if you have some time...

use it to look around British artist Keith Tyson's website. His
work consists of large scale sculptures, installations and paintings.
The website is a great interactive experience that is worth
taken the time to explore.
(thanks Rita/David)

jenga anyone?

Sou Fujimoto Architects in Japan's very Jenga-like house
has no separation between wall/floor/ceiling/furniture.
Each serves the other's purpose and become what the
user needs or sees them as. More photos here.
(thanks Jason)

a tree grows in wisconsin

Brian Pittman sent over photos from his trip up to Door County, WI

last weekend. It reminded me that oh yeah, it is fall and leaves turn

colors! We don't see a whole lot of that en masse living in the city.

Sure, Chicago has loads of trees but not blankets of color like this.

Thanks Brian!

le cube, c'est chic

The ever talented Yves Behar and his Fuse Project studio have

come up with a very beautiful piece of equipment for your (french)

tv. Le Cube was developed by Behar in conjunction with French

TV channel Canal to produce and innovative and useful

experience for users. The system provides information and

personal preferences on a beautiful pixel display.

Read more here via Mocoloco.

the amazing race

From yesterdays post, Good magazine has some funny bi-partisan political

information. This one is 'good'. The above illustration is depicting what our

candidates suits would look like if they were like nascar drivers and had

uniforms with their sponsors covering them.

everyone's doing it

('nuff said. but if you're wondering why you should vote, you can

find 1149 various reasons and other goodies here)

you thought right.

You may have heard of London's Graphic Though Facility before.

They were the focus the Art Institute's very first exhibit dedicated

to graphic design. They do incredible work, including

a lot of environmental graphics. The photo above is from a

school in england. I highly recommend browsing their website

for lots of inspiring project work!

u CAN touch this.

Sure you can touch your iphone screen, but you can't do it so well

without looking. Product designer Takumi Yoshidi dreamed up

a cell phone that you really touch. SENS is a phone for the blind,

and it's beautiful. The phone has elegant dips and ridges so the user

can navigate the phone. It will then audibly and instantly tell the

user what number it is they just touched. The concept was developed

with the Royal National Institute for of Blind People in the UK.

Find out more information here.

(via core77)

materialicious

Yet another great and go-to inspiration blog, materialicious!
Consisting of mostly 'shelter' and homes, the blog is organized a bit
differently than other design sites. You can search by country which
puts the idea of regional design in the forefront. Contemporary
structures can all begin to blend, but seen in a context like
this is quite eye opening.

aged to perfection

The wonderfully named blog 'Advanced Style' posts

photos of well dressed older folks seen on the

street. These men and women continue to put effort

and finesse into their appearance as they stroll through

their golden years. Looking good and feelin' great!

in the eye of the beholder

The New York Times published a story today on the "Beautification

Engine" which is software that automatically doctors a photo

to make the subject more 'beautiful'. Scientists in Israel created

an algorithm based on survey results that measures up the

original face and doctors it so it becomes closer to an idea

version of it. The science of beauty and perceived beauty is

becoming a much researched topic. These findings were

posted for Siggraph which is an annual conference on

computer graphics. Read the article here and see the authors

results from testing out the software.

(via nytimes, boing boing)

join now

Saw these tables and thought their designers

did a wonderful job of emphasizing traditional joinery

in a wholly contemporary way. Ontwerpduo are two

designers in Eindhoven who take a very personal

approach to all of their designs by incorporating

memories and impressions into each piece.

need to know

You know that friend you have that always knows

about the cool stuff before you? Well, prepare

to take them on! Trendtrekking.com is a curated

list of 'interesting places, products, events and

cultural stuff...to keep you on the cutting edge''.

They'll tell you what's good and why cause who

has time to find it themselves?

(thanks e. larsen!)

flickr find

Nosing around the net, i came across these

lovely little things . Flickr user 'maraid' has a really

wonderful collection of little Japanese matchbooks

dating from the 1920's to 1940's. The illustrations

are so varied in their style. Fun eye candy!

(via coudal)

tangled up

Sculptor Patrick Dougherty uses saplings to create super intricate

nest like structures and installations. He got his start making

very small pieces and they have grown to be building sized

sculptures that require truckloads of saplings to complete.

See more here.

Maghound, where have you been all my life? Like

NetFlix for magazines, Maghound let's you choose

whatever magazines you want for the month and change

your selections for the next. You can pick from 3 tiers of

service, 4 magazines a month on up. Replace, cancel

or add new at anytime.