Happy Haunting

Have a great Halloween! I hope you get visited by lots of creative kiddos, or maybe go out a get to be one! See you next week!

BIG is cool

Lately I've really been into math. No, not solving problems, or giving headaches to those allergic to it. I am talking about the perfect things in math... like impossible shapes and perfect proportions. So just as my fascination with things like mobius strip started dieing down, I found a late project by a dutch studio called BIG. Bjarke Ingels Group – BIG - is a Copenhagen based group that creates very awesome conceptual architecture projects. So they took my dreams of doing something cool with a mobius strip and did it-- it is a concept for the Danish pavilion in Shanghai EXPO 2010. It is not just an exhibit space, it is an introduction to the lifestyle. It presents Copenhagen's best attractions--the city bike, the harbor bath, the ecological picnic...The structure will present a linear exhibition following a continuous curve, when the second loop will offer a roof terrace, bike parking and a velodrome. Loops of the structure are designed to be interconnected t create continuity between inside and outside--pedestrians and bicyclists. During the expo there will be 1500 city bikes available for the visitor's use, and they will be able to ride, to smell the seawater from the Copenhagen harbor that will fill the harbor bath, and view the original Little Mermaid sculpture that will be placed at the heart of it. I wish I could be there for that Expo, because I really want to experience what that pavilion feels like. Hopefully a little breath of sustainability will go a long way. Good work BIG!

SPAcer is a space saver

SPAcer is a spa bath designed by Dominik Chojnacki. According to Dominik it was inspired by 2 raindrops, but the shape also can be seen as resembling a bean, or a nut. In other words something totally natural and organic. I find shapes like that very soothing and great for a home. And aside from great design this one is ergonomically well engineered and a space saver. It can be folded up when you are not using it. Awesome! Here via Yanko Design.

Fabulous Linguine...

One of really neat italian designers Fabio Novembre has designed a space for a retail location selling shoes. So shoes and awesome interior design.... its design lover's heaven :)
The result is amazing visually, very unusual, and yet successful, because increase in sales doesn't lie. Fabio says its shoelaces that inspired him. Sorry Fabio, I see macaroni, but I love your work.

Great Design from South Africa

Foxp2 agency in South African Republic developed "Tough Enough" campaign for MasterLock. And it is good. 2 Thumbs up to clever designers at Foxp2. Here are a couple pieces of their work.

Harry Potter's past, Vogue is present

Emma Watson is this issue's feature of Vogue Italia. And she looks everything but Harry Potter-esc. Generally I like what Vogue photographers, stylists and finishers do, but this time I think they were on a mission to make a woman out of a teenager and no amount of makeup was too great. In spite of her looking a bit old for her own good, Mark Seliger's work might have just increased her market value in the casting pool. She seems versatile and capable of being lots of different things. I look forward to what casting offers she will get from movie studios as a result of this photoshoot. Good work!

Geeks of the world rejoice

So today I stumbled upon these wonderfully designed coffee cups that have a very peculiar look-- the look of forums, blogs, and other social chatty entities of 21 century-- they are modeled after smileys. Very smart! So now you can express yourself in the real world just like you do online. Done by the creative team Psyho over in Ukraine.

Beauty kills...

And in this case, quite literally.
I got an e mail from my awesome husband with a link to a post about a very special handgun that was engraved in 1975 by Colt master engraver Leonard Francolini. This particular exemplar is themed very fittingly for this month - its named "Vampire Exterminator Gun". It has one of the most elaborate engravings I've seen on weaponry. It sports images of dragons, bats and flora of Transylvania itself. What a beauty! Read the full post about it here.

Pretty pretty phone

I use my cell every day, million times a day, and my little Sanyo has served me well. But unfortunately I am starting to think I'd like a blue-tooth compatible one, so I've been keeping my eyes open for new phones on the market. And today I spotted this beauty-- new exclusive phone from Motorola. Inspired by luxury jewelry brands, Aura has a lot to be proud of. It has beautifully etched stainless steel body, world's first 16 million color circular display that is covered with a sapphire crystal lens. And thats of course in addition to all the now-common features, like stereo bluetooth, camera, USB port, multimedia player.... To top it off, it has swiss-made main bearing and over 700 individual components. Pretty impressive, and it has an impressive price of $2000. Motorola is mighty proud of this product. And they should be-- luxury watches, luxury cars, luxury anything... and now they've opened the door to the new luxury market-- phones. Smart! And very beautiful!

Who knew bike helmets could be that pretty

Fabulous Gabrielle Blair at Design Mom had a really neat posting today. It is about bike helmets. And for all of us who get excited over good design-- really cute helmets. I mean Gyro and Bell make great ones, assuming you are sporting a jersey and a pair of biking shorts, but what about riding around town?! The solution is Yakkay. What a smart product! Yay for creative designers at Yakkay.

Dishlamp

When I stumbled upon this lamp collection first thing that came to mind was good old college days with joys of roommates and dirty plates. But kidding aside, those lamps are really something! Great form, even greater concept. Designed by the Bureau Belenko those lamps are really good addition to their portfolio. They work in architecture field, and ventures in product design are far and few in between, but boy I wish they did it more often.

Lamborghini ESTOQUE

FLYLIF is very impressed with this new Italian baby, and gives in a pretty flatulent review. All I have to say is that I like it. Simply like it-- clean lines, very harmonious forms. Its a full blooded sports car, but at the same time has an advantage of being a 4 door sedan. So its well designed and practical... not a combination you see around very often. Yay for good designers at Lamnorghini

Money well spent

I was browsing through a few pieces of advertising design recently brought to the world by the Polish offices of LOWE. Most are very quirky, very bright pieces of advertising, but some of them were rather plain, which made me wonder if hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on those campaigns were really worth it. But immediately after I saw a collection of ads put together by An jay at Smashing Gaps. So the final word on the money spent is that is totally worth every penny! Here are some of my favorites...
Healthier Scotland
Monster.Com - Stuck in the wrong job
Nintendo - GameBoy Advance
Nissan

Braun - Why work when you can create?
Career Junction - Put your skills to better use
Against Abuse Inc - More than 300,000 children are sexually abused in Germany every year.
Fiat - Uncover life. Fiat stilo with sky window
Dove - Unstick your style