Funky Find Of The Week: The ManGroomer

No More Hairy Backs



The Serious Advantages of MANGROOMER

* MANGROOMER is a one time purchase with one low cost.
* MANGROOMER is easy to use, lightweight and do-it-yourself.
* MANGROOMER's fully extendable and adjustable handle locks into place at various lengths to reach even the most difficult middle and lower portions of the back for men of all sizes.
* MANGROOMER has a large 1 ½ inch blade enabling you to shave large areas of your back with ease.
* MANGROOMER's cutting edge blade design enables extremely close and smooth results without the potential of ingrown hairs straight edge and foil shavers commonly cause.
* MANGROOMER let’s you rid yourself of unwanted back hair in the privacy of your own home – not some fancy / overpriced salon or spa.
* MANGROOMER is completely painless unlike waxing, laser or electrolysis.
* MANGROOMER folds to a neat compact size for discreet storage or travel.
* MANGROOMER enables you to shave your back whenever you feel you need it and is perfect for quick touch ups.




MANGROOMER vs. Waxing
* Waxing hurts!
* Waxing rips the hair right out of your body.
* Need someone else to apply the wax and rip it off your back with your hair – ouch!
* Expensive! Usually costs between $40 - $80 a session and you may need 3 to 4 a month.
* Need to make appointments at salons or spas.
Cannot do it your self – how embarrassing…..

MANGROOMER vs. Chemicals
* Skin irritation and scarring may occur.
* Need someone else to apply chemical to your back.
* May have smell from chemicals.

MANGROOMER vs. Laser / Electrolysis
* Very Expensive!
* Cannot do it in your own home.
* Requires you to attend multiple treatments – no specified amount.
* Does not stop the growth of any new hair.
* No guarantee current hair growth will stop.
* Requires a professional to perform procedure.



Common Questions:
Can I use MANGROOMER by myself?
Yes, MANGROOMER is the essential "do-it-yourself electric back shaver." The unique design enables you to shave the entire surface of your back by yourself.
Do I have to buy additional replacement blades or accessories to use MANGROOMER?
No, only two AA batteries are needed.
Will shaving make my hair grow back thicker?
No, shaving does not make hair grow back thicker – that is merely a myth. Each individual’s genetics and hormone levels affect their hair growth.
Does shaving make your hair grow back darker?
No, hair color is also determined by an individual’s genetics and hormone levels.
Does MANGROOMER work for tall and large men?
Yes, MANGROOMER’s unique extendable handle enables most tall, large and less flexible men the capability to shave all areas of their back.
Does MANGROOMER take a lot of time to set up to use?
No, MANGROOMER goes from a compact, discreet flat stored position to an open optimal back shaving angle of 135 degrees in one smooth motion – ready for shaving!
How long does it take to shave your back with MANGROOMER?
The length of time will depend on how much hair you have and its thickness. MANGROOMER’s large 1 ½ inch blade covers a large surface area, while still remaining small enough to enable you to easily maneuver within different / difficult angles of the back.
When is the best time to shave my back?
The best time to shave your back is when it is clean and dry, usually before shower. Avoid shaving right after shower when skin is most sensitive and still retaining moisture.
Buy it here -only $39.99

Los Angeles Gathers Moss

It's been with eager anticipation that trendsetters have looked forward to the inevitable expansion of Moss, Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell's New York-based design store and gallery.

And appeared it certainly has, in the shape of a minimalist, open-plan 3,500 square foot gallery on LA's Melrose Avenue. The venue was designed by Murray Moss himself to be the ultimate exhibition space, though Moss is keen to stress that the new venue is a development, not simply a replica: 'We're very excited about the ability to create a new environment, not a duplicate one, expanding our presentation in ways unique to Los Angeles. We want Moss to grow, to reach further and at the same time, we want it to be local.'

Moss




August 2007: the first Moss store outside of New York's Soho district opens its big glass door, on Melrose Avenue near the mouth of Melrose Place. 3500 square feet of cool optic white space bifurcated by a ten ton steel beam running straight from the door to the sales station. Paul Smith Big Pink to right of us, the Pacific Design Center Blue Whale to the left, and Marc Jacobs across the street. We got Maharam down the street and APC so close we can bang on the wall.

The opening exhibition, 'Glitter and Smoke' is the first of several installations featuring chandeliers from the Swarovski Crystal Palace collection. Up first is Georg Baldele's Vertical Glitterbox, comprising 18 eight-foot crystal pillars, together giving a hanging garden effect. The chandelier surrounds a unique 1938 Steinway Baby Grand Piano, fire-sculpted by Maarten Baas, which forms part of Baas' ongoing 'Where there's Smoke' collection for Moss.



INFORMATION
Address

Moss Loss Angeles
8444 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles
Telephone

+1.323 866 5260
Website

http://www.mossonline.com

Zo Design Goes To The Birds

Time To Fly:


By Zo design, a cuckoo clock and a birdhouse, but their functions are swapped. The shape of a cuckoo clock becomes a birdhouse, and a birdhouse becomes a clock.
Buy either one here.


The Neighbird:



When the world get's more busy every day, even the birds have to hand in space.
Material: oakwood
Dimensions: 32cm x 26cm x 12cm (h x w x d)

Buy the Neighbird here.

And a really cool idea- 1-2-3 birdhouse for free:
A birdhouse you start....and the bird finishes it!





A postcard shows you how to make a birdhouse without any material.
When placed at the right spot the bird will finish it.

Material: paper

download the free postcard here.
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About Zo:


Above: Designers of ZO, are Tineke Beunders and Nathan Wierink.

Both still studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven.
'We don't want to wait with our design studio until we are finished studying, it is too much fun to wait. We started the studio in 2005, during our second year, the design 'tallow' was being produced at that time. From our studio in Eindhoven, we try to do the whole designproces ourselves. From the idea until the finished product. In this way, we keep the production small and personal.
Our collection consists of many different products. From bags to furniture and interior products.
Keep an eye on us, there is more to come!'

Pre-fabULOUS: Sonoma Residence by CSS Architects

I keep saying I can't afford to buy the type of house I'd like here in California. But these prefabs are getting more beautiful everytime I look. Granted, one still has to pony up quite a bit of dough for property in the sunny state, but if I could find an affordable piece of property, I'd love to plunk down a house like this one in Sonoma.


This new 2000 square foot house is on a 5-acre flat parcel within an existing grove of walnut trees. An existing house, which was on the edge of the property, was demolished and replaced with this in the heart of the site to take advantage of the orchard beauty.





The site:
The house was carefully located to nestle up to the existing trees and to be within the field, so that it became a pavilion in the landscape. Hardscape, softscape and trees were added to create a blended effect and to provide outdoor living spaces. The swimming pool is located on axis with the house and further takes advantage of the setting.






The house:



The design is rooted in the notion of radical simplicity for aesthetic effect and for budget. The house is a 20ft by 100ft box with a slightly sloped roof, which is then counter-posed with the metal roof for effect, and for shade. This metal canopy is also there to link the house to the legacy of ‘farm vernacular’.




The house has exterior walls and a roof built from SIPS (structural insulated panels), which replaces typical ‘stick framing’. This expedites construction, provides for higher insulation, and is a more sustainable way to build than typical methods.





The interior and materials:
There are two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one large open space for cooking, eating and living…all of which open up equa-laterally on both sides to the site.
Off-the-shelf 8ft high sliding glass doors are the windows and the doors – proving light, views, and vivid connections to the land. Cabinets are painted MDF to blend in with walls and ceilings, while floors are pre-finished bamboo and carpet. The two fireplaces are gas only to avoid the burning of firewood. Light fixtures are standard exterior types with metallic finishes. The exterior walls are clad in vertical slats of stained cedar over painted plywood.




