As a kid obsessed with designing and making things, post-war Italian design was a huge source of inspiration. I was amazed by the seamless ability of designers and industry to produce every conceivable type of industrial product, from furniture to automobiles. My own career has undoubtedly been influenced by the Italians’ impact on so many areas of design. –Marc Newson
See his work at Gagosian Gallery September 14th through October 16th in New York. More info on their site.

Now this is a concept I want made!

Noise cancellation earphones eliminate ambient noises so that you can listen to music clearly or sleep peacefully in the drone. But how about the time that you want to filter out the electronic noises of machines etc. in your environment, and hold a conversation with your co-worker? The Kill Noise earplug suits this purpose and realizes noise reduction by electronic filtering, which can make people communicate easily in the noisy environments. The bright-orange polyester buds have an adjustment knob to set the filters and a built-in battery that lasts long.

Via Yanko Design

Digging these Bedouin Bags via High Snobiety. Especially the Barbary Messenger Bag. Quality looks top notch.

Pretty shnazzy. The tyPad turns your iPad into a fully functional laptop (minus the mouse part) with this leatherette case that has a built-in wireless keyboard, for $129.

Bernard Frize at the Museum Leverkusen, Germany opens on Sunday September 5th, 2010

This is big for Murakami fans and collectors. The well known characters Kaikai and Kiki will be even more well known after their appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

If familiar figures like Kermit the Frog and SpongeBob SquarePants are simply too jejune for you as their larger-than-life, helium-filled representations wind their way toward Herald Square on Thanksgiving morning, the organizers of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade have added two new entrants to the 2010 lineup that they hope will appeal to more erudite tastes. Kaikai and Kiki, two weirdly cute (or is that cutely weird?) characters created by Takashi Murakami, the Japanese pop artist, are being turned into larger-than-life balloons that will mix it up with the traditional cartoon stars and corporate trademarks that will populate the parade’s 84th annual run on Nov. 25, the parade’s producers said on Thursday.

Nice stuff. Designed and built in Middle America since 1995. More on their website.

This Google Chrome Experiment called The Wilderness Downtown is beyond awesome. Maybe the best piece of digital execution I have seen in several years. If I gave away screen shots, it would ruin it. Sit through the whole song by Arcade Fire, and enter your actual address for best results. Chris Milk, you’re a genius.  Also, don’t touch/click until it asks you.  Just sit and watch.

I’m totally digging the new Holiday Matinee t-shirts celebrating creativity.

It doesn’t entirely make sense to me why Jeff Koons painted over the already special unique black paint Aston Martin used on this particular DBS, but I still like it. It’s sort of like lollipop land meets James Bond. I’m sure we’ll see this go at auction for an obscene amount (worth it, surely) in only a matter of time. Via Luxist

My friends from Ontour are at it again. In their own words: This year is our fifth anniversary and to celebrate this we’ve chosen the magic number 5 as the underlying theme of our new Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, named ‘The Magnificent Five’ Ontour, that’s just been released. Inspired by the typical English style of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson we look back through a magnifying glass at the 5 magnificent years behind us, and at the same time look ahead at the greater things to come…

Congrats to my friends at Cool Hunting on the launch of Cool Hunting Local! If you’re visiting Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York or San Francisco, check out their recommendations.

Icebreaker, the eco-conscious performance wear company from New Zealand have really outdone themselves for their FW10 line. Taking some risks and focusing on their outerwear line, which I feel has been neglected in the past, they are set to launch three new pieces each for men and women. Blurring the lines between technical clothing and high-fashion, the team managed to blend pure merino wool into pieces that are appropriate for any occasion. Starting at $300 for the Jetter (M) and Odyssey (W) and topping at $400 for the Boulder Hood (M; shown). The latter is wind-resistant, has an adjustable hood, two-way center zip, zippered front hand pockets and an internal stash pocket. The whole collection is made form Icebreaker’s Realfleece material and will be launched on the site on September 1st.

I love this project.

To what extent can we distort famous logos and symbols that they remain easily recognizable? A personal exploration.

Congrats guys, these are gorgeous!

Biomega renews its curatorial commitment to cherry picking the world’s top designers to design its bicycles. Ross Lovegrove (Bottom) displays his organic essentialist sensibility through his fresh vision of an integrated bicycle. His integrated solutions and groundbreaking design makes the LDN bicycle a true urban tool. While Danish design super group KiBiSi (top) stirs things up with an innovative newcomer NYC, following Biomega’s heritage of chainless bikes featuring a belt drive for smooth urban commuting and an integrated mudguard.