Want some proof that #OBJECTHUNT is real and lots of stickers are starting to pop up around NYC? Well here are some peeks at a few that went up yesterday… see if you can find them all… and far more to come as the weekend unfolds! Close ups on the next page…

If you spot one ~ Take a Pic! Tweet it with #OBJECTHUNT! And you’re entered to win the Puppy, 2 Nights at Standard LA, and tickets to Dwell on Design ~ all the details here!

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#OBJECTHUNT begins! What began as a random idea, quickly turned into a citywide Twitter Sticker Scavenger Hunt with the help of my amazing, fun, design blogger friends: Sub-Studio, Apartment Therapy, Design Milk, Moco Loco, The World’s Best Ever, Cool Hunting, and Design Glut! With all the running around NY for Design Week, decided to add another layer of playfulness to it by hiding #OBJECTHUNT stickers around New York City (some near design events ~ others may show up who knows where?)…

If you are keen enough to spot one…TWEET A PIC OF IT with hashtag #OBJECTHUNT to be entered to win the Ultimate Design Getaway package courtesy of The Standard hotel, NOTCOT and Dwell:

• 2 Nights Stay at The Standard, Downtown LA in a “huge” guest room with a deep tub and daily breakfast for two.

• 2 Home Tour tickets to Dwell on Design in LA, June 25-27; includes a weekend pass and a choice of a Eastside or Westside tour. Courtesy of Dwell on Design, a preeminent modern design show for the design trade on the West Coast.

• A PUPPY! That is, an adorable classic Eero Aarnio designed toy puppy from the Magis ‘Me too’ children’s collection, courtesy of NOTCOT.

UPDATE ~ Cool Hunting will be picking a second winner… for an iPAD!

See all the official details at Object Hunt! So far a few stickers are up… and more will be popping up at some of our favorite design events throughout the weekend… Let the #OBJECTHUNT begin! HAPPY HUNTING!!!

p.s. HUGE thanks to The Standard hotel for being such an enabler of fun. [HINT#1: they may be a good place to start hunting… HINT#2: more hints will be tweeted by all of us through the weekend!]

HAPPY Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year, and President’s Day! (Did i miss any? What a long weekend this is!) And i’m back! After quite a bit of travel/meetup madness, drove back to LA, then hid out last night, only to wake up to the crashing of socal waves outside the window.. and i’m feeling more excited and rejuvenated than ever for what 2010 has in store for NOTCOT.

SO! To celebrate this holiday trifecta of a weekend, our friends at SUCK UK have put together a super fun bundle for you… I’ve decided to split things up a tiny bit ~ 2 ways to win! So here’s what to do and what you might win:

1. 3 Guns Table Vase, Mixtape USB Stick, and Silver Plated Love Hearts Sweet (A perfect replica of the classic sweet. Says “I Love You”) ~ FOR A CHANCE TO WIN: Leave a note with what you have planned for this weekend! I’ll email the winner on Tuesday the 16th of Feb.

2. Mixtape USB Stick ~ the TWITTER giveaway ~ follow me, @NOTCOT, and tweet @NOTCOT with your pick for the ultimate mixtape song and use #notsuck so i can find it. I’ll D the winner on Tuesday the 16th of Feb, so make sure you’re following @NOTCOT!

Have an amazing weekend!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Can you believe we’re in the final stretch of 2009? 2010 is right around the corner already! So here’s a fun playful giveaway ~ lets do it on twitter this time! StrangeCo ~ one of my favorite toy companies ever ~ has sent over 5 adorable goody bags filled with blind boxed fun (and more!). For a chance to win one of these 5… here’s the plan.

This one is for all you amazing TWITTER followers!!! (And if you’re not on twitter yet, no worries, its free. Feel free to sign up!) Follow @NOTCOT, and tweet what you think the ultimate party favor is. and use the hashtag #notcotPF. I’ll go through the #notcotPF tweets on Dec 28th and D message 5 of you, so make sure you’re following @NOTCOT, or else i can’t contact you! (Oh, and one entry per twitter handle please!)

As for the Party Favor - think small, fun, something you could buy/make a bunch of, etc. And it doesn’t have to be just for kids… can’t wait to see what you come up with! See more pics on the next page of the surprises waiting for you…

TO ” Holiday Giveaway! StrangeCo Goody Bags”! ——->

Ready to take off for the holidays? Well wejetset wants to hook you up.

