lovegrove is Making Some Noise for KEF

Above: Ross Lovegrove with his Muon Speakers for KEF

I've always been a fan of Ross Lovegrove's work and his newest creation for high end audio manufacturer, KEF, is no exception.
The text below is from the April issue of Wallpaper.

The hallowed walls of Milan’s Science and Technology Museum played host to the launch of a groundbreaking pair of speakers yesterday evening.

'Muon' is the product of a union between the historic British audio company KEF and visionary industrial designer Ross Lovegrove. Standing two metres tall, the speakers are made from super-formed aluminium, which, like vacuum forming, uses heated aluminium sheets to bend around seemingly impossible shapes. The end result appears more like art than technology.

But the technology is every bit as impressive as the visual design. A four-way speaker system with powerful bass drivers produces an exceptionally clean and open sound regardless of the room’s acoustics.

As part of the launch the international creative branding agency Moving Brands created an audio responsive visual installation to showcase the speakers in action. They created a platform in front of the speakers that reacted in real time to the music being played, creating a light display to add a 3-dimensional demonstration of the sound quality. In the vaulted Sala del Cenacolo, where the speakers were showcased with the installation, the effect was truly sensational.

Berlow is a video of the launch:

Only 100 pairs of speakers are to be made and don’t let the fact that Robbie Williams has put his name on the waiting list put you off.

Mellow Yelo -Power Naps For Urbanites

Yelo is an entirely new concept in wellness. It is a sanctuary designed to help urbanites deal with the pressures of modern life through a unique combination of sleep and reflexology therapies.

The YeloNap is our version of the “Power Nap”—our sleep therapy system of 20- to 40-minute naps. Naps of this duration have been medically proven to increase alertness and productivity as well as information retention.

Yelo is about time-efficient, results-oriented relaxation. It is not a spa. Yelo provides the deeper experience of giving you back your time and space when you need it most. It’s about you. It’s about time.

Sleep is a crucial part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Medical studies have proven a direct correlation between sleep and productivity, and recently it has been discovered that even a short nap can significantly improve performance. A YeloNap^SM will help you recharge and feel refreshed, relaxed and rejuvenated.

The YeloNap is our specially-designed sleep therapy system. It takes place in our unique, modern, private cabins: the YeloCabs^TM. When your nap begins, you will recline in our luxurious YeloChair^TM to elevate your legs above your heart. This will slow down your pulse and encourage deep relaxation.

YeloNaps are available in five-minute increments from 20-40 minutes in length, priced from $12-$24. You can choose the timing that suits you best within these limits. We set these limits because a nap of less than 20 minutes won’t provide you with enough rest, while a nap of more than 40 minutes will encourage a deep (REM) sleep, from which you might emerge feeling groggy.

The YeloNap may be experienced on its own for rest and rejuvenation or combined with Yelo Reflexology—treatments designed to heal and alleviate specific conditions or ailments and allow you to emerge feeling balanced and energized.

On their website they have a real time clock letting you know when the next available YeloCab is. Very cool. And very rejuvenating.

You can read more about this at their site, yelonyc.com

Gaultier Makes Fashion A Religious Experience

above: Early christian art depicting Madonna and Child; clearly Gaultier's inspiration



Jean Paul Gaultier's Spring/Summer 2007 haute couture collection at Paris couture week clearly borrows from art and religion. His newest collection has a fabulous Byzantine feel and the 'halos' around his models are remniscient of early depictions of christian art in stained glass windows and paintings.

Just take a look at some of the pieces from the show:













Above right : Gaultier Greeting The Audience

Maybe if I pray hard enough, I can afford one of his gowns....

2008 Bombay Sapphire Glass Design Competition Entries

Most of you are familiar with the Bombay Sapphire ads that show a lovely martini glass along with a bottle of the product. Depending upon how observant -or astute you are, you may have noticed that they always attribute the glass design to its creator in the small text. That's because each year Bombay Sapphire has a design contest and the winning 'glass' shows up in their ads.

This year, the winning design named Palletini, was created by Michael Krtizker. (see below):


But what you don't get to see are the numerous beautifully conceived of entries that didn't win, so I wanted to share some of those with you.

The design parameters were as listed below:





Unfortunately I haven't the time to list each and every wonderful creator of the following designs, so please be sure to see the names of these artists in gallery of finalists by clicking here.

Below are some of the entries that deserve to be admired but will not be seen in any of the ads:









So raise your glass to these beautiful designs! Salut!

A Side Of iPod Please...

The latest offering at The Fat Duck, a UK restaurant, is a seafood creation served with an iPod so that diners can listen to the sounds of the ocean as they eat. "I did a series of tests with Charles Spence at Oxford University three years ago, which revealed that sound can really enhance the sense of taste," said Heston Blumenthal, the restaurant's owner and chef.

When it comes to weird dining experiences, customers at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, The Fat Duck, in England probably thought that snail porridge was the last word in outlandish eating.

However, even his most extraordinary dishes will seem dull and ordinary compared with his latest -- creation seafood served with an iPod.

No, diners will not be expected to eat the music player, but instead to listen to the noise of crashing waves as they eat.

Seaside Ambiance

The dish, entitled "Sound of the Sea," will be part of the tasting menu at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, from next month, along with such innovations as a silver rose bush with edible petals and afterdinner whiskey gums.

Blumenthal will also resurrect a 250-year-old British beef dish and send 3-D glasses and the address of a sweetshop Web site to customers when they book a table.

The seafood dish is presented on a glass-topped wooden box containing sand and seashells and consists of what looks like sand but is in fact a mixture of tapioca, fried breadcrumbs, crushed fried baby eels, cod liver oil and langoustine oil topped with abalone, razor clams, shrimps and oysters and three kinds of edible seaweed.



'A Massive Umami'

The final touch the culmination of Blumenthal's experiments exploring the relationship between sound and the experience of eating will be the iPod so that diners can listen to the sound of the sea while they eat.

Blumenthal told Square Meal magazine: "I did a series of tests with Charles Spence at Oxford University three years ago, which revealed that sound can really enhance the sense of taste.

"We ate an oyster while listening to the sea and it tasted stronger and saltier than when we ate it while listening to barnyard noises, for example."

Explaining the dish, he said: "We have the juices from the shellfish made into a foam and placed along one side of the tapioca dish, so it looks like the sea.

Alongside the dish we'll serve a glass of seaweed extraction and mirin (sweet rice wine), which will give diners a massive umami (taste sensation) hit."

Diners might feel that listening to the iPod will kill the art of conversation.

A 17-Course Journey

However, a spokesperson for Blumenthal said: "When you are having the tasting menu you are maybe having 17 courses.

"It is a journey, a whole experience. It is not that you are sitting there with an iPod all night like a teenager. It is a tiny component in a huge event." The rose bush is brought to the table with the coffee. "We've been working with parfumiers to develop crystallized petals, overlaid with scents of apple, litchi, coriander, raspberry and so on," said Blumenthal.

The whiskey gums are brought to the table in a framed map of Scotland, each one showing where each malt is made, but contain no alcohol.

As for the sweetshop Web site, from August diners will be able to use the 3-D glasses to see everything from jars of flying saucer sweets to bursting sherbet fountains, as well as crabs holding ice cream cones and boxes of snail porridge.

Blumenthal said: "When I discover something new, I feel like a kid in a sweetshop, so that's the emotion I want to generate for diners."

Info:
CONTACT
The Fat Duck
High Street
Bray
Berkshire
SL6 2AQ

Reservations:
+44 (0) 1628 580 333
The Fat Duck can take reservations as far as two calendar months in advance.

Happy Earth Day!
Today's post will be up later than usual.

