*NOTCOT in tech - 09.21.08 -

Dissecting Esquire’s E-Ink Cover

eink1.jpgI’m sure by now you’ve heard about Esquire’s 75th Anniversary Cover ~ limited edition of 100,000 ~ with real E-Ink embedded in the cover. Over at Esquire, they’ve even opened up the discussion about whether you can hack it… and even show you where it all came from… So as a random Sunday amusement, couldn’t help picking it up from the newsstand, and as much as i resisted, i lasted a few minutes before i HAD to rip it apart and poke at the digital guts. So on the next page you can see video of it before and after, pictures of how it works, and scans as well!

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*NOTCOT in wearable -

NotCouture Black Roundup

notcouture #2771 notcouture #2802 notcouture #2770 notcouture #2800 notcouture #2776 notcouture #2792 notcouture #2789 notcouture #2766 notcouture #2779 notcouture #2794 notcouture #2803 notcouture #2764 notcouture #2801 notcouture #2759 notcouture #2760

There was a bit of time where I avoided wearing too much black because I thought maybe it was a little boring. Well, now I’m fully embracing it, so here are some black (and almost black) items that have popped up on NotCouture. First row is jackets & coats, second row is a mix of things for the ladies, including a cool motorcycle jacket, and the bottom row is accessories. That handsome weekender in the bottom right corner is for the guys!

If you love black as well, or want to inject a bit of color into NotCouture, feel free to share your finds with us!

*NOTCOT in home+decor - 09.18.08 -

Vitamin Living: Bio Logic Collection

vitamin1.jpg Vitamin Living, i’ve been a huge fan of their product design for some time now, and the I.V. Self Watering Plant Pot made quite a splash across the internet especially when it launched. Freshly launched at 2008 100% Design London, they’ve expanded that piece to the Bio Logic Collection - “All the products provide smart ideas for plants and are here to make your life easier. I.V.27, the original I.V. plant pot, Tab A, Tab B and X-tray are all included within the range.” See the full collection and press release on the next page!

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*NOTCOT in design -

The Invite: DWR Tools For Living

dwr1.jpgI love it when you’re excited about an event, but then the physical invite comes… and its JUST as fun - to the point where you want to pop it into a frame even! I’ve been pretty giddy about the idea of DWR branching into smaller gift/products, which they are appropriately calling “Tools For Living”. The Santa Monica store is opening October 2nd ~ and i can’t wait for the opening! Also, i think we can all agree that this will probably be a hit for holiday shopping -

The DWR: Tools for Living store is adjacent to Santa Monica’s DWR Studio, on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and 4th Street, where Route 66 meets the ocean. Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is one of Southern California’s most bustling districts, the ideal setting for DWR’s first cash-and-carry concept. You’ll find well-designed items for travel, work, kitchen, outdoor and more. Plus, with free, custom gift wrapping, DWR: Tool for Living is the area’s best bet for the ideal gift for anyone who is design obsessed. Robert Rodriguez runs the store with his friendly staff.

So more to come on the launch… but for now, check out the full invite design on the next page! Love the silhouettes - black and the one red on a nice hefty cardboard…

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*NOTCOT in playful - 09.17.08 -

Rotofugi: The Collectors

rotofugi.jpgRotofugi, the awesome toy store, has made an incredibly gorgeous little animation, The Collectors, which showcases some of our favorite toys animated and collecting… HUMANS! So awesome, totally made me smile. See it on the next page!

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*NOTCOT in design -

Toyota Calty Design: Sketch Demo

sketchdemo.jpgCurious 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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*NOTCOT in design -

Toyota’s Calty Design: Clay Modelling

toyotaclay.jpgYesterday Toyota (for the first time) opened up it’s Calty Design Research doors to a tiny group of journalists (Core77, KCRW/NPR, Architect Magazine, Dwell, Inhabitat, DesignMom, Zaproot, and i was honored to be included in the group)… and as we all know, security and secrecy in the car industry is nearly impenetrable, with design secrets that manage to be kept under wraps for years before the public even gets wind of the concepts, it was an honor (and SO much fun) to get an inside look at Toyota’s studios and their work flow… AND to be able to share it with you!