What can you win? + 1 Hideo Bean 19 (Green) Luggage + 6 Wallpaper City Guides + 1 Arkitip x Incase Curated Laptop Sleeve for (15” Macbook Pro) Steven Harrington + 1 WeSC Bongo Blue Headphones + 1 pair of Sunglasses by Super See pics of it all in the feature as well as details on what to do for your chance to win!

TO “Holiday Giveaway! wejetset bundle”! ——->

On Los Angeles field trips, i took a little trip over to the Baxter of California HQ last week and met up with president, Jean-Pierre Mastey, a fellow mini haribo gummi bear and packaging design junkie ~ he’s also passionate about boxing, cars, men’s skincare… and japanese, Head Porter bags! I am so excited to share a peek into their world… so fun to get to see the products waiting to go out, some of the R&D in progress, and even some amazing retro barbershop accoutrements and playful art and design… it was also awesome to get a peek into his packaging design library! Take a look at JP’s desk up there, that juxtaposition of objects sums up his well rounded background quite nicely!

Beyond the peek into the world of Baxter of California on the next page ~ JP has also been generous enough to give one of you lucky readers the new Porter collaboration Baxter Dopp Bag filled with Baxter travel sized goods - Face Wash, Oil Free Moisturizer, Super Close Shave Formula, After Shave Balm, Daily Protein Shampoo, and a special edition Baxter anodized aluminum travel shave brush produced just for this kit in Black. I was jealous enough of this being a men’s product, i bought one for myself… it’s a fabulous dopp kit! With three removable velcro’d sections! With stunning details you’d expect from Porter, it is the ultimate flexible travel kit! See more images and details on the giveaway here!

TO “Holiday Feature! Baxter of California Giveaway”! ——->

Noferin has launched their latest set of woody toys, this time a blind box set: Jibibuts! And for this Holiday feature, they give us a peek into how they are made, the full set, and even a teaser as to what those 2 super special mystery characters are… ready to take a peek? See the full story on the next page!

Also… they have sent over one full case to give to one of you! For a chance to win, leave a comment on the feature with your favorite childhood toy!

TO “Holiday Feature! Noferin Jibibuts Giveaway!”! ——->

PLEASURE TO THE PEOPLE! Who can deny pleasure? Jimmyjane recently teamed up with Yves Béhar to create the new FORM 2. Great design + pleasure? That’s pretty irresistible. Jimmyjane has just released FORM 2, the first launch of PLEASURE TO THE PEOPLE, a groundbreaking new series of waterproof, rechargeable vibrators designed by Yves Béhar and Ethan Imboden. So for this latest holiday feature Jimmyjane founder (and designer!), Ethan Imboden, has decided to take us behind the scenes, sharing some amazing pics and confidential sketches, of how this pleasure object came to be.

GIVEAWAY! They really aren’t kidding around when it comes to spreading Pleasure To The People ~ they have generously given us a FORM 2 for you as well! So for a chance to win, leave us a pleasurable limerick (if you are limerick challenged, be creative and pleasurably poetic?), in the comments of the feature, and i’ll pick a winner on December 16, 2009.

TO “Holiday Feature! Jimmyjane Form 2”! ——->

Ready for another giveaway??? Well, our good friends at Fred have put together quite the bundle of fun for you! For a chance to win the following: Stone Cold, Hopside Down, M-Cups, Saltside Out, Ice Invaders, Twist & Spout, Birthday Candelabra, Sword’oevres, Mix Stix, Bubble Scrubber, Food Face, and Cookeys!

See details for a chance to win the “Holiday Giveaway! Fred Superpack!”! ——->

My iPhone has been clothed in the new Incase Perforated Snap Case the last few days, and i’m loving how incredibly light it is, yet nice matte black feel… and the perforations actually give it a little bit more grippiness! Well, for this feature and giveaway they’ve given us a little more insight into their inspiration as well as how much goes into the tools and manufacturing of these super thin simple solutions to iPhone cases!

Oh, and you get a chance to win the whole trio of Incase Perforated Snap Cases too! There is gloss white, matte black, and matte pink… details and feature all on the next page!

TO ” Holiday Feature! Incase Perf Snap Case + Giveaway”! ——->

Shawnimals never ceases to bring a smile to my face. I mean, little plushie ninjas. Who can resist that?!?!?! It’s a Ninja Empire for sure… from the early days of the Wee Ninja ~ to Pocket Ninja ~ to a whole town of ninjas… and a Nintendo DS game even… i’m so delighted and honored to announce his latest amazing ninja announcement just before NINJA DAY (yes, Dec 5th, this saturday. prepare yourself!), NINJA OF THE MONTH!!! Seriously. I kid you not. You can magically have ninjas appear in your mailbox monthly. Perhaps the awesomest yearlong gift yet? So YES, you get a chance to win a year long subscription of ninjas… AND Shawn was nice enough to let us peek behind the curtain to see where ninjas come from… ready to see inside the studio? Peek at potential ninjas in the making? See the next page….

