Now your baby can star in it's own movie...

Want a new baby birth card with a difference. Enter www.5starbaby.com, which offers personalized birth announcements fashioned after movie advertisement posters.

Take a look at the web site for more info

Fancy a quick nap? Well now you can, at the Ikea Nap Hotel!

Last week, IKEA offered fatigued Stockholm shoppers a similar form of respite by installing a Sovhotell (sleep hotel) in one of the city's downtown shopping centres. After checking in at Sovhotell's front desk, guests were asked whether they normally sleep on their stomach, side or back, and were given a pillow to suit their personal sleeping style. In addition to single and double beds, the Sovhotell also featured a bridal suite.

Guests were welcome to snooze for 15 minutes, and were given eye masks and headphones with soothing soundscapes to help them benefit from their sponsored power naps. According to IKEA, inspiration for the Sovhotell came from Japanese capsule hotels and from the fact that the shoppers in its own stores are occasionally found napping in the bedroom section.

Website: www.ikea.com

How do we know products are really green?

Are you confused about green products, eco products, biologique products? There are so many, how do we really know if they are green, dark green, light green or not green at all...this might help you.

"In the lawless and unregulated landscape of going green, it became clear that someone, somewhere, needed to step in to provide some semblance of order and a credible means of measuring the myriad of ways companies can go, and pretend to go, green. Here are three watchdogs that deserve recognition....read the rest of the article at Brandchannel here...

Numbers and letters are the latest a mini trend...

If you want to know what other mini-trends there are right now, check out Design Sponge here...Its a great design blog...constantly being up-dated with new products and trends...

Social Networking in Plain English

Confused about social networking....look no further!

Personalisation gone ga ga

Japanese company Yosimiya is selling bags of rice printed with a newborn's photo, name and date of birth. The bags are shaped to resemble a swaddled baby. But the key feature is that the bags contain the baby's exact weight in rice. Holding the bag will therefore feel like holding the baby. The personalized, made-to-order 'dakigokochi' are priced from JPY 3500 (USD 32 / EUR 22).

What do you want to drink?

Do you usually answer "whatever"? My husband does and it drives me mad, we usually spend 5 minutes debating all the drinks there could be at the bar, and he ends up by saying, I don't mind, you choose whatever.

Well this drink is for you my love! It's just perfect, cos the next time, I shall serve it up to you, by saying "OK you asked for whatever, now you've got it!"

"Singapore beverage company Out of the Box has launched two complementary brands: Anything and Whatever. Anything is fizzy and comes in six flavors (Cola with Lemon, Apple, Fizz Up, Cloudy Lemon and Root Beer), while Whatever is non-carbonated (Ice Lemon Tea, Peach Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, White Grape Tea, Apple Tea, Chrysanthemum Tea). The surprise part? Consumers
don't know which flavour they're getting until they take a sip. Cans are simply labelled Anything and Whatever, and the list of ingredients is limited to generic wording. Worth bringing a surprise to market in 2008, even if it's just a one-off, and even if only to make me feel really happy - the next time."

Its all down to our DNA...

Personalisation is already here is many of our products and brands, but now we have a new trend which relates to our DNA - how personalised is that? Here are two examples...

DNA 11 creates personalized art from DNA and fingerprints. For DNA art, a simple method of non-invasive collection includes a mouth swab. The company then harvests a sample of the client’s DNA to capture their genetic fingerprint and transforms it into an artistic representation of a person’s life code. Prices range from EUR 299 to EUR 892. To get started, clients simply select a size and custom color. DNA 11 then sends out a FingerPrint collection kit that includes: a fingerprint collection card, easy-to-use ink strips, and step-by-step directions.

Story and images thanks to www.trendwatching;com



Along the same lines, My DNA Fragrance makes individual fragrances by incorporating their clients’ DNA. The company sends customers a home swab kit to collect the DNA sample, which they then use to create the perfume. The one-time DNA swab and lab test costs USD 99.99, while a 4oz. bottle costs USD 134.99. From the site: “The fragrance is subtle and explodes into your unique mixture of exotic smells. The fragrance is delivered in a 4 oz. aluminum bottle which preserves the freshness of your fragrant elixir.” Soon to follow: lotion, bath products, and shampoo & conditioner.

Worried about your status...? Worry no more!

Don't worry brand manager's have got that sorted, they will tell you how to communicate your status when you buy their brand. It's the latest trend according to Trendwatching/Spring Spotter, a great trend web-site I pop into from time-to-time!

This trend is called STATUS STORIES: As more brands (have to) go niche and therefore tell stories that aren't known to the masses, consumers will increasingly have to tell each other stories to achieve a status dividend from their purchases. Expect a shift from brands telling a story, to brands helping consumers tell status-yielding stories to other consumers.