Location
Sonoma, CA, address withheld per owner’s request

Type
new home, 2000 sf

Completion
May 2005

Owner
Carrie Neiderer

Budget/Cost
under $200 per square foot

Architectural, Landscape & Interiors Team


CCS Architecture (Cass Calder Smith)
www.ccs-architecture.com

Design Principal
Cass Smith
Aaron Maret

Consultants
Landscape Contractor
Sonoma Mission Gardens Landscaping; Sonoma, CA

Metal Canopy Roof
Stoltz Metals; Richmond, CA
www.stoltzmetals.com/pages/gallery_arch7.html

Engineer
Paul Geddings; Grass Valley, CA

General Contractor
Jim Allen; Sebastopol, CA

Photographer
CCS Architecture (scouting shots)

Ferm Living Opens US online store!

Now, it's not that we needed yet another beautiful wallpaper and wall sticker manufacturer or designer, but we have one. Ferm Living makes some of the most beautiful wallpaper's imaginable and now you can purchase their beautiful products online in the US.





Click any of the images below to enlarge







They're also coming out with a bedding collection soon!

Buy Ferm wallpapers and wall stickers here.

Artists Take A Seat: Paintings Of Chairs

Now, the subject of 'chairs' for painters is clearly a popular one. Be them industrial, traditional, mid-century modern or ethereal, they dominate many a painters' canvas.

Going back to such masters as Sargent, Van Gogh and Matisse as well as contemporary masters like David Hockney, the 'chair' has been a constant source of study.


Above: Chair by William Singer Sargent


Above: Chair With Peaches (or Lorain Chair), Henri Matisse


Above: Van Gogh's ubiquitous chair


Above: David Hockney's Chair painting

There are so many talented contemporary artists who paint chairs as subjects, it was hard to choose whose work to share with you.

For this particular post, I've showcased some prolific contemporary realists and their chair paintings.

Like the previous post on swimming pools, I love the the fact that these chairs are not occupied by people. It makes the actual chair the figure in the painting, personifying it in such a manner that a human presence would only fight with the content.

I hope you enjoy the following works by Ada Sadler, Karen Hollingsworth, James Shilaimon, Christopher Stott and Matt Condron.

Some of Ada Sadler's beautifully rendered work:








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Karen Hollingsworth's elegant, ethereal and lonely chairs:










Above: Karen Hollingsworth
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Below are some of James Shilaimon's breezy and inviting chair paintings:







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The technically superb work of Christopher Stott:









Above: Christopher Stott
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And lastly, Matt Condron's work, evocative of middle America's waiting rooms, bus terminals and laundromats:








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Have a thing for chairs? then these may interest you:


Above: Tashen's book on Chairs
Buy it here.


Above: Vitra's Chair Poster

Buy the Vitra Chair Poster here.

Vitra's Miniature Chair Collection. All available designs can be bought by clicking the link below:
Available for purchase here.

JC Penney's "Heart", a commercial earning much deserved praise

Given that I have been in advertising for over 20 years I am always reluctant to include any form of it on my blog --call it a reluctance to mix business with pleasure.

Nevertheless, I cannot ignore this charming, beautifully produced, strategically sound spot by Saatchi & Saatchi NY for JC Penney named "Heart". Every time it airs, I find myself in rapt attention at the well-cast leads, the inventive effects and the universal appeal of the subject matter.

Clearly, I am not alone since it has been repeatedly tagged a 'favorite'on you tube many times along with 'making of' videos, etc.

Please enjoy:

The Commercial (:60 second cut)

i

The making of:



Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, NY
copywriter: Craig Love
art director: Shayne Millington,
agency producer: Zamile Vilakaz
Director: Dougal Wilson
Creative Directors: Kerry Kennan and Michael Long

Levis Taps Damien Hirst For New Warhol Factory X Jeans

Levi Strauss & Co. is ready to unveil their latest work of wearable art: the first image of Damien Hirst's jeans for Levi's. The Tate Gallery Turner Prize-winning British artist Damien Hirst of the formaldehyde-preserved animals and diamond-encrusted skull designed a collection as part of The Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, known as Warhol Factory X Levi's Damien Hirst.

"From Damien Hirst, to Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among countless others, each of these spirited luminaries wore the Original 501 jean as the ultimate "blank canvas" for self-expression and individuality, said Levi's vice president of marketing, Robert Cameron. "In celebration of this, we are both thrilled and honored for our continued partnership with the The Andy Warhol Foundation and to have a creative leader such as Damien Hirst bring his unique perspective to our iconic 501 jean."




The jeans will be unveiled during New York's Spring 2008 Fashion Week at a runway show at the Gagosian gallery in Chelsea and the line will arrive in stores in January as part of the 2008 season and will feature both men's and women's selections. And it looks like life really does imitate art: Hirst's black jeans get an evening-appropriate boost from the mini rhinestone skull embellishment adorning them.

Damien Hirst -


Hirst, whose artwork includes an actual human skull studded with diamonds, will be lending his talents to Levi Strauss. The artist will be working with the denim giant on 2008 collection of the San Francisco company's Warhol Factory X Levi's label.

Hirst is best known for his Natural History series, where he preserves dead animals in formaldehyde and presents them as art.

Launched in 2006, the Warhol Factory X Levi's label paid tribute to the pop-culture art made famous by the late American artist Andy Warhol. Priced between $190-$250 for jeans and $80-$300 for tops, the said collection is only available at such high-end stores as Barneys New York, Fred Segal and American Rag.



Update: since this post, there have been developments with the Warhol factory X Levi's products, including a store and a limited edition book, read all about it over at notcot.org.

Appropos To A "T". The Perfect Shirt For Freelancers.

I especially love that he has a laptop! And note the metallic gold detailing. OOOOhhhh. Aaahhhh.



I have to thank NOTCOT for this find from The Chop Shop.
The perfect Tee for all of us freelancers out there.
25$ and comes with a temporary tattoo.




Get it here.

Match.com is for Plebians; Introducing the Snottiest Online Dating Service: The Diamond Lounge

Beginning this October, the Diamond Lounge -a 'social networking' site for the elite (aka an online dating service for the pretty and wealthy set), requiring application and 'approval' will launch.

They are purposely vague on the site but if you dig deep enough (under membership terms) you will find the details.

My favorite part of the application is the following:



And I love that the 'fees' have yet to be determined.

If they truly want to be the MOST EXCLUSIVE club, they ought to only take American Express Centurion Cards as their form of payment. And, if you don't know what that is... you should automatically be rejected.


Above: The American Express Centurion Card (aka The Black Card)

By the way, no surprise this "Diamond Club" is centrally located in London. P-shah.

Below is reprinted directly from their site:

THE MOST ELITE COMMUNITY EVER CREATED------------------------------------------------

The Diamond Lounge is a new online members' club aimed at the world's genuine elite.

The club will launch on October 1st, 2007 and will provide members with a sophisticated and refined online environment where they can meet and interact. The Diamond Lounge will be totally private and non-members will not have access to the club or be able to see who is inside. Membership will be granted on an exclusive and discretionary basis and many members will join through personal invitation.

The Diamond Lounge will provide members with a variety of quite different online experiences. On the one hand, the club will be traditional and formal. On the other, it will be decadent, extravagant and even a little hedonistic.

This is private business networking, social networking and dating for the world's most amazing people. A secret society where everyone has to keep the secret. As one person put it: "This is Small World meets Studio 54!"

INSIDE THE CLUB
The Diamond Lounge has been heavily influenced by the ultra-exclusive private clubs of the 80s and the somewhat 'retro' feel of the site will reflect this. It will be a beautiful, technically advanced and highly secure online world where the elite can get together out of view of everyone else.

Everything about the Diamond Lounge site will be luxurious and personal. Members will be able to create totally individual profiles that mirror their own personalities (and can work with our award winning designers on these if they choose to). They will be able to interact with other members using live video links and even utilise an array of business networking and collaboration tools. In addition, they will also be able to take the club everywhere with them (as the Diamond Lounge site will function on mobiles, PDAs and the iphone).

The Diamond Lounge will also have an incredible 'real life' element with members having exclusive access to some of the most lavish private parties and events ever staged. Expect to be very surprised!

PRIVACY
A central focus of the Diamond Lounge is privacy. The owners of the club and those managing it won't divulge information about members or events to those outside the club. In fact, many of the events will be so secret that their exact locations won't even be published until the very last minute.

