For Gift Guide Day 21, i teamed up with RUGenius to bring you some of our favorite nature inspired finds, this is only part one, since as far as flora and fauna go, we accidentally filled today with fauna… so part two focused on flora coming tomorrow! And as a side note, i’m a bit disappointed i can’t REALLY buy a crocodile for $50, a sheep for $45, or a camel for $175… well i can, just not ship it to a friend as a surprise… loving the Oxfam America Unwrapped initiative though.

Mumm suddenly has me antsy to go on an expedition… Mumm Expedition Kit: “An echo of the leather knapsacks used by 19th century explorers in Africa, the kit consists of a stylishly simple bag in brown leather. The bag’s lower half forms an insulated compartment to keep your bottle of G.H. Mumm champagne cool for up to 12 hours. You’ll also find a small, brown leather tray and two unbreakable flutes in the bag, ensuring refreshment is always at hand, whatever the location. The kit includes other explorer essentials, such as a compass and a map of the Reims area printed on silk.” Mmmm, champagne, a compass, and a silk map encased in leather… quite the expedition, no?

Sam just emailed me about this incredibly mesmerizing paper animation by Olivier Gondry for Beringer Vineyard - it will make you want to drink wine and crush paper. View it here.

Gift Guide Day 22! our sponsor is Balmuda ~ we showed you their X-Base laptop stand a while back, and since then they have launched their new Highrise desk lamp that is worth taking a look at for those on your gift list that live at their monitor(s)… an ultra bright led lamp, with this interesting details i have yet to try myself - “The color emitted by Highwire matches the color of a computer display therefore, the display is not distorted. The light coming from Highwire does not include infrared rays and so emits less heat.” Also check out some of their sweet cable organizing pieces available in japan in the guide… and as with all of them, click the products to find out more!

Click the images to find out more! Since i am a total slacker and i decided to take the day off and drive down to LA from SF… then have more fun prepping some packages and gift cards for mailing (SO fun!) instead of scouring the internet for some posting, or actually downloading and cleaning up some photos off the dslr… in order to avoid the back to back gift guide posts, here’s a massive roundup of buy-ables from .org! First thing i will definitely need to do once tagging and better categorizing and all that classification related stuff gets sorted out - a tag for things we can buy… instant personal catalog to make gift guiding and shopping (for both me and you!) much easier.

Gift Guide Day 23 is more Mimobots than i’ve ever tried putting on one page, and it was far too fun to make this sponsored day! (Especially with the new second series of Star Wars Mimobots that just launched yesterday!)… Anyhow take a look at the new guide… my Ramona still hangs out below my monitor, and honestly these little guys are one of my fun stocking stuffer backup gifts - not just toys - not just usb keys - but filled with digital goodies that correspond to your character of choice.

NOTCOT Note: Here’s another article from Anna Corpron of Sub-Studio!

I have long admired Eric Feng’s (aka Feric) illustrations. His work is gorgeous - a mixture of real and imagined and of natural and mechanical. I love the fantastical, mechanical anatomies of his characters, and how you are given a peek at what is beneath through transparent layering.

Limited edition giclée prints of Feric’s work are available at his online store. They are fairly pricey for a digital print, but I could almost be tempted because I love some of his pieces so much (“Roda. Continue” - I’m talking about you!). Worth checking out at the very least!

Roda. Continue | fevolution II. Sea horse

fevolution II. Two dream to one

Here’s an embarrassing thing to admit: yes, i am obsessed with great product/user experience design, but for some reason i never got totally obsessive when it came to architecture… but i LOVE going to architectural exhibitions to see what little people, trees, and cars they used, and taking super close up images of their worlds. Well, continuing that 2D Ring trend, these metal silhouettes for architectural projects are just genius. I spotted these over at Modellfiguren are by Haseform. And at a mere 5 euro for a sheet, who can say no? You can buy them at modular.

“subzero came from a look at the psychology of populations. and well, myself….seemingly conscious, educated and caring, but completely paralyzed by the understanding of a lawless administration, various nations at war, a planet reaching boiling point, and it all seems out of control. Subzero does nothing; Less Than Nothing. He is depressed from his incapacity to affect anything. In the end it’s a call to arms really but for now he remains motionless, frustrated, mad, and simply bummed out.”

This limited edition of 10 porcelain slip cast characters is from NOTCOT fav, Michael Salter (remember his incredible recycled packing styrofoam robot guys?). These will be shown at his first solo exhibition in NYC starting January 10th at the Jeff Bailey Gallery in Chelsea… and if you make it over there you’ll also get to see one of his 12 ft (yes, you read that right) Styrobots… as well as drawings, animations, and kinetic sculptures! Anyhow, i’m kind of loving the packaging and his description of the subzero’s, and how they are exactly what i wake up every morning and try to be a little better than… poor poor subzero. Also, how awesome is that shark patterned one? (extra close up pic below!)

NOTCOT Note: Here is our second post from our new contributor Dara Lang (who i just told you a little bit about in the last post)!

Conroy and Wilcox, two designers from New York have designed this stylish Thorn cuff bracelet. Coinciding with the up and coming trend, glam rock, Conroy and Wilcox have successfully achieved the marriage of two very contradicting styles. Its versatile design can appeal to both men and women and if you look closely, each thorn is slightly slanted, creating a subtle wave in the pattern. This beautiful thorn cuff bracelet not only screams out Rock and Roll, it echoes a touch of allure! Available in 18k yellow (see below) and in white gold (see above).

And there is also a Thorn Ring as well…

NOTCOT Note: Here is the first post from guest contributor Dara Lang who is currently exploring London while studying fashion promotion! A fellow globetrotter, she has lived in Brussels and Paris, is half egyptian and half english, and is just as crazy as we are when it comes to finding new things… i love that she will take a bus and get off on every stop to find the coolest unknown spots in London. Anyhow, more on her later…

Behold London’s newest concept store, Wonder Room which has just opened in Selfridges department store in the heart of Oxford Street. Spontaneous, unique and entertaining this 19,000 square foot space is dedicated to luxury items. From designer AreaWare ashtrays, Bedside Gun Lamp by Philippe Starck and18 carat gold Ipods, The Wonder Room brings together exquisite products! From fine jewelery brands such as Tiffany & Co, finely crafted watches by Breitling, high fashion brands sunglasses and handbags including Chanel and Bvlgari, the rooms has a beautiful mix of high end items. Everything in this room has value, whether it being a quirky toy or an unusual book on flowers, its wide selection of products is perfect for precious gifts. And for those of you who can’t make it over yet, see more pics below! Also take a look at the podcasts section where Wanda of the Wonder Room hunts for dragons, magic beans, cats that turn into unicorns… and other Wonder Room requests of that nature.

This is Wanda of the Wonder Room! See the Podcasts

Latest gadget to make it across my desk (and on my many road trips this last week) ~ the Happy Ear Flamingo. Ok get over the name, and moving along… while i’ve tried my share of bluetooth ear pieces, i was intrigued by this one because they decided to try something new with the way it actually stays in place… instead of inserting something directly into your ear canal, this one has two nubs that hook into the space above and below (look at the diagrams below to make more sense of it), and testing it on road trips from la-sd-sf its been working great. On silly features that won me over, the charging base is magnetic, so it just snaps right into where it needs to be to charge. Also sound quality has been great, and it really doesn’t get tangled in your hair, etc ~ it was quite comfortable having that straight part hang straight against my face, i guess making it look like a flamingo with one leg up next to my head? Anyhow, the blister packaging didn’t do much for me, but the comfort, stability, and sound quality of the headset impressed me.

Woohoo! We’re at Gift Guide Day 24 (gotta motivate myself, 31 feels like a lot of days) - and today i’m excited to share my picks from our sponsor Audiocubes, who you’ve seen a bit in our tags the last few months ~ they’ve been very kind in supporting what we do! And they are our go to store for audio goods and crazy japanese gadgetry (in fact we were shopping there before they even approached us!). And just to get you started on all the goodies in today’s gift guide, for anyone who hasn’t seen how this freaky Facebank works… check out the video below!

Ok, i’m not sure how today became cartoon/illustration day at NOTCOT, but i’m not going to fight it… the ninjatowners, star wars mimos, and now these 2010 olympics mascots are far too good not to post! But back to the subject at hand, i just saw these on .org and click over to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics site and watched the video… and can’t stop smiling. So meet Miga, the strangely small orca that pulled a little mermaid and traded tail for legs… Quatchi, the giant shy sasquatch… and Sumi, the guardian spirit with the adorable sidekick. And if the illustration style seems a bit familiar, it is because illustration duo Meomi is behind them, who was also behind children’s book The Octonauts. Anyhow, more images below, and a collage of screenshots from the intro vid!

Luke has a helmet! With a normal head under… and Leia’s buns! Ok that was my first impression between fits of giggles as i opened the Preordering is available now, but they won’t be shipping until January.

Ooooh update on NINJATOWN! Remember i told you about the upcoming Nintendo DS Ninjatown game and the crazy cast of ninjas living there? Well, although you’re still going to have to wait till Fall 08 for the game, the blind box microplushes of the whole cast are dropping Nov 30th! Here are some sneak peeks at what you’ll get for $5.95 a box!

Oh! And wouldn’t these make awesome xmas tree/Hanukkah bush ornaments? Or better yet, i think it’d be fun to just sneak around and leave ninja’s in random trees.

Gift Guide Day 25 and counting down… i’m excited to present the Elsewares page! These guys have been one of my favorite stores since back in 06, and were a huge support when it came to NOTed, our first photoshoot ~ and we lucked out that they happened to be across the street and believed in our experiment as vague as it sounded! Anyhow, check out today’s gift guide to see some of my favorite products they’re currently stocking! (And yes, they were kind enough to help sponsor the gift guide as well ~ and for any that missed the announcement yesterday, of the 31 days, all of our 9 sponsors get one day where i show you my favorites from there stores, and so you get a chance to see these earlier, this will be a full sponsor week! Until i got nuts with randomness on the weekend again…)

As much as i’m not a snow person, when i saw this incredible fold up sled with shock absorbers on Born Rich, i suddenly wanted to be bouncing and sliding down a snow covered hillside… Some great quotes from their site “Only 6 1/3” flat when folded. Take it from the boot to the piste in a jiffy.” - “Corrosion-resistant aluminium andbreak-proof polycarbonate.” - “No longer miss out on high-speed sledging fun, just because there is no space for bulky sledges in your car.”