TO “HOLIDAY FEATURE! NINJA OF THE MONTH + GIVEAWAY”! ——->

Oh how i <3 Rocket World. But most NOTCOT readers should know that by now. Patrick Ma is definitely one of the guys to look up to when it comes to putting your passions first and finding a way to grow an amazing company pulling in all of them as diverse as they may be… from a military background to a love of toys and eye for fashion… add a great design sense, some business savvy, and an impeccable attention for detail… surround with a bunch of great people. And poof Rocket World and TAD Gear! SO i’m thrilled to show off this special photoshoot they’ve done for us to showcase their new jewelry pieces! As modeled by my favorite plushie bear, Titus. (I couldn’t resist, so snuck in a few picks of my Titus at the end of the post to share with you too!) Oh, and they too love you guys enough to want to giveaway some of their gorgeous new pieces…

The giveaway: Sterling Silver Mean T-Skull bead and Pineapple Grenade necklace. Details on the next page!

TO “Holiday Feature! Rocket World + Giveaway”! ——->

Another friend of NOTCOT and fellow socal native (although she’s in NY now, her mom/biz partner/designer of this awesome new canvas duck bag is still in La Jolla) ~ Emily of Baggu shares the story of how she and her mom came to start this stylishly simple reusable bag line… as well as showcase their latest foray out of ripstop nylon and into the classic canvas bag: the Baggu Duck Bag! I must say i wasn’t sure from the photos at first, but once i played with it in person, i’m smitten. It’s so soft, yet strong ~ just wide enough on the bottom ~ perfect length ~ and LOVE how it looks when you button it and hide the shoulder strap! Anyhow ~ see their story on the next page… and they too have been super generous with a big Baggu giveaway!

Giveaway! It’s a Baggufest ~ you can win one green duck bag, a set of green Baggu X3, 2 Baby Baggus, one small and one large produce baggu, one BIG baggu, and two patterned baggus. Giveaway details on the next page!

TO “Holiday Feature! BAGGU Duck Bag + Giveaway”! ——->

Loving these holiday features, it’s been SO much fun to get a look into the worlds of some of NOTCOT’s favorite brands and designers this year. They’ve been awfully kind to pull together pictures and stories to share with us amidst the crazed holiday season, AND add giveaways too? All of these folks are pretty special to us! Today James over at Hard Graft gives us a visual peek into a Day in the Life of Hard Graft. I want their life! We couldn’t bear to tarnish the amazing pics they sent over with text ~ the pictures certainly speak for themselves, so take a look into their stunning Austrian studio on the next page!

Also ~ today is the debut of their brand new X Sleeve + Add-On Pouch! Isn’t it stunning? Guess what? You can also WIN IT! They have one to giveaway to us!

TO ” Holiday Feature! Hard Graft + Giveaway”! ——->

Included: Coastal Brake 12” (collection of remixes with a poster inside the album), Coastal Brake giclee, Ghostly 10 giclee, button set, Syv Triblend shirt (winner will pick the size, of course!)

HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY!!! To kick off the holiday season, i’ve decided to do something a little different this year. We’ve invited a few people and companies that we’ve grown to love over the years and inspire us constantly to share their stories, processes, and/or a behind the scenes look at their world and the amazing products that come out of it. Also, they love you guys enough that most of them also wanted to give you guys presents ~ so this year it’s about feature stories and giveaways! And i might not be able to resist and might make a few new gift guides or more products as well. Additionally we’re working on bringing back and cleaning up the gift guides of the previous years, since 99% of those products i’d still gift in a heartbeat! So i’m working and shopping this black friday, expect to see the new NOTCOT Gift Guide 2009 section evolve a bit over the next few days, its my fun sandbox to play with some new ideas…

First up! is the amazing Scott Hansen of ISO50. He has not only given us a peek into the way his breathtaking prints are hand made and cut in his studio… but also offered a generous bundle of prints and more for you to win! So take a peek at the featured post for his story, as well as details on how to enter for a chance to win all the goodies!

TO ” Holiday Feature! ISO50: Scott Hansen + Giveaway “! ——->