And members will also have to respect the privacy of others. Quite simply, who is the in the Diamond Lounge, and what happens in the Diamond Lounge, must stay in the Diamond Lounge!

MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA AND OBTAINING MEMBERSHIP
To become a Diamond Lounge member, you must be successful, sophisticated and attractive and genuinely have something interesting to bring to the club. You can obtain membership either by being directly invited or by submitting an online application which can (but does not have to be) supported by a recommendation from a trusted existing member.

THE TOUGH DECISIONS
All decisions about who to accept for membership are taken by an anonymous, pre-appointed and representative Committee of 'elite' individuals. This Committee is external and none of the Diamond Lounge Management Team can influence their decisions.

Membership to the Diamond Lounge is reserved for the real elite. It is unashamedly difficult to obtain and is already being highly sought after.

APPLYING ONLINE
If you have not been personally invited but fit the Membership Criteria, click here to apply to be accepted for membership.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE CLUB
As was the case with so many of the private clubs that inspired it, you will probably never know exactly who is behind the Diamond Lounge. It's all part of the secret!

Apply here.

Pouring Money Down The Drain Can Be A Good Thing

Bejewelled Marble and Stone Vanity Wastes

Murano House has launched its debut product: Venetian jewelled vanity wastes (aka sink and shower drains)

Titled as: Murano Scolpisce il Tappo... this designer vanity waste range is jewellery in the bathroom for those who wish to indulge in understated and contemporary elegance.

The jewelled vanity wastes reflect the company’s branded strategy: luxury appeal, high-end quality and its unflinching integrity in its approach to design.

Murano House has turned that simple stainless feature, the drain, into a piece of art.

With polished stone and glass finishes:







24k gold and sterling silver, terazzo, marble -and even watch faces for drains!:



A bit about Murano House reprinted from their site:

Be seduced by Murano House defining the essence of bathroom beauty with handmade Venetian bathroom wastes for the sink, bath and shower.


Murano House’s myriad of colours and innovative creative sense incorporates precious stones including: Emeralds, Rubies, Topaz, Amber and Amethyst. The jewels are set in glass onto refined mountings in gilded silver gold and platinum.

The nimble hands of the glass master whose craft has been passed down through father and son generations fuses the glass together and moulds the glass giving the sculpture its form and shape.

This exclusive designer range of vanity wastes will stand alone as an independent objet d'art in any bathroom scheme. Additionally, when immersed in water, the vanity wastes sparkle brightly as lustrous and luminous jewels.

These exclusive Venetian jewelled vanity wastes will adorn any high-end specification including hotels, bars and restaurants as well as those discerning and indulgent clients from the domestic interior market.

Bespoke Services

Bespoke commissions are available, particularly; if there is a colour scheme you are working to. Bespoke pieces are priced on application. Also note that each vanity waste is individually crafted and therefore, colour variations can be expected.

As you can see below, they make bath overflows and bath fillers with the same finishes:

Now your sink can have a beautiful drain as well as fixtures.
The also make drains for showers. Amazingly beautiful collection. And...wel...another thing to spend your money on.

Buy your own bejewelled venetian fixtures by clicking here.

CHANEL's New Pavilion in Venice by Zaha Hadid

Above: Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel and architect Zaha Hadid. Her firm conceived of and designed his new Chanel Pavilion in Venice.

You can read an interview with Wallpaper Magazine and Karl Lagerfeld on his reasons for choosing Zaha Hadid here.

Exhibition Pavilion for Chanel:Zaha Hadid Architects_June 2007
Below are computer renderings of the building now under construction and expected to open in January 2008.





The following description was reprinted from the Zaha Hadid Architecture site.

The form of the Chanel Pavilion is a celebration of the iconic work of Chanel, unmistakable for its smooth layering of exquisite details that together create an elegant, cohesive whole. The resulting structure is very much tied to that original inspiration—elegant, functional, and versatile both in its overall structure and detail.



The architectural structure of the Pavilion is a series of continuous arch-shaped elements, with a courtyard in its central space. The glazed ceiling adjusts to allow for control of the interior temperature in response to the particular climate conditions of each venue city.



Natural light descending from seven elements on the ceiling, meets artificial light pushed up from gap between the walls and raised floor to emphasize the “arched” structure, and assists in the creation of a new artificial landscape for art installations. Six of these elements are roof lights for artworks; another large opening dramatically floods the entrance in daylight to blur the relationship between interior and exterior. In addition to the lighting and colour effects, the spatial rhythm created by the seams of each segment gives strong perspective views throughout the interior.



The size of the Pavilion will be 29m x 45m, a total of 700sqm. The overall height is 6m, with the floor raised 1.00m above the existing ground surface. In light of the extensive shipping between cities, each structural segment will be a maximum of 2,25m wide.

The 65sqm central courtyard has large transparent openings to the sky above and is designed to host events as well as provide an area for reflection after visiting the exhibition. The courtyard serves as an intermediate space between the exhibition and a public area of the Pavilion. A 25sqm cloakroom is also provided.

With a direct visual connection to the courtyard, the 128sqm terrace continues this dialogue between the Pavilion’s exterior and interior. During an event, the two spaces could be linked to become one large event zone.

Reflective materials allow the exterior skin to be illuminated with varying colours which can be tailored to the differing programmes of special events in each city.

The dichotomy between the powerful sculptural mass of the Chanel Pavilion’s structure and the lightness of its envelope create a bold and enigmatic element. The Pavilion’s exterior develops into a rich variety of interior spaces that maximize the potential to reuse and rethink space due to the innate flexibility of its plan.

The total fluidity of the Chanel Pavilion’s curvilinear geometries is an obvious continuation of Hadid’s 30-years of exploration and research into systems of continuous transformations and smooth transitions. With this repertoire of morphology, Zaha Hadid is able to translate the ephemeral typology of a pavilion into the sensual forms required for this celebration of Chanel’s cultural importance.

Click here to see a video rendering of the Pavilion from the NY Times.

Now be sure to see the mobile art exhibit and Zaha Hadid's finished structure here.

Product Pick of The Week: The Corner Lamp

I'm actually really surprised I haven't seen this before, it's so smart and yet so obvious.

And I really like that it's still elegant and simple and clean as opposed to becoming a 'silly' lamp.

by Design House Stockholm Corner Lamp
pergament plastic lamp shade & steel pole

height = 66"

$225.00

$15 shipping charge added at fulfillment
Available for purchase by clicking here.

Headhoods; Hot Hilarious Hoodies

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If you're a blog reader, chances are you've seen these written about and showcased on many a design blog or community shopping site. But, because it's my job to bring you what's hip, I'd be remiss if I didn't do a post about this rapidly growing trend, Head Hoods.



Now printing or silkscreening on American Apparel Tees and Hoodies is nothing new nor ingenius, but this simple idea has taken off like wildfire.

Taking famous faces like Elvis and Audrey or icons like Skulls and Kings, headhoods has printed these on the "hood' of the hoodies to give the illusion from profile that the head is that of someone else. At $60.00 a piece (custom ones cost more and take longer to produce) they arrive via priority mail in 2-3 days.




So, time to get your hood on...

Visit them on Myspace by Clicking here.

Get your headhood here.

Meet Amy J. Rowan aka Art School Girl

Who is Amy J. Rowan? Well, she's the imaginative force behind Art School Girl.

I stumbled upon Amy's work while browsing an online card store and was immediately drawn to not only the charming indie look of her vintage-fabric-on-cardstock cards, but the fact that she took the odd tradition of adding "in bed" to one's chinese cookie fortune and turned them into actual cards (see below):



So, I 'googled' her and found her site, filled with objects of fun and whimsy.

Below are two examples of her hand-crafted one of a kind stationery on her self-proclaimed favorite brown cardstock:




You can order a sampler of her items (as shown below):



She makes everything from hand sewn bookmarks.....:



Journals and notebooks made with recyclables she's cleverly named reNEWed:




Taken from her own "about us" page:
Art School Girl's origins can be traced back to owner, Amy Rowan's days as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was there that she constructed what would be the first of several stationery lines—a simple blank journal made from recycled books. Fueled by a passion for paper and a love for specialty printing processes, Art School Girl specializes in one-of-a-kind hand made paper goods. Expertly crafted from recycled materials and often sewn or printed by hand, each piece is artisan quality.

