We’re excited to launch our latest NOTlabs Experiment - the NOTCOT In Plain Sight Collection of blacked out leather retroflectors! These subtle black on black striped leather accessories turn into unmissable high visibility items when flashed (be it with a camera flash or the lights from a car). Whether you use them as a decorative accessory, safety add on, a prop to liven up flash photos… or all of the above, is up to you! The collection contains a small and large keychain and bag tag - all handmade (by us!) in Los Angeles at NOTlabs from vegetable tanned leather.

Ok launching a collection sounds far more serious than it is - what actually happened was I wanted to make something fun to celebrate 10 YEARS OF NOTCOT! … and we have been experimenting with lasers + leather (+ reflective materials)… and Shawn and I wanted new keychains and a bag tag, so we started there and ended up with designer leather retroflectors! We’ve been using them the last few weeks, meaning inevitable design tweaks leading to the final designs. I adore mine, as does Shawn, so we decided to make more to share with our friends and family! Which of course includes all of you!!!

So THANK YOU for all of your incredible support and inspiration over the last decade. You’re so awesome, we’ve discounted the price for Friends & Family (like you!) for a few days over in the STORE!. For the discount, select the Friends & Family price in the drop down before you add to cart. [UPDATE: Friends & Family deal ended 2/9/2015]

No joke these are handmade by us at NOTlabs (yes, i’m sewing them!) and will be a limited edition (of not very many, or until we move on to another exciting project!) Hope you like them! See lots of fun detail shots and animated gifs on the next page…

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As more of more of the random day to day inspiration ends up on our @NOTlabs Instagram - it seems like a shame not to share it here with more context! So here’s a peek at everything from trying out the leather MOD organizer from This Is Ground to the fun concrete dog dish and minis from IN.SEK Design… trying out the new Plumen 002 bulb in our lasered cardboard light to adventures with my new Samsung Slide-In Gas Range/Convection Oven… and of course more adventures tinkering with the NOTFZJ80 which is getting some electronics upgrades and perhaps a baja trip? See it all and more on the next page!

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On packaging based impulse buys at the supermarket… was intrigued by this Slingshot “Yogurt protein drink with a crunchy shot”. The strange ring around the neck of the bottle is filled with toasted oats, chia seeds, and almond bits . It’s like a Yo Crunch in drink form (before YoCrunch apparently turned into candy/cereal/super sugary branded mix ins?). I tried the peach flavor which was pretty bleh - but the packaging is most intriguing! See details on the next page.

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Inspiring us this week while we play with car electronics, LED strips, lasered leathers and more at NOTlabs… here’s a taste of what has kept us going over at NOTCOT.org and Tasteologie… click the pics to find out more!

On more Instagram inspiration (yes, i’ve been finding a lot of that lately) - the @GoRumpl #BeerBlanket made me wish a tiny bit that i went to Outdoor Retailer. So, Rumpl is a “high performance blanket” company - that started making blankets and throws out of sleeping bag type materials. They remind me of the unzipped rectangular sleeping bags… but without the zipper! (You may have seen then before on NOTCOT.org.) And on unique, adorable tradeshow swag - their Beer Blankets are mini versions (stuff sack and all) for your beer!

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Time flies! Remember when we went with the Free Universal Construction Kit to Linz, Austria in 2012 for Ars Electronica? Well, on exciting news, the Free Universal Construction Kit that NOTlabs’ own Shawn Sims and our friend, Golan Levin, created is currently on display at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in the Beautiful Users Exhibition in all it’s 3D printed awesomeness. While you can’t play with them - it is so great to see the creative multi-toy sculpture they’ve created with the super brick! It’s thrilling to see that it is still inspiring and instigating people all over the world.

While friends have been sending us cell phone pictures when they run into it… i’ve still been curious to see more! Though we’re LONG overdue for a NY trip, i got so impatient i asked via social media if anyone going could help take some pictures, and Evelyn Frison was kind enough to answer the call! … and pictures just landed in my inbox! Check it out on the next page!

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One of my favorite things on Instagram has become Kelly Denato’s @NoPunchBacks #drinkanddraw. While her paintings are stunning (see two of my favorites on the next page!) - the playful post of a blank page and a glass of wine, etc. asking for ideas - is just so fun! It turns into beautiful interpretations of the randomest suggestions from all over the world in real time adding a fun layer to interactions and inspiration coming through my feed.

Above? Her interpretation of my random suggestion of an “Anglerfish luring in hummingbirds” ~ which turned into awesome hummingbird seahorses! See a few more on the next page - and be sure to follow Kelly @NoPunchBacks on Instagram to catch the next one!

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WOW. Congrats are in order for Publicis Mexico! Last month at the 25th Festival Círculo de Oro 2014 Advertising Awards in Acapulco - Publicis Mexico really cleaned up on awards! They received 3 Grand Prix, 18 Gold, 14 Silver and 12 Bronzes… in addition to Agency Of The YEAR!

