It’s Eco Design Day.

After the hellacious week we’ve had, don’t we deserve to spend a leisurely Sunday gawking at the latest cool green designs? Here are a few stand-outs chosen by eco-design expert Marcus Fair and featured in the UK’s Independent.

Silk Story. Designed by Elsbeth Joy Nielsen, Netherlands

Nielsen has discovered a way of producing silk without killing silkworms. Normally the worms die when their cocoons are boiled to loosen the silk; Nielsen’s technique allows them to create a patch of pure silk while crawling back and forth over a platter looking for a place to build their cocoons. Once the panel is complete, they are left to pupate naturally. The resulting scarf demonstrates the material’s exquisite beauty.

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OXO laptop. Designed by Yves Behar, US

The follow-up to the One Laptop Per Child project, this is a bold humanitarian attempt to provide disadvantaged children around the world with internet access. The XOXO has two touch-screens and consumes less than a tenth of the power of a standard laptop. www.fuseproject.com

Solar tree, Designed by Ross Lovegrove, UK

Lovegrove is one of the very few superstar designers prepared to take a stand on environmental issues, producing conceptual products such as solar-powered cars and lowenergy houses that point to a greener future. This project, a solar-powered street-lighting system, has made it off the drawing board and is currently being showcased at design fairs around the world. www.rosslovegrove.com

Aquaduct bike, Designed by IDEO, US

While not the most beautiful design in this list, the Aquaduct bike is a rare example of designers attempting to improve the lives of people less fortunate than ourselves. Millions of people in the developing world have no access to clean water and often have to walk miles to collect contaminated water. This bike makes the journey easier and also contains a pedal-powered filtration system, giving the user a container full of clean water by the time they get home. www.ideo.com

Local River. Designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, France

This French designer addresses environmental concerns over industrial fishing methods and the wastefulness of transporting food vast distances by suggesting a way for people to farm fish at home. Fish waste is used to fertilise vegetables growing in pots that sit above the tanks, and there, after a little time, you have it: a meal of fish and veg in one, easy-to-reach corner of the room. The concept was inspired by Eastern farming methods, where fish waste has traditionally been used to fertilise rice paddies.www.mathieulehanneur.com

Cabbage chair. Designed by Nendo, Japan

Using a paper by-product of the fabric-pleating industry, the Japanese designers Nendo have managed to create a beautiful object that avoids the self-conscious “recycled” look of many of today’s green designs. Made simply from a thick roll of pleated paper, a small chair appears naturally as you peel away its outside layers, one at a time (pictured fully peeled). www.nendo.jp

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One “W” We Love: The Walter Towers in Prague.

Ahh-inspiring architecture; this time the giant Walter Towers project in Prague, designed by the architects Bjarke Ingels Group.

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Awwww. Garbage Bags So Cute, You’ll Want to Take the Trash IN.

A Japanese creative group, MAQ, has succeeded in making garbage bags adorable. The aim of Rabbit-Kun is to inspire a more responsibly eco attitude about waste so that people will carry their trash home rather than leave it outdoors. Kind of a cute version of ‘Leave no trace behind.’

The aww-inducing sack is the latest in a MAQ’s collection of Garbage Bag Art Work. Other colorfully cute creations include bags decorated with fish, flowers and pine trees. There’s even a bag starring Sesame Street’s trashy Oscar the Grouch, created as part of an eco-program for kids.

Now if they can only forget the plastic and transfer their cutesy-wootsy Garbage Art to eco-bags. Hemp Hare anyone?

Thanks to Elit Alice.

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Chasing Cool: Shower Yourself in Color

I’m not sure how ‘green’ this is. But it sure is colorful. Manufacturer Crosswater calls Rio ‘a revolutionary ultra thin showering head’ with 96 programmable LED lights. The low consumption LED lamps create a dazzling column of water and light. Plus, if you get bored with the same-old same-old rainbow, the programmable keypad comes with 12 individual lighting settings. Just the thing for that slow Saturday night. And it’ll only set you back a cool 2499 pounds.