“Give Good Food to your Mac” time… basically a series of developers met up at WWDC and have teamed up to offer you discounts on bundles up to 70% off for about 12 days… “While San Francisco was getting ready for the grand opening of Pixar’s new movie Ratatouille, with a smell of French Cuisine in the air, we had the idea of organizing a great Mac feast with Mac apps made by the top European developers. ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’ was born. ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’ is a community action where independent Mac developers come together and build this exciting project : for about 12 days, every Mac users are able to download and taste more than 25 great Mac applications and enjoy discounts ranging from 30 to 70%.”

What’s on the menu? Remote Buddy, Personal Trader, CoverScout, Magnet, Morphage, iDive, Expert Wine Cellar, iStopMotion, Cheetah 3D, Banner Zest, VideoPier, PulpMotion, CSSEdit, Contactizer Pro/Express, GeoPhoto, Merlin, RapidWeaver, Freeway 4 Express/Pro, Money, Art Text, FotoMagico, Feeder, Together, Pixelmator, Tables, and Unity Indie.

Gift Guide Day 26 ~ are my picks from our sponsor Delight! Since someone asked on the last post ~ just to clarify (sorry i was slow about this, its been a crazy week) ~ all sponsors are stores i already admired and love, and during the gift guide’s 31 days i will dedicate one day to each sponsor where you get to see my picks from their stores (*luckily the stores trust my taste and let me do this*). Today, i’ve filled the guide with products from their Editor’s Picks which are always available… but don’t forget about their New Arrivals, because Delight launches a new product every day at noon (and keeps them in the store for 30 days, or until sold out, whichever comes first).

2D looking rings… love em? hate em? What’s your take on this trend of silhouettes and handscapes? Since every time a new one comes out, people seem quite into them, i needed to collage them all for some perspective, and i love them all as a means of creating a mini puppet show or diorama on my fingers, but i’m not sure about sporting them around town regularly (particularly for the sake of my knit goods who are unlikely to survive!). So here we have: Alissia MT Diamond Rings in plastic and silver (also available in gold), Blank & Reed’s Bling Rings (in Bird and Bitch), Zelda Beauchampet’s Handscapes, and Soop’s City Farm (etsy store launching the 30th of Nov). There’s something so pretty about seeing them all together, can’t you imagine the story your punch could tell if you arranged them right?

Noon Solar. Just in time for holiday wishlists… a line of solar bags that look great. I am currently debating whether to order the black Cortland Tote…. and they were smart enough to put the solar panel on one side so you can easily choose whether to face it outwards, or have it face your body and look like a sleek leather tote… well a tote with “entire exterior and interior constructed from Bavarian sourced, chrome-free, naturally tanned and dyed, full-grain cowhide leather and naturally dyed hemp cotton blend” to be precise. It looks like the perfect size for a 15” macbook pro… close ups below of the bags and the technology within… read more about the solar power and battery pack here. Also a great potential gift for the men in your life… their Logan Satchel in brown. Isn’t it about time someone put solar panels to aethetically appealing use? (Yes, i’m thinking of you, ugly solar backpacks.)

Close ups of the Cortland Tote.

Here’s the Logan Satchel.

Here is what the battery inside the bag looks like…

On a bright, sunny day the battery should be fully charged in 6-8 hours. On a cloudy day the battery will require a bit more time. The battery pack will hold the sun’s energy for several days.

Please select the correct output voltage on the side of the box. When you plug in the provided USB cable or iPod cable, the box will switch from power saver mode to work mode. Please unplug these cables when not charging your mobile phone or iPod in order to save power.
iPods

If you are charging an iPod, please plug in the iPod cable and then attach your iPod to the end. The iPod should show a charging indicator similar to the one shown while being charged from a wall socket.
Phones

If you are charging a mobile phone or other device, please select the correct USB adapter (see a list of provided phone model tips [PDF]) and plug it into the end of the USB cable. Plug the cable into the top of the Power Bank, then plug in your device. Your device should show a charging indicator similar to the one shown while being charged with a wall socket.

By now i’m sure you’ve heard about and seen the flashy Virgin America website and all the sweet goodies they’ve packed on to their flights - from the plugs at every seat, the neon purple/blue mood lighting, ordering drinks, movies, and tvshows with the swipe of a credit card, seat to seat chat (yes. imagine the possibilities… close quarters stalker possibilities on a long flight?!?!), google maps to track where you are, and even the cutest animated saftey video (youtube below). Anyhow, i got a chance to fly Virgin America for the super quick flight up to SFO from LAX for the Oakley event… and since my hour long flight was delayed another hour (sf fog!) i took some pics of the plane, my empty row, and the RED Entertainment UI while i was sitting in there. (I also found a nice little video of the UI in action on Youtube).

Awesome saftey video! Adorable animation, and just as cheeky as you’d expect from Virgin…

Here’s that neon purple/blue “mood” lighting…

My empty row… with the glossy white seat backs, and black leather seats…

Even the call button, lights, air, etc were nicely designed…

Lined up with the wing, there were cute american flags to see…

The remote in the armrest…

… and on my lap… there is even a www button for the not yet ready web access!!! as well as full keyboard on the flipside.

Here’s a video of the entertainment system in action… and then slightly ghetto screenshots below it…

Google maps to show you where you are! (painful to use, trying to navigate around was not nearly as nice as any other implementation…. ) also unlike the video that looks like its using a mouse, the screens are all touch sensitive…

Here are your TALK options… (email and text not yet available)

You can even pick your screenname

and pick ANY seat you want to talk to! Yes, the paranoid girl in me came up with many ways you can drive people crazy during a flight now… and can we say “inter-flight spam”?

terrible pic of the chat room (i was too shy to invite anyone random in)

You can even play games like DOOM!

And buy premium TV (things like greys anatomy, dexter, bones)

… and movies…

or watch live satellite tv!

You can buy your snacks with a click and a credit card swipe…

… and your drinks.

They even went to town with all the icons for each radio station… they have EVERYTHING…. down to canton/j/k pop variations

And here is the quick menu/site map of all your options!

Wow thanksgiving was a bit different this year. Apparently technology = bonding? Was this true for you too? Did your wii, xbox 360, and cell phones change the social dynamic of the feasting?

I haven’t done a big family one (or been in the states for it) much the last decade… so it was funny to see everyone all grown up and out of college at my aunts, and we had a new set of young ones (twins 7 and 4) and all of us 20 somethings to entertain them. Just thinking back on what we did as kids at thanksgiving… we probably ran around outside - pool/basketball/tennis/etc, built forts, board games? movies? played lots of mortal kombat, sonic, etc? Well it certainly feels like times have changed… i brought down a plate of cookies and a basket of wii games as my contribution… the cousins had the wii projected on the wall ~ and hours were spent introducing newbies (who quickly got competitive!) to wii golf, tennis, and guitar hero… (fascinating watching how quickly even the 4 year olds would pick up mii making and game playing - not to mention how impressive the 7 year olds were at guitar hero)… the older generation was singing along… and when the little ones got bored early at dinner ~ their instant amusement? Borrowing camera phones and running around taking pictures and asking to keep them (i was slightly surprised they weren’t emailing them to themselves)…

Anyhow, i wasn’t the only one… Dan flew out to see family in Virginia and brought the wii and everything to go with it… and over at Joystiq, Ross has a great post on bringing Rock Band to his family feast (love checking out the images and the full family review of the new game)… and my old boss was even going to throw a Rock Band Party for Black Friday (momentarily postponed!)… Anyhow, just a quick post to reminisce… and ponder what we did back in the day?!?! So i guess i should have really added Rock Band and Guitar Hero to the Thanksgiving survival gift guide, but at least i had the wii!

Oh and on guitar hero ~ quite possibly the best Will It Blend to date is the one below of the GUITAR being blended. Must watch.

Gift Guide 27 is a page of designer tech accessories to explore ~ from hulger’s bluetooth phones and toyo ito’s usb hub to the ultimate shell to hide your video game controllers in plain site and the lelo elise pleasure object…

I can’t stop giggling. The latest Barney’s Babble Live cracked me up… only Simon Doonan (Barney’s Creative Director) can get away with asking things like whether these “sequins are made of tofu by blind lesbians” seriously… and then look at Julie Gilhart (Barney’s Fashion Director) and as seriously as he discusses her future relationship with Prince Charles (her future *green* husband) he asks her “Do you have a composting toilet at home, Julie?”… and tells her how he can feel the sheep (as sheep dances by) in the ecological wool scarf. All with a little green gnome sitting between them. OH, and the intro and exit music feel straight from one of those claymation rudolph/snowman films of my childhood… so cute.

Anyhow, stepping back ~ Barney’s has gone green this holiday season, and i’ve been swooning over their fonts and catalog layouts… and then further browsing the awesome Green Holiday catalog, i ended up watching the video ~ both of which include everything from Arbor skateboards and this great green Goyard Matellier Depuis Recyclable Canvas bag of all natural materials and a recycle logo, to the new Loomstate for Barneys Green line, Phillip Lim’s organic dress, and more. So see below for my favorite pages of the catalog, and some of the graphics from their mailers, gift cards, video and more.

Day 28 ~ Today i present you with a playful collage of products i think few creatives won’t find at least slightly amusing… everything from the VISUALIZE Bat and the Little Know It All book to inspiring calendars and Critbuns…

Swims. First impression? Are these the tuxedos of crocs? Can i really go puddle jumping with these and protect my nice shoes (that aren’t heels.)? Love the photography! and web design! (particularly the way you access the gallery with the little stack of images on the far right. And then from there, i actually started reading… The Swims story is an interesting one of Johan, who grew up in norway and never let go of the galoshes that his grandfather had passed down to him… and as he moved to paris and new york and even put in his time at Parson’s he realized that there was a need to develop Swims, the “modern galoshes”. Being a socal girl, i have never gotten quite caught up on the vocabulary of people with “real weather”… apparently Galoshes are “overshoes that slip over the wearer’s indoor footwear but is made of waterproof material to protect the more delicate materials of the shoe as well as the wearer’s foot from cold and damp”.

Fun detail other than great packaging… the “ballerina” version for ladies leaves trees where you step… and see some of my favorite images from their catalog below as well as close ups. And i know these are one of the trend blog post subjects that are everywhere this week, but they were so cool and no one covered the great photography aspect, so i couldn’t resist.

Day 29 of our ambitious gift guide features the eco friendly Tope* Wallets of db clay. We’ve reviewed and shown you the great packaging previously, and after a few months of use, the boys of NOTCOT are still using them, and they are certainly a nice alternative to leather, and for those who like the subtle yet detailed, the Puzzle collection that just launched featuring 500 unique hand printed wallets! You can see some of my favorites in today’s gift guide! (Oh, and as always, click the pictures to find out more info.)