She even sells 'art, some creations of vintage imagery on old index cards:




See all her fun products here.

HP Toyrama: Make Your Own Animated Movies with Pete Fowler's Characters

HP and Artist/toy designer, Pete Fowler have teamed up for a great interactive co-op project that allows you to create your own animated movie with Pete Fowler's Monsterism characters and HP's technology.

Called Toyrama, you can create your own animated movies, pick music, scenes, create dialogue and then submit your film.



The Press Release reads as follows:

Singapore, Aug 2, 2007 – Embarking on magical adventures is not just for Shrek-like ogres and furry animals from Over the Hedge anymore as HP kicks off a unique contest that invites digital animators across Asia Pacific to create, design and direct short, animated skits using high-performance workstations and graphics tools.



Christened the HP Toyrama Contest, this online competition developed by Arc Worldwide Singapore challenges the best digital content creators in the region to create innovative and rich multimedia stop-motion animation starring five toy characters named Sancho, Farm Girl, Ranger, Jogger and Green from Monsterism Island, designed by cult toy designer, Pete Fowler. The contest has two categories – the Open segment, for enthusiasts, amateurs or students with a passion for animation; as well as the Professional segment, for the more proficient animators.

They even have a "professional category" (see below):



Below is a nice example of the "How To" (created by my friends over at NOTCOT), just click on it to enlarge:



So, check out Toyrama and have some fun.

More For Pete Fowler Fans

For all you Pete Fowler Fans, he's also just created a KIA spot in the uk:
Pete Fowler creates new animation for Kia advert



Illustrator and designer Pete Fowler, best known for his work with the Super Furry Animals and his Monsterism.net Website, has animated an advert for Kia's new Picanto range.

The advert is directed by Pete Candeland of Passion pictures, the man responsible for four of the Gorillaz music videos, which similarly made use of the work of cult illustrator Jamie Hewlett, creator of Tank Girl.

This is the first time Fowler's characters have been animated using computer graphics. The challenge for Candeland and his CG team was representing the 2D characters in 3D while keeping Fowler's trademark style. In order to do this, Candeland and Fowler decided to keep certain objects, together with the backgrounds, as flat graphic elements. The 3D characters were then built in Lightwave and animated in Messiah before compositing the background elements in After Effects.

The Kia advert is being screened in TV ad breaks now.

To see more of Pete Fowler's work, click here.

Funky Find Of The Week: The Diamond Studded Saucepan

Pot à la Fissler and Harrods:
timeless luxury for $205,245.86 USD!! (£100,000)

Fissler, the leader on the German market for premium cookware, is setting new standards of luxury with a unique product: a pot adorned with gold and diamonds from Fissler will be presented to the exclusive clientele of the London department store Harrods from the 10th of September until the 20th of October. This true gem will be exclusively produced to order and will cost £100,000 (Or $205,245.86 USD).

Technically, the diamond pot is based on a saucepan of 28 cm in diameter from the successful premium series 'original profi collection®' by Fissler. The handles on the lid and sides as well as the name logo are made from almost one kilogram of solid gold (750/yellow gold) and are studded with more than 200 diamonds (TWSI) of varying sizes.

The breathtaking one-off originals will be crafted lovingly by hand in Idar-Oberstein/Germany. This town in Rhineland Palatinate is well-known as the home of Fissler, the international leaders and experts in cookware, and has, for centuries, enjoyed a global reputation in the design of precious stones and jewellery for the most exclusive clientele all around the world.

The product will be presented in accordance with its unusual characteristics: the diamond pot will be showcased at Harrods on a special presentation pedestal made of rootwood. The diamond pot will come complete with a high-class jewellery box made of rootwood. A document and the appropriate quality certificate guarantee additional exclusive quality for the buyer.

With the diamond pot, Fissler will be presenting what is probably the most precious pot in the world. An application for inclusion in the book of Guinness World Records has already been submitted.

Limited Edition Marc Jacob Exclusives At Colette

- Following the success of Little Marc - his line of clothes for children - Marc Jacobs has created the Little Marc Box - the perfect gift to mark the arrival of any newborn - pyjamas in pink or claret with a Be@rbrick Medicom Toy. This limited-edition toy (only 1000 made) is availalbe in turquoise or bronze an is only available in a pre-release exclusive chez colette from August 27.



- Exclusive to Colette and available in the eshop from August 22 (official release date September 5), the documentary "Louis Vuitton & Marc Jacobs" reveals the Louis Vuitton's backstage and its artistic director Marc Jacobs.

The DVD contains more than an hour of special extras (including New York party, a Marc Jacobs press conference in Tokyo, the large model Bracque bag and a visit to the factory). A documentary directed by Loïc Prigent, based on an idea by Dominique Miceli, 2007- 82min, Arte Video

Is San Diego The Next Soho?3 Hip New Places To Stay

I used to think of San Diego as a typical tourist destination filled with overweight, conservative tourists and families full of unsophisticated people clamoring to go to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, The racetrack at Del Mar or Legoland.

Albeit, the best weather in the country, I always found San Diego lacking a certain hipness. Sure they had money (La Jolla, Coronado), and water sports, but how about style? Horton Plaza and The Gaslamp district were nothing to write home about. Until now.

With the opening of many new hotels downtown, San Diego is fast becoming a showcase for sophisticated modern design.

Here are three wonderful examples:



The least formal and most affordable of the three is Tower 23.
With fun 'packages' named Girls' Night, Sex On The Beach, and a spa, you can find plenty to do without spending a fortune.

Tower 23

TOWER23 Hotel is San Diego's only luxury, lifestyle hotel on the beach and one of California's most stylish and contemporary urban resorts. TOWER23 Hotel derives its name from Lifeguard Tower 23 positioned on Pacific Beach in front of the hotel, and creates a cool haven to enjoy one of America's best cities. Neo-Modernist in approach, TOWER23 Hotel is a refreshingly minimalist but playful, creative study for the urban beach resort.



The exclusive resort community of La Jolla is just north of the hotel, while downtown San Diego, the airport, major business centers and popular area attractions are just minutes away. San Diego's vibrant beach life sets the stage for TOWER23's distinctive architecture and style.
Responding to the site's natural elements - an environment of sun, ocean, sky, and sand at water's edge on Pacific Beach, a Boardwalk alive with energy set against crashing ocean waves ... a lifestyle rich with people at play, architect Graham Downes sought to design a building that would capture this dynamic.
Call: 1.866.TOWER23
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The Keating is a statement of our time, combining the highest level of expressive Italian Design with sophisticated and personalized service. The Keating defines a new standard for lifestyle hotels worldwide. In the Pininfarina tradition, the environment is characterized by pure, clean, ergonomic design, where breathtaking form meets function in every possible detail. What remains is the essential, but not the minimal. The use of materials, colors and lighting combine to give a warm welcoming atmosphere to all of our guests. Modern Italian Design is punctuated by the use of historical details. The result is a unique emotional experience - a catalyst for the imagination.




Designed with a cultivated eye for detail, the Keating is Pininfarina’s first hotel creation, a chic hotel with European sex appeal and SOHO style placed perfectly in Southern California. A contemporary interpretation and testament to style and design that is visually striking yet inviting and warm. The Keating sets a new standard for urban lifestyle hotels worldwide.

Our 35 luxurious stanzas (Italian for guestroom) and suites have all of the seductive qualities of custom designed furnishings with vaulted ceilings and up to the minute amenities like Bang & Olufsen’s Beo Vision electronics and Dornbracht fixtures. The rooms are conceived without interior walls to create a new interpretation of space, taking away the traditional division of the warm and wet zones (defined by Pininfarina as the bedroom and bathroom).

Okay, the fact that they call their 'rooms' stanzas, is a bit much...but I'll forgive them that.