Goodbye Sweet Roxanne

A recent and sweet picture of Roxanne taken by Monika a few months ago

I've been very sensitive to animal lovers these days with my little Abbey being as sick as she is.
Yesterday, my dear friend Monika had the difficult task of having to put her pug, Roxanne, down due to the toll that years of arthritis was taking on her.
Rox lived a long and wonderful life with my sweet friend being a loving mother and wonderful owner to this little black pug with lots of character.
In remembrance of Roxanne, and with sympathy and condolences to Monika, here's a few pics.


Above: Monika with Roxanne and Ozwald (also now in the Great Dog Park in the Sky) several years ago

Not to fear, Monika, who opens her heart and home to foster dogs as well as giving love to some of her own, still has Woody (below) to comfort her.


And just so you can see what kind of loving dog owner she is, here are my favorite pics of Monika with my Abbey:

My heart goes out to you Monika.

The Hotdoll: For the Libidinous Canine

Wanna stop that dog from humping your leg?

Well, the HotDoll: The Sex Toy For Dogs, is just the thing.
A creation by Feel Addicted, it's both hilarious and shameful.


No, it's not actually available for purchase, but with the amount of buzz going on, I wouldn't be surprised if it soon is.


With openings and protuberances in the places libidinous canines are hoping they'll be, The Hotdoll makes you want to giggle and look away simultaneously. Even the comments this Hotdoll is spurring on blogs like Gizmondo are almost as funny as the product itself.



As one of the readers on Gizmondo commented..."where's the video?"......

Product Pick Of The Week: The Good Vs. Evil Foosball Table

I really never thought of Foosball as a high-end sport. My personal Foosball experience consists of seeing a Foosball table grace the main room of every fraternity house at UC Berkeley, the rec rooms of most families in Marin County (where I grew up) and got lots of recognition as a staple in Joey and Chandler's kitchen on the ever popular sitcom, Friends.



But Eleven Forty doesn't make ordinary Foosball tables. Uh uh. They have created The Opus.
Every detail is thought out. Each table is hand crafted with etched glass, stainless steel and assorted exotic woods. Utilizing computer technology, precision engineering and innovative construction, it has transformed a recreational game into a piece of functional art.

Here are a few pics of the hand crafted details:








Now, as if it weren't enough to create such a beautiful 'game', as an owner you are treated to amazing service from Forty Eleven.


And, if you thought all that was cool, check out their coup de grace,

The Good Vs. Evil Edition

This is a limited edition “opus football table” by Eleven Forty for the super exclusive 20LTD.
Only 20 were made. It retails for 14,500 pounds.




The Team of Evil XI consists of: Pot (as in Pol Pot), Lucifer (you know...Satan), Caligula, Ripper (as in Jack), Impaler (as in Vlad the), Hitler, Macbeth (as in Lady), Hyde (the darker side of Dr, Jekyll), Klebb (as in Rosa), Idi Amin, Catcher (as in the Child).

Playing for Good XI : Claus (as in Santa), More (as in Sir Thomas), Moore (as in Bobby), Gordon (as in Flash), Robin (as in Christopher), God, Assisi (the saint), Jekyll (The lighter side of Mr. Hyde), Mary Poppins, Mother Teresa, M.K. Gandhi.





I can't think of a more fun way to pit Ghandi against Hitler, can you?

Order your own Opus Table by clicking here.

Or get the Good vs. Evil edition by clicking here.

All Hands on Deck(s) : Skateboard Deck Design Competition

The collective expo will take place in Bucharest/Romania and will feature works from numerous international artists along with Romania’s finest.It first started at Inoperable Gallery in Wien, now Bucharest is the next stop. For submissions, please send an e-mail to skateboardart@gmail.com including some personal works. The deck can be in any condition (old, new or broken) and can be customized using any technique; deadline - 10^th of may. We are sorry but we can not support deck and shipment charges. If not returned to the artists, the decks will afterwards move to the next venue; who knows where that might be.

Questions and answers via e-mail: contact skateboardart@gmail.com

A Moment of Respect & Prayer

I just wanted to say how sorry I am about the tragedy that befell Virginia Tech yeterday. It's a horrible and horrendous event and my thoughts and prayers go out to all and any affected.

Design You'll Just Eat Up! Cakes by Kate Sullivan

Above: The Warhol Cake

Above: The Mod Cake

Kate Sullivan of Lovin Sullivan Cakes makes the most amazing cakes I have ever seen.I'm not sure I could bring myself to eat them! I simply had to share a few of her edible masterpieces with you, but you can see them all and learn more about Lovin Sullivan Cakes here.


Above: The Tea Party Cake

Above: The Monsoon Cake

Above: The Silhouette Cake

Above: The Kaws Cake

Above: The Guggenheim Cake

Lovin Sullivan Cakes

I Heart Tim Gunn

The Headmaster of Fashion
By ERIC WILSON
NY Times, 4.12.2007

A deceptively sweet-looking Daniel Vosovic arched a dark brow beneath his willfully tousled curls, turned to the man seated to his right and cut straight to the bone.

Tim Gunn juggles two roles these days, as the chief creative officer of Liz Claiborne and as a judge of aspiring designers on TV.

“If you ever send an e-mail to me and sign it, ‘Best wishes,’ I’ll know you’re just trying to pacify me,” he said with a mocking tone that had the effect of a match dropped on kindling. Tim Gunn’s face turned as red as Laura Bennett’s hair.


Tim Gunn walks the line at open auditions for “Project Runway” in Times Square.
photo: Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

This happened on Saturday morning in a Midtown hotel during tryouts for “Project Runway,” the Bravo reality series about dueling designers on which the meticulously unflappable Mr. Gunn serves as mentor, moral guide and cautionary sounding board to a cast of generally flailing contestants, like the fecund Ms. Bennett from the third season.

Mr. Vosovic, a second-season runner-up who was helping assess the incoming class of the fourth season, teased Mr. Gunn between his candy-coated send-off of the 20th applicant, a huffy Russian named Vladimir, and his abrupt dismissal of Rebecca, a substitute teacher with unnaturally red hair who described her work as “a combination of Martha Stewart and Tim Burton.”

Rejection is an art best crafted by experience. Mr. Gunn is the Michelangelo of the form. Here, a sampling of his words to a series of washouts:

“I don’t think you have the depth of experience yet. In fact, I know it.”

“This really is not what we’re looking for.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do. Do I love it? No.”

“We’re going to pass. Best wishes.”

Viewers of “Project Runway,” not to mention alumni of Parsons the New School for Design, where he was long a faculty member, will have no difficulty summoning up the posh, lilting voice of Mr. Gunn, who has been parodied on late-night television for the softly scolding undertones of intellectual feyness in his delivery of the word “designers.”

Ashleigh Verrier, a 2004 Parsons graduate, said that Mr. Gunn’s mannerisms are so ingrained in her mind that “I can still hear him saying, whenever I drape a piece: ‘Well, can she walk in it? Can she hail a taxi?’ ” Former students speak of Mr. Gunn as if he were Miss Jean Brodie or Mark Thackeray in a more expensive suit.

“I believe from a historical standpoint, Tim is going to go down as someone who brought fashion to an academic level and culturally put it on the map,” Ms. Verrier said.

As an academic whose role was intended to lend an air of dignity to a show about making stars of untested designers, Mr. Gunn, 53, was an unlikely candidate for breakout celebrity on “Project Runway.” Yet he has struck a chord with young people who admire his buttoned-up demeanor and the way he treats designers: as if he were a principal. Mr. Gunn, who until last month was the chairman of the Parsons fashion department, is the foil for all their flamboyance and inexperience.

His success has surpassed that of any of the winners of the show. Bravo has announced plans for a spinoff called “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style,” which is pegged to an actual guide Mr. Gunn wrote with Kate Moloney, an assistant chairwoman of fashion design at Parsons, published by Abrams Image.



