Vitamin Water Website

The Vitamin Water section of the Glaceau website has been making me laugh. They have come up with funny 'Try It' sayings for each flavor to attempt to explain the effect of the drink. For example 'Try swimming the Atlantic when you've just swam the Atlantic. Try Revive. Try it.' or 'Try kissing a poison dart frog until it turns into a prince. Try Endurance. Try it.' You can also create your own sayings using the Try It Creator and then post the custom advertisement to your blog or myspace page. I find this very interesting because on the one hand they are giving up control over what their advertisement says, but on the other hand the ads that people come up with are probably even more relevant to the readers.

Omlet Eglu

Looking for stylish ways to reduce your carbon footprint? How about raising chickens for eggs in this gorgeous chicken 'Eglo' by Omlet? This product was designed by four Royal College of Art students a few years back (I actually first saw it at their grad show!). Since then they have founded Omlet which sells this Eglu and the larger Eglu cube for housing chickens, rabbits or guinea pigs. Their site also has tons of great info about being an urban chicken owner. (Found through Trend Watching)

Nike MAXSIGHT

Check out these tinted contact lenses from Nike Vision. They give you the advantage of sunglasses without the glare, fogging or frame obstruction. On one hand these seem super futuristic, and on the other hand I can't help but wonder what took them so long?. Available in prescription or non prescription variations, Nike claims that in addition to providing distortion free optics, these lenses also enhance your sense of contrast and make details appear clearer. Plus they cover the entire pupil giving a green or amber glow around the eye which makes you look totally bad-ass. What more could an athlete want? (Found through one of my favorite new blogs, Colour Lovers)

Ecsotype Bags

I'm in love with a bag (yes, again)! The School bag is just one of 3 customizable bags from Australia's Ecsotype. Designers Sabine and Christian Pound have created a sort of co-design experience with consumers by allowing them to customize the bags using their online store. In the case of this School bag, you can assign the colors black, brown, red or ivory to each half of the leather bag, the straps and the accent rope, as well as choosing the handle type. The idea behind all the options is that the bag becomes more of a long-term purchase because it is something personal to your tastes instead of just something you found momentarily stylish. Interesting thinking for the traditionally seasonal world of bag design. Unfortunately at just over $400 this bag is a little out of my price range, even for a "long-term" investment. I'll just have to stick to drooling.

Lights Out London

In an effort to raise awareness about global warming, the city of London turned out its lights last week. The voluntary blackout happened on June 21 between 9pm and 10pm and included many notable building such as Tower Bridge, Parliament, and Buckingham Palace. Piccadilly Circus also participated turning out its advertising lights for the first time since World War II. London isn't the first city to do this. They follow in the footsteps of Sydney, Paris and Hong Kong. London estimates that they collectively turned out 2 million lights saving 750 MWh of electricity in 1 hour. I like this idea because turning out lights is such a simple thing, but the effect of seeing such well known attractions in darkness has quite an impact. It would be great to see some more permanent energy savings come out of this.

Tejo Remy's Playground Fence

This playground fence by dutch designer Tejo Remy reminded me of Demakersvan's lace fence (see previous post). The design turns a fairly utilitarian object into something fun. The fence was designed with playgrounds in mind. It features bends and surfaces to sit and play on. I like that the benches and play areas are on both sides of the fence. Fences are normally used to separate space, whereas this invites both sides to interact with each other. (Found through Inhabitat)

Read and Return

I was in the Dayton airport yesterday and I purchased a book at the Paradies Shop. When I was paying for the book the cashier said to me, "Don't forget to return it when you're done". At which point I must have given her a puzzled look because she proceeded to tell me about the store's Read and Return Policy. Any book that you purchase from the store can be returned after you are done reading it (as long as you have the receipt and it is within 6 months of purchase) and they will give you back half the cost of the book. Books that are returned in good condition are resold at half their price and books in poor condition are given to local charities. Apparently they have been doing this since 2003. Are their other bookstores that do this?

Eric Oosterhof

I was enjoying the work of digital artist and designer Eric Oosterhof today. (Found through Computerlove)

C-Class Website

I found this website for the new Mercedes C-Class kind of interesting. They have come up with some keywords to describe the C-Class; energy, simplicity, balance, space, interaction, confidence. To get across the meaning of each of these concepts they have created little interactive activities to allow you to experience the meaning of each word for yourselves. For example the 'Interaction' demo asks you to navigate an invisible maze. The maze is just trial and error until the navigation assistance kicks in, then it is easy. These simple activities are a very effective way of getting across the key messages. (Found through FWA)

The Grand Tour

Ok, so imagine that you are the owner of an art gallery and people aren't coming to see your paintings. What do you do? You bring the paintings to the people (of course)! For the next 12 weeks the National Gallery in London England is displaying some of their most famous paintings on the streets of London. Art lovers - don't be alarmed, they are only replicas. The exhibit is called The Grand Tour. You can go to their website and download maps and audio tours to help guide you through the paintings. Or if you are just walking the streets of London and come across a painting, simply use your mobile phone to dial the number displayed and hear the museum's description of the piece. I think this is such a brilliant idea. To see more images of the paintings on display, check out this Flickr gallery. (Found through Noisy Decent Graphics)