Have you bought anything recently you want to tell us about? How about these juices, aren't they beautiful? Serve them up at your dinner table and see your guests desperate for the story behind them - the status story of course...

How to be GREEN even when you 're dead!

I just found this list of GREEN do's and don'ts on The Telegraph web-site including what and what not to do when you die!
How green are you?

DO'S AND DON'T'S

Going green is not just about recycling.

DO

• Fit energy-efficient light bulbs (see Telegraph offer, below)
• Insulate your house
• Wash your clothes at low temperatures
• Use rechargeable batteries
• Buy local, seasonal food
• Share car journeys
• Recycle as much as you can
• Fit water-saving devices to your loos
• Invest your money responsibly
• Include a green funeral in your will
• Buy products made from recycled materials
• Check for FSC certification on wood and paper products
• Take up cycling and walking
• Print on both sides of a sheet of paper
• Get a reusable shopping bag
• Switch to a "green" electricity supplier
• Buy top energy-rated appliances
• Have a shower rather than a bath
• Repair rather than replace products
• Buy an energy monitoring device
• Turn lights off when you leave a room
• Put an insulating jacket on your boiler
• Re-use gift-wrapping paper
• Buy organic produce
• Eat wild food
• Ask fashion retailers what they're doing to cut pollution from dyes and chemicals
• Reduce or eliminate your air travel

DON'T

• Buy bottled water
• Buy food or goods that come by air
• Buy too many clothes
• Leave your computer, TV and other equipment on stand-by
• Buy gold or diamonds
• Fly to your holiday destination
• Eat too much meat
• Buy black-listed fish
• Drive a gas-guzzling car
• Use a tumble dryer
• Install air-conditioning
• Throw away unwanted gifts
• Make your lawn look like a carpet
• Worry about weeds (too much)
• Bother with air fresheners
• Get an Aga if you haven't yet got one
• Buy gas log or coal fires (fake fires)
• Upgrade your mobile phone too fast
• Buy disposable cameras or barbecues
• Buy incandescent or halogen bulbs
• Drive fast and erratically
• Use peat or buy peat-grown plants
• Buy over-packaged products
• Get cremated
• Leave your car engine running
• Overheat your house (or office)
• Buy cut flowers

10 GREEN DEATH TIPS

Horrible as it may be, it's very important to make plans for your death while you're still compos mentis - even more so if you're concerned about green issues. Here are my 10 top tips:

• Donate your organs
• Say no to embalming
• Remove all jewellery and gold teeth before burial or cremation
• Dress minimal in death and choose natural fibre clothes such as hemp
• Select a "green" coffin (those made from recycled newspapers are best)
• Give cremation a miss
• If you want to be buried, chose a natural burial ground rather than an overcrowded graveyard
• Re-use graves after 20 years and put bones in an ossuary, as they do in Europe
• Choose not to have a headstone
• Don't waste valuable resources on elaborate pet coffins, urns and caskets

Personalisation gone mad!

The craze for personalisation has made Domino's pizza think.
Now you can personalise your pizza by telling them what toppings you want, what thickness of bread, how much sauce and cheese, but one better than that...you can also name your pizza - so get your naming hats on the next time you order a takeaway - it's getting more and more complicated by the day! I thought takeaway's were supposed to be the easy option...now we have to be a copywriter and a pizza constructor to get our pizza order sanctioned.

The shoebox with imagination...

Camper, the company that develops those great 'twin' shoes...now brings you the shoebox of the imagination.
Take a look at their latest video, keep clicking the box after it tells you too and see what happens! You can find it here...

New materials B.glass

B.glass is a technique of a frozen explosion of glass. A sheet of tempered glass is sealed between of panels. When it is shattered, numerous sparkling fragments are produced which glitter along the cracks. Each panel is original and unique in composition and colour. The glass is alive, it is changing and polyvalent. Suggestive as only transparency can be. The material has multiple applications: Transparent panels can be used for windows, light covering with reflecting metal supports and top furnishings. Impact is produced in various sizes thickness and colour.

If you want to know more about innovative new materials, you need to sign up for Materia's newsletter. It's also a great web site, check it out here...

Helvetica - Erik Spiekermann

Need I say more...

Check out l'Atlas in Paris

The wonderful cosmic street art of l'Atlas is being exhibited in Paris

French street artist L'Atlas believes that "actions tell more than words."
His exhibition Cosmic Graffiti in Paris will testify that he is true to his word.

From January 9th to 27th his latest bodies of work will be presented at Studio 55.
L'Atlas' art is luminous and sparse, dark and profound and often leaves you wondering why you got caught in his visual maelstrom.

http://www.latlas.net/