On new excuses to travel ~ my latest is to go to Europe via Frankfurt airport, because they just got the largest Porsche Design airport store. This is the latest addition to their rapidly expanding line of airport franchises currently in airports such as Munich, Vienna, London, Moscow, Dubai and Hong Kong. In 2008, new stores are to be opened in Zurich, Copenhagen and Manchester. These are in addition to their retail stores which are currently in Hamburg, Tokyo, Berlin, London, and New York. It’s been fascinating to see how airports have quickly been evolving into high end malls of sorts, and how can we resist jetsetting to shop the airports as well as the cities? So next time you’re in FRA - look for the new Porsche Design Store, “the 145 square meter store is on the second level of Hall B, on the so-called “landing side” of the airport, the area that is generally accessible without security checks.”

Gift Guide Day 30 and counting down… since it’s Thanksgiving, in addition to food, that means dealing with family, food comas, heinous traveling… so what better than some gifts (gifts for yourself can still count as gifts) to help with relaxing, distracting, amusing, and ultimately survive the holidays!

Seeing how its already Thanksgiving, it seems improper not to show some food on the site… so here is a roundup to help inspire any last minute Thanksgiving cooking - as found on TasteSpotting. Click the pics to find out what, how, etc… and happy Feasting!

(and click here to see ALL Thanksgiving related posts!)

Remember the Keyport? Well the kit for the limited edition just showed up today - basically make copies of keys you want in the device, put them on the ring, stick the stickers on then, give a description, pop them back in the padded envelope, and fedex it away! The “I use this key for” section makes me pretty nervous (as if sending keys doesn’t already - even valet parking makes me nervous… we all watch our share of spy/con flicks, it’s so easy to get in where you want to… between lock picks and social hacking… especially if people will send you the keys AND a description of which are for what?)… i wonder if all they are really asking is what type of car if its a car key… the rest should be self explanatory to a locksmith right? But i am super curious about what the final product will look like… Well, at least they aren’t asking for pictures of the corresponding locks and lock locations with video proving the keys work… Anyhow, thought you’d be interested to see the next step of the Keyport, Happy almost turkey day.

Click the pics to find out more! In addition to weeks of Gift Guiding to come, here is a roundup of giftable goodies from NOTCOT.org recently!

My stencil, my spray paint, and i just went to town on a pile of boxes. Because i can! And because i’m a little zoned today after traveling last night then gift guiding till 5am… and there is something so calming and fun about not staring at a screen and spray painting! And if you happen to need boxes for art projects or gifting… just hit up the post office, they’ll fill up your car for you! Spray paint as gift wrap, and reusing the packing materials from the packages i’ve had this year is my way of reusing and wasting less than possible… bottom line really is that snail mail SO beats email. So while i’m not telling you anything about what these boxes are for or what they will be filled with, just wanted to to say ~ get away from your screens and go spray something or make something…

There have been quite a few questions about what the music on the NOTCOT Gift Guide is… so here’s the deal. The musical masterminds of Burst Labs (remember we wrote about their sweet flash music browsing nav?) have put together some Naughty + Nice twists on holiday classics which they’ve shared with our gift guide… read more about it on their blog post:

Favorites from the Naughty side :
* a Fela Kuti inspired version of Good King Wenceslas
* Joy To The World at a bar mitzvah?!
* trip hop and dub flavored O Come O Come Emmanuel
* our take on the New Year’s Eve standard Auld Lang Syne is sprinkled with more cabaret fairy dust than Michael Jeter dipped in powdered sugar

The Nice selections of Christmas music include :
* The Brightest Of Stars, a bouquet of warm and gooey spiritual Christmas sauce featuring members of The Farewell Circuit
* God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen has a gruff male vocal and an acoustic backing band
* It Came Upon A Midnight Clear features a confident but relaxed female singer

Everyone’s doing it ~ so here’s our gift guide too. Since i’ve never tried doing this before ~ and apparently i got a bit ambitious in my initial mockup… ours are a bunch of collages, with hand written notes, an exclusive playlist from Burst Labs’ “Naughty or Nice”, and you can click on any image to go read more… oh, and did i mention i’m apparently going to try to do one of these every day for 31 one days? Weekends too! It’s 5am, and i think i just got it all set up… so here we go with day 31 in the countdown (which means we will be ending Dec 21)… so take a peek at our first sponsor Charles & Marie… we have a line up of great sponsors (all friends of NOTCOT with products we love)… and mixed in between will be just some random themes of products we think would make fun gifts (or things we want).

On unexpected things ~ i’ve been having a lot of conversations with mid-20 something guys about high priced watches, particularly those who didn’t grow up with them, and the desperate coveting of high end watches as status symbols, followed by the implication that that watch would get them some. And i’ve been mocking them all, but after this weekend - OK, i take it back, maybe the watch thing *can* work. The unexpected stand out from this Oakley weekend is definitely the Oakley Minute Machine. It caused some amusing drama at the after party, and perhaps that IS the best marketing strategy, after all that now even i find myself curious about it… well the Oakley Minute Machine Diamond Dial Edition ($3,500) anyhow (left watch)… although the Black face Titanium Edition ($1,195) is tempting too (right watch)… then there is the Unobtanium Edition($995).

Freshly back in LA, and slightly scared to wear my Tom Fords… as i told you earlier, i just spent two nights up in Half Moon Bay with the Oakley crew at their golf tournament, where i got to check out the Rolling O Lab. Now, i already showed you the *fun* side of the O Lab, here’s the fascinating rolling research lab in a trailer… it will really bring out the hands on science geek in anyone. I tried to get pics of all the fun bits to share with you… but here’s the cliff notes version before we get into the show and tell: if something blasts you in the face, most glasses will stab you in the eye - Oakley lenses just scratch slightly… if you lay down and drop a nearly 2 pound pointed weight on your glasses, you will have something sharp sticking out of your eye - Oakley lenses just get a dent… if you point lasers through the lenses to emulate your vision, the Oakleys actually meet at a point as they should - the others (and we put our random glasses on) were all over the place meaning your eyes are overcompensating (so THAT’s why some glasses give you headaches quickly)… ok ok there’s more, and it was all rather fascinating to me, so please don’t mind the ranting… see pics below - of inside the lab, and also the GIANT corona bottle that was at the first hole.

Ok first things first ~ i’m just giving you the quick layman’s version of what i recall… for the scientific details drop the folks at Oakley a line. (i.e. for all the different standards and tests they go by for their standard glasses vs the even higher standards for military grade glasses they make vs which sports team helmets/goggles/etc standards there are)

This is the machine that shoots ballbearings at the lenses ~ it’s a pretty crazy case, and as you can imagine all other glasses were shooting glass shrapnel everywhere. Unbelievable was that the standard oakleys barely showed a scratch.

Here is where a nearly 2 pound pointed weight was dropped about 4 feet on the lens… see the holes in the por dummy’s eyes? and broken glass around his head? Thats what happened to the other glasses (and the noise really made me jump a good foot in the air)… see the dent the oakleys got? in that square, the top left is before, the top right is after… and below that is the close up.

Here are the dents from various lenses going through the drop test… (see why i’m now mildly horrified at the idea of wearing glasses and having a pebble bounce out from under a truck and ending up with an eyeful of glass?!?!)

These are the two machines that test the lasers lining up and the clarity/focus.

This is where the lasers shot out from the dummy’s eyes ~ and you can see how they are supposed to meet as one… as for the others, hey were separating and some were higher/lower/all over the place… nike’s even have the opposite problem and make you kind of cross eyed…

Here you can see some of the many competitors glasses that they had to try ~ and it’s not rigged, they’ll put any glasses you have up to the test.

Here is the screen to test the clarity of the lens… i didn’t even try taking pics of it with glasses on it, because between the tints and distortion, you’d probably just tell me i was the worst photographer ever.

This was where they demonstrated the difference between their polaroid lenses and others… Here you can see that for theirs they found that the materials for their lenses and polaroid material are very similar so instead of going for the over layered glueing/sandwiching techniques that others use (see next pic, and you can only imagine how much worse the distortion gets) - but they now have a patented technique to molecularly bond the two into one solid layer through infusion molding.

See? Sandwiching and layering and all that madness.

I know this probably isn’t new news to you, and the pictures may not even do it all justice, but it was fascinating to see all of this and hear the stories… and you know everyone loves a good hands on demonstration with projectiles and optics… and i didn’t even get to the parts about Oakley and Transitions ~ and UV blocking ~ and the shaping of the glasses around the lenses when designing… and well yea… go see the Rolling O Lab yourself! I guess i’m just a sucker for where the design, technology, and functionality all play such large rolls in a product.

The O Lab is ready for rain and shine.

Here’s the interior of the O Lab.

The corona was HUGE at the 1st hole… and it fell over at one point too… everyone swears it was the wind…

Here are the boys of the O Lab ~ currently this is the one and only, but two more rolling O Labs are coming soon! So if you happen to go see these boys in salt lake ~ or at the upcoming UCLA/USC game, go say hi!

Here’s a video i just found of Bryan demoing the Oakley O Lab tests!

Oakley’s Rolling O Lab: The Science Of Sunglasses - The funniest videos are a click away

Uki International has some playfully modern hair styling tools ~ most noteworthy is this tiny “go on” 500 watt hair dryer that is a mere 9cm in length! and weighs in at only 110 grams. (see different angles of how adorable it is below) Also interesting is their Ionic 6000 that has apparently the “max ergonomics, allowed by double handle possibility” and is a powerful 1800/2000 watts and 21 cms in length. I also couldn’t resist sharing this technical coloration trolley, Moana, designed by Massimo Pizzoleo ~ which although it looks quite like a frog it is ready to go with two tinting brushes and a tin foil roll (see how it opens below).

On bizarre ways to kick off Thanksgiving week ~ i’m trying that whole “live blogging” thing from the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay today where Oakley is holding their Oakley Norcal Shootout, and there are some serious golfers out here! But i’m hiding out in the library/high tea room at the moment… the parts you’ll probably most interested in are their road crew of two large trailers that roam the states from event to event - fondly known as the Rolling O Lab… consider it a mini of the intense testing and research lab in their Foothill Ranch HQ! Anyhow, more on the research one soon… but first things first, take a look at this HUGE slick black Oakley’d out Freightliner they have hauling the lounge around? And take a look at the interior of the lounge ~ huge flat screens inside and out, comfy couches, surfboard, skateboard, kitchen, and even Oakley Tap for the kegerator. Not a bad way to travel around the states? (These guys are on the road 300+ days a year.) Anyhow, more pics below to give you a feel… check their schedule to see where you can run into them next (next stop Tahoe tomorrow, then salt lake, then the UCLA/USC game!)… Oh, and being a golf tournament… naturally Caddy Shack is playing.

