Normann-Copenhagen

Norman-Copenhagen is a housewares company with a solid design heart. That focus on design is reflected in their elegant new website. The website features beautiful high res images of their products with detail shots, colour options and information about the product's designer. A lot of care and attention to detail went into this website, which reflects well on the products and designers themselves. (Found through The FWA).

Pop Art Pumas

I saw these styln' Pop Art kicks at the Puma store the other day. The graphic design used on the shoe was created by Eba Akamatsu, inspired by the work of American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein's style is borrowed from comic books, know for its thick outlines, Benday dots, and bold black, yellow, blue, & red colors.

Stop Destroying Our Planet

One of this week's Threadless t-shirts made me laugh. It reads "Stop Destroying Our Planet. It's where I keep all my stuff."

Slingbox

I've been meaning to buy a Slingbox for a while but just never got around to it. I finally got a chance to try one out this week... and it's amazing. If you don't know what a Slingbox is, basically it is a set top box that allows you to watch your home TV (DVR, DVD, satellite or any other video output device(s)) from your computer or mobile phone via the internet. It uses your home network to broadcast the signal. You can not only watch your TV, or other devices, but control them remotely.

Sling Media has been around for a few years now. They have won a bunch of awards including a few industrial design awards a couple years back.

I've been using my Slingbox on my laptop, both around the house and remotely, as well as on my Moto Q phone. The video streaming is fantastic. There is just a little bit of lag and pixelation... all very forgivable. The Slingbox Solo (connects to one device) costs about $150 with no subscription fees and HD support. They also make a Slingbox Pro which allows you to connect to up to 4 devices. Very impressive.

Yellowism

My friend Rex has just started a great t-shirt company entitled Yellowism. It features a series of humorous printed tees as well as custom design and printing services for t-shirts for your special event or organization.

Ornamented Metal Lace Drain

The Ornamented Life has created a gorgeous series of metal lace drains, turning the ordinary into extraordinary. They are made out of hand-forced and laser-cut stainless steel.

Statue Appeal

In Sweden only 1 out of 10 statues are commemorating women. A Swedish magazine called Amelia has started a Statue Appeal campaign to change this. They have began placing pink pearl necklaces on male statues around the country. Their website also gives instructions on how to make the necklaces and encourages people to place them on statues in their own towns and upload the photos to the Amelia website. The campaign also includes 20 great Swedish women who they have nominated to receive statues. (Found through the David Report).

Mechanical Parts Pics

Brittnybadger's mechanical parts pictures appeal to the industrial designer in me. Great photos of meticulously laid out parts from disassembled home appliances. I imagine that she had second thoughts about this photo project when she went to make toast the next morning. (Found through Swissmiss).

SANS Socks

Are holes in socks a bad thing? Not according to New York based fashion label SANS. SANS is challenging the conventional thinking around socks with these Hole Socks, available at their online store ($28-30).

Olympic Medal Count Map

The New York Times never fails to impress with their interactive info graphics. They have some great Olympic graphics currently on their site including this Olympic Medal Count Map, which animates a world map based on the amount of medals each country wins at the Olympics over the years, ending with this year's current count.

Stitching Postcard

These postcards are a nice interpretation of a places-I've-been map. They let travelers sew in their routes before sending them to friends and family. (Found through BLTD).

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

I watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics this weekend. If you missed it, be sure to check out some of the many photos that documented the visually stunning event.

No One Belongs Here More Than You

What better way to see a book than with some great storytelling? And Miranda July's website for her book 'No One Belongs Here More Than You' is definitely an example of great story telling (maybe not fabulous photography but good storytelling). I plan on buying the book based solely on the joy I got from the ridiculously entertaining approach to the website.

Otto

According to designer Duncan Wilson, "Every object and surface in our environment has a whisper; subtle tremors and vibrations that are usually undetectable to the human ear, produced by the activity and movement of daily life." He developed Otto to give you a glimpse into those secret whispers of objects. Otto uses suction cups and magnets to latch onto objects and amplify their sounds into ambient music for your listening pleasure.

Movie Box Office Charts

Movie Box Office Charts are illustrations created by Zach Beane. Each chart tracks a year's worth of movies, showing the top 25 movies for every weekend. The movies from each week are color coded, allowing you to easily track how long the movie stayed in the charts and how its ranking changed over time. (Found through Neoformix).