Their description of a "Stanza" :
Guestroom with 1 California king bed or 2 twin XL beds. Sinful bedding experience includes: goose down duvet, luxurious Italian linens by Frette, goose down pillows and feather bed. Amenities include: Custom designed furnishings by Pininfarina, high speed internet, designer bathrobes by Boca Terry, 10 – 15 foot ceilings, in-room entertainment experience by Bang & Olufsen including: Beovision - 37” HD wall mounted plasma tv, Beosound - radio/cd player, Beocom, – telephone, dvd player, cordless telephone, two-line voice over ip phone, sip & crave selection bar, in-room dining, laundry/valet service.

Even their conference rooms are hip-- a great place for business as well as resort travel.



THEY HAVE GRAND OPENING SPECIALS GOING ON NOW!

Call: 1.877.7KEATING
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And finally, the third, most luxurious and largest of the three, The Ivy Hotel.



A beacon to those who have come to expect more, the 159 guestrooms at Ivy Hotel, including 14 Deluxe Suites and 3 Specialty Suites, drip with luxury. Every room comes standard with a 42” flat screen, in-room technology, a functional workspace, luxurious bedding package, and a rare glimpse of true hospitality.







A Peek Behind Ivy

There are no givens at Ivy, but endless galleries of surprise and fascination. Here is a glimpse into some of the gorgeous details that you deserve to experience.

* Quarter Kitchen fine-dining restaurant
* VIP access to Envy nightclub
* Eden rooftop pool and bar
* 24 hour in-room dining
* Full bottle in-room bar
* 24 hour valet parking
* Same day dry cleaning processing and laundry
* Omaha bed, lambs wool mattress cover, fine Thai bed linens
* Two microfiber bathrobes
* High definition on demand movies and 31 entertainment channels and 4 XM satellite stations
* HDTV on 42’’ plasma screen TV with virtual 5.1 sound effect
* iPod docking station
* Audio/visual hub for convenient interface with laptops and MP3 players
* Korres environmentally friendly body care productse
* Personalized concierge service
* Fitness center
* Complimentary wireless access throughout the hotel
* Pet friendly facilities
* 20,000 square feet of flexible and unique event space
* 9,000 square feet of flexible meeting space


Call: 619.814.1000
Fax: 619.531.7955
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A HumVee Even Treehuggers will love

I stumbled upon this on the web and simply had to share it with you.

Hummers (Hum Vees) are very controversial (want proof? check out Fuck You And Your Hummer Too site here)

But who wouldn't love this HumVee?

An art project By Heidi Hesse for Tuscon's Museum of Modern Art in 2004.

Here's a brief description of the exhibit:

Exporting Liberty




Heidi Hesse was born in Germany, grew up in South Africa and emigrated to the Unites States in 1982. Recently, Hesse began to investigate and contemplate the meaning and possibility of U. S. citizenship. She, as many an earnest emigre pursuing the American Dream has done before her, began to read the documents and stories associated with the founding of the United States of America. Through her investigations, Hesse began to identify a significant gap between the rhetoric of liberty embedded in our documents and our practice of ’ exporting liberty’ throughout the world.

Exporting Liberty is an examination of citizenship and its attendant responsibility. It is both a celebration of freedom and a critique of excess, an homage to democracy, and a warning that the comfort borne of privilege can breed a dangerous apathy...

Welcome to America. Would you like to supersize that?





Sugar Coated, 2004, [Exporting Liberty] By Heidi Hesse

This life-sized gum-ball covered HumVee comments on pop culture and reminds us of soldiers handing candy to children in far-flung countries at war with us.

Product Pick Of The Week

TANK BOOKS - Tales to take your breath away

Now that the cigarette smoking ban has gone into effect in the UK as of July 1st, Tank is launching a series of books designed to mimic cigarette packs –
the same size, packaged in flip-top cartons with silver foil wrapping and sealed in cellophane.

Cool idea and not bad for the lungs.

Just click on the image below to learn more about this unusual item.

Agelio Batle's Stunning Cast Graphite

In 1998, Sculptor Agelio Batle developed a process to create sculptures in solid graphite. Initially, he created his own hand (Drawing Hand No. 1), and then botanical and other natural forms followed.

The objects before you is a further exploration by Batle in this new media. Unlike his initial body of work of molded natural forms, these objects express the ongoing dialogue between form and content. The works in this series, whether formal or personal, show a stronger connection to the artist and are more reflective of his experimental attitude towards art. Each sculpture is cast using Batle's unique molding and carving process. Carbonaceous graphite (mineral remains of prehistoric plant life) is fused with smudge-resistant compounds, then cures into the object before you.

They have been formulated to resist smudging onto your hands. The multiple surfaces of each graphite sculpture can write.


Below are the editions presently available. Click on the pic to enlarge:





In addition to the above pieces, he also has "limited editions". Here are a few of my favorites:


Above: The 12 point ball (limited to 100 pieces)

Above: The Knobby Helix (limited to 100 pieces)


About the sculptor:

Drawing Hand is typical of Agelio Batle's work. In his offerings we find an inventor extracting the extraordinary from the ordinary. Pencil lead, dictionaries, globes, maps, old photographs - everyday artifacts such as these give us no expectation of inspiration. To find epiphany in mundane materials, poetry in the pedestrian, is the core of his work.

The investigative nature of Agelio's work may stem from his background in the sciences. He received a BA in Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Not wishing to pursue a career in science, he returned to his lifelong interest in art and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from California College of Arts and Crafts, graduating with High Distinction honors.

Agelio's artwork includes stage design, art installation, performance art and drawing as well as sculpture. His work has been seen in museums and galleries across the United States. The following shows are just a few highlights of the body of his work. In 1988 his early ceramic sculpture was chosen by the American Craft Museum (New York) to represent the best work in the country by artists under thirty years of age in the Young Americans. This honor acknowledged the importance of craftsmanship and attention to detail that still pervades his work today. In 1994 Agelio was included in a show of contemporary sculptures entitled Next to Nothing at San Francisco's Center for the Arts in Yerba Buena Gardens. His Volume of Laughter Collected While Being Tickled was a body-sized cylinder of transparent vinyl, filled with breaths of air collected from the artist's laughter. The fifteen art works unveiled at that show revealed a more playful and spiritual direction to his work. In 1995 Agelio lead the Brick Project, a collaborative installation with the San Francisco Arts Education Project. Unveiled at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's opening ceremonies, twelve hundred local children constructed an impromptu miniature cityscape from wooden "bricks" that they prepared at their school sites. After class discussions and interactions, each child painted a brick filled with their own vision of "home". Participants and viewers walked through the resulting cityscape.

Here's a video of Agelio discussing his graphite sculptures:


These wonderful objects are available to order by contacting the artist here:

A S Batle Company
224 Mississippi St.
San Francisco
CA 94107

Phone: 415.864.9300 and 864.3300
Fax: 415.864.2300
Email: order@asbworkshop.com

Or from the following galleries:

Red Sky Gallery

Sawbridge Studios

Gallery 5

Montblanc: Pens Inspire Paintings

Montblanc Young
Artist World Patronage
This unique project, created by Montblanc in 2004, gives young and upcoming artists the platform to present their name and talent to a broader public and the international art scene in particular.

The concept is to have more than 330 Montblanc boutiques worldwide act as a gallery and exhibit simultaneously for a single artist with one particular artwork for a period of almost 6 weeks. The common theme for the artworks is the creative interpretation of the world famous Montblanc star.
The individual "star"-works are reproduced and exhibited in the Montblanc boutique windows. The original artworks became and will become part of the Montblanc "Cutting Edge Art Collection" - one of the various Montblanc initiatives to support contemporary art and demonstrate the brand's commitment and contribution to art and culture.

Since 2004 Montblanc presented 18 young artists from all over the world. The selection of the artists and artworks took place together with reputed experts from the international art and culture scene.

See the previous post of Mont Blanc artwork here.

