Since we discovered Sweet Marcel's over-the-knee socks in 2010, the Texas-based designer has expanded into knee-highs, anklets and Wee Marcel for toddlers." Anklet socks are the hottest thing in Japan now and selling like crazy," Sweet Marcel's founder and designer Amy Anderson told Cool Hunting. Sweet Marcel's knee-highs are...

Six years ago two young friends from Moscow were reminiscing about a favorite stand-up arcade game from their youth in the late '80s and early '90s. Few are aware of the fact that while the Soviet Union was in its final days, its military factories were churning out arcade...

The 25-year-old actress-singer-jailbird Lindsay Lohan has attracted as much publicity off-screen as she has for her roles in slasher films and family comedies alike. The hijinks that have led her in and out of rehab centers and through the criminal justice system has always left us wondering whether she's...

The delicate sterling silver pieces by Barcelona-based jewelry designer Nathalie Jaggi, from slender leaves and flower petals to tiny spherical beads and geometric striped plates, find inspiration from a surprising and far-flung range of sources across several continents. "I have always collected, and been smitten by, vintage objects," says...

With an estimated 50 million pounds of toothbrushes ending up in U.S. landfills annually, there must be a better way to curb the waste of the everyday essential. After all, it's only the worn-out bristles that need replacing, not the plastic handles that make up the bulk of the...

Rooted in 17th century recipes blending kingly frankincense and myrrh, Armenia Papers have served as a time-tested means of extending the warm aromas of the holiday through the long winter for more than 400 years. Simply light one end and blow out the flame—its accordion fold will waft the...

Spanish photographer Miguel Ángel Sánchez moved from Madrid to Cairo in 2009, a year before the Arab Spring thrust the country into the world's spotlight. Despite being in the eye of one of the greatest political and social storms of a generation, he's used his talent to capture the...

A young operation, Peter Bellerby's globe-making concern resurrects an ancient art form. During our studio visit early last year in London's Stoke Newington neighborhood, Bellerby intimated he's one of those perfectionist types. If he's not satisfied with what's on offer, he sets out to do it himself. Such is...

Web designers, those anonymous talents who help make sense of the sheer volume of white noise out there, are the unsung heroes of the digital age. The transition for many businesses is rarely seamless though—irrational behavior coupled with an unhealthy dose of old-fashioned racism is expressed by many of...

Introducing design to youngsters, a recent collaboration between a uniquely-structured private school and two design firms instills the value of reshaping the everyday objects that surround us. The NYC-based project called Tools at Schools brought together The School at Columbia University, an eclectic mix of faculty offspring and denizens...

As the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis begin to fade from the headlines, heartfelt efforts to help the nation recover continue. One that recently stood out brings together a group of ambient recording artists who are stepping up with their talents to support the cause. The compilation album,...

After The Barn is a father-and-son team in upstate New York that scours the rolling country of the Hudson Valley and Catskills Mountains for barns that are no longer sound. The woodworkers painstakingly dismantle what are often 200-year-old barns, and rework them into furniture, custom cabinetry, birdhouses and customized...

Innovative wildlife filmmaker John Downer uses covert digital technology to bring human audiences astonishingly close to the most reclusive wild animals. With elephants and tigers as previous subjects, Downer's latest offering is focused on the beautiful but endangered maritime species in Polar Bear: Spy On The Ice. Downer employs...

A designer friend recently tipped us off about a husband-and-wife photography duo in New Orleans whose fine art creations blend state-of-the-art innovations with old world crafts by developing monochromatic film on Gampi—paper texturized with a mixture of wax and blood is just one example. Grotesque? Hardly. Louviere + Vanessa's...

If Nike+ doesn't quite meet your needs, Wahoo connects fitness monitors with the iPhone, integrating current telemetry tech with a device you're already likely to be using (unless you're the type to carry a Walkman). Using the cutting-edge ANT+ protocol—the same device-pairing tech used in other monitoring systems—the $130...

The $1 billion-plus industry for Apple accessories is indeed a crowded field, but Taiwanese brand Bone Collection sets themselves apart with adorably inventive iPod cases, stands, USB drives and more. Innovations include the iPhone Horn Stand, a simple sound solution developed by 19th century audiophiles adapted for the 21st...

One man's sixteen-year quest to track down the elusive artists of a moniker that's been appearing in railyards across America for 80-odd years is beautifully captured in the 56-minute documentary Who is Bozo Texino? The film debuted in 2005 and since its creator—filmmaker, trainrider and Guggenheim Fellow Bill Daniel—has...