I’ve been off t-shirts lately, we’ve been inunddated with them to the point that our closets can no longer handle it and its getting pretty wasteful! BUT the trend of in your face, bold, large fonts on tees to state your cause of the moment has been coming back in a huge way, and there are some pretty nice options out there. (Or perhaps i’ve just been more conscious of them since the Social Atelier launch) - I just noticed these Katharine Hamnett ones in Domino and the “MAKE TROUBLE question everything” Chomsky tee is terribly tempting as a holiday gift to everyone i know. Other favorites are Clean Up or Die (with skull!), STOP and THINK, EDUCATION not MISSILES, WORLD PEACE NOW, CHOOSE LIFE, SAVE the Rainforest, SAVE the SEA! Anyhow, you get the point, i don’t need to keep screaming them at you (do i?) ~ and sure its pretty easy to just grab a sharpie and go at a plain tshirt for a similar impact, so i’m really showing you the Katharine Hamnett line because i also love the way she’s shot the shirts on playful models (although a bit borderline AA) and has a sleek website. See more of my faves below!

Latest in toothbrush technology? Ultrasound. No, seriously… the Ultreo uses sonic vibrations plus ultrasound. And as much as initially i thought this might just be another crazy gimmick and I initially wanted to check it out b/c the packaging was interesting, and the new technology intriguing… I didn’t expect to actually be hooked on my teeth feeling this noticeably clean relative to the sonicare elite (i haven’t had a chance to compare this to that new sonicare flexcare, but its the same technology really, only less vibrations coming through and smaller?). Founded by Dr. Pierre Mourad (who has made his living finding novel applications for ultrasound and its ability to transform bubbles into miniature sources of mechanical energy) and Jack Gallagher (Ultreo’s CEO/President who was present of Phillips Oral Healthcare for a few years) and they brought on Dr. Christopher McInnes (Ultreo’s Principal Scientist who spent 12 years with Sonicare, and provided the fundamental science behind the Sonicare technology)… they have quite a team behind the Ultreo, which has just launched its first ultrasound toothbrush . Other than the incredible clean feeling (yes, i am running my tongue over my teeth in amazement still) ~ it’s impressive that it’s far less aggressive/harsh on your mouth, less vibrations, quieter and i was told the ultrasound technology creates tiny bubbles that blast away the plaque (see the comparison study images, more below)… and how does it work? It’s all about that orange transducer in the middle of the brush head. Really its hard to explain, and definitely worth trying to understand/feel for yourself…. images below of box scans, close ups of the charger, travel case, etc.

Along with the toothbrush, they also sent some press materials which included a booklet which summarized various research studies which had been done with the Ultreo… this particular one had the most interesting visuals - “Evaluation of ultrasound as a means to remove Streptococcus mutans biofilm”done by the University of Washington… it was fascinating to me that the purple image is without bristle contact.

They also have some interesting studies which showed that Ultreo is quite effective in removing extrinsic surface stains (good for coffee drinkers and smokers!) ~ and was shown to reduce gingivitis substantially compared to other toothbrushes.

Here are some scans from the actual box ~ they have some nice images and icons and simple explanations of what’s going on ~

Here is a closeup of their charger ~ which packs down pretty compactly

And when you want to travel with the Ultreo ~ here are some close ups of how it breaks down and how the travel case works:

On incredible temporary event spaces, the Smart House (home of the Smart Fortwo) is one of the coolest spaces around. Located on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach, surrounded by some of the cutest boutiques, restaurants, and bars and only a few blocks from the beach, its a pity this loft will only be around till january. I was lucky enough to make it to the A+R launch dinner where we had dinner at the Smart House and cooked with Hans Rockenwagner and Wolfgang Gussmack of Rockenwagner - outdoor on the patio as a group we helped “cook” (aka stir) an unbelievably delicious pasta paella. Additionally when not housing special functions the ground floor is a showroom (cars ready to test drive out back) and a gallery space (i must admit i was pretty giddy to be having dinner with two Catalina Estrada paintings behind me) ~ while i was there the ROJO Magazine Collaboration with Smart’s new Fortwo was up! “The new special issue is now ready. featuring a superb cover artwork by Catalina Estrada, plus 160 pages full of exclusive artwork by selected artists and inspired by the new smart fortwo. Artwork by: Catalina Estrada, MWM, Deanne Cheuk, Yoshi Sodeoka, Tofer, Alex Prager, Friends with You, Ben Summers, Dalek, Holly Stevenson, Chet Purtilar, Jemma Hostetler, Meomi, Yoshi Tajima, Evgeny Kiselev, Vanessa da Silva, Bruno 9li, Cristiano Trindade, Todd Tourso, Amir H. Fallah, Justine Ashbee, Sergei Sviatchenko.”

While that first main image if from the PR company (it was SO dark that night i was there)… below are some i took quickly (it was distracting, so many amazing people to talk to and things to look at ~ but it should give you a feel for the night)

Here are some interior shots ~

You can see the Smart Capsules machine here!

This is an awesome bubbly computer setup ~ so many great circles clustered

As you walk up the stairs you get a history of the Smart.

Heading up the stairs the second floor has a full kitchen and was set up for dining ~ you can see heading up to the third floor, there were more paintings…

Here is Mr. Rockenwagner himself starting off the paella ~ and there’s Andy from A+R

So delicious!

One of the tables set up for us ~

The full kitchen in the smart house is no joke either ~ (sorry about the lighting, the constant change of rainbow colors was a bit much!) ~ the expresso from that machine was good stuff.

And a few more PR pics ~ here’s the rest of the patio if you went past the Paella making… and i love that when you look up there’s a Smart Car hanging out up there.

The Catalina Estrada pieces in another spot ~ from a previous set up.

While over at the Smart House (home of the Smart Car) on Abbot Kinney for the A+R dinner, i noticed they had these great little capsules of Smart Stuff. In fact they even had playful Smart Capsule dispensers on the wall that took Smart Tokens. They were so cute, here are some pics of it all (more below).

These were at the desk up front and contained the Smart Keychains…

These were hanging on the wall, and seemed to contain Smart Lanyards.

In that interesting intersection of packaging, baking, gifting, dry+shippable… we have a unique twist on how to gift cookies. Without baking. And even get to have fun layering things together much like sand art as a kid where you layered various colored sand in glass? This first caught my eye in Glamour’s Dec 07 issue ~ and i tore out the page to come back to… and then browsing Neiman Marcus noticed that even THEY are doing it with their infamous internet urban legend of a chocolate chip recipe (more on both below). As usual, this got me on a little internet rampage googling up “gift in a jar” “mix in a jar” and there are a LOT of options and recipes out there… however, i must say most of my finds lead me to some pretty painfully hideous sites, and their recipes images were not that much nicer. So i’ll spare you. But as for the semi-crafty or low budgeted out there, i think we designers could do some really gorgeous things with this whole no-bake baking gifts concept… after all its really ALL in the packaging isn’t it? (If it doesn’t come out perfectly, maybe they baked it wrong!)… oh and if you’re truly lazy, you can probably just buy some nice packaging and repackage some betty crocker?

It’s always nice to find a story that incorporates great design and great business. Emily over at Baggu sent me this NYTimes article “From Boutique to Big Time” By Laurie J. Flynn… it’s the story of these beautiful Adiri Natural Nursers, the “Ultimate Baby Bottle”, basically “Your breast doesn’t feel like plastic. Why should your baby’s bottle?” They’ve designed a polycarbonate-free plastic nursing bottle that has a soft rubbery grip. From the business side, the interesting story of a yahoo lawyer who’s father passes away and leaves her the company.. and how she’s gone from a mom with a boutique business to learning to scale up to fulfill large orders from places like Babies R Us… Anyhow, its a good read, and it looks like they’ve really cleaned up the design with this new model. Check out the new Adiri Natural Nurser and the article.

here is the image from the article - Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Nabzatag ~ the crazy wifi bunnies we’ve been seeing for a while… apparently in the goodies section of their site they are anti-naked bunnies! Anyhow, a little random, but cute that they have pdfs for everything from paper clothes (i guess you could make them with cloth too) to stickers to decorate them (from eyebrows to mustaches to logo shirts ~ give them some character!).

Wow, and to think invisible ink and black lights used to be exciting… Dezeen has a great post about the annual report you have to bake in your oven in order to read… 25 minutes at 100 degrees to be precise. Croatian creative agency Bruketa & Zinić designed this annual report for food company Podravka - within the larger book there is a small booklet that is inserted inside the big one that contains the very heart of Podravka as a brand: great Podravka’s recipes. “To be able to cook like Podravka you need to be a precise cook. That is why the small Podravka booklet is printed in invisible, thermo-reactive ink. To be able to reveal Podravka’s secrets you need to cover the small booklet in aluminium foil and bake it at 100 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes.” The best part? For the imprecise or lazy… the book will BURN if overcooked, like any meal.

No one can dispute the fact that Brian McCarty is THE best toy photographer these days. His images are legendary, and they are the best portraits of toys you can find… check out some images from his 2008 calendar in collaboration with StrangeCo and MTV. See a preview of all 12 months here… and my favorites are below. Wow.

I just got the sweetest email from Claire Sambrook, a senior lecturer of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Portsmouth, and i’m not sure why, but i think its refreshing to have someone sharing their student’s work! I’ve had so many conversations recently about how there must be so many great student projects going unshown simply because they don’t know how to market themselves, or are shy and maybe don’t have much of an internet presence. Anyhow, she’s shared this interesting “Perfect Perch” by 22 year old James Chu, a third year student in product design. His goal is to fill a need for “portable, cheap, lightweight and eco-friendly furniture” and he’s thinking ahead already to all of the branding opportunities for these “Somewhere like Goodwood Racecourse could commission 1,000 carrying their name or a sponsor’s message and people could use them at the racecourse and then take them home afterwards. They would make excellent souvenirs.” The chairs have gone into production thanks to Hemingway Design and the South Coast Design Forum.

