In an effort to reconnect with an older market, Luis Vuitton is using Keith Richards in billboards and magazine ads. Why Keith Richards? People tell Bloomberg that “Keith Richards is timeless and ageless,” said Rita Clifton, who heads the U.K. division of brand consultant Interbrand. “He’s lived his life on the edge, but he’s not a sleaze bag. He’s lean and mean and he’s still current.”

Happy Spoon is the spoon that smiles back at you. Buy them from Spoon Sisters.

via Happy Mundane

The box above may not look like much, but Casulo - yet another clever Danish furniture design innovation - contains an armoire, a desk, a height-adjustable stool, two more stools, a six-shelf bookcase, and a bed with a mattress. That is enough furniture to fill up a studio apartment.

Check out the video below to see how it all unpacks.

via swissmiss

From the creative mind of Scott Amron comes the Die Electric Experiment, which aims to modify household electric outlets, lights switches and plugs into having a new purpose.

Pictured above is ‘Off’, which begs the question, do you turn on the light, or hang something up? OFF, the light switch hook, provides a hanging function when in the OFF position. It is a fully functional light switch. It was designed to persuade people to use less energy. Off sells for $35.

ToothHold, my favourite Die Electric product, is cut power cord that holds toothbrushes, or other stuff, and would be perfect suspended over the bathroom sink area. ToothHold sells for $145.

These are just 2 of the 11 products that comprise the Die Electric range. Check all 11 out here.

As reported on SustainableBusiness.com:

Pilot Pen Corporation of America introduced the world’s first full line of earth-friendly writing instruments this week.

Selling for the same price as their non-recycled products, Pilot’s BeGreen writing instruments–including ballpoint pens, rolling balls pens and mechanical pencils–are made from 70% recycled content and packaged in recycled materials.

Nice! I hope that this the beginning of something larger and also not part of a green-washing effort.

Polaroid camera owners, like myself, better start stocking up on Polaroid film as the company is closing out production of its film as it is closing the production plants. The only way that the film may remain on the marketplace is if Polaroid is successful in its attempts to find a partner to license the technology to.

Looks like I owe a happy belated birthday to Lego, which turned 50.

Lego A/S, Europe’s largest toymaker, commemorated the 50th anniversary of its interlocking plastic building bricks by re-introducing a set from five decades ago.

The Town Plan set, which contains 1,000 blocks and costs 1,199 kroner ($237), went on sale today along with a hundred other new items on the Web site of the Billund, Denmark-based company. Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular Internet search engine, marked the occasion by using depictions of the bricks to spell its own name on its main Web site.

Lego, which estimates that children spend 5 billion hours a year playing with its bricks, was founded in 1932 as a maker of wooden toys. The company has made more than 400 billion of the plastic blocks since they were patented in 1958 by the father of current owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. Its name comes from the first letters of the words “leg godt,” Danish for “play well.”

above quotations via Bloomberg

Autoblog reports that GM will be unveiling the Chevrolet Trax mini-car at the New York auto show.

Designed at GM’s Incheon, South Korea design center, the Trax will be joined onstage by two other minicar concepts, and the public will be able to vote for their favorite one online at http://www.vote4chevrolet.com. That little marketing exercise will help the General gauge US market interest in the mini/city car segment as well as get reaction to the individual models they’re debuting in the Big Apple. The Trax stows a 1.0L gasoline engine under it’s stubby hood, and we’re looking forward to getting up close and personal with the car next week.

Check it out - it’s the Alba alarm clock by Furni. With a sleek acrylic front on beech wood, Alba’s red LED lights will let you know what time it is when you want to smack the snooze and go back to sleep. You can listen to Alba’s alarm tone here.

via design milk

Now this is a stool that I want to plop myself on…this is the “in the hot seat” stool by Qualicum Beach, British Columbia design studio Flavour Design.

Say hello to the Endo Magnet clip. Designed by Scott Amron of Amron Experimental, the Endo is a one-piece silicone magnet with springy clipping action. What can the Endo do? It

- Holds 20 Pages
- Gentle on photos and surfaces
- Dishwasher Safe
- Easily removable
- Strong magnet
- Hangs 1-lb

That’s one lean and mean magnet.

‘Do Not Disturb’ by cascadelemonade

via design*sponge

Nope, what we have here is not a real head of iceberg lettuce, but a safe. The manufacturers promise a realistic looking piece of plastic lettuce with a pop-openable compartment to store your valuables. Once safe inside, the safe should go in the crisper so it is all stealthy and such.

via swissmiss

The Phat Phree (whatever that is) has compiled a top 50 list of the regional/local commercials from the U.S. These are for products, services and the like that are on a regional or local scale. The budgets are lower and so are the standards.

20. Purnell’s Old Folks Sausage

9. Wet Pets

The other day I picked up a new magazine that has hit the racks: Monocle. Here is the magazine’s concept as it appears on their website:

We believe it’s time for a new, global, European based media brand. With a keen focus, strong reporting, sharp wit and more classic approach to design, we’ve dubbed our venture Monocle. At the core there’s a monthly magazine delivering the most original coverage in global affairs, business, culture and design. Alongside, there’s a web-base broadcast component covering the same areas through a variety of bulletins, mini-documentaries and talk formats. Focus on informing and entertaining an international audience of disillusioned readers, listeners and viewers, it is our intention to create a community of the most interested and interesting people in the world.

Edited out of London, Monocle is staffed by a team pulled from the world’s leading news outlets, magazines and broadcasters. Conceived by Wallpaper* founder and Financial Times columnist Tyler Brûlé, the launch team calls on some of his old alumni and new talent from The Independent, the BBC, Branches of Condé Nast and a host of other news outlets. Versed in politics, popular culture, business affairs, media, architecture and design, the editorial team will cover the world from its London hub and dedicated bureaux in Tokyo, Zurich and New York. Monocle will be driven by offering original, never-before-seen content to an audience of well-heeled, intelligent opinion leaders around the world.

Issue one is packed with nuggets of current affairs information. There were a few things about the magazine that attracted my attention. First was the size - at 242 pages, Monocle is not a thin piece of content. Second, was the global scale of the of its coverage. Third was the breadth of coverage. The magazine covers a myriad of topics, from arts to business to politics. So, I am giving Monocle my endorsement. Go ahead and check it out, I have. Oh, it’s also worth the hefty price (I paid $12.50 Cdn).

Moss has put out a collection of 5 crocheted finger puppets featuring Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Ahmadinejad and George W. Bush. Oh joy! It’s the War on Terror on your hands!

The Circa file folders may not make a day at the office any better, but at least they stand out and have some style. You can find them over at The Container Store.

via swissmiss

Cory Turczyn, over at PopCul Magazine, has put together a list of the top 5 worst “as seen on TV” products. Topping the list is the Cellphone wave scrambler, which was to protect us from harmful electro-magnetic frequency waves by scrambling them. Note, this list is dated to 2002! It still is good for a laugh or two and a nice trip down memory lane.

Now here is a clock design that takes time telling differently. The Just a Moment Clock by Reddish design studio takes the analog form of displaying the time (using hands), but separates them out like a digital clock would. Clever.

via Josh Spear

The Endorphins make for a quirky/cute designer toy to add to your existing collection or a great start to a designer toy collection if you do not have one.

via bb-blog