Above: Tim Gunn's Book


And last month, Mr. Gunn was lured away from Parsons, where he began working as an admissions director in 1983, to become chief creative officer of Liz Claiborne Inc., one of the nation’s largest apparel companies. At the executive level, Mr. Gunn will serve as a voice for the roughly 350 designers employed by Claiborne’s 45 brands, a role the company has likened to a creative dean.

To read the Liz Claiborne press release, click here

And he will continue to appear on “Project Runway,” which will return late this year.


Above: Contestants’ creations at auditions for "Project Runway."
Virginia Sherwood/Bravo

With the show’s popularity, Mr. Gunn changed fashion in an abstract way, making it more appealing as a career to a generation of young people who see design as a ticket to celebrity, reflected in a flood of applications to design schools across the country.

Talking to Larry King in August, Mr. Gunn described the show’s appeal: “Fashion is so fully embedded in our culture today that there are mythologies about it. And if anything, this show demystifies much of that and really makes fashion very, very accessible to the public at large.”

Now, at Claiborne, Mr. Gunn is attempting a more concrete real-world makeover: to bring a sense of excitement about fashion to a corporate culture known for blandness and to effect a change in the perception of its brands, from outdated to fashionable.

Can Mr. Gunn, in his words, make it work?


Above: 2 T-shirts for sale bearing the phrases "Make It Work" and "Carry On", both made popular by Tim Gunn

IT’S a huge learning curve for me,” Mr. Gunn said last week at the company’s offices in the garment center, across Seventh Avenue from Parsons. “I’ve been living in a rarefied bubble, really, for a total of 29 years. Because we were dealing with theory, we could write our own scenarios, where nothing ever fails and nothing is ever lost in the shipping process. It’s a very different universe.”

His role at Liz Claiborne is a new one for the company, part of a mandate by Bill McComb, the chief executive, to foster an image of “irresistible product,” even if that requires raising some prices. The implication is that the company, which like many large, publicly traded apparel businesses, places a premium on financial performance, also recognizes the value of design.


Above: Backstage with Jeffrey Sebelia, the Season 3 winner.

And Liz Claiborne is in need of a face-lift. Profits at the $5 billion company dropped considerably last year, by about 20 percent. Mr. McComb, who joined Claiborne in October, said there was a feeling internally, among designers, that the company had become too numbers-oriented. He thought that Mr. Gunn would inspire them, as he does on the show, to take creative risks.

“If dollars and cents drive your design, you risk becoming a commodity line,” Mr. McComb said. “And that’s the death of a fashion business.”

Mr. Gunn, in a black pinstripe suit one day and a black turtleneck under a black leather blazer the next, may be well suited for the job. At Parsons, he revitalized a fashion curriculum that had not changed since 1952. He introduced students to critical thinking, fashion history and the realities of commercial business. He made the school’s annual runway show more competitive for seniors by presenting only the best collections, which had an unexpected result of making instant stars of its top graduates: Ms. Verrier, Chris Benz and Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler.



On the other hand, Mr. Gunn has faced criticism from some students about changes they perceive as encouraging those who fit an idealized, or commercialized, image of successful designers over independent, freewheeling thinkers.

Moreover, “Project Runway” has drawn complaints for trivializing the profession. Stan Herman, the designer, speaking on the industry last month at a panel organized by the Fashion Institute of Technology, said, “It needs to be taken with a grain of salt because there are many kids who don’t know anything else about fashion besides ‘Project Runway.’ ”

Mr. Herman later said that the show has had a positive effect on enrollment in design schools and credited Mr. Gunn with presenting a balanced picture of the business. But he was concerned, he said, about the show’s track record of producing more celebrities than successful designers.

“We are living in an era of instant gratification, and the show is built on that premise,” he said. “The fact is that fashion is an art form or a form of commercial art that takes years and years of development. I find when they just use personalities, they miss a lot of the hard work that goes into our industry.”

Since casting began in Los Angeles last month, Mr. Gunn has been insulted by rejected applicants and questioned about the future of the show after poor turnouts there on some days. Last year he sparred in the press with Jay McCarroll, the first winner, who was irritated by Mr. Gunn’s criticism of his slowness in starting a post-“Runway” career. Other contestants are quick to defend Mr. Gunn as supportive of the development of designers’ careers.

“He will be to Liz Claiborne what Anna Wintour is to Bernard Arnault,” said Emmett McCarthy, a second-season contestant, referring to the advisory relationship the Vogue editor has with Mr. Arnault, the chief executive of LVMH.



Above: Yes, you can actually buy a Tim Gunn Bobblehead


Mr. Gunn seems unfazed by his celebrity or the backbiting that ensued. People might assume that “Project Runway” had a halo effect on his personal fortunes, but he said this was not the case. “I couldn’t be any more single,” he said. At least he was able to afford a new rental apartment in Manhattan, in London Terrace, where he was on a waiting list for nine months.

“For the first time in my life I have a grown-up apartment,” he said. “There’s a closet in the bedroom!”

Even confidence came to him slowly, as an art student at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington and later as a teacher there.

He had been an unhappy child, introverted, a stutterer, spending sunny days in his room reading books, practicing the piano, playing with Legos, idolizing mad King Ludwig II, who spent his spare time designing castles. He was the last one chosen during mandatory team sports — a disappointment to his tight-lipped father, George William Gunn, an assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who served as the ghostwriter of J. Edgar Hoover. (His mother, Nancy, helped establish the library of the Central Intelligence Agency. His great-grandfather Harry Wardman was a builder of row houses and hotels in Washington.)

“I was the one they called the horrible slurs that ended up being prophetic,” Mr. Gunn said. “Little did I know.”

Between the ages of 12 and 20, he was enrolled in no less than a dozen schools — not for academic reasons, but because he could not handle the social interaction. In college, he discovered his passion for design. The assemblage work of the sculptor Joseph Cornell held a particular sway over Mr. Gunn, who was attracted to the neat boxes of photographs and the surprising juxtapositions.

“I thought there must be a way of synthesizing all the different parts of my life in my own way,” Mr. Gunn said. “I really think it was Cornell who caused me to have the confidence to say I’m going to be an artist.”

But his epiphany came, oddly enough, at a moment when he was faced with rejection, and what would seem in retrospect to be one of many prophetic moments. An artist looked at his student work at Corcoran and told him, “I’d rather look at the space this work displaces than look at this work.” Best wishes.

As we know, Mr. Gunn did not become a great sculptor. (end of NY Times article)


Above: Tim Gunn on Project Runway "Make It Work"

Tim Gunn's Bio as listed on Bravo TV/Project Runway site:

Timothy Gunn is Chair of the Department of Fashion Design at Parsons The New School for Design. Gunn has been a vital part of the Parsons community for more than 23 years. In August 2000, he was appointed chair of the fashion design program with the charge of retooling and invigorating the curriculum for the 21st century. Under Gunn's direction, the department has strengthened its position as the indisputable leader in fashion design education in America and as one of only a handful of leading programs in the world. The school will celebrate the centennial of the program, which was the first of its kind in the nation, this year.

Gunn credits the seminal changes in the department's curriculum with the meteoric success of the dynamic design duo of Jack McCollough ’02 and Lazaro Hernandez ‘02 of Proenza Schouler, whose senior year thesis collection was bought off the school's runway by Barneys New York. This academic and fashion industry “first” was a mere bellwether for the graduating classes to follow and set in motion an industry clamoring for young, innovative design talent, including up-and-coming designers such as Ashleigh Verrier ’04.

Prior to his appointment as chair of the fashion design program, Gunn spent most of his career at Parsons as Associate Dean of the school. In that capacity, he worked closely with the academic departments and helped develop programs and relationships abroad, including the international spectrum of Parsons affiliates in Paris, Korea, Japan and the Dominican Republic.

Gunn has lectured widely on fashion and lifestyle design and Parsons' influential role in putting America on the global design map. His interviews have appeared in publications as diverse as Time and Newsweek, Crain's New York Business, Martha Stewart Living, Elle Magazine and Women's Wear Daily, and his television interviews have appeared on CBS, NBC, and the Metro Channel.

