Our friend Eric Chan (aka Eepmon) just sent us a scoop from Deutschland: XBox 360, the console that you are probably procrastinating with right now, are using E’s frenetic, acid-dripped designs in a new, multi-platform Austrian campaign. If we’re lucky there may be some A1-sized posters up for grabs in the near future. You can check out the details on Eepmon’s projects page, and the bigger versions of these luscious graphics after the jump.

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We’re all fans of Nonesuch Records, the label of Wilco, The Magnetic Fields, The Buena Vista Social Club — David Byrne! Their site got a recent overhaul by Sisu and branding partner Axiom Design communications, where improvements like new Flash driven media, a “Thinkmap” of roster artists (more Flash gymnastics), and repositioned feedback boards were implemented. And while we’re happy for the label and all, what was kind of interesting was taking a look at the case study behind the site. Throw on a little Brian Eno and read up on what Sisu believes a successful music site should be.

We recall spending a lot of time slumped over our desk at school in a position that didn’t exactly prevent scoliosis. But there’s hope for the kids of today and their spines. Simon Dennehy’s MA Industrial Design project for NCAD set out to design school desks with ergonomics in mind. The result is Perch, a marked improvement over the desks of yore. Lord knows if you’re going to be sitting somewhere for seven hours a day, you should be comfortable (and have a cupholder).

The winner of Typophile’s 2008 T-shirt Battle hails from from Ahmedabad, India. The font aficionado put together an appealing design entitled “Light, Regular, Bold, Bold Italic”, which consists of a sequence of sans-serif letter I’s in each stroke weight. As a slick, understated, asymmetrical design rather than an explicit reference to typography, “Light, Regular, Bold, Bold Italic” stands apart from previous battle winners with an extra touch of class. Pick it up soon, this one’s only available until August 15th.

They said it couldn’t be done. They said it shouldn’t be done. But, we’re doing it anyway. After a few all-nighter meetings at JoshSpear.com HQ, the team came to two conclusions: 1) people like free things, 2) people like their free with a bit of value. Hence Big Ticket Tuesday. Each week we’ll submit an excellent, expensive item for your perusal and pick the winner Friday afternoon.

THE PRIZE: The first Big Ticket item up for grabs is Nooka’s ZenH COTN Camo Green watch. Stylish, modern, and practically invisible in dense brush, this would be the hotness on any reader’s wrist.

THIS WEEK’S RULES: Here you see an aesthetically pleasing use of camo. Suggest the tackiest, most awful camo style you can find (No trucker hats or bikinis. For an example, see here) and drop the link down in the comments section. We’ll be scoring based on originality, cringeability, and use of the theme ingredient.

Good luck!

We really tried to not use the word pimp in this post, but alas — the crew at Infectious Car Art pimp a meaningful message (see, it works here) with their Obama Car Art contest. Independent artists have a shot at seeing their Pro-bama graphics plastered all over Infectious patrons’ cars — in addition to some prize money — prior to this year’s election. A progressive idea built to push a progressive candidate? If you’re an artist who can see yourself hitting this, the deadline for submissions is August 7th. McCain would have attempted to adapt this concept to his own campaign, had he not shun the Internets.

There are a million ways to say thank you. You can send someone flowers, buy someone a boat…or just say “thank” and “you” together. Joachim Baan and Hugo Verweij have added a new wrinkle to the act of showing your appreciation with “Thank You Too”, their book of business card-sized thank you notes athat give friends and strangers alike the respect they deserve for being so wonderful. The recently launched website allows visitors to purchase postcards and stamps, send e-cards, or come up with their own specific messages that may be added to the site. No need to thank us, your blog patronage is thanks enough.

You can look at it one of two ways: Method was ahead of their time, or right on time. I tend to lean towards the former, because with a clear mission, a clear conscious, and a clearly obsessive attitude towards branding and design, the environmentally amicable cleaning products were progressive in nearly every way. They didn't smell like future bouts with cancer, they didn't scream "Earth Mother," and — whaddaya know — they worked. Additionally, were one to “absentmindedly” leave ones cleaning products out, maybe in effort to say, "That's right, I clean, and I'm so eco.” and “How jealous are you of my supreme perfection," it suddenly seemed kind of sexy to do so. Rain drop-shaped, Sweet Water-scented sexy.

We love Method for their environmentally responsible approach, their non-gag inducing aromas, and their effectiveness. But most of all, we love them for making us feel good about buying them. We wanted to share our love with Danny Alexander, an industrial designer at Method, but he seemed apprehensive about letting us stick our tongues down his throat (obsessively clean, Danny?). So we just settled for a heart-to-heart.