Fred Eerdekens

Fred Eerdekens creates amazing typographic sculptures. At first glance they appear like abstract objects. When light is shone through the sculpture, a message is revealed using the negative or positive light of the shadow. There's an inspiring beauty in the madness.

Applause

Jason Bruges Studio has created this interesting installation called Applause. An array of computer controlled flags respond to motion. The flags dynamically follow polo players or race cars, turning back and forth to follow the action.

Days with My Father

Phillip Toledano has done some wonderful photographic collections. I think his recent series, entitled Days with My Father, is my favorite. It is a very candid collection of photographs and commentary about life with his 98 year old father. It is a very heartfelt and touching collection.

SF Zoo Critter Quest

The San Fransisco Zoo has a fun participatory ad campaign called Critter Quest. They use a series of 4 bus shelter poster depicting pieces of animals. Passersby are encouraged to take a picture of themselves as a peacock, giraffe, butterfly or kudu and send it to the San Fransisco Zoo website gallery. This is a great advertising idea. It's fun, it gets people interested and involved, and it gives people a reason to visit the website. (Found through Marketing Alternatif).

WALL-E

I went to see WALL-E today. It was fabulous. Like most Pixar movies, I was very inspired by the story, the characters, and most of all, the artwork. The story is about a robot (WALL-E) that is left on an abandon Earth to clean up the garbage. The movie has very little dialog but tons of story. The robots are all full of character and personality. I was also super amused and fascinated by their interpretation of the future. If you are inspired by Pixar's art, I recommend checking out the Art of Pixar books. I recently purchased The Art of WALL-E.

Shit Happens

I never thought I'd say these words but... check out these super cute Dog Poo Bags! Not only are they funny, they are also super functional. They have a smart folding scoop feature, a useful handle (opposite to the business end of the bag), and they are biodegradable. (Found through Notcot.com).

FontStruct

And speaking of fonts... I just came across this great font building software called FontStruct. It allows you to build, share and download fonts for free. The gallery of designed fonts is very inspiring. (Discovered through Springwise).

Font Conference

If you are someone who works with fonts on a daily basis, you will definitely appreciate this Font Conference video from CollegeHumor. It is a brilliant comedic video that personifies fonts. It's full of fantastic typography jokes. My favorite character is Wingding... "Mailbox! Open Mailbox!". (Found through ComputerLove).

The Human Race

Nike has come up with an interesting concept for a worldwide 10K run that they are calling The Human Race. The race is scheduled to take place on August 31 2008. In 25 cities, such as Vancouver or Madrid, there will be organize race routes. But participation is not limited to these cities. Nike is encouraging anyone with the Nike Plus software and hardware to also take part. Their website offers training routines where you can track your progress.

Stopener

Great student design by Bum Joon Lee and Seung Hwan Shin. Winner of an IDEA Bronze award, this concept aims to improve pop cans by turning the tab into a twisting lid. The closing top reduces spilling on the carpet and more importantly... swallowing bees.

Wilton Rolling Pin

Rolling pins have looked and worked the same for decades. Wilton has finally successfully redesigned the rolling pin by addressing their one major flaw - they are hard to clean. The Wilton Rolling Pin has detachable handles, allowing it to be fully submersible in water and dishwasher safe. This is a major design victory on behalf of us lazy bakers. Design work by A2 Inc. Winner of an IDEA Bronze award.

PT3

This fabulous PT3 table tennis packaging was created for Puma by the brilliant Aruliden design and branding consultancy. The design is made up of two plastic halves held together by magnets, housing the paddle and ball sets. The design is simple and elegant. I've used this image in most of the image boards that I've done this year. This design recently won two prestigious design awards: an IDEA Bronze award in the Leisure & Recreation category and a I.D. Annual Review Best in Category award for Packaging.

Zune Branding Animations

Nervo Design and Animation has created these great animations for Zune. There are 5 unique animations. The short videos are meant as a branding accompaniment for Zune events and presentations. They are slightly random but in a interestingly captivating way. (Found through one of my favorites, Computerlove).

Destroy Today Calendar Screensaver

I've been using Dropclock as my screensaver for the past few months but I think it's time to move on. I'm considering this calender screensaver by Destroy Today as a replacement. It's subtle, clean, informative and interesting.

2008 IDEA Awards

This year's IDEA awards (International Design Excellence Awards) were announced on Friday. I'll try and cover a few of my favorites over the next few days. In the mean time check out the winner galleries on the IDSA or the Business Week websites.