jug THERMOS

jug THERMOS, designed by swiss Jörg Boner, made me look. Thermos is designed as a coffee container for the road, and therefore comes in dimensions that make it fit easily into your pocket. Two cups go with the 0.5 litre container. During transport these are secured in place with a elastic band. When used, the elastic band simply changes function, becoming a handle, while the thermos flask becomes a coffee jug.

The Future Well

Last week, I had the pleasure to run into Jay Parkinson who has rightfully gained lots of recognition and respect for his upside-down thinking when it comes to re-inventing the american healthcare system. Jay told me about his latest venture, The Future Well.

Jay Parkinson and Grant Harrison started the The Future Well with the goals of changing the world’s health with elegantly designed, innovative services and products, new ways of connecting and communicating, and their unending mission to help people feel their best. That’s why Jay went to medical school, spent five years in residency, got his master’s in public health, and created a whole new way of visiting your doctor. And that’s why Grant has worked endlessly for the past 20 years to understand consumers and create innovative new products and services that made their lives better. They are optimistic about the future…very.

The Future Well

Delivered in Beta

Delivered in Beta, a wonderful documentary about Open Design & Innovation.

How are social media changing design? What is the value of a prototype? How are work and play merging? Where is design headed in the 21st century? “Delivered in Beta” begins a conversation on these topics and invites your participation (twitter hashtag #od10beta). This video was created during the Open Design Workshop at the Betahaus
as part of Social Media Week Berlin 2010. Produced by KS12.

(via @socialmediaweek)

TheyMakeApps.com

Looking for someone to code your app? Check out TheyMakeApps.com. Look at it as the Yellow Pages for iPhone Developers.

(thank you olivier)

Superbowl Google Commercial

Saw the above Google Commercial during today’s Superbowl – made me smile. Refreshingly simple and effective.

custom silhouette mug

I think these custom mugs win the award for the coolest custom gift ever. Would love a set of our little family.

swissmister…

“Yep, that’s my bro in there!” (Swissmister, due in 9 days!)

The 99% Conference

Last year’s 99% conference was hands-down the most inspiring and impressive conference day I have ever attended. With the exception of only one speaker all of the presentations were absolutely fantastic. I can’t remember walking away from a conference with such a positive impression ever before. Other conferences should definitely learn from Behance’s style of getting the speaker to focus on talking on an overall topic. Every speaker was asked to incorporate their views and ideas on how they get things done, how they make sure ideas are being executed. Having this ‘red thread’, as we say in german, throughout each presentation really tied the day together. It forces the presenter to share their work philosophies and go beyond the usual ‘here’s what I’ve done’ spiel.

If there’s one conference I would recommend going to, it’s the 99% in April, here in NYC. Check out the currently confirmed speakers: Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Stefan Sagmeister (Sagmeister Inc) Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures), Eve Blossom (Lulan Artisans), John Maeda (Rhode Island School of Design) and Jay O’Callahan (Storyteller).

See you April 15-16?

Polaroid Frames

Slide your photographs in these “Polaroid Frames” and stick ‘em to pretty much any metal surface – the fridge, a cabinet, a locker… you get the picture. Fab idea!

Bathing Beauty Bath

Pardon the surge in baby related posts, but as you can tell, I am coming out of my denial: In about 10 days we will indeed have a newborn in our house. Time to get ready!

So I just discovered this cool and unique looking baby tub for the sink. Wonder how practical it really is but it sure looks smartly designed. I love the fact that it stores flat! (Totally wouldn’t work with our square modern sinks though, I assume)

UPDATE: I purchased one of these and it works like a charm! Gets my swissmiss two thumbs up! And yes, it works in a square sink. *Love* it! And I think tiny Tilo approves as well!

Grass Roots Drying Rack

I love this modern and whimsycal approach to a bottle drying rack. Not sure how practical it would be in day to day use but it sure is cool-looking and doesn’t visually take up much counter-space. Grass Roots Drying Rack.

Balloon Animals & Pump

It’s time I learn how to make these Balloon Animals.

The Missing Google Analytics Manual

Whenever I open Google Analytics my brain seems to go into freeze mode. Sure, I know how to see where my traffic is coming from and how much traffic I get overall but it pretty much stops right there. I find the interface everything but intuitive. I tweeted my frustration and got this recommendation: The Missing Google Analytics Manual Thank you @JeffChasin!

Evolution of Type Taste

Thank you for procrastinating, Jessica, and sharing this Evolution of Type Taste Chart from Grade School to present with us here in the studio! I am glad to see I was not the only one going through a Courier and Typewriter phase. (Please note this is Jessica’s personal evolution of Type Taste.)

Charlie and Lola Puzzle

Our little Ella Joy would fully approve of this Charlie and Lola Puzzle. Not familiar with Charlie and Lola, check them out on youtube.

Art History Poster

Art History Poster. Simply brilliant. And yes, Calder owns Mobiles.

sportpong

Sportpong is an interactive physical computer game where the field is projected on the ground and two (or more players) compete in teams. With a ‘paddle’ you hit the ball and try to strike a goal or defend your goal. Geometric appreciation required!

(thank you roland)

Cosy

Cosy Floor Lamp by Andreas Saxer. Simple. Playful. Yay.

Chop Stick Wardrobe

Chop Stick Wardrobe by swiss Andreas Saxer is inspired by traditional Japanese wood joinery methods and the daily used chop sticks. Four wooden sticks are loosely connected with an aluminum profile. The loose system gets stable by the weight of the clothes. Beautiful.

(thank you kevin)

Home Hacks

This Home Hack over at the kitchn had me look: How To Clean Tough Burnt Stains Off Stainless Cookware.

John Pawson’s Private Residence

I would have no problem moving into Jon Pawson’s house immediately. I love his minimalist approach to decorating and interiors. And I share his love for white. In fact he says: “There are 50 different color shades of white, And you could probably only see them in an empty room.” For John Pawson, architecture is all about reduction. I agree.

(via minimalissimo)

Devon Smith

Love this illustration by Devon Smith, a New Zealand based Illustrator. Would look fabulous in Ella’s room.


(via newzealanddesignblog)

Day-Ruining Invoice Notepads

Studiomate Jessica Hische just came out with these Day-Ruining Invoice Notepads. The covers are letterpressed and the interiors are 2 color offset, all bound with glue for tearoutability and black binding tape for fanciness / vintagefeelperfection. It’s only $25 and will certainly make any designer snortlaugh if you give it to them. Visit her store to purchase!

♥ / HoudahGeo

A big thank you to Houdah Software for sponsoring this week’s swissmiss rss feed.

HoudahGeo is a one-stop photo geocoding solution for Mac OS X. GPS optional.

HoudahGeo interfaces with your preferred photo library (iPhoto, Aperture & Lightroom). It geocodes photos automatically using a track logger. Or you can geocode manually using a map or through Google Earth. Check out the Screencasts.

HoudahGeo works with JPEG, most RAW formats as well as XMP sidecars and writes EXIF, XMP and IPTC losslessly. It lets you publish to Google Earth and upload to Flickr and Locr.

Swissmiss readers may redeem coupon code SWISSMISS by February 8 for a 30% discount. The discount works for both HoudahGeo and HoudahSpot. HoudahSpot is Houdah Software’s popular file search utility for Mac OS X.