Scaring off a bad date just got a little easier with Maxim Velcovsky’s Little Joseph candle holders. Not only do the baby-heads stare creepishly from their hand-painted shells, they also “mature” with each use as candle-drippings create a nice crop of multi-colored hair. In other words, you start with a decapitated baby, and end up with a decapitated clown.

Little Joseph doesn’t come cheap — you can expect to pay around 80 bucks a head — but some might consider that a small price to pay when compared to spending the rest of the night with another blind date gone bad. However, If you’re searching for more traditional lighting methods, you’ll still find a bunch of other options at the same place as you’ll find Joseph, so don’t let that creepy gaze keep you away.

Cali-based watch and accessory designer Vestal has just launched a slick new website for their “Volume 10″ Collection. The website is chock-full of content including music and videos from Vestal-sponsored artists and video descriptions of their new line of products, all in celebration of their tenth anniversary; the new collection features 14 new watch designs as well as a series of softgoods and accessories, all inspired by a the musical era of the late ’70’s. Many of the new designs are based on specific people, places and events from the 1977 music scene, and pay homage to the punk “do-it-yourself” mentality of the era. The Rosewood model is particularly interesting in that it integrates a wood finish into wrist-wear, something I personally haven’t come across before.

You might worry about a collaboration involving two Turkish designers, one Spanish designer and one Portuguese designer. How is the end product going to look? Vaguely Moorish? Eur-Afro-Asian? As it turns out, Autoban by De La Espada — the collaboration in question — manages to produce some very un-muddled looking furniture. The pieces seem to have influences as diverse as flora, fauna and chess, but never look confused. For example, the Deer chair evokes its namesake perfectly, from its thin arms and legs, to its knobby joints, to its timid stance; click over and take a gander at Mushroom Family, Pumpkin and King.

Autoban consists of Turkish designers Seyhan Ozdemir and Sefer Caglar, who enjoy working with natural materials and have been loved up by the press so much that we’re actually starting to get embarrassed for them. De La Espada, the other half of the collaboration, is Luis De Oliveira and Fatima De La Espada. They’ve been around since 1996, with a flagship store in London and factories in Spain and Portugal. Variety, it seems, really is the spice of life.

Related: Atlantico

Gelato’s natural enticements aren’t enough for gelateria Bravo Gelato. Instead of acknowledging the creamy favorite’s already irresistible nature, the Italian-owned company has gone and made the dessert even more impossible to resist. Their Bambinos are bite-sized versions of the delicious cones you can find at your neighborhood gelateria, however, a few things do separate the miniatures from the variants you’ve grown accustomed to: 1. The contents of the Bambino’s may be of a caliber you’d only dreamed of existing (as Bravo Gelato is known for their perfecting standards and heavenly deliciousness); 2. The cones are also made in house, a factor that contributes to the final product’s overall freshness; and 3. Each baby gelato is dipped in chocolate to finish (there; if you didn’t already want one, that should do it).

Here’s the kicker: Bravo Gelato is based in Australia, and like so much else from that lovely country, Bambino’s can be hard to get a hold of in the US. However, once a week, the company does offer Aussies a chance to swoop up some fresh gelato straight from the factory, which leads me to believe that there may be an opportunity for some email groveling/dry-ice shipping. I could be dead wrong about that (and if I am, sorry), but if you’re willing to take a shot, you can email Bravo Gelato here. Happy hunting!

A few years ago, two backpacks, each carrying a 350-page blank book, video camera and a T-shirt, were sent off by Barcelona creative studio Vasava in totally opposite directions to artists and groups in 35 cities, from Medellin to Montreal, an undertaking that went by the name Place Project. The bags and their contents covered a frequent-flyer’s dream of 160,000 miles in 18 months. The idea? To have people to document how the choice of where they live influences their creative process. The project itself is over but the exhibit displaying the sugary-sweet fruits of that labor, Place: The World in a Suitcase, is still traveling. Sao Paulo is the current host of the exhibit while it makes its jaunt through South America. Brazil’s contributions come from Sao Paulo’s renowned motion graphics design house Lobo and Rio de Janeiro’s artist Tonho. Other participants included Los Angeles’ and JS favorite Kozyndan, Milan’s Niko Stumpo and Hong Kong’s Rex Koo.

It’s been almost two years since industrial designer Justin Porcano first made an appearance on JS, and we’re happy to report that the talented NY-uproot recently updated his site, Upwell Design. Along with his traditional furniture and faucets (and by “traditional” I mean only that he’s worked in those areas before; not, by any means, that the work itself is traditional), Justin’s been working in a number of new areas like packaging, gaming and lighting. Josh already said that Justin was remarkably talented, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that his design capabilities have few, if any, boundaries. The talented man has even ventured into the new genre of small personal areas aimed to transform perception and aid in a deeper meditative experience. What I love most about Justin’s work is it’s experimental quality — because unlike many other designers, Justin seems to take equal pleasure in the development of an idea as he does the actual execution. We’re as wowed as ever by your work, Justin, and can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

Anything that allows me to regress to childhood gets an a-plus in my book. A few of my favorites are playing tag, watching old cartoons and most recently artwork by Susan Ghahremani. Known for simple, patchwork looking illustrations, she creates fanciful, childlike images that are simple and still incredibly complex. A RISD graduate, her work has been seen in Chronicle Books, Nickelodeon, The New York Times, and was featured in the 2006 American Illustration publication. If you’re in New York anytime from August 18 through September 12, check out her new show Teacher's Pet at Giant Robot Gallery in the East Village. On display will be approximately 200 paintings, soft sculptures, unframed line drawings, framed work, wood pieces, and miniatures. Expect to see whimsical images of imaginary animals doing activities like playing piano, making origami, riding a bike and swinging on a hammock. Check it out on her site BoyGirlParty, where in addition to her two-dimensional art, Ghahremani showcases and sells tote bags, buttons, wallets and stationery.

Often compared to the venerable Eames duo, Lucienne and Robin Day are a pair of British designers — he does furniture, she does textiles — who were recently showcased in The New York Times. The feature draws attention to a piece, the Tricorne plywood tray, that’s immediately reminiscent of the Eames’ bent plywood designs such as their LCW Chair. Despite the obvious similarities, the Day’s work is far more obscure here in the US, a point that makes it pretty desirable in my book.

Robin Day is also responsible for designing the Polyprop Chair; while the name might not mean anything to you, it’s probably immediately recognizable as one of those chairs that grace classroom floors in schools around the world.