Trader Joe’s Pour Over Coffee that you Brew In The Bag! As usual - Trader Joe’s has fun with the graphic design on their private label goods. How could we resist trying out this adorable Pour Over Coffee that you brew in the bag? Just add hot water! Also - we much as Shawn’s all about the chemex and fresh stumptown… it’s pretty good! Supposedly the quality falls somewhere between a traditional pour over and french press.

A bit of research quickly shows that the danish company behind this fun packaging and concept is Grower’s Cup. They have this setup for both coffee and tea - as well as specialty kits (like Irish Coffee!) and you can even find some on Amazon. While not necessarily something you need at home - it’s perfect for on the go, especially camping! AND… the cheap, flat packaging is REUSABLE! Just scoop out the grounds and refill.

See more pictures of all the details on the next page.

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Happy Chinese New Year! Bring on the year of the monkey! Diving into the new year - here’s another dose of NOTCOT.org inspiration! Click the squares to find out more!

On fun packages to arrive - Eliza Frye is making lapel pins! And i love that - being the amazing illustrator that she is - it’s not just a pin on a card. It’s a collectible pin on a piece of her artwork - in a cute little box - complete with acrylic display stand! First up is a trio of pins in the “Fight Like A Girl” Pin Set. The enamel lapel pin trend is making quite the nostalgic comeback - and i love that artists are getting in on it. It’s such a fun way to wear and share a little piece of art! Take a peek at the details of the She-Ra inspired Fabulous Secrets Pin on the next page!

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Woohoo! 25 squares of inspiration from NOTCOT.org! Another week, another dose to get you excited and inspired - click the squares to find out more!

Patience has never been my strong suit - especially when i’m REALLY REALLY excited. Even Bucky is far better at it than i am (see him up there literally watching the paint dry?) Soooooooo… while i can’t show you the super exciting project we just finished YET… i CAN show you snippets of the making-of process that has been slipping out on the @NOTlabs Instagram and a few more from our phones that don’t give it all away.

Rest assured - as soon as i can share all the lovely details and final product with you i will!!! But for now - take a look at a bit of what we’ve been up to the last few weeks! There’s a bit of milling (on the awesome Roland CNC!) and some lasering (on our Rabbit!) and some SF Fog painting and some walnut and… well, you’ll see.

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Another week, another dose of what’s inspiring me that we’ve been sharing over at NOTCOT.org! And… today we’re soft launching a bunch of newness over there… you’ll notice you can scroll for days… it’s a bit more retina friendly… a bit more centered… a fun new hamburger menu in the corner… and more goodies you’ll find as you use it!

Mmmmm chocolate. It should come as no surprise that i love a good piece of chocolate… especially a beautifully wrapped or designed piece of deliciousness. A quick search for chocolate on NOTCOT.org brings up quite a bit - as does looking for chocolate on NOTCOT.com! Over the last 10 years, that’s a lot of chocolate.

Well Valentine’s Day is around the corner (or so marketers want us to think, since Christmas is over) - and since historically, chocolate and V-day go hand in hand - being one of the biggest chocolate selling holidays, that means loads of special packaging and chocolate offerings coming up every February. And it has already begun! I found so many Valentine’s 2016 chocolate specials, and have rounded up the most interesting (and delectable) ones in this roundup. From incredible box graphics, to chocolate frogs, lovebugs, oysters, champagne corks, cigars and more…

So whether you need to get started on ideas and planning early, or are just curious to see what i found researching chocolate tonight… see it all on the next page!

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On this whole “Adult Coloring Books” trend - it’s flying around the internet that IKEA now has coloring pages too! And the designs even look like they are set up for two people sitting across from each other to work on in simultaneously! Kids can share! Not fight? Or adults can do it over coffee on a little cafe table? The pages are cute, fun, filled with their usual line drawings - but i’m bummed they don’t have any with their usual instruction manual assembly characters! Though… all their manuals are black and white… and ready for coloring. So aren’t those all just coloring books too?

Side note - anyone else tired of the “Adult Coloring Book” phrase? They are all just coloring books! And coloring is for all ages! Unless there’s a XXX theme… it’s probably ok for kids of all ages!

Check out the IKEA coloring pages on the next page - and download your own here.

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Get inspired! A taste of inspiration from NOTCOT.org! Click the squares to find out more.

Inspiration 2016! I have good feelings about this year. Feeling super energetic about the future and all it holds - let’s design a mind blowing one! Here’s a taste of what’s been inspiring me this week - as shared on NOTCOT.org! Click the squares to find out more.

Just in via iMessage + FaceTime… a closer looks at the Audi booth at CES this year. As usual - it’s a trippy view that pulls you in… and it’s pretty over the top, yet so precisely designed. Remember the one with all the lights in 2012 (my all time favorite!) or the insanely glowing white booth that pulls you in like a moth in 2011? Well this one looks like 3D grids of chrome/mirrored square posts that pressure you to stare upwards (as cool as the cars may be below)… and the lights changing colors from red to white to blue are a bit intense. Check out some of details on the next page.

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Surprise from Nextbit just arrived! An adorable BLACK SHEEP! When you hear Nextbit, you probably think of the Nextbit Robin - that rockstar kickstarter of a phone that’s all about smart, magically efficient use of the cloud - and it’s coming really really soon to all the backers and buyers! While i could easily delve into all the fun details of the phone… that’s not what we’re here about. In addition to the Robin, Nextbit also turned its cloud logo into an ADORABLE SHEEP MASCOT… then had our friend, Andrew Bell turn him into a vinyl toy! In fact, if you couldn’t afford or didn’t want the phone, but wanted a sheep toy - that was even an option on their kickstarter. Take a peek at some of the fun, playful branding and an unboxing of this adorable sheep on the next page.

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Wow! Aleph Geddis has hand carved an incredible wooden totem for the new Filson flagship store (in the same building as their HQ) that opened in Nov 2015 in Seattle. I first discovered his work when stumbling upon his stunning chairs in Totokaelo in 2013, and then met him at Mercado Sagrado last year. Since that first 2013 encounter, Aleph Geddis has been fascinating to follow on Instagram… and over the last few months, i’ve been getting glimpses of the process of this stunning totem!

The totem towers over you at 25.25”x25.25”x18.5’. Yes… 18 feet tall! It’s made from western red Canadian cedar, and carved with traditional European tools, primarily gauges, bull nosed chisels, traditional northwest coast bent knives, and a few Japanese tools. Amongst the carvings you can find a wolf, owl, raccoon, falcon, and bobcat.

Take a peek on the next page at the making of as well as the final piece in the Filson store at 1741 First Avenue South, Seattle WA!

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A big dose of inspiration from NOTCOT.org as we go into 2016!!! Click the squares to find out more…

There’s an incredible 20+ miles of unpaved/4x4 trails in Arches National Park! And it’s especially spectacular on a sunny, snow covered winter day! Also incredibly - while there were tons of tourists packing ever view point on the main roads, we spent hours off-roading and taking in the stunning rock formations without seeing another car - or person! The funny thing is that we’d tried to go find some of the off roading trails around Moab, but many of them were heavily snowed in and pretty unpassable, so on the way home we figured we’d cruise through Arches quickly to get a peek at what to explore next time… but then we looked down at the map… noticed the 4x4 trails… and a few hours later we popped back out of the park! The trail put our NOTFZJ80 (and our driving skills) to the test - and it handled fantastically. Take a look at our adventure - and if you find yourself that way, we definitely recommend it. Lots of pictures and videos on the next page.

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