Product Pick Of The Week: Your Own Signature SIGG Water Bottle!

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

mySIGG.com

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 from 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!

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 of their 'to die for' items:

Above: one of only seven 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 and Beautiful Move by Pentagram.

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.
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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.”


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.


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





above: 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

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Company Pick Of The Week: Celery 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.


above: 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; An interactive website which is 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.

above: 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'....