Located in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village, Parsons The New School for Design is one of the largest degree-granting colleges of art and design in the nation, with more than 3,500 students in degree programs, and 1,700 non-degree students from all 50 states and approximately 60 countries. Parsons has been a forerunner in the field of art and design since its founding in 1896. Parsons’ rigorous programs and distinguished faculty embrace curricular innovation, pioneer new uses of technology, and instill in students a global perspective in design. For more information, visit www.parsons.newschool.edu.

Meet Nik Ainley & his Screensavers, Prints & Digital Art

Welcome to Shinybinary version 2.1, the online portfolio and design playground of Nik Ainley.

Who?

Nik Ainley is a UK based designer who has a passion for producing personal art and illustrations. After teaching himself Photoshop in his spare time while gaining a degree in physics at Imperial College London, he has since moved full time into the design world. He is constantly trying to further his expertise in digital media, and won't stop until he has mastered all the tools he needs to fully realise his designs.


Above: Some of Nik's work for Esquire Magazine

Shinybinary was first launched in 2004 as an online presence for Nik. Version 1 was succesful - clocking up almost a quarter of a million unique visitors. Version 2 has since followed in August 2006 and attracted a further 300,000 people in its first 8 months. The site is still young and Nik has grand plans for its future development.



Above: The Birds by Nik Ainley
As a designer, Nik has been receiving more and more exposure, his work featuring in many magazines as well as on books, album covers, posters and clothing. He was listed as one of the "Top 10 up-and-coming creative talents of 2006" by Computer Arts magazine, and later as "the Computer Arts artist of the moment".



Above is just one of his screensavers available for download...Gee, I wonder why I picked this one?


Lest you think he only uses vectors and illustration technique, here's a few pics of his photographic work:




How?

Shinybinary version 2 was hand coded in HTML, CSS and Javascript using Textpad while all of the graphics were produced in Photoshop. The site is designed to be viewed in IE 7 or Firefox 1.5+ at a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768 with Javascript enabled.

All of the images displayed on the art page were produced primarily in Photoshop, but in some cases have utilised other applications including Illustrator, 3D Studio max, Cinema 4D, Bryce, Poser and Xara 3D.


Above: One of his available prints for purchase

This site has been designed to web standards, with compliant, valid HTML and CSS.

Where now?
Check out more of Nik's work on community sites Deviantart, Computerlove and *shock horror* MySpace.

Version 1 is also archived for viewing, as a snapshot in time just before the launch of version 2

In the future Nik expects to continue his work both on and offline, while trying to satisfy his huge appetite for mastering new tools and techniques. Things are going to get even shinier.
Contact details

Nik@shinybinary.com
+44(0)7930122547

Buy A Lamborghini With That Tax Refund

Ah, tax day. April 15th.
Think you're getting money back from the Government this year?


Well, you may not get enough back to buy yourself a Lamborghini (and if you do, can I please have the name of your accountant?), so how about the next best thing to get your motor running?

The Tonino Lamborghini coffee machine.

Limited to just 1,000 examples, the handbuilt machine is a caffeine-lovers symphony in Beluga black, featuring numerous stainless-steel parts, including a front panel that carries the automaker’s iconic bull logo.



Lamborghini apparently even roasts their own coffee beans, so one can see the fun one might have making up Murcielago mudslides, Espada espressos, and so on.

For you? 895 pounds (or around $1750 USD). In other words, most of us can fuggeddaboudit… but perhaps we can splurge on a pound of beans.

NOW ON SPECIAL Here with the following goodies:
Limited edition Tonino Lamborghini coffee machine
Strictly limited to 1000 machines the Tonino Lamborghini coffee machine is a work of art.



Each machine is individually engraved with its number and signed by Tonino Lamborghini himself.

Supplied with

* Free Delivery
* Free 2 year warranty

* Free set of 6 Tonino Lamborghini espresso cups and saucers


* Free 36 Tonino Lamborghini brand E.S.E. coffee pods
* Free Milk Frothing Jug
* Free CD-ROM & printed user manual

Also Includes FREE Barista Kit

The Tonino Lamborghini coffee machine is hand built from the finest materials, the finish and quality of these coffee machines is stunning. The brewing process is operated by the lever which is a reproduction of the famous Lamborghini gear stick. The metal body is finished in hi gloss Beluga black. All the controls are finished in immaculate chrome.



You can use the machine to make Espresso, cappuccino, latte, Americano and other coffee specialties. Or you can just admire the what is undoubtedly on object of beauty.

Ownership of the Tonino Lamborghini coffee machine is as exclusive as the cars themselves.
Technical Specification

* "Beluga" black bodywork
* Handcrafted stainless steel finishing
* Tonino Lamborghini logo engraved on front stainless steel panel
* Tonino Lamborghini signature and Limited Edition number engraved on stainless steel base
* High capacity brass boiler
* Heating surface for cups
* Pull-out plastic water reservoir
* Coffee dispenser with single-dose standard pod system
* Cappuccino maker / steam dispenser
* Separate warm water dispenser
* Soft touch switches with chromium finishing
* Anti-scale filter
* Electrical rating 240V-50Hz
* Power consumption 850W max
* Average power consumption in stand-by mode <50W
* Physical dimensions (HxWxD) 335 x 260 x 330 mm
* Weight 12Kg
* Water reservoir 2lt
* Noise level <65dB

Operating Data

* Operating temperature 10-40°C
* Relative humidity 30-90% non condensing

Certifications

* CE, FCC
* EMC (Dir. 89/336/EEC)
* Safety (Dir. 72/23/EEC)
* Environment (Dir. 2002/96/EC – 2002/95/EC)

Damn, I Hope He's Worth It. The 8 Million Dollar Wedding Dress

The world’s most expensive wedding dress, valued at 1 billion Japanese yen (Dh31.2 million, USD 8.4 million), has been created by Japanese designer Yumi Katsura. It is made from silk-satin and embellished with zari-embroidery and 1,000 pearls, a green 8.8 carat diamond emblem and a five carat white gold diamond, which is one of only two in the world.

Seen below as worn by Korean Song Yu Ah at a fashion show in Osaka:




About Designer Yumi Katsura

As a pioneer of bridal fashion, Ms. Katsura is always at the forefront of this industry. She continues to realize dreams of the wedding through worldwide bridal events. So that she has become known "Missionary of Bridal".
Her various licensed total 30 throughout Japan. The annual gross sales of her brand reach 13 billion yen.
There are 4 direct management shops under her control in Japan, and her franchises now total 70. More than 30,000 brides wear wedding dresses designed by Yumi Katsura for yearly.
She staged bridal collection show throughout Japan as well as in such foreign locations as New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Barcelona, Monaco, Moscow, Bucharest, Singapore, Jakarta, Bombay, New Delhi, Honolulu, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, New Delhi, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Ho-chi-minh.

Born in Tokyo, Japan. Graduated from Kyoritsu Women's University, Department of Apparel Science Studies, Faculty of Home Economics. Studied the techniques of haute couture in Paris at Les Ecoles de laChambre Syndicale de La Couture Parisienne.

Yumi Katsura's Website

Wedding attire designed by Yumi Katsura
-Ms. Nadia Comaneci and Mr. Bart Conner (Olympic Gold Medalist)
-Mr. & Mrs. Kazuyoshi Miura (Japanese soccer player)
-Mr. & Mrs. Masashi Nakayama (Japanese soccer player)
-Designed the wedding gown for Catherine Turner in the 20th Century Fox movie, "Jewel of the Nile."The special vestment for Pope John Paul II.

