Love these french ads for Martell XO that i ran into on I Believe in Adv. Such a fun concept to show that it’s “The same pleasure since 1715”, having the more modern day scene reflect the world in the painting from the 1700s! I supposed the question is did they take it too far? or not far enough? Part of my wishes in the paintings, there would be a painting of an even OLDER time with the same scenario inside… or that the dresses and suites were matching in color… though that might just be because of the girl in the pink dress matching… and a guy in a red suit might be a bit much! See the second ad, as well as close ups of the paintings on the next page!

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NOTCOT.org Roundup time! It continually blows my mind daily how together we’ve all found so much inspiration constantly! Can you believe its been doing its thing since 2006??? As for today’s look at the last week of inspiration ~ click the pics to find out more!

There’s lots to love about this week’s NOTCOT.org roundup which includes great packaging, new gadgetry, stunning illustration and more. To find out more about each post, click on its image.

Mesmerizing isn’t it? The most amazing things come through from the CIA - just discovered this in my email from their newsletter! The beauty and simplicity of these gifs are sucking me in tonight. So so beautiful, and Richard Wilkinson basically captures his work flow in photoshop - saving them into high res animated gifs you can view on his blog! It’s as if you’re watching the image paint itself… yes, it’s nearly 3am, and you’ll see why i’ve gone quiet the last few days as i’ve been obsessively working on the giveaways and gift guides launching this week… but for now… aren’t these incredible? These beautiful illustrations were for a 5 page spread for The Telegraph Magazine’s ‘Luxury’ supplement. See a few more of my favorites and a peek at the spread on the next page…

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Virtual museums, grand spiraling staircases and paper weaponry are only a few highlights of this week’s NOTCOT.org roundup. To find out more about each post, click on its image.

Leave it to a Louis Vuitton case, a beautifully sleek sculpture… and a retro modern manta ray meets metropolis feeling beauty of a concept i couldn’t stop staring at during the LA Auto Show. Though it debuted in Geneva in 09, there is something so striking about it in person i couldn’t resist. The Infiniti Essence Concept! “Celebrating 20 years as a creator of performance luxury vehicles, Infiniti introduces a vision crafted to embody our core values and inspire future design: the Infiniti Essence. This dramatic styling, technology and performance statement is a 592-hp gasoline/electric hybrid coupe defined by exterior lines sculpted to express fluidity and speed. Destined to influence production models of the future, the Infiniti Essence vividly captures the balance between grace and power, and the unrestrained possibility of Inspired Performance.” What IS new however is this 300 piece, limited-edition, solid resin, Infiniti Essence model which costs $300, and it can be ordered with a Louis Vuitton carrying case, available at Infiniti Lifestyle. For now see more pics of the case, sculpture, and concept car on the next page.

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Freshly launched, an adorable series of prints ~ Amanda Visell’s Posters for Girls… while my natural inclination towards things too girl focused is that it’s reverse sexist against boys… (and really, i’m just not that girly pink kind of girl)… i do find myself wanting to gift these prints to a bunch of my friends who are new moms with adorable baby girls. Seriously, what girl doesn’t need the poster of the knight? To grow up remembering the importance of having the ability of self-saving (also dragon-friend-making is key!) - granted whether/when you USE that ability is a whole other lesson. I look at the maverick one, and i just think of poor goose. and iceman… but she is looking pretty bad ass with the parachute and aviators. And the captain is pretty cute too ~ though, the wild bigfoot beast frightens me a tiny bit, but the trees are so happy! See them all on the next page!

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There are some fascinating design shifts happening at Mercedes-Benz ~ from the design studio in Sindelfingen to Como to Tokyo to Carlsbad, the message was clear - the hunt is on for “Perfect Aesthetics” and in doing so, they are aggressively pushing their designs to be more fresh, young, emotional, and sexy ~ phrases like “enjoyment of innovation” + “inspire our customers” + “sensuality and joy” + “importance of perception” kept recurring in addition to talk of the future and fascination and playfulness. It was most definitely a buzzwordfest, but the excitement and passion of the design teams was impossible to ignore. There was an inescapable giddiness throughout the week around where the future may take us, and a need to think far beyond their more traditional production vehicles. Steffen Kohl’s gung ho push from the design side to gain the freedom to explore the insane ideas are guaranteed to frighten corporate types a bit. It’s inspiring to see his team indulge in the ideas designers dream about as students ~ you know, that awesomely idealistic time when you believe absolutely anything is possible?

A big part of this is the fight to create more artistic explorations through sculpture to push abstract concepts. The idea of art being key to Mercedes-Benz design strategies as well as a beautiful way to tease designs earlier in the year is intriguing. And i love these form studies of Oliver Samson, Thomas Stopka,Yves Renaud, and Sylvain Wehnert from Karim Habib’s team. Exploring lightweight forms to play with strength, perspective, and transparency, the results resemble polygons, honeycombs (all sharing one central perspective point), string art, and woven chaos. See them all on the next page!

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Prefabs, packaging and puppies, this week’s NOTCOT.org roundup has it all. To find out more about each post, click on its image.

This week’s NOTCOT.org roundup includes a cloud you can sleep on, yaks, and even a table connect app for your iphone. To find out about each of these posts and much more, click on the individual images.

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY!!! To our incredible friends at the Thinkspace Gallery! Over the years, they have become one of my favorite LA galleries, launching so many artists i’ve fallen for! And on that note ~ you can take a peek at all of the pieces in the show online if you can’t make the opening tonight! My favorites from Audrey Kawasaki, Brian Viveros, and Camilla D’Errico are all on the next page! Take a peek! They are STUNNING! (And sadly sold already!)

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November is off to a great start over at NOTCOT.org. This week’s picks are dark, playful and seamlessly elegant. Whether you lust for tech, toys or TRON, it’s all in this week’s roundup. To find out more about each post, simply click on its image.

This week’s stunning roundup has everything from Wool Week to inflatable helmets. Whether you’re after installations or innovations, it’s all been at NOTCOT.org this week. To find out more about each post, click on its image.

Here’s the fourth post in our Inspiration series! Sponsored by Veer.com ~ we get to have some fun and go image researching across the internet around random themes inspiring us at the moment.. and share what we find! This time fascination with x-rays as an art form are my inspiration! So on the next page you can find a variety of artists and photographers who use x-rays are their medium ~ as well as a peek at my Veer Album of X-ray pics!

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Art inspiration ~ loving these pieces by young self-taught Russian artist Lora Zombie! Beautiful inky watercolors ~ my favorites are the animal related ones ~ see my picks on the next page! And check out her DeviantArt and prints at Eyes On Walls.

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