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Moo Just Grew. Moo Launches New Bigger Business Cards.

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The company that turned mini-cards into a mondo success is now going big. Or at least bigger. The mighty Moo now brings its creative customer-centered cool to regular size business cards. Naturally they’re still echelons above those tired generic cards, with extra cool twists like your choice of two eco-friendly paper stocks, one of which is the chlorine-free, 100% recycled, recyclable and biodegradeable Moo ‘Green.’ Then there’s the ‘magic’ technology they’re dubbing ‘PrintFinity’, which lets you have a different photo, logo or design on every card. As they say “it’s a little portfolio in your pocket, a catalogue, a trading card, anything you like.’

Happily, you can even buy your business cards in runs as short as 50. So you’re never stuck with boxes of cards with the wrong address, forcing you to spend the night before the Big Conference making teeny stickers to cover up the old one. Moo really gets that life today is ever evolving and your cards need to morph right along with you. These eclectic cards are $21.99, with the mini-cards still happily available at $19.99.

As is probably pretty obvious, I have long been a Moo fan. And not just because I am originally from Wisconsin and born to worship Golden Guernseys. Moo is a great example of how fresh perspective and imagination plus Web 2.0 tools can transform a commodity business into a whole new industry. Moo Prints, based in London, was the brainchild of Richard Moross, who got bored with the same-old same-old bland of traditional business cards. Moross also noticed that the Internet and its virtual communities were changing the offline world, creating new kinds of relationships and new forms of interaction. There was all that pent-up user-generated-creativity bubbling all over the web. So rather than introduce the mini Moo cards in the same-old, same-old way, Moo invented a new distribution channel by partnering with social networking and community sites like Flickr and Bebo. Now Facebook, etsy, livejournal, Vox and Fotolog have joined the Moo Crew as well.

Here are some ways I’ve used Moo (feel free to add your own ideas here):

*I invented MOOLIGANS Cards for Kids. Because you can add 10 pictures per Moo order, this makes it inexpensive and fast for Moms, Girl Scout troops, teachers, classmates, etc. to create Moo Cards for the group. I set up class, club, activity, school blogs and print that email address or URL on the back of the MOOLIGANS.

* I get teeny Moo-sized envelopes from Paper Source and I put a couple of (different) Moos in the envelope with one of my Guru of New Moo Stickers on the outside. At a conference or event, my teeny envelopes are much less likely to get lost, discarded or neglected, because they’re more substantial, don’t seem boringly corporate and everyone wants to open them and see what’s inside.

*Okay, I'll admit it. I sometimes use pieces-parts-of-myself (or others) rather than my whole face because it's far more intriguing to just show lips or eyes. Mystery!

*I've used Moos as mini event invitations
*For client PR --promoting blogs, books, art, photography, design portfolio
*As very personal and reasonably priced birthday gifts
*I like to buy art when I travel --- I bring it home and Moo-it so I can always have tiny souvenirs of that streetfair in Avignon with me. And it's a nice gift for your traveling partners.
*I tried (but failed) to turn my stickers into cute magnets. I am dangerous with craft supplies.

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It’s July 1st. Hang Up and Drive. (On Over To Buy That Bluetooth.)

Tomorrow is going to be a great day.

Not just for those of us who prefer public safety over the current cell phone insanity but for our gasping economy as well. Now gadget-lovers (like me) don’t need to justify our electronic obsessions — as of July 1, we have an urgent reason for rushing on over to the big sales at Best Buy, Radio Shack and Circuit City or logging on to sites like headsets.com or Parrot, where you can sign a petition to make the Parrot California’s official state bird, in recognition of its handsfree heroism.

California’s new law, taking effect tomorrow, July 1st, will require drivers to use hands-free devices when dialing and driving and bans anyone under 18 from using a cellphone or other mobile device behind the wheel. An officer can pull over and issue a citation to a driver of any age if, in the officer’s opinion, the driver was distracted and not operating the vehicle safely. A similar law goes into effect in Washington state, also tomorrow.