Young Artist World Patronage
2005
Because of the tremendous success the "Young Artist World Patronage" aroused in 2004, Montblanc continued the international art project in 2005. The artistic interpretations of the famous Montblanc brand signet, the white star, were on display in over 330 Montblanc Boutiques world-wide. Montblanc again used its global presence as a platform for sponsoring young talents.

The artists whose works were on display from January to November 2005 were Eske Kath, Mikio Taka, Susi Pop, Gitte Schäfer, Angela Brennan and Jan Christensen.


Above: Susi Pop
Der Zeichner im Stern 2003

About the artist
Because no one has ever seen Susi Pop, there are no known facts about her appearance, her origins, or her artistic career. The person is nothing; the name is everything. Susi Pop's artworks have been included in solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe, most recently in the Städtische Galerie Nordhorn and the Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin.

About her work
In her universally pink artworks, Susi Pop playfully and sarcastically explores the values of the art world itself. She questions the concept of original artworks vs. reproductions, and also tackles historical and political themes. Susi Pop is especially known for her interpretation of Gerhard Richter's 1988 painting cycle, "18. Oktober 1977", which paid tribute to the German left-wing terrorist group, Red Army Fraction (RAF). Susi Pop reproduced the artworks as pink silkscreens on a magenta background, and titled them ''The Moustache of Ulrike Meinhof,'' making reference to Marcel Duchamp.

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Above: Eske Kath
Disintegration / Volcano 2003

About the artist
Eske Kath was born in 1975 in Haderslev, Denmark and attended The Royal Danish Academy of Fine
Arts from 1997-2003. He had recent solo exhibitions at Galerie Mikael Andersen in Copenhagen and at Galerie Schuster in Frankfurt, and his work has been featured in recent group exhibitions at the Vensyssel Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, Momentum, Moss, Norway and the 'Premio del Golfo' biennale, La Spezia, Italy. Eske Kath lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.

About his work
Eske Kath's paintings frequently explore themes of natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tidal waves, as well as the relationship between the universal and the personal. In the artist's exhibition entitled “My Tsunami,” lava floats, tornadoes rage and the earth trembles expressing the “everyday catastrophes” of normal life. Architectural elements with sharp edges coexist softly and poetically with organic shapes and triangular mountaintops and suggest the delicate balance between manmade and natural, peace and chaos, stability and catastrophe.

www.gma.dk
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Above:Mikio Taka
Tauziehen 2003

About the artist
Mikio Taka was born in 1978 on Hokkaido, the northern-most island of Japan. He was one of the youngest finalists to be selected for the 1998 Sapporo Contemporary Art Award. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at The Proposition Gallery, New York, The Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, The Super Deluxe Gallery, Tokyo and The CAI Gallery, Hamburg. In the summer of 2004, The Hamburg Department of Cultural Affairs awarded Mikio Taka an artist residency to produce artworks that will be included in a group exhibition about Japanese contemporary art at the Kunsthaus Hamburg in 2005.

About his work
Mikio Taka's artwork combines figurative and draughtsman-like drawing with dreamy landscapes. He has a broad range of styles ranging from minimalist watercolour paintings to three dimensional pieces. Repetitive shapes and forms merge symbiotically to create a visually precise paradise that seems digitally generated. All of these elements illustrate the artist's view of landscapes as amoeba-like organisms that hypnotize and mesmerize the viewer.

www.cai-hamburg.de
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Above:Gitte Schäfer
Without Title 2003

About the artist
Gitte Schäfer was born in 1972 in Stuttgart. She attended the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee and the Chelsea College of Art in London. A fellow from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes from 2001-2003, Gitte Schäfer had a recent solo exhibition at Mehdi Chouakri, Berlin. Her work was also featured in a recent show at Kirkhoff Gallery in Copenhagen. She lives and works in Berlin.

About her work
Gitte Schäfer explores cultural symbols in her intimate paintings and drawings of interiors, landscapes, and architectural scenes. Using romantic or romanticized icons, such as old magazine clippings and flea market postcards as well as furniture and found objects, Gitte Schäfer presents the dichotomy of nature and culture. She is greatly influenced by the applied arts, and frequently experiments with different artistic techniques such as pencil on gesso, perforated and painted metal and painted boxes.

www.mehdi-chouakri.com
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Above: Angela Brennan
Montblanc 2003

About the artist
Angela Brennan was born in 1960 in Ballarat, Australia. She attended the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and has been awarded studio residencies in Spain, France and China. Her work is represented in major public, corporate and private collections throughout Australia and overseas, including the National Gallery of Australia and the World Bank Collection in New York. Angela Brennan lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.

About her work
Angela Brennan's oeuvre includes portraits and landscapes but she is best known for her abstract paintings. Philosophical, astronomical, literary and musical concepts are of personal interest to her and are frequently examined in her work. The ideas and emotions expressed in her paintings always provoke a reaction, ranging from affirmation to intrigue or bemusement. In her latest works, text overlays the drips, splashes and stripes of paint. The words dominate the canvas but simultaneously blend into the cacophony of the background.

www.niagara-galleries.com.au
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Jan Christensen
Superimposed stars 2003
About the artist
Jan Christensen was born in 1977 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He studied at The National College of Art and Design in Oslo,Norway until 2000 and has been based in Berlin since 2001. He has received several Scandinavian grants and art prizes and was given two periods of residency at the International Artists Studio Programme in Sweden (IASPIS) in 2003. In 2004, he held residencies at the Villa Arson in Nice, France and the National Art Studio in Seoul, South Korea. He currently has a residency at The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

About his work
Drawing inspiration from artists such as Michael Majerus and Franz Ackermann, Jan Christensen's wall paintings either refer to the aesthetics of media-based culture or function as site-specific installations that reflect the surrounding architecture. His compositions are often layered and colorful and fuse graphics and words. At first they appear decorative but ultimately debate notions of content, context, intention and perception of works of art.

www.janchristensen.org
www.atlegerhardsen.com
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Fun Interactive DUI Deterrent. For Men.

The following is a wonderfully creative answer from Saatchi & Saatchi, germany to a creative directive to come up with a way to sell a taxi service. Well, at least to men.



About the Piss-Screen


1. The Brief

Frankfurt Taxi Services asked us to do something for them in bars, so that people would take a taxi, instead of driving home drunk with their own car. We thought “Right”, drinking and driving isn´t a game and started thinking.

2. Our Solution - The Piss-Screen

The Piss-Screen is a pressure-sensitive Inlay for Urinals, to play a game with your pee. The game is displayed on a Screen above the urinal. We teamed up with bars across Frankfurt, and installed the Piss-Screen in the mens Restrooms. We designed a driving game in the style of Need for Speed with the clue, that people would have a terrible crash into the oncoming-traffic if their reaction time was too slow.



After the crash we placed the message.


3. The Message

“Too pissed to drive?”

“Take a Taxi instead!”

“Call: 069-733030″

4. The Effect
The effect was pretty simple, the more drinks people had, the more they had to go to the toilet. Because you will normally not expect such a thing as the piss-screen on a ordinary toilet, we and the client were quiet sure that people would remember that drink-driving isn`t a game.



5. Links

[Play the game as a simulation]

[See the blog for the whole Story]

6. The Team

Creative Director: Sebastian Schier

Art Directors: Patrick Ackmann, Martin Anderle, Christian Bartsch

Text: William John

Technical Developement & Production: Christian Bartsch

Programming: Martin Anderle, Christian Bartsch

Inlay Design & Modelbuilding: Markus Fischer [ideenfischa.de]

Technical Support: Martin Nawrath, Wolfgang Staude, KHM Köln

7. Terms of Use

Any product, process or technology referred to in this Site is licensed under european patent law. You may not distribute, modify, transmit, reuse, reproduce, re-post or use the copyrighted materials on this Site for public or commercial purposes, including the text, images, audio and video, without the express written consent of Christian Bartsch and SAATCHI & SAATCHI, Frankfurt. All rights reserved. Copyright 2006 by Christian Bartsch and SAATCHI & SAATCHI, Frankfurt.

Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main HRB 10 899
Ust-Id. DE 811538026
Sitz der Gesellschaft: Frankfurt am Main

Microsoft takes iphone tech and makes it BIGGER

I must confess, as a lifetime Mac loyalist, it made me laugh when everyone was so impressed with Microsoft's Vista which was released earlier this year because it simply took all the things the Apple's Mac interface has had for the past 5 years and applied it to their own software.

Now, the buzz is all about Microsoft's "surface computing" (codename: Milan) which is clearly the same sort of interface already available on the drool-worthy iphone by Mac. But, yes, it's bigger. And bigger is better.

Why they have made it a 'coffee table' in lieu of a desk surface, I'm not sure except that to see the surface in its entirety, you do have to be 'above it'. I wouldn't want to keep bending over the low surface -they ought to make it adjustable like a draftsman table, but it's still very cool.



By Dan Costa from PC Mag

Microsoft has been looking beyond the desktop for sometime now, but with the launch of "Milan," the company is showing the potential for so-called "surface computing" to revolutionize everything from retail kiosks to the common coffee table. At its core, Milan is a PC running Windows Vista, but don't expect to use it with a keyboard and mouse. Instead, Milan uses a touch-sensitive display that enables multiple users to navigate the system's interface. See how it works!

Milan will start appearing in commercial locations at the end of this year (think casinos), but PC Magazine was able to sit down with Microsoft executives for a hands-on demo of the new system. The demo unit we saw looked a lot like a coffee table, but you won't want to put your feet up on this system; it was made for touching.

The flat display measures 30 inches diagonally, and is designed to make it easy for multiple users to reach across and touch the screen. Images are projected onto the display via a custom DLP engine. Five infrared cameras set below the display detect contact with the display and enable users to navigate the interface.
Microsoft Milan Surface Computing

By detecting every touch and gesture, Milan offers a very tactile way of interacting with digital information. Users must actually grab files and images with their fingers without the use of a mouse or keyboard. The system also allows multiple users to interact with the display at the same time; it can detect dozens of contact points.

The system includes support for object recognition using a proprietary technology, dubbed Domino, which works like a bar code. With the right Domino tag, basically a small sticker with a black and white pattern on it, Milan can instantly recognize other electronic devices. For example, in our demo, a Wi-Fi digital camera was placed on the surface of Milan and the contents of its memory were instantly displayed as a pile of snapshots alongside the camera on the display. From there, they could be moved around the screen, resized, or sent to other users via e-mail.

Likewise, when a couple of Domino-tagged Zunes were placed on the display, their contents were instantly shown on the display and songs could be exchanged between players simply by dragging their images from one Zune to the other. (With all the DRM-restrictions attached, of course.)

Using Milan is also inherently social. The first application we tested was a simple paint program. We painted on the screen using our fingertips and a simple pallet of colors and effects. We were also able to take photos that were loaded onto the systems hard drive and manipulate them—moving them around the screen, making them larger or smaller, even e-mailing them just by using our fingers. But surface computing isn't just for playing around. In fact, all of the early implementations will be commercial.

Microsoft has announced that Milan will be deployed at commercial properties by the end of the year, including Harrah's Entertainment's Las Vegas properties, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, and International Game Technology (IGT). Milan will also be featured at some T-mobile retail stores.

In our demo, Microsoft showed how Milan could be used to help shoppers choose cell phones. All the buyer needs to do is place two Domino-tagged phones on the surface of the display, and the system will call up features and technical information for each phone for side-by-side comparison. The company also showed how new service plans, ringtones, even music files could be added to your phone simply by dragging and dropping images in the Milan interface.

Microsoft wouldn't release the technical specifications of its Milan surface computing systems, but the company estimated each system would cost between $5,000 and $10,000. Like the Xbox 360, the device was designed and will be manufactured by Microsoft.

What Would You Look Like As a Simpson?

Go ahead...simpsonize yourself!

Way To Cushion The News: Google Headline Pillows!

The top 10 google searches of 2006, printed on a pillow and available for purchase:

Above: The 2006 Cushion

Above: back of cushion

Fantastic and alarming at the same time!

Each cushion is signed and numbered from an edition of 250:




designed by elodie blanchard

details:
16"x16"
feather down filler

*please note*: the 2003 edition is an edition of 5 and costs $250 - please call to check if still available



Buy the 2003, 2005 or 2006 cushions here.

Nike-A company with Vision. Literally.

Nike has come out with tinted contact lens that alleviate the need to wear sunglasses for athletes!
What a great idea!



In Amber:



or Grey Green:


How they work:


For a free trial offer, click here.


To view a video about Nike Maxsight click here.

If You Drink, This Nissan Won't Drive

Japanese car company developing a car with built-in sensors to detect drunkenness of driver, locking ignition if needed.

OPPAMA, Japan (Reuters) -- Beer-breaths, beware.

A new concept car with breathalyzer-like detection systems may provide even greater traction for Japanese efforts to keep impaired drivers off the road.

Nissan's alcohol-detection sensors check odor, sweat and driver awareness, issuing a voice alert from the navigation system and locking up the ignition if necessary.

Odor sensors on the driver and passenger seats read alcohol levels, while a detector in the gear-shift knob measures the perspiration of the driver's palm when starting the car.

Other carmakers with detection systems include Sweden's Volvo , which has developed technology in which drivers blow into a measuring unit in the seat belt before an engine can start.

But Nissan's car includes a mounted camera that monitors alertness by eye scan, ringing bells and issuing a voice message in Japanese or English if a driver should pull over and rest.

The car technology is still in development, but general manager Kazuhiro Doi says the combination of detection systems will ultimately keep an eye on who's behind the wheel.

"We've placed odor detectors and a sweat sensor on the gear shift, but for example if the gear-shift sensor was bypassed by a passenger using it instead of the driver, the facial recognition system would be used," said Doi.

Also keeping a short leash on drivers, car seat belts tighten if drowsiness is detected, while an on-road monitor checks if a car is keeping its lane properly.

Japan's No. 3 carmaker, which competes with Toyota and Honda, has no specific timetable for marketing, but aims to yoke all technology to cut the number of fatalities involving its vehicles to half 1995 levels by 2015.

Nissan's Doi says they still have to distill exactly what impairment means: "If you drink one beer, it's going to register, so we need to study what's the appropriate level for the system to activate."


HOW IT WORKS:

Alcohol Odor Sensors
Shift Knob Sensor:



1) A hi-sensitivity alcohol odor sensor is built into the transmission shift knob, which is able to detect the presence of alcohol in the perspiration of the driver's palm as he or she attempts to start driving. When the alcohol-level detected is above the pre-determined threshold, the system automatically locks the transmission, immobilizing the car. A "drunk-driving" voice alert is also issued via the car navigation system.

Passenger Seat Sensor:



2) Additional alcohol odor sensors are also incorporated into the driver's and passenger seats to detect the presence of alcohol in the air inside the vehicle cabin. When alcohol is detected, the system issues both a voice alert and a message alert on the navigation system monitor.

Facial Monitoring System:



A camera is mounted on the instrument cluster facing the driver to monitor the driver's face:



The system is calibrated to monitor the driver's state of consciousness through their eyes. When the system detects signs of drowsiness, a voice and message alert is triggered via the navigation system. Additionally, a seat-belt mechanism is activated, which tightens around the driver to gain his or her immediate attention.

Driving Behavior
By constantly monitoring the operational behavior of the vehicle (e.g. sensing if the vehicle is drifting out of its driving lane), the system can identify signs of inattentiveness or distraction in the driver. When the system detects such behavior, voice and message alerts are issued via the navigation system. The seat-belt alert mechanism is also activated, tightening around the driver to gain immediate attention.

This concept car was developed as an exploratory platform to showcase breakthrough technologies that could potentially be applied in future production cars, part of an ongoing program from Nissan contributing towards preventing drunk-driving.


CLICK ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

Nissan has already launched and is developing several initiatives to help prevent drunk-driving. In June, the company introduced the "drunk-driving" message alert on its navigation system. In July, Nissan also began testing of a new on-board breathalyzer system in cooperation with several local government authorities in Japan, where an interlock mechanism will immobilize the vehicle if the driver's breath indicates the presence of alcohol above a specified level.