And remember our 3D printed NESCAFÉ Alarm Cap (which awakens you to the smell of coffee!) that we (NOTlabs!) created with the Publicis Mexico Innovation Lab? It won 9 Golds and the 3 Grand Prix Awards (in Design, Innovation, and Direct)! We’ve been ridiculous giddy to see how far the caps have gone, and they were such a brilliant and hardworking team to work with. Oh - and this all comes on top of the NESCAFÉ Alarm Cap being Short Listed for the 2014 Cannes Lion in Dimensional Mailing as well!

In addition to being giddy about how well received the project has been - advertising awards come in some pretty strange forms… I must say i’m quite smitten with the Círculo de Oro awards - their truncated cuboctahedron awards to celebrate 25 years are stunning! It has 12 square faces, 8 regular hexagonal faces, 6 regular octagonal faces all with circles cut out of each face. Take a look at the details of the awards, a peek via instagram of the event, and more on the next page!

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Staying local in Los Angeles lately, i’ve noticed a bit of randomness surfacing on Instagram worth rounding up here! (What do you DO with all your instagrams? It really doesn’t feel like the best place to keep things you want to find again later… So pulling some favorites here helps me find them later!)

Here’s a peek into some recent east side of LA adventures (Yes, coming from the coast, DTLA is definitely east side to me!) - from wandering Downtown LA and driving around in the LA Aqueduct (that you have seen in many a movie/tv show) to going to my first NHL game with Travel Alberta (Go, Kings, Go!) and wandering around Silver Lake to peek into the brand new Mission Workshop and Shinola stores… and more!

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The duality of all things NOTCOT used to be… NOTCOT.com is the blog, NOTCOT.org is the submissions page. Then it evolved to NOTCOT.com is real life, NOTCOT.org is inspiring links to the best sources - our studio bulletin board! Into decade two - yet another layer is evolving… NOTCOT.com is the slower side of things we are living/doing/experiencing that are worth sharing, and NOTCOT.org is the faster moving firehose of constant inspiration!

That being said - explore the sampling of what’s been inspiring us over at NOTCOT.org above by clicking the squares to find out more!

Inspiration comes from the randomest of places… including turning on the garden hose and finding this amazing little ring of lush mossiness! I’ve been fascinated at staring at its growth… curious to see how it decides to spread. I suppose it helps me remember that slowing down… incredible surprises can pop up.

Things have been quieter here as we’re working on some design/development upgrades (SO exciting to bring some features to all of you that we’ve previously had only in our editor’s view) and toying with a lot of secret material experiments and design projects I can’t wait to share with you too! (Hint: Lasers! Leather! Reflectiveness!) Realizing and remembering that real world design, development, prototyping, etc is far slower than the jetset ‘see - shoot - share’ pace of digital. And it feels great to take the time to iterate over the little details and obsess over finding the best solutions along the way. So more to come on all of that shortly… but for now - how awesome is this mossy ring? See more pics on the next page.

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So much awesomeness this week! Here’s just a taste of some of what goodies can be found on NOTCOT.org… and just a taste of Tasteologie… Click the squares to find out more!

Just wanted to take a moment and say WOW. HAPPY NEW YEAR! IT IS 2015! That means… 2005 - 2015 = Decade I of NOTCOT done! We are now heading into NOTCOT: Decade II… crazy!

I’m excited to jump into 2015 as more of a fresh start to see what we can do with Decade II rather than look back, but before i do that - i must admit that the act of finding at least one thing EVERY DAY that inspired/excited/amused me has been truly life changing. NOTCOT is definitely my happy place! A lot has happened the last 10 years, and i can not imagine a more exploratory and fulfilling way to have spent my 20s - the things i have learned, seen, played with… the people i’ve met… the places i’ve been… what a ride! I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And as will any real life - there were the highs, lows, crazy times, but it has never been boring. So THANK YOU for coming along for the ride. If there’s one thing i’ve learned, it’s that “Do what you love, and the rest will figure itself out.” is definitely true!

It feels freeing more than anything to embrace 10 years down… on to newness! I won’t stop sharing things that inspire me (i don’t know that i could if i wanted to) - but i will definitely be shaking things up a bit more, and at the moment it’s unclear whether that means all of it will be shared online, or even publicly… NOTlabs is growing, and if you want to play, collaborate, or brainstorm together, we should definitely chat!

Happy Almost 2015!!!!! Not feeling all these 2014 roundups and looks back at the last year - too excited to keep moving forwards to all that 2015 has to offer! But first… here’s a peek at some inspiration keeping me giddy this week! Click the pics to find out more about any of these NOTCOT.org and Tasteologie…

Instagram (or any social media?) can lead to fun and unexpected connections and inspiration. In this case - i was following GrayShape’s explorations of Miami Art Basel, and he posted these awesome huge concrete cowries, which are one of my favorite shells! And i had to know more… So a few comments and emails later, he sent over more info and more pictures!

Turns out that they are “Shell” by Melik Ohanian at Galerie Chantal Crousel, Edition of 3 + AP. See more pictures he sent over on the next page! Thanks, GrayShape!

p.s. if you want to see my daily life/randomness, find me on instagram - @NOTlabs

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