Open House: Architecture & Technology for Intelligent Living: An Exhibition at ACCD

Open House: Architecture and Technology for Intelligent Living,” an exhibition of visionary housing projects by 10 young architects,opens on Saturday at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Standouts include Seoul Commune 2026, a cluster of towers covered in vines that provide shade and regulate interior temperature, and the Jellyfish house, which was designed to help clean toxic water on a stretch of reclaimed land on San Francisco Bay and is encased in an organic water jacket that reacts to changes in light and temperature.



Dunehouse is sheathed in skin that responds to the climatic extremes of the Nevada desert, while Open the House!, covers its occupants in temperature-responsive fabric. The show also includes vintage models of housing like Buckminster Fuller’s 1928 Dymaxion House and the Monsanto House of the Future.



Through July 1 at Art Center’s South Campus, 950 South Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, (626) 396-4254 or artcenter.edu/openhouse.

Funky Find of The Week: Watches Made From Parts Of The Titanic!

Titanic Resurfaces as Luxury Watch, BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Steel and coal from the Titanic have been transformed into a new line of luxury wristwatches that claim to capture the essence of the legendary ocean liner which sank in 1912.

"It is very luxurious and very inaccessible," said Yvan Arpa, chief executive of the three-year-old company that hopes the limited edition watches will attract both collectors and garrulous luxury goods buyers.


Ivan Arpa, CEO of "Romain Jerome" presents the "Titanic-DNA" watch that contains authentic parts of the Titanic ocean liner drawn from the ocean floor.
"So many rich people buy incredibly complicated watches without understanding how they work, because they want a story to tell," Arpa said. "To them we offer a story."

The North Atlantic wreck site of the Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage from the English port of Southampton to New York, have been protected for more than a decade but many relics were taken in early diving expeditions.

Romain Jerome said it purchased a piece of the hull weighing about 1.5 kg (3 pounds) that was retrieved in 1991, but declined to identify the seller. The metal has been certified as authentic by the Titanic's builders Harland and Wolff.

To make the watches, which were offered for sale for the first time in Basel for between $7,800 and $173,100, the Swiss company created an alloy using the slab from the Titanic with steel being used in a Harland and Wolff replica of the vessel.



The gold, platinum and steel time pieces have black dial faces made of lacquer paint that includes coal recovered from the debris field of the Titanic wreck site, offered for sale by the U.S. company RMS Titanic Inc.

Arpa said the combination of new and old materials infused the watches with a sense of renewal, instead of representing a reminder of the 1,500 passengers who drowned when the ocean liner met her tragic end off the coast of Newfoundland.

"It is a message of hope, of life stronger than death, of rebirth," he said in an interview in Romain Jerome's exposition booth in Basel, where more than 2,100 exhibitors are flaunting their latest wares amid a boom for the luxury goods sector.



The company will make 2,012 watches to coincide with the centenary anniversary of the Titanic's sinking in 2012. Arpa said the young watchmaker would unveil a new series next year commemorating another famous legend, but declined to offer clues of what it is.

UPDATE: since this post, the titanic DNA collection of watches has expanded to include ceramic watches, gem encrusted versions and more:







See the full collection and learn more here.

Create Your Own Radio StationBased On Artists or Songs

I just discovered Pandora by The Music Genome Project. Create your own radio stations based on an artist or a single song!
Such a wonderful idea and fun discovery! Super easy, good sound, I can't believe I didn't know about this before.

Okay, one bummer, I love The Flaming Lips and I tried to create a station based on their music and got a pop-up window explaining why they weren't playing their songs. Like everything else, legal clearance, rights to music, etc are involved so you may not find absolutely everything you want.

I just registered free in about 30 seconds and in minutes created my own radio stations based on my liking the music and voices of Aimee Mann and the late Jeff Buckley. You can also search for other people's stations.

You cannot rewind or replay these songs, but I'm not using them for anything other than my listening pleasure. Hee hee.

Very cool! Below is a screen grab of what the interface looks like.



Above: It took me two seconds to create an Aimee Mann based (or inspired) radio station



Above: And another i second to add a Jeff Buckley inspired radio station

Below is how they describe it on their site:

When was the last time you fell in love with a new artist or song?

At Pandora Media™, we have a single mission: To help you discover new music you'll love.

To understand just how we do this, and why we think we do it really, really well, you need to know about the Music Genome Project™.

For almost seven years now, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts have been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.

We've now created an interface to make this available to music lovers so they could use this musical 'connective-tissue' to discover new music based on songs or artists they already know.

Pandora™ is the doorway to this vast trove of musical information. With Pandora you can explore to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

You can create as many "stations" as you want. And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it more and it will get better for you.


Above: what I created in about 2 minutes

The Music Genome Project was founded by musicians and music-lovers. We believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it. We like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum n bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Our mission is to help YOU connect with the music YOU like.

We hope you enjoy the experience!

How Exactly Does It work?

About The Music Genome Project™

We believe every individual has unique musical tastes, and that music discovery tools need to have a rich understanding of music to account for this diversity. That's why Pandora's music discovery services are based on The Music Genome Project™, the most sophisticated taxonomy of musical information ever collected. It represents years of analysis by our trained team of musicologists, and spans sixty years of music.

Each song in the Music Genome Project is analyzed using up to 400 distinct musical characteristics by a trained music analyst. These attributes capture not only the musical identity of a song, but also the many significant qualities that are relevant to understanding the musical preferences of listeners. The typical music analyst working on the Music Genome Project has a four-year degree in music theory, composition or performance, has passed through a selective screening process and has completed intensive training in the Music Genome's rigorous and precise methodology and procedures. To qualify for the work, analysts must have a firm grounding in music theory, including familiarity with a wide range of styles and sounds. All analysis is done on location.

The Music Genome Project's database is built using a methodology that includes the use of precisely defined terminology, a consistent frame of reference, redundant analysis, and ongoing quality control to ensure that data integrity remains reliably high. Pandora does not use machine-listening or other forms of automated data extraction.

The Music Genome Project is updated on a continual basis with the latest releases, emerging artists, and an ever-deepening collection of catalogue titles.

By building products that utilize the wealth of musicological information stored in the Music Genome Project™, our technology can be highly responsive to each individual, and make it easy for music lovers to find new songs and artists they will like.

My opinion not good enough for you? Well then...Here's what the NY Times Had To Say About It:

The New York Times - Technology

A Radio Station Just for you
by Wilson Rothman

March 29, 2007

Now that the free ad-supported service has been operational for 15 months, it can use the behavioral data of its six million listeners to add a new layer of suggestion. For instance, even if, on paper, the musicologists think it logical to pair a song by the "American Idol" superstar Clay Aiken with one by the Canadian folk balladeer Ron Sexsmith, several hundred listeners may give the juxtaposition a vote of no confidence. Tim Westergren, a Pandora co-founder, says the database now contains half a billion useful points of "contextual feedback."

Great Use of a Website To Promote A Book

Author Miranda July has created a charming interactive site to promote her latest book. It moves quickly and is good for a giggle. Great use of the web to sell another medium.
I could post a few stills, but they don't do it justice. Go to the site yourself and click away!

Miranda July is a filmmaker, performing artist and writer. She grew up in Berkeley, California where she began her career by writing plays and staging them at the local punk club. July’s videos, performances, and web-based projects have been presented at sites such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and in the 2002 and 2004 Whitney Biennials.

Her short fiction has been published in The Paris Review, Zoetrope All-Story, and The New Yorker, and a collection of stories is forthcoming from Scribner in spring 2007. July created the participatory website, learningtoloveyoumore, with artist Harrell Fletcher and a companion book will be published by Prestel in fall 2007. She wrote, directed and starred in her first feature-length film, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), which won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival and four prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, including the Camera d’Or. July is currently working on a new performance. She lives in Los Angeles.


http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com

Modern Sanctuary in Czech Republic: St. Bartholomew

Above: St. Bartholomew's Church exterior

Working with designer Jakub Berdych under the Qubus Studio banner, the interior of St. Bartholomew’s Church features Verner Panton chairs customized with a punched-out crucifix, Persian rugs and chandeliers of rough-cut crystal.

