Cocoon desk designed by GamFratesi for Ligne Roset. These would be great in schools (not to mention my office!). Via Le Blog Deco (French)

Must. Have. Sushi. Notepad. $23 from Tokyo. Must Have Now. Via Hypebeast

You Took My Name is another great logo project– reminds me of the distorted identities project we saw, and of course Zev’s great logo destruction.

“We’re working on a series of paintings that strip famous logos back to their basic graphic forms. Creating pieces that we think are artworks in their own right. Recognise any?”

Love some of the new De La Espada projects launching at Porta Romana this month. All these pieces are by designer Matthew Hilton.

Pretty. The Turncoat functions with the simplicity of a sleeve while offering the protection of a more robust case. A single cut of 6oz, domestically tanned leather accommodates your iPad / iPad 2 with or without a smart cover. Four hand fastened duty snaps securely hold everything in place and allow for quick access from the top or bottom.

Also worth checking out their Straight Jacket sleeve for the 11″ and 13″ MacBook Air.

Molo is taking their felted wool hobo bag and transforming it into a nightlife staple. The portable luminaria [hobo lantern] runs on an energy efficient LED light that can be plugged into a wall or battery-powered for lighting on-the-go.

They are currently making 50 special limited edition versions of this luminary with the Japanese “sun-disc” hand painted on the lantern and its packaging. The full proceeds of our heartfelt lantern for Japan will be donated to support Architecture for Humanity’s reconstruction efforts in Japan. These special lanterns will be available at molo’s exhibit in Milan at the Temporary Museum for New Design.

Another easy way to support Japan. Thanks Marisa.

Corter Leather, a small shop based entirely out of one room in Massachusetts, just announced they will be selling these cuffs with hand painted snaps for $20 to support relief efforts in Japan. All proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross. From the Corter journal about the bracelets:

I need these Shark Bite Oven Mitts to remind me of the shark dive I did in Sydney. Except I didn’t put my hand in the sharks mouth, thankfully. Via Foodbeast

One of the more bad ass guitars I’ve seen in a long time. Via Daily Icon

The Blackbird Rider features an all-hollow uni-body shell setting it apart from any guitar in the world. That is the body, neck, and head are cast in one-piece with the sound board, fretboard, tuners, etc. added to that main component. Forming the main component in one-piece eliminates the weak and sound-absorbing joints associated with standard guitars. This patent-pending construction relies on the incredibly strong and stiff properties of carbon fiber as well as plenty of unique design features to create the strongest, most resonant small-bodied guitar available anywhere.

A few of the new products from KILL SPENCER pictured here. iPad 2 Case in Black Leather (shown), an iPhone 4 Cover made of Black Birdseye Maple (not shown), a Courier Case (shown), and Oversize Tote (shown). Spencer’s work continues to impress me. Serious quality! If you’re in the market, look no further.

Check out this video– It shows off the newest project from the lab at rockwellgroup. It’s the West Lobby of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas– and it’s a kinetic space: Centered around 8 giant central columns wrapped with mirrors and LCD screens. Rockwell Group’s LAB installed 384 displays on the columns and 26 behind the registration desk to create a platform for a variety of customized immersive digital experiences in the space.

Pretty awesome, I love the bubbles.

My friend Ji Lee just launched a fun project! FOFCM (Famous Objects from Classic Movies) is a great online game for movie lovers to guess which classic movie a particular object is from. There are over 70 movies to guess from and the site is open for people’s suggestions. Check it out.

In an unfortunate turn of events here in Whistler I lost my snowboard in transit, but fortunately the wonderful people at Whistler Blackcomb and Showcase Snowboards hooked me up with some new goods right away. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love after hearing about the The Burton Nug– an entirely new kind of snowboard meant to be downsized 8-10cm from your normal snowboard size for extra agility and fun. It’s a lot wider, and because of something called ‘flex profiling’, all the edges are very effective in every kind of condition.

I can easily say I’ve never had as much fun on any snowboard over the past 10 years. It’s just so all around well made. Surprisingly stable at high speeds, poppy, and even solid ripping in deeper steep powder. Maybe short and wide will make a comeback. I for one am totally sold. You can listen to John Gerndt (Burton’s board testing development guru) talk about making the Nug here.

How many Brands can you recognize after they have been Unevolved to just circles? A progressive study on brand & logo simplification by Graham Smith.

My friends at Quirky (a company I’ve been advising for several years) are seriously on a roll. Products are now available in Bed Bath and Beyond. This is huge. Congrats guys!