Cool Hunting

13 January 2008 - 19 January 2008 week before | next week view all from this month
Trois Crepes Dark Chocolate Perles
Pearl-shaped and tiny, the Manhattan patisserie Trois Crepes' Dark Chocolate Pearls contain something like a buttery Rice Krispy in a coverture of bittersweet chocolate. A pleasing crunch and slight saltiness makes for a surprising experience, but the chocolate balances both the flavor and texture. The Perles are delicious sprinkled on ice cream or yogurt, but we also like pouring them directly into our mouth....
Coco
Fashion illustrator—and Lost At E Minor banner artist— Coco freelances for a variety of designers and magazines including Vogue, Nylon Japan, Plastique and Bon Magazine, as well as recently decorating the Etam Lingerie Shop window for Europe and part of Asia....
Making Stuff for Kids
A craft book for children of the "craft revolution," "Making Stuff Kids" from Black Dog Publishing celebrates crafting as a great way to improve skills such as imagination, dexterity and problem-solving, as well as the increased opportunity for family time that arises when children and parents step away from their computers and video games and make something together. Like the craft book for adults...
Sarah Pickering: Fire Scene
Sarah Pickering's photographs belong to the magical space that exists between reality and illusions. Capturing the unique bursts of smoke and light that resulted from detonating certain types of bombs including land mines, artillery, air fuel and even napalm, I was completely dazzled by her earlier photos of explosions taken during military training exercises. Her most recent body of work called "Fire Scene," now...
Jason Munn x Patagonia Spring 2008 Tees
Oakland, CA's Jason Munn is the one-man machine behind The Small Stakes independent design studio. Along with some beautifully designed and silkscreen posters for such bands as Nada Surf, Death Cab for Cutie, Wilco and Blonde Redhead (to name but a few), he keeps busy with a range of visual designs including book covers and album packaging. Most recently, he's behind a few t-shirt designs...
AirMail
Sometimes the obvious choice is the best choice, which is why we love the new manila envelope-based AirMail sleeve designed for the new MacBook Air by our favorite quick thinkers, Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans. Yep, someone already did it.We were hoping that the Airs would ship in an actual manila envelope, but the AirMail lends functionality by handmaking the case out of...
Lumas Editions Gallery, Melbourne
Melbourne may well be miles from most of the world's cultural epicenters, but when it comes to appreciation of quality photographic art, Melbournians know their stuff. Perhaps that's why Lumas Editions decided to expand their global galleries by opening a Melbourne tangent just over a month ago. Located in the hip Little Collins Street precinct, Melbourne's Lumas Gallery continues the company's global reputation for...
Mike Perry
One of the hardest working typographers we know, Mike Perry is currently working on his second book. Check out the Brooklyn-based designer's first book, "Hand Job: A Catalog of Type," which is a great collection of hand-drawn type out out by Princeton Architectural press. It's hard to look at this site and not be motivated to get working too!...
Eye-Fi
I was already wowed by the exceedingly simple and totally ingenious Eye-Fi card for its ability to wirelessly send photos to your computer, as well as Flickr and other photo uploading sites. But with the introduction of a feature that directly syncs with iPhoto, a good thing just got better.By installing Eye-Fi software on your computer and using the 2GB card in your camera...
Colors 72
For issue 72, Colors, the global and socially conscious magazine, has gone without, well, colors. Why? "There are 40 million blind people in the world. Colors devotes a black-white-issue issue to them." For a demographic that doesn't usually get to enjoy magazines, this first colorless Colors includes inspiring first person stories from blind people and a four-language CD with audio of the entire issue...
Jason Markk x Staple Sneaker Solution Set
It sounded like a good idea, but when we first heard about Jason Markk sneaker solution, we had our doubts. Even after all the rave reviews, I wondered if I couldn't get the same results with a little soap, water, a toothbrush and some hard scrubbing and skip the fancy packaging. Then good ol' Jeff Staple lent his cred with the recent release of...
Wade-Hampton Home
NY-based designer Travis Pagel has just launched Wade-Hampton Home, his new home accessory and textile company. His first products are a series of Argentine cow hide pillows, in both natural and hand-painted styles. Each is one of a kind. Travis says, "I have discovered many uncommon and innovative materials during my travels that I intend to utilize and introduce in future product releases...that will...