See some images below:




An absolutely stunning combination of old and new: St. Bartholomew’s Church by Maxim Velcovsky

More Carpet Artistry: Meet Reuber & Henning

I've posted some stories on rugs and rug designers (see previous post on Amazed, Ltd) that are nothing short of art. And yet, here's another!

In January, the first Reuber Henning Collection 2007 was presented at [d3] Design Talents IMM Cologne.

Meet Reuber & Henning.

above:Franziska Henning & Thorsten Reuber

The following is reprinted from their website:
TRIM DOWN TO THE ESSENTIALS: BEAUTIFUL, GOOD RUGS

We come from two different worlds: Franziska Henning studied painting and has been designing artistic rugs for several years. (www.galerie-roehr-ripken.de)

Thorsten Reuber learned something about marketing and sales in the music and new media business.

Once he had caught her infectious passion for the beauty of color and material, it was only natural for them to decide to join forces and create beautiful rugs together: Reuber Henning was born.

Franziska Henning calls her carpets "Poetic Images" - images that "have been inspired by a wide variety of regions, periods and moods."
The designs of our first collection are partly based on German 19th-century silhouette cutouts and traditional Japanese woodcuts.



Our rugs are knotted from fine Himalaya wool and chinese silk following ancient Tibetan handicraft traditions.

We want to create rugs that belong to people, beautiful rugs in the very best quality, which will keep creating a special atmosphere a whole life long, and whose beauty and character only grow stronger with the passing years.


We are newcomers. We want to develop further, make lots of new things and lots of things better - please join us and give us your suggestions and ideas!

Franziska Henning & Thorsten Reuber




Reuber Henning: This is where Franziska Henning, Maker of artistic carpets, and Thorsten Reuber, a Marketing and Sales Manager, join forces:
A Label for aesthetical, clear, natural, graphical, poetical, for - beautiful rugs!

*High quality materials, handcrafted under fair conditions
*In all sizes and colours
*Available at selected retail, and here on www.reuberhenning.com

Erica Wakerly Fabrics And Wallpaper - Young Designer 2007

ERICA WAKERLY has been named as 'Young Designer 2007' at the Homes and Gardens Classic Design Awards. The award was presented at the Victoria & Albert museum, London, for wallpaper Collection 01.

SOME OF HER WALLPAPER DESIGNS:







Below: Close-up of houses wallpaper




ERICA WAKERLY's printed blinds and Japanese screens have been launched in collaboration with Eclectics at the Design Interiors show in Birmingham, including 'SPIRAL' and two new designs, 'HOOP' and 'BANGLE'. For more information please contact Eclectics t.01843 608789.

ERICA graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2005 (MA Printed Textiles), specialising in surface design for interiors. Her designs are aesthetically innovative, exploring unconventional motifs and ideas of contrast through a combination of the hand drawn and graphic line. Her background in illustration and graphic design has provided her with a unique outlook on print design, with a degree in illustration from the University of Brighton. During her time at the RCA she was awarded 1st prize in the Graham & Brown Wallpaper Design competition, and joint 1st prize for the Dorma Textile Design award.

SOME OF HER PRINTED FABRICS:





Below: close-up of her homes fabric


Alongside designing print for wallpaper and textiles, ERICA also works on a variety of freelance design projects and commissions.

SOME OF HER WONDERFUL ILLUSTRATIONS:







ERICA WAKERLY Collection 01 was launched in 2006, at ICFF, New York and at 100% Design in London, for which she was awarded the 100% Design Bursary, and shortlisted for the 100% Blueprint best newcomer award.

You can buy these fabulous wallpapers and fabrics by clicking here.

Funky Find of The Week

It's a piece of art that makes a statement AND it's a functional drinking glass (as long as you don't fill it above the 'need' line). Helping you to curb your waste, each glass is hand signed and numbered. And only $24 a piece. Available in clear of 'foamed'. Just click on the pic above and you'll be given more information and the option to order.

From Alesina design.

Win a Wii, eh? Canadian Sweeps for Artsy Wii

Lucky Canadians!
Nintendo in association with Magic Pony has the coolest giveaway but it's available to Canada residents only. Six different Wii players designed by Canadian artists will be given away in this sweepstakes. Four of the Wiis are visible below, the other two will be by mystery artists.

If you're eligible, enter the sweepstakes by clicking here.


Above: Gary Taxali's Wii

Above: Hoi-An Tang's Wii

Above: Illscarlet's Wii

Above: Udon's Wii

To read more about it and to enter the sweepstakes, click here.

By - A New Store That's Designed To Feel Like A Home

Mixing commerce with domesticity, three Italian companies — Boffi (kitchens and baths), Porro (tables, chairs and case goods) and Living Divani (mostly upholstered furniture) — have joined forces in By, a newly opened retail space at 142 Greene Street that looks less like a showroom than a sophisticated loft. “I didn’t want to sell a catalog image,” explains Piero Lissoni, the prolific Milan designer who is also the art director for all three companies. To that end, Lissoni mixed antiques and art with the companies’ products, and used glass partitions instead of walls to maximize light and space, which he calls “the real qualities of luxury.” Too bad the kitchen and bathroom don’t actually function, or we’d move right in.

Click on the link below for a video tour of the retail establishment that feels more like a loft than a shop.

permalink to video

Funky Find of The Week: Meat Alphabet

20 year old Robert J. Bolesta from Oxford, PA is a multi talented creative graduating from the Pratt Institute this year. Amongst his many interesting projects is the Value-pack. Packaged ground beef in the shape of each letter the alphabet (as well as numbers).
After all, when was the last time ground beef made you giggle?


Feel free to check out his work here at his site.

Product Pick Of The Week Your Own Signature SIGG!

Are you one of those people that totes a water bottle around with you everywhere you go? I know many people who do.

If so, you may as well make it one that both reflects you as a person as well as one that doesn't destroy the taste of your drink or add to our landfills.

That said, I suggest you check out mySIGG.com

If you aren't already familiar with SIGG brand bottles, they are a swiss engineered water bottle with a variety of tops. Reusable, they have received rave reviews for the fact that they don't leach into the liquid, keeping your drink tasting pure, and they look cool too.


Above: Sigg's double walled construction

But even more exciting is that now, at MySIGG.com, you can create your own distinct and fashionable water/sport bottle with your choice of tops. With 144 bottle designs to choose from and 22 interchangeable lids, you have a plethora of choices. They have lifestyle designs, classic designs, even kids' designs.




In addition to that, they donate 1% of their sales to the natural environmental group, 1% For The Planet.


Here's a little history about them:


Above: Actual photo from the SIGG archives

SIGG Switzerland dates back to 1908 when metal processing specialist Ferdinand Sigg established an aluminum product factory about 30 kilometers outside of Zurich. Along with his colleague Xaver Küng, the two men combined their love of metal and the strong belief that "aluminum is the material of the future". Their product line, which was called SIGG AG Aluminiumwarenfabrik, was initially comprised of saucepans, frying pans and bottles, all of which sold rapidly and were immensely popular. By 1958, SIGG had thousands of products that were all manufactured in the company's own rolling mill and drawing shop.

It was in 1990 that the course for the future of the SIGG bottle was determined: a new shape, still typical of today's bottles, was developed and the quality achieved was superior. The beautiful shapes and design of the bottle is one of the reasons that in 1993 SIGG was incorporated into the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. In 1997, the company was bought by an investor group and changed direction to focus on its #1 "star" product... the SIGG bottle.

Approaching its 100 year anniversary, SIGG has its sights set on growing the brand outside of Europe. In 2005, SIGG launched a USA subsidiary based in Stamford, CT. "This brand has tremendous history and for generations has been the must-have water bottle for Europeans," stated Steve Wasik, SIGG USA President. "Americans are now discovering that using a high quality, reusable bottle like SIGG makes great sense – both financially and environmentally."