So first off, my favorite part ~ really it brought out the kindergartner in all of us, get handed a tool, and a HUGE (yes, life size car sized) piece of clay, and are told to go to it. And then sat down at a bench with mini’s to carve away at your own car? Ok so perhaps that only slightly over simplifying it, but i’m sure you can imagine the delight of poking at clay… while assisted by some of the most talented car designer and modelers… who with a quick flip of their wrist and a few slashes with a pairing knife, off fly a few pieces of clay and you’re staring at the dream sportscar you never knew you wanted. Then you see what my unplanned mohawked/finned masterpiece turns out like after more effort and less finesse. Let’s just say we fully understand and were quickly humbled by how skilled these modelers and designer are…

So take a look inside the Toyota Calty Design Research modeling space on the next page, and our experience hands on with the clay!

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*NOTCOT in travel - 09.15.08 -

Toyota & Montage Laguna Beach

montage1.jpgOn feeling too giddy not to share ~ i just popped down to the Montage Laguna Beach for the night thanks to Toyota (i can’t wait to tour Calty - their design studios in the morning and learn more about the new Toyota crossover car the 2009 Venza!) ~ and the views here were far too breathtaking not to share quickly. Also the bed and bathtub too ~ you know how i can’t resist posting quick hotel pics. Anyhow, if i get a bit quiet tonight/tomorrow you know where i am…

p.s.
Even just an hour here, i can’t stop staring out at the ocean ~ in contrast to paris, this is definitely confirming i’m far more of a calm, rolling oceans, beach kind of girl than a city girl.

p.p.s.
I’ve updated this post four times now ~ so images of bunnies, sunsets, and their insane mosaic pool at night… and 6am shots of moonlight peeking through the clouds… on the next page…

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*NOTCOT in design -

Target’s Bullseye Bodegas

target01.jpgNOTCOT Note: I’ve been so curious about the Target Bodega’s popping up in NYC, thankfully, Anna was able to stop by and take a few pics to share with us!

I stopped by Target’s Bullseye Bodega in Union Square this weekend - one of their four pop-up stores in Manhattan (open for only four days, today being the last). The store design plays on the classic New York bodega and is filled with exclusive Target home, fashion and beauty products from the likes of DwellStudio, Converse One Star, and Michael Graves to name a few. Besides products already in Target stores, the bodegas offered a preview sale of four new lines that aren’t yet in stores - Sigerson Morrison, Anya Hindmarch, John Derian, and Jonathan Saunders.

I preferred the design and concept behind the stores to the products themselves, and have a bunch of pictures on the next page showcasing the fun graphics and bodega-like installations in the stores.

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*NOTCOT in design -

M+O Simple 3/3: Slow Tech

slowtech0.jpgMerci beaucoup, Veuve Clicquot ~ who loves design as much as we do, and brought me to Paris to cover Maison et Objet 2008! More design discoveries to come… and i am just freshly back in LA… already!

Here is part 3 of 3 of the Maison et Object SIMPLE micro-exhibitions. 1. Farmlife 2. Les Métropuritains 3. Slow Tech

“Slow tech > hall 3 Conception: François Bernard. Less speed for better living. François Bernard suggests taking a break in a dematerialized world. Soft, fluid technologies revisit naturalness and a simplified life philosophy. Style is also inspired by the industrial aesthetics of last century’s designer-engineers. Heavy, peaceful forms cultivate a solid, reassuring elegance. The house is taking on depth and weight, worlds away from the ready-to-discard.”

See the next page for a visual walk through of the exhibition!

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*NOTCOT in design -

M+O Simple 2/3: Les Métropuritains

metrop.jpgMerci beaucoup, Veuve Clicquot ~ who loves design as much as we do, and brought me to Paris to cover Maison et Objet 2008! More design discoveries to come… and i am just freshly back in LA… already!

