I might have some C63 lusting happening since spending the week with that Louboutin Mars Red 2011 Mercedes-AMG C63… and when i was going to show you pics of that one, i ended up getting sucked in to the design of the new 2012 model on the way… particularly the Coupe. Something about panoramic sunroofs fascinates me… imagine all the fun and unexpected photo angles you could have through that! Design wise, liking the simplified grill design and body updates, as well as the interior dashboard design that’s evolving nicely. From a tech perspective, this latest model finally gets the driver assistance systems from the S/CLS lines too - adaptive high beam assist, attention assist, parktronic, lane and blind spot assists ~ and even incorporates 3D virtual city views and eco routes built in to the nav. As far as driving tech… first with a new telematics generation, and with the development package you can get it up to 481 HP @ 6,500 RPM… fun, right? Anyhow, while diving into all the details and pictures ~ Mercedes was nice enough to send over some design sketches so we can see where the car evolved from! Take a peek at all the details on the next page!

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Tags: cars - gifts - luxury - Mercedes-Benz - shopping - sketching

Spy novels + fun cars + limited edition books = gorgeous book design from 007 and Bentley for the latest James Bond book, Carte Blache. There is a die-cut bullet hole that pierces each book - inside each copy you find a single polished bullet with a distinct number. (I wonder if any other secret information is hidden in or on the bullet!)

As for the design - “The Special Edition is designed by Brett Boydell. In his ten years at Bentley, Brett has been involved in the interior design of the Bentley Azure, Brooklands and, most recently, the Continental Supersports. He also manages the Bentley Branded Goods studio, where all Bentley-associated products are created.” Additionally, the book is in a metal box shaped into outline of the new Continental GT. The look of this sleek abstracted sculpture reminds me a lot of the Infiniti Essence and Mercedes Rising Car sculptures. Take a peek at the sketches and renders of the 007 and Bentley Carte Blanche Special Edition on the next page.

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Tags: bentley - books - cars - gifts - sculpture - shopping - sketching - spy

Sketches! I love when fun sketches come through the inbox ~ these are from the much anticipated Mondrian Soho that just opened in NY. Fun to see the direction the designers headed with it and where it evolved to. Morgans selected Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, the visionary behind the re-imagined Mondrian Los Angeles, to create Mondrian Soho in collaboration with their in-house design team.

“Noriega-Ortiz’s design for the hotel draws inspiration from Jean Coucteau’s 1946 romantic French fantasy film “La Belle et la Bête.” A powdery French blue color palette unifies the hotel interior and a custom carpet adorned with a rose vine design provide entryway to the jewel-box guest rooms, whose interiors features large dramatic mirrors, 10-foot ceilings and floor-to ceiling windows. No decorative art is hung in the rooms as the views are intended to be adornment enough and set the tone and scene for the guest.”

Sounds like a dream ~ and now i keep help imagining Beauty and the Beast (yes, the old disney one) and some of this lovely designer furniture coming to life… can’t wait to see it in person, but for now, take a peek into their world on the next page!

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Tags: hotels - luxury - new york - sketching - travel

Ok, in addition to my so called “packaging fetish” ~ i have a fascination with marker renderings. Yes, digital is fun and all ~ but there’s something so gorgeous and amazing about marker rendering too… and then when you mix the analog and digital for even cooler outcomes (more on that later!) Well another fun discovery while down at Oakley HQ ~ i got to check out the sketches behind the box and new shoe design they just launched with Chip Foose! Foose is known for his amazing hot rod designs (Youngest to be inducted into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame). In fact this weekend, Oakley has just released the Oakley Three Palms shoe at the National Hot Rod Association’s US Nationals where Foose is the grand marshal. So take a peek at the design behind the packaging and shoes on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - oakley - packaging - shoes - shopping - sketching

Curious how the magic happens? I have always been mesmerized watching master marker renderers and sketch artists at work... While visiting Toyota Calty Design Research, i had a chance to see Project Chief Designer, Ian Cartabiano, show us how it's really done on a huge apple monitor and wacom tablet (he's old school, and likes having the tablet while seeing the screen, versus those who love the Cintiqs).

So you can see one of my little home videos (one of these days with some combination of time, energy, extra pair of hands, etc i will make proper videos with real editing and maybe even music?) ~ giving you a quick skip through the presentation ~ from initial stages, to some highlights, to a flip back and forth between finished and initial sketches, and the crucial signature!

But honestly, if you want to learn how to sketch cars properly, you should probably go take Ian's class at Art Center ~ after graduating Art Center, he got pulled right into Toyota and has been there for 11 years... while simultaneously teaching... keep an eye out for his latest exterior design, the 2009 Venza!

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Tags: cars - sketching - toyota - video

Regardless of whether you did or did not attend TED this year, the TED BIG VIZ pdf book is a MUST download for anyone visually oriented looking for a burst of inspiration. What is it?

The BIGVIZ is an exploration in visualizing the Big Ideas presented on the TED mainstage. Two visual cartographers, David Sibbet and Kevin Richards, created over 700 spontaneous sketches of the presenters' ideas using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro software running on Wacom Cintiq tablets and rendered on a Perceptive Pixel multi-touch display. These tools illustrate the power of interactive visualization to present the big picture to foster insight and communicate ideas visually, central principles of design innovation.

I just went through all 200 pages (i even picked out a few of my favorites for you after the jump)... and its incredible, to see their sketches of the "big ideas" and things that grabbed their attention throughout the talks... seriously, the 700 "spontaneous sketches" are breathtaking. When you have a sec, the BIGVIZ movie is pretty sweet as well. Discovered this through the wonderful Information Aesthetics!

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Tags: art - books - events - sketching - TED - video