Drivers under the age of 18 may not use a wireless telephone, pager, laptop or any other electronic communication to speak or text while driving in any manner, including the use of hands-free devices.

The new law will reportedly save almost one life per day when it takes effect, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

A couple of handsfree devices getting the highest marks from the gadgets pros at CNET:

• The Aliph Jawbone 2 wins a CNET Editor’s Choice in May 2008  
  The good: The Aliph Jawbone 2 is a fashionable Bluetooth headset with a comfortable fit and an array of noise-canceling and voice-enhancement technologies that result in amazing sound quality.
  The bad: The Aliph Jawbone 2 doesn’t have a volume rocker, and the LED light is located directly on top of the Talk button.
  The bottom line: Despite its quirks, the Aliph Jawbone 2 is quite possibly the ultimate Bluetooth headset in terms of design and sound quality.

  Price range: $129.99 - $154.86

• Jabra

  The good: The Jabra BT8040 is a small Bluetooth headset that is packed with features such as MultiPoint technology (the ability to connect to two different devices simultaneously), A2DP for streaming music wirelessly, plus an intelligent noise reduction and volume equalization technology that offers great sound quality.

  The bad: The Jabra BT8040 may take awhile to fit properly in the ear.

  The bottom line: The Jabra BT8040 is a compact yet powerful Bluetooth headset that offers more than enough features for the mobile professional at an affordable price.

  Specs: Type: Microphone Built-in; Product type: Headset; Design: Over-the-ear  

• Price range: $54.99 - $79.99

And should you be in the market for a new car, check out SYNC, the built-in voice-activated system created by Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft Corp., which lets users do both things hands-free: play music or make phone calls using voice commands.

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The New York City Waterfalls Public Art Spectacular Opens With A Splash.

Chicago has its cows. San Francisco has its cable cars. Las Vegas has its . . . well, you know.

As of yesterday, New York has its waterfalls.

New York City Waterfalls, the ambitious new $15.5 million project presented by The Public Art Fund and Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, is splashing its way across all five boroughs, bringing new energy and (hopefully) lots of cash into the city. The man-made falls tower 90 to 120 feet high in four sites across the East River’s shores:

Beneath the Brooklyn Bridge,
Manhattan’s Pier 35
Between Brooklyn’s Piers 4 and 5
On the northern end of Governor’s Island.

The Waterfalls, which draw water from the river at 35,000 gallons per minute, run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every other day through Oct. 13. They will all be visible from South Street Seaport and the Staten Island ferry. Maps, podcasts and more information on viewing these new ‘natural’ wonders are available at NYCWaterfalls.org.

And never fear, Carbon Cops. They will operate on electricity run by renewable resources.

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Inside IKEA’s Marketing.

If you want to test out that hot new relationship of yours, taking him or her home to meet Mom may not be the answer. Instead, the true test of compatibility is buying something at IKEA, taking it home and (maybe) assembling it. Later, you can see how well you two do at Anger Management classes, the ER or while sharing a handful of Xanax.

This is why IKEA’s Flash masterpiece ‘Come Into The Closet’ makes me so crazy. The 5 minute spot brilliantly lures you into five different closets, from Pax Stordal’s 5th floor cool glass look to an urban party room with shimmering disco ball to a craft room so pretty-in-pink that it made me want to buy a glue gun. Almost immediately you begin to believe that all this detail and design is possible to achieve in your own home. You believe that you can twist and wind and pound those shelves into submission. You believe that because ‘prices are dropping’ you’re saving some money, too.

This then is the marketing genius of IKEA. They make you believe. They tease and tempt and convince you to give it one more try. You forget that the cost of the handyman you call for rescue plus the price of your stitches will pretty much wipe out the savings from IKEA’s sale prices.

But call me old-fashioned. Marketing has always been about dreams, possibility and what could be if only you use my product.