Here is part 2 of 3 of the Maison et Object SIMPLE micro-exhibitions. 1. Farmlife 2. Les Métropuritains 3. Slow Tech

“Les Métropuritains > hall 2 Conception: NellyRodi style agency. Get in line for eco-survival. The NellyRodi style agency reveals the Metropuritans’ new acts of resistance. Camouflaged in an apparently elegant starkness, these ecological urbanites proclaim a desire for asceticism and an almost military rigor. These militants of a healthy life ecology are activating utopias of survival and a frugality tinged with sensuality. A radically simple manifesto.”

See the images to walk you through the exhibition on the next page!

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*NOTCOT in design -

M+O Simple 1/3: Farmlife

farmlife.jpgMerci beaucoup, Veuve Clicquot ~ who loves design as much as we do, and brought me to Paris to cover Maison et Objet 2008! More design discoveries to come… and i am just freshly back in LA… already!

Here is part 1 of 3 of the Maison et Object SIMPLE micro-exhibitions. 1. Farmlife 2. Les Métropuritains 3. Slow Tech

“Farmlife > hall 1 Conception: Elizabeth Leriche. Back to solid ground. Elizabeth Leriche is preparing the soil for a new agri-culture. The simple pleasures of rural life are reviving a belief in local produce and setting down roots. In a period of galloping urbanization, a rustic style is becoming deeply rooted. People are discovering the animal and organic beauty of the agricultural world. Objects with roots cultivate the appealing authenticity of raw materials and craftsmanship.”

See the images to walk you through the exhibition on the next page!

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*NOTCOT in design -

Maison+Object Simple

SIMPLE.jpgMerci beaucoup, Veuve Clicquot ~ who loves design as much as we do, and brought me to Paris to cover Maison et Objet 2008! More design discoveries to come… and i am just freshly back in LA… already!

Ok one post series i’ve been needing to catch up on, but somehow hadn’t had time to get through cleaning up the many pictures… Maison et Objet: Simple! Incredible micro-exhibition spread between three even tinier exhibition spaces which were placed at the front of 3 of the 6 massive Maison et Object halls in Paris. Really the concept is fabulous because there is absolutely no way to cover every single booth of every single hall in such a monstrous convention center and stay sane ~ what they did were pick three curator/designers, each given a theme (overall theme SIMPLE, micro themes: Farmlife, Les Métropuritains, Slow Tech) ~ and give them a space to design around the theme and showcase the best products from the show with in them. The results were three engaging and unique browsing experiences that you really have to see the images to get a feel for. in the next three posts i’ll give you a look at each of them!

Descriptions of them from the Maison site on the next page! And you can view the pictures here: 1. Farmlife 2. Les Métropuritains 3. Slow Tech

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*NOTCOT in wearable - 09.14.08 -

NotCouture 2 Week Roundup

notcouture #2716 notcouture #2731 notcouture #2756 notcouture #2730 notcouture #2686 notcouture #2751 notcouture #2684 notcouture #2692 notcouture #2688 notcouture #2689 notcouture #2739 notcouture #2735 notcouture #2729 notcouture #2722 notcouture #2753

Here’s a NotCouture roundup covering the past couple of weeks. We’ve got more than usual for the guys (a row and a half!) including another pair of great looking shoes from my current favorite guy’s sneaker maker, Gram. And now that summer playtime is over, I guess the ladies have been feeling more feminine as there have been quite a few dresses popping up on NotCouture. As usual, we’d love for you to share your style with us! (I’m on the hunt for a great everyday black bag, and I could really use some help finding one!)

*NOTCOT in wearable -

Penhaligon’s Artemisia

penhaligons.jpgPenhaligon’s ~ i tried to tell myself i’d stick to French brands and stores while wandering around in my few days in Paris ~ but i couldn’t help myself when i wandered into Penhaligon’s, the legendary british perfumerie that dates back to the 1800s. I’ve been drawn to their fragrances at Fred Segal most recently, and vaguely remember loving a lavender body wash of theirs an ex had… but the store, packaging (love their tissue paper), layouts, and product designs were so gorgeous i was smitten - and had to share a few pics. So take a peek on the next page… even their tiles had me mesmerized…

I still have SO many things i want to share with you from the Paris trip, but strangely enough the jetlag has left me in a bit of a haze the last few days here in LA… so more catching up to come soon!

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