Following a debut issue that was warmly received in the press and beyond in 2010, Pop'Africana, a publication "dedicated to delivering a rejuvenated image of Africans," is rolling out its next edition with features on the likes of fashion designer Duro Olowu, chef Marcus Samuelsson and model Nina Keita....

An exhausted, pajama-clad shopper sprawled on a snow-covered lake may seem like an exaggeration, but it's arguably not far off on the lengths many go to during the holiday frenzy that seems to begin a bit earlier each year. This card, along with one boasting a soon-to-be holiday dinner...

A collection of avant-garde knee socks reaches us from the wilds of suburban Dallas, Texas. Designer Amy Anderson likens each pair as "wearable art" and produces each design in limited quantities. Crafted from 78% cotton blended with polyamide and elastane at an ethically-certified textile mill in central Turkey, once...

Travelers passing through Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal have an ideal reason to take a break from the busy commute with the Shop at Cooper-Hewitt's pop up kiosk, located near the Graybar Passage. Opened this month and scheduled to remain through 31 January 2011, the Shop offers 25 design works...

A Texas-based project, For Love & Art helps the elderly living in hospices enjoy fine works of art during their last days through digital photos. A partnership between art galleries and museums brings thousands of pieces of fine art to Digital Foci's eight-inch high-resolution digital LCD notebooks for viewing...

Ski magazines typically depict stylish athletes gliding effortlessly down tufts of powder, but those who live on the U.S.' East Coast (dubbed the Ice Coast) know a different reality. Growing up on the slopes of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, skiers Ben Callaghan and Joel Nashett understand...

A rare glimpse into the dark world of post-Soviet prison life, the London show "Russian Criminal Tattoos" features a series of photographs of prisoners and their artistic tattoos. From the cells of Russian prison settlements in far-off places with names like Nizhny Tagil, Perm and Chelyabinsk, many of the...

Catapult Design is a San Francisco-based consortium of engineers, designers and educators largely handpicked from the innovative hotbed of Silicon Valley to find simple, practical solutions to global problems faced by billions of people in the developing world. Around for less than two years their list of accomplishments is...

For a creepy Christmas, Conceptual artist Peter Eudenbach sculpted 100 of these pieces called "Chimera," a sort of traditional Christmas ornament-with-legs. Eudenbach formed the globe itself from turquoise glass, attaching a set of cast pewter bird feet; the decoration is the perfect accessory for a darker holiday. Released through...

A scientific art installation involving high-powered lasers and combustive materials, Miller-Urey Bong is a BYOW (Bring Your Own Whatever) exhibition based on the 1952 Miller-Urey experiments that attempted to prove the genesis of life on Earth. "We really don't know what the Earth was like three or four billion...

File this away as a gift idea for that loved one that loves water (no, not the family Labrador). Swimsense is a training tool for avid swimmers and fitness freaks that straps on the wrist and monitors things like stroke count, rate, distance-per-stroke and other vitals to improve performance....

Known for his impressive film career that spanned four decades and included prolific pictures like "The Ten Commandments," "The King and I" and "The Magnificent Seven," Russian-born actor Yul Brynner has most recently been in the public eye for his beautifully fascinating photos of fellow stars captured at unguarded...

Parents tired of telling their children that their iPod or iPhone is "not a toy" (when even the toddler knows the truth) should take a look at this $20 plushy accessory. Part protective case, part interactive children's toy, the Woogie is a sort of "Tickle Me iPhone" that converts...

Tucked away in LA's fascinating enclave of Highland Park is THIS, an up-and-coming gallery that has been steadily making a name for itself. This month features Home Sweet Home, a six-day exhibit showcasing the work of five young artists riffing on the idea of "home" and the domestic sphere....

British gaming start-up, TerrorBull Games, takes some of the world's most serious and complex issues and turns it into entertainment with satirical board games that may or may not be family friendly, based on your definition of quality family time. The company's first board game, War on Terror, made...

Profiling people on September 11th may sound off, but when it's done by master scissor artist Karl Johnson, your silhouette will never look so good. The Southern California-based artist brings his services to the NYC, handcrafting paper cut-outs of personalized portraits. Johnson fashions the beautiful, vintage-inspired silhouettes from black...

An upcoming collaboration between revered German automaker Audi and Swedish-German design firm Kram/Weisshaar turns London's Trafalgar Square into an interactive message center. Called Outrace, the installation uses eight industrial robots from Audi's production line to deliver messages sent from people around the world as 3D lighting graphics. Part of...

