The Yoshida Hishou is an A-shaped plane with two reverse propellers. The design dates from 1911 when 3 A-shaped models successfully crossed over the Sumida River in a model plane contest. The kit uses balsa wood, ultra light white styrofoam, rubber bands, and 125mm reverse pitch propellers. It has a wingspan of 16″ and overall length of 18″. Complete illustrated instructions and glue are included. The kits are packed in boxes with handsome graphics in Japanese and English. A beauty, no?
This is DUEL Savings Bank is a cool idea for siblings or a couple to challenge each other to save. Or maybe you have two things worth saving for, you’re just not sure which is more important… either way this bank is a fun way to make sure bills and coins are kept safe. The white porcelain can be easily written on and erased over, and you can retrieve your money by sliding off the red silicone band.
This could come in handy for some of us that keep dropping our iPhones or losing them in our big giant purses: iPhone pouch.
Every office needs an emergency clown nose. Seriously.
I must say, this minimal hand-cranked paper shredder put a smile on my face. Who knew I could get excited about such a mundane object.
Thanks to all my readers that sent me the link to this fantastic post over on Wanken about the Swissair Logo. It’s a beautiful overview on how the Swissair logo developed over time.
Where was I hiding all these years? I can’t believe I have never come across The Powers of Ten, a short film by Charles and Ray Eames.
(via designrelated and in honor of yesterday’s date 10/10/10)
Wally Olins’s lecture “The Nation And The Brand And The Nation As A Brand” from 2007. I agree with Rob, it’s well worth watching all four parts.
(via linedandunlined)
I had the pleasure to travel to Los Angeles last week to kick-off the LosAngeles/CreativeMornings chapter. Our speaker was Zach Frechette, co-founder and editor of GOOD Magazine. The event was hosted at the fantastic Ford&Ching space. I think it’s safe to say the event was a success. Check out the photos here, all taken by the talented Cicilia Teng.
I enjoyed the icebreaker tags. We asked: I wish they all could be….
A big giant thank you to Jon Setzen, who is running the LA chapter. Jon is Creative Director at Something Massive and they were super generous in flying me out and sponsoring breakfast.
The video of Zach’s talk will be posted soon. Sit tight.
This Cardboard Heaven project by Nina Lindgreen makes me want to drop everything, go home and start building one of these myself with the assistance of little Ella Joy.
During my 24h visit to Los Angeles last week I had the pleasure to enjoy a cup of Intelligentsia coffee. It was the best cup of coffee I have ever had, and I never thought I would say that outside of Italy. My friend Jon took me to the Intelligentsia coffee shop in Venice. The space itself is stunning and well worth a visit, even if you don’t drink coffee. Watching the barrista making our coffee pushed me over the edge. Can we please have a Intelligentsia in DUMBO?
Their New York Training Lab offers various classes. Espresso 101 anyone? Oh, I am tempted.
Did I mention clouds make me happy? So, can you tell what a big smile Cloud 365 put on my face? It’s a year-long photographic experiment shooting clouds everyday, by Kelly DeLay.
(thank you Carolina)
mykea lets you customize your IKEA furniture. While I am not crazy about most of the designs, I do like the idea. I’d love to see more typographic designs, but that’s just my personal preference.
(thank you Leonoor)
Quirky memo pad in the shape of a cloud. Comes with 168 easy tear sheets, in a variety of coloured and patterned papers. And yes, clouds make me happy.
(thank you Gemma)
LEGO Storage brick boxes? But of course! YES! Take toy storage in your living room to a new level. Made me smile.
(thank you Darren)
Nothing beats a Damn Fine Tea! Andrews & Dunham know this, so they’re always on the lookout for that perfect cup. Only a few teas meet their mysterious, rigorous standards and they’re proud to offer them to you in limited quantities, one edition at a time. You won’t find a huge assortment on their site — just a few of their favorites which they hope you’ll love as much as they do!
The coolest thing about it all? Each tin of Damn Fine Tea was created by the talented folks of Aesthetic Apparatus.
Damn Fine Tea gets the swissmiss thumbs up!
Hypothetical Development Organization (Kickstarter Trailer) from R Walker on Vimeo.