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Thanks to Jellio now you can design the room of your five-year old dreams. Bumping kitsch up a notch by mixing clean, modern design with the gadgets and toys of your childhood, Jellio's designs aren't so much a throwback style as a literal interpretation of childhood memories as furniture and art.

From Lite Brite and Rubik's Cube tables to a selection of juicy looking multi-hued GummiLights, the inspiration behind the designs is direct and literal: they're childhood indulgences brought to adult-sized life ... the kind of adult life where you need to buy furniture. Newly released items include the Button Bench, a rounded white acrylic bench covered in pliable plastic button candy dots, as well as their first foray into fashion and accessories — the Slate Bag. This Etch-a-Sketch-inspired messenger bag (and its companion, the iSlate) comes complete with a stylus and writing pads to doodle on the flap. When you're bored, wipe it away and start over. Fun!

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It’s safe to say that plenty of artists rely on their surroundings for inspiration. Hailing from a small town in the Bald Headed prairies of southern Alberta, Canada, Ted Stilson just so happens to be surrounded by things of a rural nature. Perhaps that explains the his fascination with cows. The sculptor’s latest project, Moody Bovinyls, sprung out of Ted’s desire to create his own platform toy, the need to revisit an art school curiosity, and the fact that cattle ranching is part of the world he grew up in. His half-bovine, half-demon vinyl creations have caused an admirable stir after being embraced by some of the sickest customizers in the world: PhuEK, DoktorA, and Marka 27. They’ve also been the subject of art exhibitions at both The University of Lethbridge and the Pravus Gallery in Phoenix. While Stilson’s goal with the Moody Project has always been to take the customs on the road, he’s currently working on a plan to release limited edition Moodys with designs by other artists.

via Formatmag

Mike Heisler introduces three of the friendliest Slobots to date, expanding his world of functional machines turned personable friends of man. Two of the new additions, Slo-Damen and Slo-Herren, are boxier with an old school look. Their orangey-red color is well-suited for their occupations as operators of the Martian Space Port and Lunch Counter, the quaint, imaginary Red Planet establishment created for them by Heisler’s imagination. It reminds me of Rosie from The Jetsons.

The other new bot on the block is Slo-Dunny SERV02, a mechanical spy turned Venus ice cream franchisee. More like the previous Slobots, Slo-Dunny’s head totally looks like an orange with a peering eye in front and sweet looking canisters of essential gases wired to his back. The posable “ears” totally make this one.

More bots after the jump.

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We have a kind of man-crush going on with artist/illustrator/disco king Shepard Fairey. It’s no secret. But who would have thought that a marketing guy at Showtime would share our unrequited love? Dexter, the series about a serial killer killer starring Michael C. Hall (yes, the gay brother in Six Feet Under), is coming to the San Diego Comicon, and to get the word out Fairey was commissioned to create a poster. You may also remember that the Obey Giant originator recently lent his skills to another celebrity marketing campaign. And while there may be some of you that decry Fairey’s Madison Ave. turn, we’re just glad that he’s pimping a show worthy of his pimp slap.

At the end of the month StrangeCo will make their descent on classy San Diego for the area’s annual Comicon to unleash a menagerie of characters that might not be so out of place in the fabled zoo of “America’s Finest City.” Their booth will have a bevy of creations from their usual collaborators like James Jarvis and tokidoki in tow. However, they’ll also have a brand partner in crime in the form of the San Francisco artist, toy collector and designer Mark Nagata. Nagata’s Max Toy Company specializes in making hand-painted, limited release figures in the tradition of classic Japanese character toys. If you’re going to San Diego in search of innovative creature comforts, check out Max Toy’s Eyezons, Pharaohs, and Booska figures, amongst others, and maybe snap one up before someone else does. These babies won’t last too long.

Take a look at the toys

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This political season you are going to see a lot of buttons supporting various candidates. If you've ever been to a political rally you know how important these buttons are — they immediately identify who is friend and who is foe. Thanks to the guys at unconfessableideas.com we now can do the same with typefaces. They've done up some pin buttons for Serif and Sans-Serif. Now designer conferences are going to turn as heated as political rallies. Well, maybe not. Check out the pin buttons here and whole website full of clever objects (you might need to know a little Italian at times).

While It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the people behind Pulchra — the first online beauty contest devoted to the appeal of everyday objects — find that statement to be only partially true. The competition calls for voters to judge which not-so-unusual articles come across in an extraordinary manner. Submissions can include everything from cell phones to sneakers. Anyone is eligible to submit their favorite item and take home a grand prize of €10,000. When it’s over, Pulchra will take the ten most breathtaking pieces and bury them in an iron time capsule to preserve our beauty zeitgeist. Don’t be bashful, if you think something is pretty enough to be remembered, why not submit it?