Oogmerk Opticians Ad

It's funny because it's true. I like the angle that Oogmerk Opticians took with this advertising campaign. It's all about what glasses could do for your image. And they didn't hold back. Variants on the ad include butcher to artist, easy to hard, and truck driver to dr professor. (Found through Scary Ideas)

Mark Coleran

I'm drooling over this showreel of Mark Coleran's work. He is a visual designer who specializes in futuristic on-screen graphics for television and movies. His interfaces have been featured in movies such as The Island, Mr and Mrs Smith, The World is Not Enough, The Bourne Identity, and many more. What a fun job! Check it out here. (Found through the always spectacular Core77)

Return to Sender Postcard

I like the thinking behind this Return to Sender postcard. The postcard has a address and message area on both sides. The intention is that the original recipient can use the same postcard to write back on. In some ways it goes against one of the main reasons to send a postcard, to send someone an image. What I like about this is that it captures the idea that letters are meant to be responded to. It has an element of polite expectation to it, like the RSVP card in a wedding invitation. Available at Atypyk. (Found on Better Living Through Design)

Johnny Hollow Website

I just spent about an hour pushing blobs of green liquid around with my little bug self. That is thanks to the interactive Johnny Hollow website. They deserve some props for making a site that kept my attention long enough for me to decide that I actually liked their music. (Found through the FWA)

Baker's Edge

If you are all about the edge pieces when it comes to squares, then this pan is for you. The Baker's Edge pan has Pac-Man style maze walls so that every piece gets the crispy sides of an edge piece. Personally, I'm a fan of the middle pieces (unless it involves icing, and them I'm all about the egdes). Either way, this pan is undeniably a good idea. (Found through Reluct)

Black and Decker Simple Start

I saw the commercial for this Black and Decker Simple Start Vehicle Battery Booster the other day. My first thought was, "What a total chick gadget" followed shortly by "... but damn, what a good idea". If you haven't seen the commercial, the product is a battery charger that will boost your car's battery through the inside DC outlet (cigarette lighter). That's right, no jumper cables, no second car, you don't even have to get out of the driver's seat! It fits into your glove compartment (assuming you get rid of all junk you currently keep in there) and it can be used as a flashlight or to charge your cell phone in case of emergency. Sigh, I can already hear my future children mocking me.. you used to do what under the hood?

Musicrain

Musicrain is one of my favorite examples of a Flash based application. It is an interactive program that steps you through sheet music while playing the synchronized accompanying audio. You can specify the key, tempo and part volumes that the audio is played at. It is such a simple and effective use of Flash.

Playaway

I love to listen to audiobooks while I travel but I'm not always organized enough to put them onto my iPod before I leave. These little Playaways are audiobooks housed in their own little players. One (replaceable) AAA battery gets you through a 12 hour book. The players come with their own set of headphones that plug into a standard jack (in case you want to use speakers, or your own headphones). Playaway doesn't consider its players disposable; they encourage users to pass them along, just like a good book. Each book costs around $35 (prices vary depending on the book).

iPhone

I saw the new iPhone commercials today and my excitement has been renewed. I've gone through a few phases in my opinion of the iPhone (thus far). When I first saw it I wasn't that impressed. Yeah it's a nice design. Minimal buttons and a big touchscreen, but so what? Lots of other companies can/are doing that. Then I watched Job's keynote introducing the phone and I was totally hooked (you had me as scrolling). But that was a while ago. In the past few months every iPhone wannabe that has been released has made me less and less excited about the iPhone. These commercials today reminded me about what made me so giddy watching the initial keynote. That thing that Apple does so well; combining useful functionality with innovative user interfaces and housing it a sleek outer package. It's about putting equal importance on hardware and software (and packaging for that matter), bringing them together to complement each other, trying to perfect every aspect of the experience.

Hasan Elahi

Part art project and part alibi, Hasan Elaihi's self tracking project is totally fascinating. After finding out that his name had been mistakenly added to the FBI's terrorist watch list, Hasan Elahi decided to be totally open about his life. So he turned his life into the ultimate blog. His site, TrackingTransience.net, shows thousands of pictures of his daily activities (including meals he's eaten, toilets he's used, airplanes he's been on) accompanied by a list of debit card transactions and his current location (care of a GPS unit he carries in his pocket). He's been doing this daily since 2002. His theory is that "the best way to protect your privacy is to give it away". He figures the government monitors all of these things anyway but without much accuracy. Why not help them get it right by simply providing the information yourself. Awesome! (Found in Wired Magazine)

Reactee

Want to send a message? Why not do it with your own custom t-shirt complete with text response number? Just go to Reactee.com and choose your slogan and keyword. When spectators text your keyword to the number shown they will receive a text message of your specification. You can change your customized message as often as you want. Options are available to notify your cell phone whenever your shirt elicits a text, or allow for texters to send you a message back. And all this fun for only $20-27! (Found through NOTCOT)

Stuck in Customs

Check out this gorgeous Best Of collection from photographer Trey Ratcliff, (a.k.a. Stuck in Customs). He uses High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography to create images that border on illustrations. According to Trey, "a well-executed HDR image is evocative of the actual scene itself. When a human eye is actually on location, it is constantly moving, adjusting the pupil size, allowing in more light in some areas, less in others, and the visual cortex actually works to build a patch-like vision of the scene". For more info about HDR go to Trey's blog.