As urbanization continues to increase many of NYC's 20th-century icons–from the Empire State Building to MTA subway cars–have become short-hand for our super-urban-modern existence. Kell Black’s 48-page Paper New York makes a great gift or DIY diversion for recreating the metropolis from paper. With arcing spans of the Brooklyn...

Combining two of the nerdiest disciplines out there, ornithology and cartography, former music producer Jason LaFerrera creates curious collages of birds and beasts by recasting old maps into quaintly colorful still-life—of the kind more commonly seen on postage stamps. "I digitally manipulate cartographic materials to create fauna, mostly birds,...

British artist Cecily Brown—known for oil paintings full of ribald energy depicted through frenzied brush strokes—turns to a less traditional medium with her new puzzle edition. The recently-released 672-piece jigsaw of her 2008 large-scale "Carnival and Lent" painting makes the perfect lazy day activity. With just 230 made—30 of...

Featured on CH in the past for their provocative and often politically-inspired clothing line, Akomplice's latest mission is to paint the town white. Colorado-based brothers Mike and Patrick McCarney recently teamed up with Conveyor Fred Segal to produce a paint kit that helps support the Paint Project—an organization that...

Barcelona label Muxu designs durable attire suitable for cycling, yet refined for urban environments. Recently launched, they make their limited line of comfortably lightweight shorts, shirts and accessories in Portugal out of cotton and spandex, providing the utmost in breathability and mobility. Muxu's technical components, road tested by bike...

Organizers of the New Media Film Festival held last weekend are conscious of the irony of hosting a "new media" film festival in old-fashioned movie houses in the center of the American film industry. "Websites like YouTube contain a lot of gold but most people lack the energy to...

Projected to hit stores this summer, the DeLorme's Earthmate PN-60w combines GPS mapping technology with satellite messaging for the utmost in convenience and reliability. Using DeLorme's Spot technology, the Earthmate delivers messages via email, social networking sites or SMS texts, while the GPS displays high-resolution aerial images, North American...

An all-natural alternative to harsh insect repellents, Bye-Bye Black Fly is a DEET-free spray that protects you from not only the annoying mosquito but the hazardous black fly that occupy much of North America during the summer months. Ingredients include a pleasing mix of aromas—citronella, lemongrass, peppermint and clove—that...

The brains behind the daringly clever TSA Communicator project, iconoclastic technology artist Evan Roth is now spearheading an equally compelling software project, Graffiti Analysis. Roth and his co-collaborators have developed an open source application that works with iPhones and others to capture the movements of graffiti artists and digitize...

New dating site Cheek'd attempts to capitalize on social cowardice by offering a set of witty cards for either simply handing out, surreptitiously slipping into a pocket, left on a table, or given to a friend to carry out the dirty work. The card informs the unsuspecting recipient that...

School's always in with Artware Editions' E For Effort Loose Leaf tees, bags and tanks, a playful riff on the inexpensive writing paper from youth. A collaboration between Brooklyn artists Beka Goedde and Rachel Ostrow, each hand-screen-printed shirt encourages crafty additions to their clean lines. The Loose Leaf tees...

UK-based Luke Twyman's Whitevinyl recently released Solar Beat—a music box looped using the orbital frequencies of our own solar system. It's one of those simple concepts where astrophysics is translated into a pleasing ambient loop soundtrack more profound than your average web diversion. Still relatively obscure, the multi-talented illustrator,...

While most casual fromage fans might not even know that a proper way to store cheese exists, a cheese-centric startup in Portland, Oregon developed a product specifically designed to help preserve and protect their favored food. Formaticum makes their Cheese Paper with an outer layer of wax paper that...

An alarm clock, digital photo frame, portable movie display, and Skype station all in one, the iLuv IMM190 dock makes iPhone and iTouch capabilities all the more useful while keeping your beloved gadget secure and charged. Featuring dynamic acoustic speakers, the iMM190 easily rotates horizontally or vertically to match...

Designer Jonathan Nesci—whose Library Bookcase won recognition last year for his use of metal from Wallpaper Magazine—is back with a solo show entitled "The New" at a recently-developed design gallery in his hometown of Chicago. Nesci explains that he designs his minimalist furniture to encapsulate mid-century aesthetics, and the...

German artist Markus Linnenbrink recently crafted a set of vases from recyclables, reinventing their surfaces using colorful resins. The Dortmund-based sculptor calls his latest work Gestaltkunstwerk; roughly translated, it means “formed artwork” and is a play-on-words of Gesamtkunstwerk “consummate art.”. Linnenbrink slathered each piece with generous coats of lacquer...