Above: Just six of their many fun designs

Jewels that Incorporate Talent, Taste & Humor: Solange Azagury Partridge

I inadvertently stumbled upon Solange Azagury-Partridge's site when surfing the net, and boy am I glad I did. Granted, if I were as hip as I claim to be, I'd have known that she's been highlighted in everything from the Vogue List to the hippest UK publications.



I won't go into a lot of detail about her unusual and luxurious baubles, I'll let the pics speak for themselves. But I suggest, when you have the time, you pour over her site to see some incredibly unusual, creative and lovingly crafted jewelry that ranges from Mod to Elegant. She has a diamond kinetic rings collection, an amazing zodiac rings collection, gem studded "poison" rings (you know the ones with the secret compartments?). As well as a few watches, an 18k brushed gold pendant in the shape of an anatomically correct human heart, and a cuff or two.


Anyone who can make a beautiful piece of jewelry from the hideous Deep Sea Angler fish has my vote for superb designer

Above: An actual Deep Sea Angler Fish

Not to be outdone in the outrageous and unique department, she also sells a perfume named "Stoned" that has real diamond dust in it (see image below):



Below: The human Heart Pendant (as mentioned above)


Take a look at a few pieces froom the aforementioned collections:


Above: Diamond and ruby skull ring


Above: Dragon Ring


Above: Temptation in the Garden of Eden as seen on a ring


Above: Union Jack Ring


Above: The Libra Ring from her Zodiac Collection


Above: One of her many fabulous "Secret Compartment" Poison Rings


above: Dragonfly Cuff


Above: A Watch with diamond Markers to indicate numbers

She has so many other unusual pieces, I'm tempted to post them all, but go to her site instead and see them for yourself.

Doublecheck that URL before you buy it! Or Speed Of Art will be Speedo Fart!

Sometimes, some of us get 'too close' to our work and we are unable to view it with fresh eyes. So before you go buying that url, I suggest you type it out and have someone else read it. Why? Read on...

I've been helping a client of mine name his company as well as find an available url for him. One of his suggestions was to name his company O Incorporated. Never mind the multitude of reasons why that name is both wrong, inappropriate and 'taken' by Oprah, Overstock, Cirque Du Soleil, etc.. but the fact that his url would have read as www.oinc.com (oink!) was something I had to bring to his attention as well.

Which brings me to the hilarious and real URLs below brought to my attention by Sean Alvarez of www.watchmylistings.com

Read on...

ACTUAL "ONLINE" NAMES:
All of these are legitimate companies that didn't spend quite enough
time considering how their online names might appear .... and be misread.

These are not made up. Check them out yourself!

1. Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that
represents any celebrity. Their Web site is http://www.whorepresents.com/

2 . Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange
advice and views at http://www.expertsexchange.com/

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at http://www.penisland.net/

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at http://www.therapistfinder.com/

5. There's the Italian Power Generator company, http://www.powergenitalia.com/

6. And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales,
www .molestationnursery.Com

7. If you're looking for IP computer software, there's always www .ipanywhere.Com

8. The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is http://www.cummingfirst.com/

9. And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site,
http://www.speedofart.com/

And I'm still chuckling over Powergenitalia! Speedo Fart sends me into giggles as well.

Exclusivity + Luxury = 20 Ltd.

Like Luxury?
Like Exclusivity?
Do the words 'Limited Edition' send you reaching for your credit card?
Do I have a site for you! (and no, NOTCOT didn't scoop me on this one, It's just taken me two days to write the post!).

Launched the day before yesterday, online retailer 20ltd sells no more than 20 items at a time, each of which are highly exclusive and only available in small numbers. Goods currently on offer range from GBP 2,900 white buffalo horn sunglasses (edition of 10), to a GBP 9,000 hammock covered in cashmere and black fox fur (thankfully for black foxes, only 5 of those were made). All items are exclusive to 20ltd, and not sold anywhere else. As soon as a product is sold out, it's replaced by a new object of desire.

Above: The black fox fur and cashmere hammock, of which only 5 were made.

The British retailer is backed by private investment, and will operate solely online. Calling itself an "etailer of authentic, ingenious, beautiful and unexpected things," 20ltd hopes to reach a global audience, including rapidly growing luxury markets like Russia, China and the Middle East. The website is currently available in English, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.

The underlying trend and opportunities for other entrepreneurs? As regular luxury goods become available to ever more consumers across the world, luxury manufacturers and retailers are turning to 'planned scarcity' to attract status-hungry buyers who desperately crave the exclusivity that money used to be able to buy. 20ltd combines planned scarcity with niche curation: the polar opposite of Amazon.com, which offers everything for everybody, 20ltd narrows it down to a limited selection of limited edition goods for a limited group of very affluent consumers.

Here are just a few images of their 'to die for' items:

Above:one of only 7 men's bridle leather briefcase with solid sterling silver handle by Bill Amberg

Above: Onono's Buffalo Horn spectacles in Macassar Ebony & Walnut Root Case; only 10 made

Above: The Hellcat Combat Motorcycle by Confederate of which only 20 were made

Above: Solange Azagury-Partridge's Mary Jane ring in 18k white gold with gemstones


Above: Pinel & Pinel's ebony and gold ring in leather trunk

So, the above items are just a few of their beautifully designed luxury items by some of the most respected designers and retailers in the world. It's not only fun to see what items they are offering, but it's a great introduction to some possibly otherwise unknown companies.

I only wish I had the moola to buy all 20!

enjoy. www.20ltd.com

Logo Face Lift For Saks Fifth Avenue. A Bold & Beautiful Move.

Above: The new updated version, Bierut's chopping up of the well known 'signature' logo

Venturing into San Francisco from Marin County on weekends to shop at Saks (or SFA) with my family as a youngster was always a special occasion. As one of three girls, this was a family excursion for which my mother would demand we 'dress' to go into the city. This meant pantyhose, nice coats and no jeans.

We'd visit the now defunct I.Magnin along with SFA to shop for dresses for upcoming bar mitzvahs and birthdays. It was always exciting and fun and my sweet dedicated father never complained about the four women dragging him into these department stores.

I remember the imposing building off of Union Square and how we'd always park in the Sutter Stockton garage. And, I remember the Saks Fifth Avenue logo. Thick script with its swirls and flourishes, it always made the experience seem 'fancy'.


Above: SFA on Union Square in San Francisco

Well, hardly anyone 'dresses' to go into the city anymore. And venturing into a department store is no longer a 'special experience'. Just as this has changed, so has Saks. And rightly so. I commend them with staying current and hope this encourages Neiman's and Nordy's to update their logos as well.

Below is the article about the new and refreshing logo for SFA reprinted from the New York Times along with additional images and commentary.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Why would a graphic designer ask a Yale theoretical physicist to calculate how many possible combinations there could be of 64 squares?



It’s because the designer, Michael Bierut, planned to chop up the new logo for Saks Fifth Avenue into 64 squares and to rearrange them in different combinations on bags, boxes, ads and signage. The results have peppered the streets of New York and every other city where Saks has a store since Bierut’s new campaign was unveiled in January. And, in case you’re wondering, the physicist’s answer was lots and lots of combinations — or, to be precise, 98.14 googols (that’s a 1 with 100 zeros after it).


Above: Some of the final box designs

Saks’s chopped-up logo is the latest and most visible example of what graphic designers call a dynamic visual identity. That’s design-speak for a logo that looks different each time you see it — like MTV’s graffiti-esque initials or the customized symbols with which Google celebrates Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day — as opposed to the old-fashioned corporate ones, which always look the same. The traditionalists believe that the more times you see the same logo, the likelier you are to remember it, while the iconoclasts argue that you become inured to the same image over and over and are more apt to notice ones that change or, as Bierut puts it, are “consistently inconsistent.”