I had the pleasure to enjoy a cup of coffee with Rob Walker a few days ago here at swissmiss studio. I am a fan of Rob’s creative endeavours, thinking and writing. You might have read about his book Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are or his wonderfully poetic project called The Significant Object. During his visit Rob told me about his latest project called Hypothetical Development.
Rob explained that he kept walking by a construction site that sported one of those fancy 3D renderings of what’s soon to come. After months of walking by the site, and nothing happening, it was clear that obviously this was just a bunch of hot air.
The idea for The Hypothetical Development was born. Why not pick interesting sites and come up with Hypothetical Development renderings? Consider it a new form of urban storytelling.
Or as they explain it on their site:
Members of this Hypothetical Deveolpment begin the narrative process by examining city neighborhoods and commercial districts for compelling structures that appear to have fallen into disuse —“hidden gems” of the built environment. In varying states of repair, these buildings suggest only stories about the past, not the future. What this means is that they will put huge signs with illustrations/graphics of what soon is to come on this site outside various locations in New Orleans.
Take the Museum of the Self as the first example. (Rendering above) I can’t help but think about how much these futuristic hypothetical developments would make me chuckle.
I just backed the project with $50. It’s only $1,200 shy of meeting it’s goal. Let’s help Rob and his team make this happen.
Kickstarter page for Hypothetical Development
Official site: Hypothetical Development
Photos by Ty Cole
I had the pleasure to meet two Etsy folks, Randy J Hunt and Dave Brown, for lunch today. Even though Etsy’s headquarter is only two blocks away from swissmiss studio, I never had a chance to stop by. That changed today! Dave gave me a big tour and needless to say, I was quite impressed. Not only do they have a fulltime chef (!), they also bought all their furniture and decoration off Etsy. What struck me is that their office is a 100% true to their brand. The office maintains the handmade feel of the products they carry. Impressive.
Did you see those big giant orange lamps? And the curtains?
(images via ApartmentTherapy, by photographer Ty Cole.)
Weightshift just launched Interhoods, a real-world directory for designers and developers. The sign up process is incredibly simple: Log in with your Dribbble or Github accounts and identify your location in New York, San Francsico or Chicago (more cities coming soon). I agree with Khoi, it’s cool to be able to see who is physically near you, neighborhood by neighborhood, and will be even more useful if it achieves critical mass. Well done, Naz and Scott!
Check it out and register your location at Interhoods.org.
(via subtraction)
The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. The Khan Academy is being developed as an open source project, consider it a free classroom for the World. *This*, TED and Kickstarter are perfect examples why the internet had to been invented.
(thank you rachel)
My thesis was a 200 page book about “The beauty in the Ordinary”. It comes to no surprise that I love this project called The Search for the Obvious. The project is asking for your contribution: Think of a physical object or service that makes life better and has truly bettered the world. Then, upload a photo of your finding here.
The Search for the Obvious is run by the Acumen Fund, which is a pioneering not-for-profit venture fund that is changing how the world addresses poverty. Acumen Fund invests patient capital in business models that deliver critical, affordable goods and services to the world’s poor, improving the lives of millions.
(thank you Maria)
CreativeEveryone wants you to never miss a creative event again. It strives the be the go-to guide to all the interesting creative-oriented events happening in the UK and USA. If you would like to help them edit and curate the events listed on CreativeEveryone, you can become an editor. (The site is in beta, so be gentle on them if you discover bugs!)
My friend Jennifer spent the weekend with us and decided put her cooking hat on. She made a soup. No, not just a soup, the *best* soup I’ve ever had. Where did she find the recipe? On a blog called Bitchin’ Camero.
My hat tip off to both to Jen (the chef) and Melissa Camero, the force behind this impressive food blog. And now, here it is, the recipe to the best soup I’ve ever had: White Bean Soup with Mini Lamb Meatballs.
Remember I asked about the perfect camera bag a while back? The answers were overwhelming and I haven’t finished the blog post in which I am trying to summarize all your anwsers. (Check the comments here)
I just came across this beautiful looking camera bag that Incase created in collaboration with Ari Marcopoulos. Nice, no?