Rogue Status have teamed up to create a special release of 333 specially designed and numbered snowboards, and they are sweet enough to tempt me to buy one so i can make a gorgeous bench out of it in combination with Vitamin Living’s Powder Seat (picture below as well)… anyhow Rogue Status is most memorable to me for their guns as art patterned shirts, bicycle seats, hoodies, etc… and these boards are the perfect combination of both ~ gorgeous wood with subtle patterns, that upon closer inspection you realize are patterns of guns and and ammunition belts - and this whole collaboration is very local, both brands being based right here in Venice - it’s also nice to hear what mutual admiration they have for each other brands: “I’ve been a fan of Rogue’s approach to in your face, stop and think art since their tees started showing up around Venice,” said Arbor’s President, Bob Carlson. “For Arbor, guns as art, not instruments of urban destruction, is a message we embrace. So working with RS on a collaborative design has been a great way tell a larger story with our boards.” “Arbor is our local snowboard brand, they’re our friends, and they were the best choice when it came time to design a snowboard,” says, Yo Esbensen, Rogue’s President. “I’m into their use of real wood and bamboo, and their long-term dedication to using environmentally friendly materials.”

Wouldn’t that wood board look sweet on one of these?

Toy Me has some fun new pieces ~ from their newest collection the ones that grabbed me are the macho arm, robotino, and the sunglasses to hang your sunglasses from (at first they almost look like the tabs from soda cans)! The mini rayban wayfarers and even aviators are far too cute, definitely a fun add on gift if you’re gifting sunglasses this holiday season. Close ups below… and if Toy Me seems familiar, maybe you’re remember those sweet Hunting Trap bracelets and Tank Cufflinks!

Oooooh. Robin over at Bittersweets has outdone herself with this latest creation. (For a refresher, we’ve written about Bittersweets a few times over the years, and even featured her opening and also showcased her products in the gallery)… this Vampress is the diamond ring variation of our favorite pairs of Baby Vamp Rings (see my favorite picture from NOTed featuring them after the jump). There is a slight issue with the wearing the two thin bands and keeping the jaws perfectly aligned ~ a minor issue that is instantly solved by having them holding a diamond… so the holidays are around the corner! Buy one for your Vampress.

Remember this shot from NOTed? I think this was my favorite shot from the whole shoot.

I am apparently easily seduced by the right type… faces. Oh so many bad puns bouncing around my head right now. Pushing those aside… latest email from Veer had me drooling over Alejandro Paul’s latest typographic creation: Feel Script. There’s little i can say about it that you can’t experience better by seeing the examples in their slideshow ~ see my favorites below, as well as it’s story. I think he may be one of my favorite font designers these days ~ i’m still smitten with Affair.

Somewhere City collection is a new set of mix and matchable fantasy characters of Goran Lelas for StrangeCo. It is said that “Somewhere City is everywhere and nowhere, floating from one part of the planet to another. Its motion is fueled by the “Secret Thought” of its wonderful, positive inhabitants.” Cryptic? Yes. Playfully adorable, and even more so when mixed up? Also, yes. While this first series launches in plastic ~ we’ve also got a sneak peak at the upcoming plush incarnations (probably available around Q1 2008)… which i think are perfect for baby gifts! I wonder if they rattle or honk ~ doesn’t the yellow bill/mouth/nose thing look like you should squeeze the body and some initially adorable but quickly annoying noise should come out? See more pictures of the whole collection and more mixups below!

Also noteworthy ~ it seems that MoMA is getting into the toy business, this collection was developed in collaboration with them, and will also be in their stores for the holiday season! And Goran Lelas is apparently an “accomplished designer whose magical style spans fashion, illustration, children’s literature and costume design” and this is his first foray into toy design.

Rayman’s Raving Rabbids 2 is here! (like literally in my hand) Finally! Anyhow, i’ve been over worked and under slept all week, and its been sheer insanity, so i’m taking a breather to play this ridiculousness for now! See more silliness at their awesome blog.

Click the images to see more!A quick catch up for anyone who’s behind on .org… we’ve had some adorable dino hoodies, quite the dare to make an impact, an insanely loud funky looking airhorn, an xkcd romantic fight manifested into a real OS wiping virus/poem, puma and W’s “mongolian bbq” DIY show, a town filled guinness domino chain, an incredibly fun looking couch, lipstick portraits… and then some stories of romantic quests! The guy who drew a sketch looking for a girl he saw on the subway (and he FOUND HER!) and Zack Slow and his buddy letting US choose who they will marry (and give $50,000 to).

On bizarre places to find design inspiration… this Band-Aid Tough Strips with bonus Tough Case caught my eye. I realized for starters that i really like their font, particularly on the back from reason, and what a great shade of red. Anyhow, it’s really *just* a box of bandaids, but it caught my eye ~ a few more pics of it below.

NOTCOT Note: Here’s another article from Anna Corpron of Sub-Studio!

Jean posted about Yang Liu’s Ost trifft West (East Meets West) exhibit back in September. Being that I worked with Yang at Chermayeff and Geismar when I first moved to New York, I offered to do an interview with her about the project. Yang is a great graphic designer whose work has always been bold and iconographic, and Ost trifft West doesn’t stray from that rigor. Even though I can’t read either German or Chinese, the images clearly and wittily communicate the differences between the two cultures. Check out more images and an interview with Yang Liu below!

1. How has your own cultural identity (Chinese born, German raised) influenced your work? Which culture do you identify with most?

I’m neither feeling myself as a Chinese or German. The Asian and European parts both have influenced me and my works. Actually, [my time in] New York has helped me a lot to identify myself. I’m feeling myself more as a person, who belongs to all the places I have been to. I also started this project in New York. The distance gave me a better view on my personal history…

2. What has the Chinese response been to the “East Meets West” project? What has been the German response?

The Chinese response was very positive. I was a little worried about the reactions - I’m sure there are people who like [the project] more or less - but after five exhibitions since May this year (two in Berlin, two in Beijing, and 1 in Nanjing), 99% of the reactions has turned out very positive. The German side is the same; I was surprised how much both sides were interested in this work.

3. What’s next for the project?

There is an exhibition coming up soon at the University of Aachen in Germany, an exhibit at the Museum of Communications in Berlin in March, a solo show at the State Art Museum in Dresden from February till the end of the year, an exhibition at the Olympic Museum in Switzerland, and a few more shows and lectures in Germany and in China with this project.

4. Any funny stories about the project/exhibition to share?

Since my first exhibit [for East Meets West], there are a few hundred websites discussing the project, and a lot of them are describing me as a man, and even better - an old man…They are mostly very surprised when they do find out my identity.

There’s also discussion about how I found all this content, whether through interview or research or theories…The fact is that each single illustration is my very personal experience in the past 13-17 years, and this work was made as a documentation my own life.

A few visitors [to the exhibitions] have told me that they understand more about their current relationship to certain persons in their life better through my book, which makes me really happy!

Thank you, Yang, for the interview! If you would like to order a copy of Yang’s book, you can email her here.

Next time i need to make a design pilgrimage to a brick and mortar store to play with things in person and do some serious gifting damage A+R has just jumped to the top of my list (since the MOCA store closed on Main, we really have been lacking a design store of this caliber on the west side… actually even if MOCA store was still open, i’d end up at A+R). Walking in to this store is a breathe of fresh air… i was instantly giddier than a kid in a candy store- can you imagine how surreal it is to step into this glowing space surrounded by the real life physical objects that you’ve coveted and gushed over digitally for years? Talk about a sensory overload. It took me a few minutes really to process it all and regain the ability to carry on a proper conversation, let alone find all the new things i needed to come back and share with you (*ahem* brooks salzwedel’s brand new Shane collection)… so since i can’t even begin to describe to you how amazing the collection in A+R is, how about i give you a pile of quick photos below to give you a feel for yourself?

As for the event and why i was there? Andy + Rose (A+R) were kind enough to invite me to their launch dinner where we met for some bubbly in the store, took a stroll down to the fabulous Venice Smart House (of the Smart Car ~ a temporary loft/gallery/showroom space few can resist envying) where the incredible chefs of rockenwagner fed us and even allowed us to partake in the cooking of the most incredible paella out on the patio, and i had the pleasure of dining with a handful of brilliant designers, local store owners, and newspaper and magazine editors. Honestly? Silly as it sounds, it was a bit of a cinderella moment.

Have you ever blogged by flickering candle light? Regardless of your answer, you should do it. And someone really needs to tell apple that having that pulsating light on laptops is just creepy and hard to sleep near - it does not breathe life like some real fire… particularly the fire within this Maria White Mebane’s Porcelain Tealight Luminaries… this was just one in many things found in the A+R gift bag tonight, and as soon as i was taking pictures, i lit this with the CITIZEN:Citizen limited edition Tobias Wong matches (remember them from icff?), turned off the lights, and it definitely caught my attention. Granted, i saw these in the store, with the lights on, and as fun as they looked, you HAVE to see it in the dark and lit. Absolutely mesmerizing. Apparently this tealight was “was commissioned by a famous LA steakhouse for table illumination” according to A+R. For a well lit picture to what else was in there see below…

Ok, this is going to be a bit backwards, but i needed to share this product discovery from the A+R launch dinner before the dinner itself. I’ve long loved the deep resin works of Brooks Salzwedel from my discovery of his belt buckles back in sept of 06 to further exploration of his intriguing and mesmerizing larger resin “paintings” of sorts (and the smaller ones in found tins, etc) in august 07. Well as it turns out, Andy (the A of A+R) loved them as much as i did, and got in touch with Brooks who is also a Silverlaker, and the buckles did amazingly… and as the story goes Rose (the R of A+R) even helped Brooks get into the GenArt Fresh Faces this year, where his work was incredibly well received. So although A+R is stocked with so many things i love (it was like being in the NOTCOT store, if there were a NOTCOT store, it was incredible, but more on that later)… these teeny tiny new necklaces caught my eye. There was that moment of literal - OMG. Are those…?

And here you have it, the latest - in fact the FIRST - pieces of jewelry from Brooks Salzwedel, which Andy and Rose had *just* put out tonight… incredibly intricately cast metal woody pieces with the classic Salzwedel depth in resin. And in those teeny tiny logs, are even tinier little trees, which are truly the coolest things i may have ever seen (and i see a lot.) So if you feel so inclined, these may not make it into any store or website for a while, but you can contact A+R for more info… just please don’t buy these specific little logs! I need to go back and beg them to let me buy them… once they figure out how much they are. Many more images below (please don’t mind my super quick mid-party shots) - including one of the belts gorgeously displayed on logs in the storefront. And click to see more of Brooks Salzwedel’s Buckles and Art.

I just got back from the most amazing event that i have a pile of posts to share with you…BUT, i just checked my email and Billy Chasen blew my mind… literally… with his “hey guys, i love your site. one of my daily stops. I just created an exploded ipod — it’s encased in resin and still works. tell me what you think :) -billy” email. Well… Billy? I think the proper response is - where can i buy one? Or at least play with one? Does it work with remote control?