Above: more of the final box designs

When Saks asked Bierut to reinvent its identity, what it wanted was something as memorable — and as marketable — as Tiffany’s classic blue and Burberry’s plaid. Bierut jumped at the chance. A chipper 49-year-old, he’s a graphic designer’s graphic designer who describes the 99 percent of the population who can’t tell Arial from Helvetica as “civilians” with a self-deprecating chuckle. After 10 years of working for Massimo Vignelli, the graphic mastermind of New York’s iconic 1970s subway map, he became a partner at the design firm Pentagram in 1990.

Below: Massimo Vignelli's famous NYC subway map from 1972 (please click to enlarge and see clearly)



Below: Some of the many logo designs used by Saks over the past few decades



“One of the things Massimo taught me about designing identities is that it’s often easier if you find something that has some history,” Bierut says, “because it still might have a purchase on people’s imagination.” Sifting through the 40-odd logos that Saks had used over the decades, he kept returning to the 1973 signature logo drawn by Tom Carnese for his old boss, Vignelli.


Above & Below: the 1973 signature logo drawn by Tom Carnese for Vignelli in two different versions, both used for many years.


“It was the one that stood out,” he recalls. “Some people thought it was still Saks’s identity, even though it hadn’t been used for years. We asked Joe Finocchiaro to refine it, mostly by making it a little slimmer.” Having created the new logo, Bierut hit upon the idea of chopping it up to usher in the changes to Saks’s packaging, in the same way that Rudolph de Harak designed bright shopping bags with white type for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1978 and Bloomingdale’s celebrated the holidays with different theme bags during the 1980s.

“We wanted something that would be immediately identifiable across the street or through the windows of a moving subway car, and that no one would throw away,” he says. “Blowing up the logo and rearranging the fragments in a million different ways on a grid made the identity much more dramatic.”



Regardless of whether it’s on Fifth Avenue or in the Houston Galleria Mall, Saks is a definitive New York store; the grid refers to the city’s street plan, and the fragments represent the frenzy of its street life. “It’s a metaphor for the larger-than-life experiences you can find on block after block in New York City,” Bierut says. “Though I really don’t expect anyone to notice that. If a Saks customer spontaneously spots the subtext, I’ll send them a gift voucher.”

click here to visit the Saks Fifth Avenue website.

Pentagram

I'm Drooling Already: Adobe Creative Suite 3

It's here!!!

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium
Design content for today — and tomorrow — with Adobe® Creative Suite® 3 Design Premium software. Design Premium combines all-new versions of essential tools for professional page layout, image editing, illustration, and Adobe PDF workflows with new tools for creating engaging websites, interactive experiences, and mobile content.

Combines Adobe InDesign® CS3, Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Illustrator® CS3, Flash® CS3 Professional, Dreamweaver® CS3, Acrobat® 8 Professional, Bridge CS3, Version Cue® CS3, and Device Central CS3.

Pre-order now, just click here.

• Upgrade from US $440.00
• Full from US $1,799.00

Company Pick Of The WeekCelery Furniture

The Concept
Through the process of sketching and modeling, we began to focus on a method for furniture assembly without hardware. The simplicity of the idea provided seemingly endless opportunities for creating a set of parts that makes a unique design statement when assembled. We strive to conceive pieces that have a timeless quality befitting a range of interior environments, from traditional to modern. The idea is old, but the look is new.


Above: Celery's Rocking Cradle

The Materials
It just made sense as both designers and parents to utilize an eco-friendly palette for our product.Bamboo plywood is beautiful and distinct; unlike hardwoods, it is made from 100 percent rapidly renewable resources. The selection of bamboo and non-formaldehyde MDF with low-VOC finishes affirms our commitment to strong and non-toxic materials.
Kid Tested
The challenge of designing children’s furniture is finding the balance between the appeal to an adult’s aesthetic and a child’s need for stimulating forms able to withstand the rigors of play. In addition to meeting industry standards for child safety, we sought the approval of our biggest critics: the kids. Several models of the rocking pony were developed before we found the right radius for the perfect ride. Our Lullaboo line is created to be used, loved, and passed on and on by offering durable and well crafted pieces that are enjoyed by kids and parents alike.


Celery's adult and child rocking chairs

Genuine Design
Celery furniture was conceived by Dan Harding, Eliza Eddy and Kristin Harding. Both Dan and Kristin have degrees in architecture and together co-founded Intrinsik Architecture. The firm’s emphasis on construction capitalizes on Kristin’s business project management experience and Dan’s talents of building, woodworking and steel fabrication. Bringing their collective experience to Celery, they strive to offer an environment that fosters progressive design derived from hands-on creativity. This husband and wife team finds daily inspiration as new parents of their daughter, Alexandra. Eliza received her degree in midwifery and is a licensed midwife. In addition to her background in women’s health, she also has experience working in the field of environmental health. After moving to Montana and having her first child, Claire, she teamed up with Dan and Kristin to launch Celery. Eliza brings to the company an expertise in the way manufactured products affect human and environmental health and a passion for innovative design.


Above: Celery's Changing table, available in multiple colors or all wood

Our Story- Locally Made
Celery’s pieces are not imported; our furniture proudly bears the mark “Bozeman, Montana” where the talents of local craftspeople and designers have been harnessed throughout the design process. It has taken several months of “back to the drawing board” in the studio, prototype manufacturing, painting, testing, photography and graphic design to produce Celery’s Lullaboo line, and we take pride in achieving this right here in our community.

Aptly Named
Stalks of celery are as plentiful and renewable as stalks of bamboo. Plus, the soft color of green reflects our commitment to the planet. While the idea works poetically, the reality is that most of the celery we see in our lives these days is smeared with peanut butter.

This fabulous bamboo rocking horse by Celery fits grown-ups! They make them for little kids too (of course) and call those Rocking Ponies. How cute is that?


Above: The Rocking Horse and Rocking Pony
They say they will be coming out with more adult furniture as well. I can't wait.

Innovative. Simple. Modern. Welcome to Celery.

99 Rooms; A good excuse for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

I must confess that I love websites where you simply "click around' and see what happens. And I've come across one on which you can spend a ridiculous amount of time exploring. A hauntingly mesmerizing site, 99 Rooms was created in Germany by ROSTLAB (see credits below).

99 Rooms is a unique internet art project that interweaves wall painting, photography, animation and sound in a manner entirely unknown until now. Shortly after its launch in June 2004, more than two million individuals throughout the world have already visited this interdisciplinary composite work of art.



Above: Room 68 before pressing on the little knob on the wall to the right

Above: Room 68 once the knob has been pressed flashes with light and sound

99rooms stemmed from the mystical, often apolocalyptically charming pictures created by Berlin artist Kim Köster within the countless vacated premises of East Berlin‘s industrial sector. Photos of these paintings were initially produced in digital form and then animated through a cooperative effort between Richard Schumann & Stephan Schulz and then subsequently complemented through a personal sounddesign from Johannes Buenemann. The final product of this year long effort is a scintillating intermediary world which invites the observer into an journey through its morbidly-beautiful rooms.

Another room in which the cow's nose bleeds

ROSTLAUB Gbr
Mainzer Strasse 1,
10247 Berlin, Germany

Email: wir@rostlaub.com

Kim Köster (The Artist)
Richard Schumann (Art Direction)
Johannes Bünemann (Sounddesign)
Stephan Schulz (Flash / Programming)

Taking Climbing Walls To New Heights: Illoiha Gym

Illoiha gym in Japan has taken the popular craze of wall climbing to new heights (pardon the pun).

Rather than scaling a wall studded with rocks and boulders, they've created an unusual and artistic version by using picture frames, flower pots, and deer antlers.

Looks like a lot of fun and a neat way to burn off calories.
So cool, it almost makes me want to exercise.
I said 'almost'....