FluffyCo Apparel and Home Decor
Inspired by the San Francisco lifestyle, FluffyCo is an apparel and home decor line featuring original designs printed on high-quality, California-made clothing with environmentally friendly water-based inks. In addition to t-shirts, hoodies and skirts, FluffyCo also features a line of accessories made from Naugahyde and lined with felt, including wallets, iPod cases, eyeglass cases, bag tags and passport covers.Their new home decor line features...
Hess is More NYC Workshops
Coming off the heels of touring in Istanbul, London and Copenhagen and in anticipation of his upcoming studio release, Danish electronica virtuoso Hess is More (née Mikkel Hess) will be in Manhattan to offer a five-day workshop that includes interactive performances with Hess' live act. The program will include an open rehearsal, a preview of “Denial” his fourth album and three concert performances at...
Macworld 2008
Those of you as obsessed as we are (read: setting up our laptops at the lunch table) already know today's Macworld news—the overall theme of which seemed to be wireless capabilties—but for the rest of you Steve Jobs today announced several new slick Mac products, the most impressive being "the world's thinnest notebook," the MacBook Air (pictured above) and the all-new Time Capsule (pictured...
Ida Maria
So we heard the most amazing unsigned band in Williamsburg, Brooklyn the other night. Except we were at a noodle and dumpling bar called Snacky and the band was blaring from an iPod. Norwegian-by-way-of-Sweden Ida Maria and her bandmates are sure to be the next hot-shit-of-the-moment and their song "Oh My God" will not stop playing in our collective brain. Currently self-released on their...
Design Police: Visual Enforcement Kit
Like those little stickies that say "Sign Here," the witty Visual Enforcement Kit points out (with excruciating detail) what needs attention, in this case in the world of 2D design. For anyone who's faced more than their share of design that needs help, the downloadable pdfs provide handy pre-printed critiques like, "Severe lack of creativity" and "Kern this!" We particularly like "Hire a copywriter"...
Multipolar Projects: It's Really Really Really OK
As a woodworker myself I understand the monotony and borderline insanity of a repeated task. (Yesterday alone I made over 1,000 notches in some wood blanks to make boxes.) However, when it's all done, there's definitely beauty in the results and therapy in repetition. That said, Chicago-based artist Sighn has taken on the mother of all projects, hand-cutting 1,000,000 wooden "ornaments" each with the...
Four-Leaf Clover Necklace
Made from a real clover painted with copper and then dipped in 24 karat gold, the Four-Leaf Clover Necklace by Little Yellow Girl is the latest item of jewelry we've found that elevates something common to finery. I love the idea of wearing actual plant-life encased in gold around my neck. With its recently reduced price of $52, the necklace makes for a beautiful...
Recanto do Alto Jardins
When Ana Strumpf moved her store Garimpo and Fuxique to Jardins, a cosmopolitan São Paulo shopping district just blocks away from the busier, pricier and more famous Rua Oscar Freire, she eyed the lot of empty stores around the corner from hers and had an idea. Bringing in designers to fill those spots had the potential to create a new commercial area. She got...
Polly van der Glas Jewelry
Plenty are on the "let's recycle and reuse" bandwagon these days but few have looked at really reusing what we have quite like Melbourne-based jewelry designer Polly van der Glas. Sourcing her materials from friends and family who have been kind enough to offer (actual) parts of themselves, van der Glas created a stunningly innovative debut collection which features human hair and teeth. Already...
The Best of CES
The annual Consumer Electronics Show took the breath out of Vegas last week. While there was an endless slew of things to see, we found a few stand-outs worth reporting on. Iqua 603 SUN, Solar Powered Bluetooth Headset This compact Bluetooth headset from Iqua offers all the same features as the big brands, but stands out with the innovative integration of a solar cell....
Papabubble
We recently came across the Papabubble range of sweetened goodies and who would've thought that lollies—and hard ones at that—could be made to look so creative. And delicious. It's the twists on conventional lolly types that make the Barcelona-based company so worth checking out. We spoke to founder Tommy Tang about the rise of Papabubble from Australian upstarts to international favorites, "Crick, my delicious...
January 13, 2008 - January 19, 2008 week before | next week view all from this month
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