ALISSIAmt "Diamond" Rings Dutch native and former IDEO resident Alissia is the designer behind these faux gems. Currently based in Brooklyn, she sold out of them at the Designboom marketplace at NYC's last ICFF in New York and for good reason. Elegant, modern silhouettes in clear or colored acrylic, silver, or gold mock tradition and the subtle punchline looks as good on a finger as worn on a chain around the neck.

DetourDVD's Op Art
Pretty up your flat screen with the latest release of moving graphics from DetourDVD . Black, grey, and white Op Art imagery slowly morphs from cube patterns to concentric circles to checkerboards to spirals and so on, recalling Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley, and the like. Founded and created by husband and wife team Gretchen and Nick van der Grinten, the Op Art DVD (as well as the previous floral and mod versions) bless what otherwise is often the glaring eyesore in a room with eye-catching design. The Op Art version especially looks equally at home with everything from 50s modernism to neo-baroque furnishings.



You can program the sequence to loop or shuffle and by setting DVD players to widescreen playback it will work on normal TVs. All three versions are available for $25 from their site and keep an eye out for them in retail locations next year.



Luis Pons
Four years ago, Luis Pons was farming and tending to his cows in Venezuela's Amazon jungle. Forced from the country due to political strife, these days the architect leads quite a different life as the principal owner and designer of his preeminent firm in Miami. Already well-known for his imaginative architecture, interiors, and objects, his latest foray is into jewelry. This week, his Magnetik Distractions, a piece based on a simple ball chain and a magnetized bearing, debuts in the online Moma Design store (pictured right and after the jump). The mutable object (it can be a necklace, bracelet, anklet, belt, etc.) has the kind of inspiration engineered into it that makes it as much a compulsive plaything as elegant ornamentation. Combining these two elements - a sense of wonder and sleek aesthetics - defines Pons' work.
It's this kind of uncomplicated interactivity that, as Pons puts it, "pretty much defines my philosophy. You become your own designer. We just provide the frame. It's a very simple concept."




RISD's New Digs
Known for alumni who consistently go on to shine in nearly every creative field from architecture to cinematography, it's only logical to apply the principles of good design taught at RISD to daily life in the dorms. It's even better still to use in-house talent like planners did when confronted with furnishing a new dorm. The housing director turned to DEZCO, a firm made up of three current RISD faculty, Peter Walker, John Dunnigan, and Rosanne Somerson. (The latter two are RISD alums themselves.) Concerned with issues of functional, elegant design as well as sustainability, the team came up with Sage, which consists of 13 designs ranging from desks to couches. The upshot is a line of furniture that uses ecological materials, shows minimal hardware, is designed for longevity, and is economical to manufacture. Sage will soon be available through Adden Furniture .



Yummy Industries' 2nd Series
Back in February, Josh Spear clued us all in on Yummy Industries . Well, I'm just here to let you all know that they have some new belts available at their online store . The 1st and 2nd series are listed together in alphabetical order all clumped together. 2nd series belts: bird in pussy, death before disco, double dragon, elephant foot, first night out, lycelacie, mandelbrot, mob, n¡1, pattern overload, pinkhands, rockets, and study of behaviour. Featured here is n¡1.



Box Mag
is the latest in a new breed of mindful soft porn. It offers a post-ironic combination of fine art photography and illustration, literature, documentary and editorial reviews. What's best is that it's neither gay nor straight, male or female focused-- it has something for everyone without making anyone uncomfortable. But it's still very erotic. The first issue, appropriately themed The First Time , has just launched and is available as a downloadable pdf.

Publisher: coolhunting
Since February 2003 Josh Rubin's Cool Hunting has been a daily update on stuff from the intersection of design, culture and technology. Josh started the site as a way to catalog things that inspire him in his practice as a designer and strategist. Today Cool Hunting has grown beyond a personal reference tool-- designers, consumers and marketers from around the world visit every day to get their dose. As the site became increasingly fueled by contributions from readers, Josh realized Cool Hunting should be a collective. He now serves as Editor of the site and wrangles contributions from a small gaggle of hand picked writers who are out finding great things and looking at all the stuff readers are feeding us.
Web: www.coolhunting.com
Published: march 2005
Market: mens womens
Region: usa

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