It is quite possibly my favorite new view of the overexposed ever evolving design *classic*(?)… the ipod has become the kleenex of the mp3 players… its refreshing to see it so exposed - and encased in resin! See below for more images and read more on Billy’s site.

*Drool* The last thing i expected this sunday night was to find myself desperately wanting to see one of these new North Face 485 Collection coats in person… but i’m pretty blown away by the images and concept so far. The Tagline for the collection is “Artistic design meets extraordinary performance.” This mix of sophistication and multipurpose usage (look good AND survive that freak blizzard) has quite possibly completely raised the bar for coats in my closet.

From their site: “The North Face presents 485, a premier outerwear collection that breathes and urban, artistic spirit into trusted quality and technical construction. Let these sophisticated silhouettes accompany you from extreme outdoor environments to sidewalk settings.” These are a mix of Primaloft, Goretex, and down ~ delivering warmth and comfort while waterproof and breathable… not to mention how sleek they look! More images below. Love the whole jet black with red details for the tag, etc inside… mmm. (oh wait, just noticed on the paragon sports site that they have other colors… their choice in the other colors is making me question things slightly…) via Uncrate

Right Gin ~ seems to have done branding the right way… with a old style classic crest composed of everything from Stags “symbols of strength and fortitude that challenge the status quo”, Socrates “the omnipresent all-knowing fly-on-the-wall”, Black “Sophistication & Authority”, Crown “symbol of our high hope to conquer the world”, a motto - Est Unus Modus Verus - “There is a right way”… and those are only some of my favorite elements of their crest, see below for screenshots breaking down every aspect of their crest.

As for the gin itself, i have no idea how it tastes, but reading its intriguing history on their site had made me curious to find some… after all anything made by such precise image controlling perfectionists that hated the taste of gins that came before must be worth a try… also on fun details… they have a “What’s your pleasure” section of their site that helps you make your ideal drink… but doesn’t offer your usual options, under Pixie Dust, you can choose from options like Pinch of Lust, Bucket of Revenge, Thimble of Envy, etc! [sidenote: does it drive anyone else nuts that instead of pretending to paperclip the picture up there, they put a paperclip sitting above it?]

The American Comfort Quilt by NYTO embodies all that a successful brand should be… literally. Isn’t the ultimate brand, the one you turn to in times of need? The one that manages to make you feel better in an instant? The things you buy when you just don’t know who else to turn to? I mean sure its a little extreme… but that’s the making of a good lovemark like Coca Cola, right? Well, sure slightly exaggerate perhaps… but you get the idea. Designed by Joel Yatscoff and Bradley Price, Joel states, “…this is a very topical product that questions the effects of consumerism in North America. Has this behaviour, and the associations people wish to have with corporate brands so habitual, the American Comfort Quilt is the cherished product to provide warmth and comfort during a chilly evening?” Handmade, limited edition of 5. Love the way they’ve composed these images… more below as well.

Here is the full press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Toronto, November 06th, 2007 – NYTO Studios Releases the American Comfort
Quilt

NYTO Studios introduces the American Comfort Quilt. This handmade art
piece, a limited series of five, includes 58 logos of mass-market
retailers, fast food chains and other corporations that participate in
the creation of the contemporary North American identity and condition.
Iconic North American brands such as these give us both comfort and
identity, yet we feel ambivalent or even negative toward their hegemony
over our cultural and economic landscape. It is the problematic
balance between familiarity and alienation which this quilt seeks to
examine.

With today’s increasingly fractured social fabric, it is now
brands that give us a feeling of collective identity, heritage,
and continuity, gradually taking over the role that family and
cultural heritage once held. Our identities are no longer defined
by our ancestors and our traditions so much as by multinational
corporations who shape our personas through advertising and
product placement. The traditional American quilt serves as a
living family document, surrounding us both physically and
emotionally with the events and the people who came before us.
This quilt forces us to question the cultural legacy we are
passing along to the next generation.

Joel Yatscoff states, “…this is a very topical product that
questions the effects of consumerism in North America. Has this
behaviour, and the associations people wish to have with corporate
brands so habitual, the American Comfort Quilt is the cherished
product to provide warmth and comfort during a chilly evening?”

Sales inquiries for the American Comfort Quilt can be made directly with
NYTO Studios.

About NYTO Studios
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
NYTO Studios is a unique partnership between New York-based industrial
designer Bradley Price and Toronto-based industrial designer Joel
Yatscoff. A friendship, which began when working together as interns at
Karim Rashid Inc., has developed into a young and energetic business
venture alongside our individual careers in product design, furniture
design, and branding. Our mission is to contribute to the rebirth of a
design culture in North America through innovative, intelligent design
that is progressive and optimistic in outlook. NYTO seeks to conceive
products that earn their right to exist because they reward both user and
manufacturer alike. These ideals are built upon a solid intellectual
foundation, encompassing a rational approach to problem solving, an
understanding of manufacturing processes, and the power of brand. In the
spring of 2007, NYTO released the High’N Low Silicone Shim Substitute in
New York during the ICFF weekend.

About Bradley Price
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Bradley Price is a product and furniture designer living in New York City.
Born in Chicago, he attended University of Michigan, graduating in 2003
with a BFA in Industrial Design and a BA in History of Art. While at the
University, Bradley worked as an intern at the Krups design studio in
Caen, France, as well as for Karim Rashid in New York. He was a recipient
of the IDSA student merit award in 2003. After graduation, Bradley worked
for over three years as a designer in the Arnell Group Innovation Lab.
More recently, Bradley was the winner of the 2007 Prototype Award for best
design, presented by Knoll at the Toronto Interior Design Show.

About Joel Yatscoff
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Joel Yatscoff graduated in 2003 from the University of Alberta with a
Bachelor of Design with distinction, specializing in engineering, business
and marketing. He has received numerous national and international
recognition including twice by the Opus Design Award in Japan (2001 and
2003) and by the Canadian Bombay Sapphire Inspired Glass Design
Competition (2004). Joel has interned at Karim Rashid Inc. in New York
City and since moving to Toronto, has worked at consultancies and is
currently employed as a staff designer for a manufacturer of white goods.

Leave it to Phillip Wood of CITIZEN:Citizen to give me exactly what i needed once i got into the madness that was the Paper 24 Hour Department Store… my prescription of Design Therapy. Although i must say i STRONGLY disagree with the Bx that says i should take it ONCE yearly, i’m more of a daily overdoser ~ and if you’re here, i’m going to assume you are too. Why else would i have NOTCOT? and NOTCOT.org? (and TasteSpotting and notcouture too! There really isn’t enough design therapy out there.)

So, are you curious what’s in my bag of The Brand Pharmacy Design Therapy? See below for pics of the bottle of pills… the pharmacists at work… and more info of what this really is… and some pics of CITIZEN:Citizen’s fab booth of ironically luxe goodies… and a never before seen piece!

Here are The Brand Pharmacy’s Design Pharmacists, Phillip and Tonya, hard at work on our prescriptions…

So now you’ve figured it out?

There will be design Intervention at All Purpose on Dec 4th through 9th ~ featuring objects by Jimmy Jane, CITIZEN:Citizen and Filius! And these pills are just enough to keep you going until then…

Here is the CITIZEN:Citizen booth of the Paper 24 Hour Department Store

This was a great opportunity to get up close and personal with many of their designs i’ve admired digitally for so long.

Ahhh the classic Fuck Design Jimmy Jane vibrators…

Crude!

Remember the stirrer and the gold pills? Take a gold pill… and things will be sparkly gold when you least expect it…

And here’s a sneak peek of something new!

I just returned from the insanity that is Paper’s freshly opened 24 hour Department Store on La Brea (it runs from 6pm Friday through 6pm Saturday)… really its like a one day only pop-up mall. It is a hot hipsterfest of a shopping party with Andrew Andrew keeping everyone dance/shopping from within their post-it dj booth~ with a red room of MAC makeover portraits (even frame yourself in gold) ~ and a Levis photoshoot of you in your fav 501s. My favorite stores and finds of the night? The Undefeated Limited Ed. Spalding Ball that was on .org… Colette has great textual ribbons, particularly the black and white “Everything you see is a dream you project onto the world”… Jack Spade! Citizen:Citizen! A+R! Mollusk! See below for images of the whole wild experience… and don’t forget, LA kids, you still have time to make it over.

Playing with my camera from my parking spot across the street… it was particularly ominous tonight, dont you think?

There was more action in the Brink Mobile out front… “A BRINKMOBILE is a complete mobile web design office, film production studio, HD screening room, and BRINK marketing vehicle all rolled into one. We will tour the country promoting our brands, all the while servicing our clients the way we normally do, contributing travel articles to brink.com, and making people aware of our films and products.”

As soon as you step in, there is the Colette booth and The Cobra Snake

At MAC you can step into the gold frame, get a make over, pick a more regularly sized gold frame, and have your portrait taken!

501s leads you right to the back where you can see “Levi’s Damien Hirst -
The bad-boy artist (who’s now a good boy?), most recently in the news for his diamond-covered cast of a human skull, continues his obsession with anatomy and the bling factor. A new collection for the Levi’s Warhol Factory line features skull shaped patterns outlined with crystals.”

Here are the dj team Andrew Andrew ~ known for their matching outfits and great music. (beware, their website pains me so so soooo much, but not even in that old school web or over flashy way. its hard to explain.)

The Spalding limited edition UNDEFEATED ball

Colette’s great textual ribbons, particularly the black and white “Everything you see is a dream you project onto the world”…

Mmmmm Jack Spade.

Here are Phillip and Tonya of Citizen:Citizen suspiciously admitting nothing.

Here’s Rose Apodaca of A+R… she and her husband, Andy Griffith founded this design wonderland and are just opening their second real world store on Abbot Kinney tomorrow! Also… did you know… Rose consulted on and helped launch Image, the new Los Angeles Times style section, and she contributes to Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Style.com, Paper, Preen and other publications… her first book, Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty & Everything Glamour, an all-encompassing lifestyle guide written for celeb stylist Rachel Zoe… helmed the west coast bureau of fashion-industry bible Women’s Wear Daily and was a contributor to W Magazine for six years… first recipient of the Los Angeles Fashion Awards Communications Prize for bringing global attention to the region’s fashion industry and style culture… AND is a co-owner of Beauty Bar Hollywood and Las Vegas, and serves on various arts organization boards.

Ok i know that was a slight side track ~ but her bio blows my mind!

Here’s the Mollusk booth…

Some fun randomness Andrew Andrew is selling

Lost & Found!

Cobra Snake!

And a few happy ice cream cone guns… well you push the button and the foam ice cream part pops off…

Anyhow, to see the full list of who’s there… check out Paper’s page on the 24 Hour Department Store.