Do You Speak IKEA?

From a great site named Pigtown Design comes this additional peep inside IKEA marketing and naming:

• Sofas, coffee tables, bookshelves, media storage and doorknobs are named after places in Sweden (Klippan, Malmö)
• Beds, wardrobes and hall furniture after places in Norway; carpets after places in Denmark and dining tables and chairs after places in Finland.
• Bookcases are mainly occupations (Bonde, peasant farmer; Styrman, helmsman).
• Bathroom stuff is named after lakes and rivers.
• Kitchens are generally grammatical terms
• Kitchen utensils are spices, herbs, fish, fruits, berries, or functional words such as Skarpt (it means sharp, and it’s a knife).
• Chairs and desks are Swedish men’s names (Roger, Joel)
• Materials and curtains are women’s names.
• Children’s items are mammals, birds and adjectives (Ekorre is a set of children’s toy balls; it means squirrel)

Who wants to find out where Fartful and Jerker come from?

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Uber Droolworthy: The New ‘Twice As Fast, Half the Price’ 8G $199 iPhone is Coming July 11th.

Just short of a year ago, on June 29th, 2007, to be exact, I stood in line for the hottest tech toy ever, Apple’s droolworthy iPhone.

By July, I had already passed this shiny new thing on to my daughter. ‘Crackberry’ addict that I discovered myself to be, I returned to my trusty Blackberry, with the easy QWERTY keyboard.

My daughter loved the iPhone almost instantly. But she has since learned that the iPhone can be a heartbreaker. It failed her during an awesome OK GO ‘Mighty Mic” concert for Darfur at UCLA, when the measly 2 megapixel camera failed to save the juicy pix of Damian, Tim and Dan she snapped from the edge of the stage. It failed her last Wednesday when it dropped and the fragile screen cracked. It fails her repeatedly by slogging along on the uber-slacky AT&T network.

So the question is:  how many of these 1.0 glitches will be cleaned up in the new iPhone 2.0?   Rumors have long centered on a faster, cheaper iPhone, to be launched sometime this summer.

Stay tuned.  Steve’s at Moscone Center right now, wowing the throngs with details.  The place is at capacity, with Apple addicts lined up more than 24-hours ago to get in on the first buzz. Even better, its crammed with developers.

Here’s the official stuff.

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The Church of Apple Gets A New iPod Bible: iLounge Launches The Free iPod + iPhone Book 4.

Now this is droolworthy.
If you worship all things Apple, this brand new version of what has been called the iPod ‘bible’ is bound to ramp up your religiousity a few notches. With 268 pages of bleeding edge content from hot website iLounge.com, this free book is likely to set another record for mondo-millions of downloads. Packed with juicy new information about the iPod, iPhone and iTunes, this sleekly designed and streamlined fourth-edition is, only hours after its launch, already being dubbed iLounge’s best pub yet.

Along with in-depth guides and ratings of more than 1,800 iPod and iPhone-related products, readers will find new cool features like “iDesign Retrospective,” a look at how talented designers created the world’s most impressive iPod accessories, “Sneak Peeks” , exclusive world premieres of 20+ new accessories and even the inevitable “iPhone Baby”, outlining the ways expectant Moms and Dads can get baby hooked on Apple while in utero. 150 iTunes Answers has been reorged and updated, with 100 pages of tips, tricks and pix.

Another inevitable in these days of user-generated-content, but still compelling nonetheless: The Next-Generation iPhone and Photo Galleries: luscious photographs and images submitted by iLounge readers that depict the past, present, and future of Apple’s iPhone family, as well as the latest globe-trotting iPods.

And even better, iLounge made their instant classic hassle-free as well. When you go to the site to download it, you will find a wide variety of options for easy viewing: from desktop to laptop or smaller pocket-size screens, including the iPhone and iPod touch.

Download The Free iPod + iPhone Book 4 in Adobe PDF format at http://www.ilounge.com/book4/.

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