Ser-vice is good for you him her them us and all our friends too. It’s a brand based in Richmond, VA with roots in graphic design, while remaining passionate about architecture, furniture, good food, friendships, surf trips, flip tricks, photography and smart design. I’m particularly fond of their limited-edition, hand constructed, embroidered and screen printed pillows shown here. They stand behind environmentally sound design, using eco-friendly elements in their products wherever possible. They also have some solid t-shirts designs and long sleevers available in their online store– check ‘em out.

We have been listening to Beck’s newest album, ‘The Information‘ for about two months now, and we’re not sick of it yet. We have been given the opportunity to give you, our readers, a crack at some free Beck and Mimoco goodies, so it’s time for a good ol’ fashion giveaway. This time you don’t even have to answer trivia questions. All you have to do is subscribe to our mailing list before 5 P.M. E.S.T. on Friday, December 1st, and your name will automatically be thrown into ‘the hat’ to win a Beck-autographed poster and a 512 MB Mimobot Ghost flash drive. Not exactly the ‘Taj Mahal’ of prizes, but entry into the drawing is a piece of cake, these giveaways are fun, and of course we’ll never ever ever ever ever share your email addresses with anyone.

Often times when you get a book as a gift, you smile nervously, file it away into the book shelf and never glance at again. That’s not likely to happen with the books pictures above– so here are our picks from the vaults for best “books as gifts”, from political to die-hard design, there’s something in here for everyone.

• The Best of Technology Writing: Technology is a pervasive part of our daily lives, and increasingly so. It seems as though with each passing year, technology engulfs another portion of each of us. It is an evolution for which I am… Continue Reading

• Gorrilaz: Rose of the Ogre: As soon as the ‘Clint Eastwood' video came out in 2001, I was impressed by the Gorillaz– in my mind, they really are the pioneers of the visual integration of digital arts into the musical… Continue Reading

• Victionary: Zoom In Zoom Out: Zoom In Zoom Out, the latest book from the folks at Victionary, explores design from a couple of different perspectives to create what appears to be a seriously… Continue Reading

• Stingermania: This is a new and entertaining book called Stingermania by Jan Willem Wennekes, known for his fun and wacky illustrations. Wennekes studied Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy… Continue Reading

• Vintage T-Shirts: If you read this blog a lot, you probably know that we are big fans of great t-shirts. I would wear a t-shirt every day if left to my own devices–I like to think of them as comfortable little canvases… Continue Reading

• World Changing: I've been a WorldChanging blog reader ever since I learned of them through my first invitation to the TED conference last year (I wasn't able to make it, but can't wait for this year's lineup). They just released their first book… Continue Reading

• Rojo Books: Barcelona based Rojo just released a couple of their newest design and art Books. These ones are explained as: Lolo-Blanco, Sakristan-Heads or Tails, Juju's Delivery- The Dead, the damned and the children… Continue Reading

• Talk Back: Anyone who has spent any amount of time in NYC would have noticed the hundreds of thought and speech bubbles strategically placed on advertisements around the city–that's The Bubble Project… Continue Reading

• Real Dutch Design: This year's edition of the Dutch design book is so real that the publishers added the word ‘Real' to the title. Real Dutch Design 2006/2007 is quite possibly the most comprehensive reference for anyone… Continue Reading

• Help, It’s Broken: Are you rendered useless when you're faced with unassembled furniture? A leaky faucet? Broken lamp? If this sounds like you, I've got the book for you that I saw floating around the… Continue Reading

• Freewave: Oooh fonts, designs, goodies, I totally love the concept of Freewave. It's a book and DVD packaged together full of cutting edge design that “allows immediate access to graphic design… Continue Reading

I truly appreciate the business concept behind Store Your Style in Toronto. It really may be the future of how we (when I say ‘we,’ I mean Westerners with way too much stuff) store our personal property. For now, Store Your Style is limiting the scope of its operation to garment storage. Store Your Style definitely understands the importance of maintaining space in urban living settings. They come to your home with a rolling clothes rail containing wooden hangers and breathable, gusseted garment bags; they also provide quality storage boxes with a selection of cedar and lavender preservatives to keep your clothes fresh. When your clothes are ready to be transported, Store Your Style comes to your home and transfers your duds to a secure, climate-controlled studio, where they log your clothes into their database individually and place them in custom-built storage racks. When you need to retrieve your clothes, just call or email, and SYS will drop them off within a day or two (they’ll even dry clean, press, and repair your clothes before they return them). This is a great idea that I can see being implemented on a broader scale in the near future.

Rob Teeters has some serious design talent. We were impressed with his Skull Coasters last year, and we are impressed with his Giant Sketch this year. I was a little confused when I first looked at the photo of the Giant Sketch– it took reading the description for me to realize what the thing was. That’s how off-the-wall and great this thing is. It is basically a giant sketchbook, 4000 pages of recycled paper to be exact, all bound in black buckrum binding. It is a pretty good sized piece (but not as big as I thought) at 18 -1/4″ x W 9-1/8″ x L 11-5/8″, but how great would it be to have in your living room to use as a side table, seat, or near-infinite doodling canvas? The Giant Sketch is limited edition; Rob made 20, complete with artist proofs, and they’re individually signed and numbered. You can pick one up (assuming there are still some left) at Matter in Brooklyn, NY for $800.

Scott Hansen, the talented designer/musician behind ISO50 just released three brand new poster prints in time for the holidays. As an additional incentive, everything else in the shop is 20% off for a limited time. Pop by to check out the talented work on posters, t-shirts, or as music– literally, it’s funny how much Scott’s music sounds like his art looks (when he’s on the 1 and 2’s he goes as Tycho)– support independent design this gift-givng season.