Oh, and incase you don’t believe how packed it is in there here’s a pic of how hard it was to maneuver around! There was even a constant growing line at the door to let people in as people came out!


Oh ~ and these two guys convinced me to take their pic… with those Kanye west glasses… Shutter Shades

NOTCOT Note: Here’s another article from Anna Corpron of Sub-Studio!

Spring is a great store/gallery in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Being that I work down the street from the store, I stop in every once in a while to see what’s new. I was especially excited when I went in recently and saw their Threaded exhibit because they have nine panels of embroidered canvas by Richard Saja, whose work I have long appreciated. The Lost Girls series incorporates a custom toile design inspired by Peter Pan’s lost boys - little boys who are scared to grow up. Each panel is 24” x 36” and is printed on cotton canvas and then embroidered with rayon thread.

Detail shots of Richard Saja’s Lost Girls pieces.

Katrin Sonnleitner’s Persian Puzzle. Currently just a prototype (estimated to be available for purchase in early 2008), the Persian Puzzle is a customizable floor or wall covering made of natural and synthetic rubber.

The Glass Drawings by Jane D’Arensbourg were super nice. The glass pieces cast beautiful shadows on the paper and add a great three-dimensionality to the piece.

If you are in the New York/Brooklyn area, be sure to check out “Make Time for a Green Cause”, a fundraiser/design challenge being held at Spring in collaboration with Rob Price (of Thwart Design who make the fabulous Grandfather Clock, which I have totally been coveting!) on November 16th from 6-9 pm. The challenge is to design and fabricate a “green” clock using recycled or recyclable materials. Entries are being accepted until November 11th at Spring and the top thirty juried clocks will be exhibited and auctioned off at the November 16th opening. For more information (including links to fabricators and a tutorial on how to make a green clock), check out the Make Time website. All proceeds from the fundraiser will go to benefit Trees for the Future, a non-profit reforestation organization. For every dollar raised, ten trees will be planted.

Spring is located at 126a Front St. in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

I was just checking out the portfolio of Wat Design and i found this “ILSE media, head office - interior design of the HQ, totally designed out of 2D flat panels with pixel design. Simcity office garden”. In this pixel wonderland ~ the first thing i thought was ~ wow its like a real world Diesel Sweeties mash up! I feel like if i were walking around in there, i would look down and see myself in pixel form! Anyhow, they have converted nearly everything… from coat racks and trash cans, to stickers of pixel cell phones and calculators, pixel food on pixel plates on pixel table clothes, and pixel sunsets, and pixel trailers and lunch trucks in life size (OH, and even a pixel window by the urinals…)! See the images below, and see more fun projects over at Wat Design.

One of these days i really need to get out to 100% Tokyo, and catch up on all the great stuff happening in japan as well… Totally jealous of all the awesome stuff they are seeing over at designboom! Brad over there reports about Hoya Crystal: “Hoya glass corporation became japan’s first speciality manufacturer of optical glass when it was established in 1941. since then, hoya has diversified and developed into many other areas from electro-optics, photonics, vision care and healthcare to luxury crystal products. as part of 100% design tokyo hoya crystal hosted a stand showcasing some of their products and expertise in crystal and glass manufacture.” I LOVE the look of the black cages with brilliant crystal animals within (this may be in part because back in undergrad i got the weirdest looks from neighbors as i bought bird cages and spray painted them matte black and then built computers into them) ~ and the skull rings, cufflinks, candle holders are awesome. Also see below for some really sweet vases, a rose ring i’m coveting as much as the skull one, and some pretty sweet mushrooms… please don’t mind the laziness with which i collaged it together, my hand is acting up, but i was far too excited to post this. Also, check out some pics of the booth from the Hoya Blog.

Why, yes, this IS yet another option for your reusable grocery shopping bag collection. From one of our favorite designers, Alissia Melka Teichroew in collaboration with her husband, Jan Habraken (of WATdesign), and Charles and Marie come this line of canvas shoppers with bags printed on them… So far they have shown off pics of Blue Tote/Pink Clutch and Pink Tote/Blue Clutch, but they just gave us an exclusive sneak peek of the one that is coming in a few weeks… Caramel Tote/Silver Tote! Which certainly seems to be a fun one to shake up some of that supermarket check out monotony.

P.s. does Alissia sound familiar? That might be because you know her inside out martini glass and diamond rings we posted about earlier. And if you’re needing some reminding or a quick catch up on the many reusable bag posts, see below.

As for all those other reusable bags so far…
Re-bag: with some similar in concept to these
Baggu Bags: the nylon version of your usual grocery plastic, and fits in jean back pockets!
Corporate GreenBags: the various fold up, insulated, etc models used by whole foods, target, etc.
Review and comparison of Baggu, Envirosax, and plastic with a mention of the classic blue ikea bag too!
Method’s Give Green: free with a 20$ purchase, but way too thick.
Flip and Tumble: the one that balls up into a popple like sphere.

AND there have been tons of comments on all of the posts with more reusable bags people have been using as well

RUGenius was stumbling around (on stumble upon!) and came across this brilliant Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre by Wilhelm Staehle. My favorites are below…

Oakley’s line of wearable tech has evolved once again… and its certainly improving! If you recall, i reviewed their O ROKR and Thump 2 almost exactly a year ago, and i was pleasantly surprised when a white boxed beta of the Split Thump showed up today. They’ve really cleaned up the design quite a bit, and it is now possible to be far more 007 like with these… removable t-rex arm ear buds (with an adorable little classic oakley pouch for them, even with a divider in the middle to keep them from destroying each other) and the external buttons have been incorporated into the logo (which has been enlarged and aesthetically looks far better on the glasses)… and they are sounding better as well. Bottom line? These glasses can actually look like normal sporty sunglasses when you aren’t listening to music, giving you the flexibility the others lacked. Anyhow, take a look below for the unboxing, close ups, and a some photo comparisons between the Thump 2 and the and the Split Thump.

Oh, and if any of you are thinking ~ but wait some of the big tech blogs hated it… i just reread all those posts, and they have been following their predecessors who all hated the concept to start with - and its so sad that some of those sounded like whiny poor techy ipod lovers who probably aren’t huge fans of outdoor sports. But anyhow, i might be in a ranty mood… these are definitely making my potential gift list… although it says “coming soon”, i’ve heard that these will definitely be shipping in time for xmas.

I’m suck a sucker for the packaging… the new box seems much more compact and better first impression when you open it. (see old box here)

Also on design details, that mini Oakley Pouch is too cute. As a kid i remember the pouch being one of the classic oakley branding pieces i loved.

Here are the stickers that show you what is where as far as navigating is concerned…

Here is a direct comparison between the old Thump 2 and the new Split Thump… other than the obvious big changes of detatchable trex arm ear buds and the logo growing and taking on the buttons… the glasses themselves have streamlined down a bit, and you can also see how the little arms have been streamlined as well, and the shape of the lenses rounded slightly.

Click this image to view full sized:

Rock Well - I saw this adorable Limited Edition font inspired guitar pick on Ace Jet 170… which led me to the Rockwell font page… this pile of picks at Redesigners (which also says “Simon says email him if you’d like one simonwhybray (at) gmail.com”)… and also to Simon Whybray’s site on the project. And on Simon’s site, it mentions is you send him £2, he’ll pop one in the post and maybe some other goodies as well.

Ok, so here’s something new i want to try… i was noticing that it seems a bit silly to write a lot of posts on the same thing and keep posting them separately. Frankly, it hasn’t been making NOTCOT, as a resource, very efficient for me when i try to find something… SO, i’m testing something out, and i haven’t worked the kinks out yet. But here’s a start… Annie Leibovitz and Disney have added to their actor/actresses as classics set (Rachel Weisz as Snow White, and Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy with Abigail Breslin as a fairy-in-training)… SO instead of posting a new post just about that, i’ve decided to UPDATE the last post, so all the info on that stays in one place… and since i haven’t quite figured out how to notify NOTCOT readers about it, i’m linking you to an anchor.

p.s.
yes, i see the silliness of giving it a new post, while not giving it a new post with the images and information in it. Have any ideas of how i can efficiently pull this off for us all?

We find weird trends pop up on NotCouture ~ or we notice certain types of pieces becoming more and more prevalent and then simply bubbling up in our consciousness…. first there were the Fingerless Gloves, and as the seasons progressed we just kept finding them everywhere! Lately the thing that keeps finding me are these folding sunglasses. I used to think that glasses that folded into strangely compacted slightly flattened cigar cases were reserved for reading glasses… but its been interesting to see that Rayban adapted their 1952 classic Wayfarers to be folding… Ralph Lauren has foldable wrap around sunglasses… and John Varvatos has the hybrid Transitional Readers - yes, folding reading glasses that automatically darken to become sunglasses. And they all have cute cases for these too… although they don’t look all that guy pocket friendly, more purse friendly? Perhaps its for the wives to carry for them. Anyhow, unsure of whether this has been an ancient design trend and i’m just noticing, or if its make a strange comeback. I’m quietly tracking them on NotCouture, so feel free to add any nice ones you find as well.

Bleu Nature’s product line feels like what a five star lodge/igloo/boutique hotel in the woods in the flintstones would be furnished with… Something so natural with their use of found driftwood mixed with lush furs, and leathers… or as they say “Streamlined, sharp silhouettes, strikingly, contrasting materials, this winter, bases are ultra-flat, curves are more pronounced and furniture oscillates between trendy inspirations and Arctic breezes. Bleu Nature explores the nuances of polar white and revisits the concept of the modern igloo. Outside-blizzards and snow, inside, the warmth of driftwood, the softness of fur and the dazzling brilliance of enameled metal…” Beyond these globe like stools are some luscious day beds, couches, bookshelves and stools… remember that bed Odysseus made for Penelope? Carved out of the living tree that was rooted into the ground? Somehow these pieces feel like the perfect furnishings to have alongside it.

via Chic City Rats

Click the images to find out more! Here’s a quick taste of some NotCouture goods - top row for the guys, bottom for the ladies.

Remember those days when our site would flicker up and down or get super slow? Somewhere between our overloads of traffic, unstable servers, and some pretty shoddy tech support? It even got bad to the point that i ended up posting to see if anyone had any better solutions… to be completely honest it feels like years ago (post was dated April 07)… but thanks to the advice, horror stories, and hosts that everyone submitted ~ we decided to go with WiredTree which Jonah shared with us.

So, as promised, now that we’ve found a new host, and tried them out for a few months, and i’ve actually been sleeping better (it’s nice not having the 4am sms “OMG your sites are down! Again.”)