Nissan is taking a holistic approach towards safety that extends beyond the technology built into its vehicles. To achieve a "safe driving environment," Nissan has embarked on the Intelligent Transport System Project (ITS) in Kanagawa Prefecture - aimed at helping to reduce road accidents via the analysis of traffic data collected from on-the-road vehicles and traffic beacons. In Japan, the company's safety vision is to halve the number of traffic fatalities or serious injuries involving Nissan vehicles by 2015 compared with the level in 1995.

A Fire Extinguisher That's Hot, Hot, Hot

WHY PINQY®?

PinQY® is a small yet very powerful tool that comes in handy when you have the beginnings of a fire at hand.

Its unique spherical shape gives PinQY® the same extinguishing capacity (in terms of pressure) as a 1 kg extinguisher!



With its lightweight and practical design, PinQY® is simple to use and easy to handle. It takes up little space, which means that PinQY® is not only also suitable for smaller living spaces (such as student rooms), it can also be placed right in any area that runs the risk of catching fire.

As it is “lightweight” and does not require much strength to handle, PinQY® can also be used by children, the elderly and the disabled.

Its pleasing design and gadget-like nature also make PinQY® a perfect present for your children, friends and family.


Where is a good place to put/bring PinQY®?

* campsites, boats, garages/sheds, gardens (by the barbecue for example), kitchens, bedrooms, student rooms, etc.

Right now, it's only available from the following places:

United Kingdom:

PinQY UK Ltd.
18, College Parade
Salusbury Road
Queens Park
NW6 6RL London
United Kingdom
www.pinqy.co.uk

Scandinavia:

PinQY Nordic
Bivägen 13
125 58 Älvsjö
Sweden
www.pinqynordic.com

Netherlands:

PinQY Netherlands
Postbus 4326
6202 VA Maastricht
Nederland
www.pinqy.nl

but soon to be available in more places..

Design Is Blind: Beautiful, Wearable & Functional Objects With Braille

'Love Is Blind' Vase by Jessica Lertvilai, Canada




What makes this vase extra beautiful is that those are love letters transcribed in reliefed braille on the surface of the earthenware vase. The vase's narrow oval shape is ideal for floral arrangements, and unfilled it makes a romantically statuesque statement.
12" x 6" x 2", Earthenware. $87.00
Buy it here.

Raised Flocked Braille Wallpapers by Ilias:




Ilias makes actual Braille wallpaper with raised flocked dots in various colors, including one with accompanying text. All of their wallpapers are printed by hand and made in England.

Braille Wall Flats By Inhabit



Inhabit's Embossed Wall Flats are designed to expand in any direction with an automatic pattern repeat. Cover a existing wall, help disguise a not-so-smooth wall or add a modern pattern to any room setting.

They are good for the environment too, because they are made from bamboo pulp, one of the world's most renewable resources. No trees were harmed in the making of this product.

Customize them by rotating every other tile or row, mix-and-match patterns or paint them to coordinate with your decor. The rule is there are no rules and the important thing is to have fun with it. It¹s low stress, low commitment and a big payoff in the way Wall Flats from Inhabit impact a space. Wall Flats can be used to do an entire room, one wall or to create free-standing-art pieces.

Specs:
Dimensions: 18"x18" panels
Content: 10 panels per box
Coverage: 22.5 square feet
Color: Off-white paintable surface
Material: 100% molded bamboo paper pulp. No chemical fillers or additives.
Hand: Feels like a dense hardboard
Buy them here.

Dennis Lin's Braille Tiles -Totem Design



Dennis designed the tiles when he was looking for a way to express a message in a literal, but subtle, way. If the writing 'aint on the wall already, these tiles provide the perfect way to get it up there. Each 6 x 12 cast polymer tile represents a character of the Braille alphabet. To display your own tactile message, please order the total quantity of tiles you require (including blanks). Since every tiled message is different, Totem will contact you to confirm exactly which tiles/letters you require. $50/each
Buy them here.

Braille Furniture by Marielle Wichards




"Yes, I am fascinated by the fact that blind people experience forms and material in a completely different way. This fascination was born when I worked for 'het Schild', on the signposting in the building. Dealing with a physical handicap is complicated enough already, as a designer I can make things easier, more practical or more interesting. And that is very rewarding."
Read about it here.

Ingrid Lilligren's Braille Ceramics




See all her work here.

Braille Jewelry by Kim Christiansen


Buy it here.

Some braille rings from At First Sight


buy it here.

And Braille necklaces from Blugrn Design


Buy them here.

Auguste Raymond's Braille Hi-Touch Watches appeal to both the blind and seeing customers who like a functional, design wristwatch.


learn more here.
Wenger's Braille Watch:

buy it here.

Custom Braille T-shirts and Hoodies
At Primitive State, you can create custom t-shirts and hoodies you like in Braille:

above: an example of the braille translating interface at Primitive State.


Lego® Type Bricks for the Blind


A Tack-Tile® is interchangeable with any of the LEGO® -type blocks on the market.
Tack-Tiles® slates accept LEGO-type blocks; boards bought at toy stores accept Tack-Tiles® , yet differences exist. Tack-Tiles® slates are heavier and have receptor sites spaced like letters and lines of text. The receptors are rounded making placement of Tack-Tiles® easy even for many with fine and gross motor control problems. Tack-Tiles® may be pushed on with whatever force is available.



Buy them or learn more about them here.

Talk About Pissing on Religion: China Unveils World's Largest Bathroom

above: Virgin Mary Themed Urinals

Anyone who has traveled to the Middle Kingdom would agree that the country's public restroom facilities leave a lot to be desired. Well, in Chongqing, a city of 31 million people in south-central China, they've had enough. Not content with the rudimentary squat units found everywhere in China, the city has pursued some innovative ideas that are meant to make the experience not just easier, but a little more fun.

First came round, open air urinals on the city's infamous "Foreigners Street," featuring tiny waist screens that left little to the imaginations of passers-by (below):



Then came news of outdoor sinks, pictured below, that made the hand-washing experience, um, different.



Now comes news that the city has opened the world's largest restroom. The four-story, 1,000-stall facility features TVs, a soothing soundtrack piped throughout, crocodile- and Virgin Mary-themed urinals, and stalls with no roofs for those who prefer to relieve themselves al fresco. Says a local government official:

"We are spreading toilet culture.... After they use the bathroom [people] will be very, very happy."

You can't argue with that.

Beautiful Animated Video for Kwoon's I Lived On The Moon

This lovely animated video by Yannick Puig for Kwoon's first video, 'I Lived On The Moon' has already been viewed by record numbers of people on you tube, myspace and more. Now it's your turn to see it.




Above: The actual lyrics


Above: Animator/designer Yannick Puig

See Yannick's Creation of "I Lived On The Moon" complete with storyboards, by clicking here.

Buy the CD here.

Kwoon Music

Chew on this: 700k grill for Baby

TMZ was there as the Cash Money Millionaires' singer had his $250,000 platinum/white gold plated and diamond encrusted grill replaced with a new and improved one worth $500,000.

People joke that Julia Roberts has a million dollar smile but rapper Baby literally does - and he has the bling to prove it.

The diamonds were designed by jeweler to the stars Chris Aire. Aire is the first designer to provide ascher cut diamonds made especially for use as a dental accessory.

The four hour procedure, performed by Beverly Hills dentist Dr. Daniel Durchslag, may seem bizarre to some, but Baby says he's just looking to "take it to another level."

And to keep his smile sparkling, don't expect to see him using Colgate anytime soon. Dr. Durchslag has concocted a special toothpaste that won't dull or scratch Baby's newly drilled family jewels.

Baby's extreme makeover should come as no surprise since he and the Cash Money Millionaires are responsible for coining the now ubiquitous term "bling bling." Which makes perfect sense since Baby says bling is his "passion" in life.

Besides the costs associated with the oral surgery and the diamonds, Baby also has an insurance policy on his new evil grin estimated at around $700K.

With a price tag like that, Baby's tooth fairy better have the last name Trump.

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