Dine. Travel. Design.

• 24-7 bag from Flip & Tumble, take it wherever you go because you never know when you’ll need it!

• Travel Chopsticks from Brunton via NotCot

• Jewelry Case from Delight.com

A great (portable) way for everyone to enjoy the fun of BBQ. Imagine a few of these set up for a party at different tables, surrounded by different types of food. mm…getting hungry thinking about all the possiblities!

by Eva Sola via A+R Store

STRANGEco vinyl toys are inspired by PopCulture 2d illustrators and artists. The 2d illustrations are brought to 3-dimensional life for commercialization and play. It’s quite an exciting way to bring fine art into mass production, along with educating the consumer to appreciate such work. Above limited edition piece titled “Turtle Camper” by Jeremy Fish, which is about living and traveling in your own head.

I’ve also been seeing these Mr. TTT in a lot of places lately (maybe because of the holiday season?), but never delved further until Jim Crawford of STRANGEco spoke at the ICA/AIGA speaker series.

I recall coming across this set of souvenirs from Constantin Boym during research for my 5th year thesis on travel (souvenirs). How could I forget about these collectables? Objects of desire, not from travel or even personal experiences, but from world events or locations that make you want to “collect them all”. And what really is the value of this object? A reminder of an event past? An item of novelty?

Visit Boym Partners, Inc. for more twists on Play+Design, that make you think.

Shopping finds at the Union Square Holiday Market:

#1 Hand knitted hats from Volang.

#2 Buddy Scarves from Bearhands

#3 Swarovski jewelry by Marv Graff (no website yet), but definitely gorgeous. Image via iiivko.

I bought my ticket last night to attend the Design + Play talk, as part of the ICA/AIGA design series at the ICA Boston on Thursday, December 11. And this morning, a Core77 post about the overload of Pantone Color Swatch products got me thinking… and noticing…

Is this a Pantone thing? or something Apple started..?

Too Late watch via YankoDesign

F22 iPhone sleeve by FREITAG via SwissMiss

[Edit: Nope, it’s a Teague thing, learn more about color from Wired via Core77]

Doesn’t Alton Brown of GoodEats on the FoodNetwork use something like this in his kitchen?

Can be found at DesignHouseStockholm via NotCot

Honoring Cyber Monday and keeping the economy stimulated…

(image via Boston.com)

• Multiple guides at NotCot with Coupon Book
• There’s more at MakeZine for kids and Inhabitat (via Core77)
• Also visit TreeHugger, CoolHunting, and DesignSponge

Recycline, based in Waltham, MA, has a product line called “Preserve everyday,” designed in collaboration with Evo Design and PagePD. Products, which are made from recycled #5 plastics, can be found in retailers like WholeFoods, Target, and Trader Joe’s. Find one near you.

Who ever thought that recycled goods could be so colorful!?

TopShop now has a US site to shop at online! If you don’t know TopShop, the best way to describe it would be the H+M of the UK. Love it! (oh how I miss London…)

But wait! TopShopNYC is coming this fall… a good reason for a roadtrip

Yup. A code to break.

-Egg Grade
-Free Range or Cage Free or Pasture Raised
-Organic
-Vegetarian Fed
-Hormones
-Omega-3
-Pasturized

the whole article at New York Times
via BoingBoing and TreeHugger

There were 4 Target’s Bullseye Bodegas open for 4 days in NYC.  Sounds like an interesting store concept that carried designer-named designs for Target products.

Now, ever wonder where these name-designers got themselves into Target? Your answer at Target’s Design Scout from BusinessWeek

Bodegas via NotCot