The first things that come to mind ~ incredible uptime that its only beat by their great customer service. I have never had service where we have a problem regardless of size (server crash, out of HD space, or just a silly email question) answered in about 5 minutes when it is 2am (which would be 4am for them in Chicago)… and even if they did just wake up, they manage to respond with friendly, professional, intelligent, patient, efficient responses. From a technical perspective, it is refreshing that they give you full access to your box, yet guarantee complete management: software + hardware + network, and they deliver on it, which is no easy feat considering what some of us may try to do with our servers (other than NOTCOT.com being on movable type all the other sites are built by us from scratch).

Anyhow, if you’re still looking for a host ~ check out what WiredTree has to offer, the pricing and server options were extremely competitive when we shopped around, even before realizing how smart the team supporting it is. And feel free to mention you found them through NOTCOT!

Huge thanks to Zac, Adam, and Joe who have come to feel like family (and they will always be part of the NOTCOT family, since they’ve been kind enough to help sponsor us - and for transparency’s sake that means a small discount ~ but they certainly didn’t ask us to write this post!)

OH, and just to make sure i put it out there ~ i did NOT choose them because they had a really nice logo/website (although i do love how it looks in our footer). We did go through about 5-6 hosts and narrowed it down on the requirements we had, and how well they could scale with us, and help take care of us along the way.

So continuing from where the last post lead us (from Triops and Sea Monkeys to venus fly traps and praying mantis to ant farms to gel antfarms and gel plant kits)… the gels. So as we began to read into the variations of these gel ant farms and also being able to watch seeds grow roots in this magical mystery gel, we got really curious and wanted to find just the gel (imagine what you could design with it). And along the way we remembered the plant water gel crystals that soak up tons of water that you can grow plants in. The only problem with those was can you crush them up, mix with warm water, and mold it to be smooth like jello? (we don’t know, do you?) Then we also discovered jello pudding cup like 6 packs of root gel… and than i finally tracked down some manufacturers in china that actually sell the magical ant farm gel (and ant farms in hills and boots ~ see pictures below to make sense of that). Also did you know some people are using this same gel for dieting?!?!?! You eat it, then drink a ton of water which it will soak up, and it will make you feel full?

You can find all of these examples on my giant wishlist over at amazon that i made while researching…

Here is what the Chinese manufacturers, LanBo… and this pack i found at amazon even says “Put the whole or some of the gel (as much as you need. Don’t add water.) into a clean microwave bowl and to microwave it for 2 to 5 minutes (adult supervision is required for kids below 8). The gel will get melt into liquid. And then wait until the gel is cool but not firm. Pour the gel into your habitats. The gel version ant habitats are made. You put ants in. But the best time to put the ants in is about 2 to 3 days later.”

Here is the Gel2Root info we found in jello like tubs ~ you basically stick the cutting/seed into it, and wait for roots!

Can you really imagine eating this for a diet solution?

This article from wired discusses how this same technology is turning into a stomach filling pill….

And as for those plant gel crystals that can look so tacky unless mixed with soil to help regulate water distribution for infrequent watering or deserts… they are also often used for arts and crafts and candles holders.

After finding this brilliantly packaged National Geographic Kids: Fossil Regeneration Unit on Cherryflava ~ it launched into what became quite a crazy thread of research and random toy discoveries… but before i head there…

I’m glad the Cherryflava folks were ignorant enough to call these Sea Monkeys, because it launched a bit of debate between some of us, and we were quite sure that the Triops they were growing were far larger and of a very different species (more like mini horseshoe crabs?). They do however sell kits that are quite similar to the Sea Monkey process, but none nearly as cool looking as this direct mailer kit the agency FoxP2 (check out their site, it is awesome the way they approach branding) created for National Geographic Kids.

From here we dug up videos of Sea Monkeys and Triops… and every Triop kit out there… and then every crazy insta-pet kit from our childhoods as well as what else is new out there! (i.e. venus fly traps and praying mantis to frogs to butterflies to ant farms to gel antfarms and gel plant kits) See more images below to follow along…

Here is a Sea Monkey (with some crazy music):

And here is a Triop:

And here’s a cool video of the Ecdysis of a Triop:

Here are some of the many variations of Triop kits you can buy…

Here are some blasts from the past… Traditional ant farms, butterflies, sea monkeys, frog, hermit crab, and praying mantis kits! You can see more on this quick Amazon Wishlist of crazy animals i made to keep track of them…

Also on the list ~ and kind of sort of not really pets… lots of carnivorous plant options as well!

… ok and for the NASA gel ~ there is also a whole new category of crazy gel based ant farms and plant kits… but more to come on that whole section next…

For the extra large image of the kit that started all this:

Murakami Gala Opening at MOCA ~ although they wont let you take pictures at the exhibit, you sure can see a lot of whats going on and what people were getting through flickr and eBay. Even the LA Times ran an article on how the plexiglass “placemats” from the dinner are being auctioned for $999 - keep in mind it cost $1000 to attend the opening gala. An apaprently everyone from Mr. Murakami himself (and his family!), Marc Jacobs, Kanye West, Owen Wilson, Christina Ricci, Cindy Crawford, Toby McGuire, Pharell to Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot was there. Luckily for us Eric documented it all nicely via blog and flickr! You can check out his post on the gala, his flickr of the exhibit during the press preview with accompanying post here. Another great flickr resource - Brandon Shigeta - who says “you can take pics of the mona lisa, but they say no here. whatever, set the camera to interval shooting and away we go…” Haha. Also there are the many pictures you can see searching Murakami MOCA on flickr.

Now for the wealth of goodies showing up on ebay ~ and what Eric got from going to the gala, see below!

So apparently as well as the dinner, early exhibition viewing, celebfest, and kanye west show… attendees also received the “placemat”, leather LV holder with table number, and a mug! And as we all know by now, people are rather shameless regardless of how much they have ~ so people were apparently stealing up these things from each other left and right!

As for what you can find on eBay ~ there are many of the bags and accessories up from the LV store within the exhibit ~ and even the Press Kit and Poster! I’m sure more will be popping up quickly.

For more info on the exhibit itself ~ check out the Murakami page on MOCA

For those who noticed i’ve been really slow on posts and editing the other sites today, i guess i’ve kind of found myself with the one problem that i can “call in sick” about… my right fingers have been doing crazy cramping up, and my hand has been killing me a bit. I guess those 10+ years of not so ergo laptop-in-bed-and-on-lap are catching up to me as i near 25. Figures that it is right now that i decide to have all these ideas for redesigns i’m dying to sit and code… Anyhow, whining aside, this carpal tunnel scare convinced me to finally look a little more closely at the ergonomic options out there and i just ran out and grabbed this crazy split Gold Touch keyboard by KeyOvation that Dan recommended… and i’m considering forcing my mouse usage lefty and trying one of their crazy Evoluent vertical mice as well (not to mention trying to work at a desk properly).

Anyhow, i just wanted to tell you all to BE CAREFUL! And i was also wondering if you’d had any experience, advice, ideas on the subject… and why oh why are these things all so ugly?!?!?! One of these days we will have to get some designers and engineers together and help clean some of these designs up. Oh, and i might be a little extra quiet/slow for the next few days with this physically induced “break”… sorry.

NOTCOT Note: Here’s another article from Anna Corpron of Sub-Studio!

The third-ever Solar Decathlon took place two weeks ago from October 12 - 20 at Washington D.C.’s National Mall. The Solar Decathlon was established in 2002, with the purpose of educating a new generation of students about the possibilities of energy-efficient design and also as a vehicle for educating the public about renewable energy and energy efficient homes. Twenty US and international university teams took part in the competition, with each team competing to design and build an energy-efficient solar-powered house. The various universities spend two years developing their designs and ideas, and also undertake the fundraising and technical research needed to build an energy-efficient home. The houses are essentially pre-fab units, built off-site first and then transported to Washington D.C. and reassembled on-site at the Mall.

The winning team was the Technische Universität Darmstadt from Germany. Can you imagine transporting the house from Germany to D.C. (it came by boat)? The home focused on the concept of passive energy and was designed essentially as a box with three layers - an outer layer of oak, louvered screens that generate electricity with photovoltaic energy, a middle layer consisting of energy efficient walls and windows, and an interior core that houses the kitchen, bathroom and the majority of the building systems. Besides the outer skin of screens that allow you as much or as little privacy and light as you wish, I really like the multi-functional spaces, and TUD’s innovative use of the floor which can be opened up to reveal a sleeping area. [Note: All photos are credited to Kaye Evans-Lutterodt/Solar Decathlon]

UT-Austin’s Bloom House also has an exterior screen system that allowed for flexibility of light, air and privacy. The roof houses solar collectors that heat the home’s water, including an exterior hot tub that is heated by the excess energy.

Montréal’s McGill University designed their home for the cold northern climate. The envelope of the home is insulated with soy-based polyurethane and a recycled plastic membrane. The use of plants to create a “green wall” further reduces energy loss and aids in rain water recovery. According to McGill’s Solar Decathlon webpage, “A unique feature of the home is the use of artificial intelligence for temperature control and energy use. The “house” will search the Web for the weather forecast to predict the amount of energy it will be able to produce in the days to come and how much it will need for its occupants. The system will recommend energy use choices to meet upcoming demands. The system controls heating, cooling, lighting, shading, and ventilation, all with one interface.”

Georgia Tech’s house was designed to maximize sunlight. The walls are translucent and are made of two sheets of polycarbonate that sandwich a thin layer of the insulator Aerogel. Clerestory windows bring in more light, and even the roof is translucent. It sure is pretty at night!

We’ve all seen and loved the Sun Jar by Tobias Wong for Suck UK ~ in fact its won quite a few gift of the year awards even! But somehow i failed to notice it is also available in BLUE, until i saw it over at ThinkGeek labeled a MOON JAR! So i’m quite excited and craving one of these tonight ~ more images below for anyone who wants to catch up on how the Sun Jar works…

More excitingly… i found this because i just shopping, designing, coding, and hunting through archives to get ready for the holiday season gift guide! I’ve never really done one before, but since i need to do it anyhow to figure out holiday and birthday gifts (SO many december babies! Myself included), figured this year no harm rounding it all up. In fact we’ve got some great sponsors lined up to help make it possible as well! (And if you’d like to join in and sponsor the gift guide as well please drop our advertising manager, Jared, a line - jared at notcot.com) Also, if you have any ideas for great products that shouldn’t be left out, or think you know what will be THE “it” product of the season, leave me a note!

OH ~ and for those who are starting pre-thanksgiving and need some help ~ in my hunting today i’ve added more stores to last years post filled with stores for great gifts.