Category — Design

Hong Kong artist and designer toy legend Michael Lau recently released some new vinyl figures.

More on HighSnobiety

Technorati Tags: designer toys, Hong Kong, Michael Lau, vinyl figures

Mini Cooper used a nice idea to take its brand to the Beijing Olympics with this customised rickshaw. Looks good enough to use all year round.

Via TheCoolHunter

Technorati Tags: 2008 Beijing Oympics, cars, design, Mini Cooper, rickshaw design

Any Adobe Photoshop software-welding artists intending to orientalise their work might find free oriental brushes useful.

The Web Resources Depot lists a collection of free oriental Photoshop brushes for you to download and use, as well as some vector images to include and manipulate.

The collection includes Chinese dragons, Japanese, Chinese & Arabic texts, people, houses, mosques & various figures.

Check them out at Web Resources Depot

Technorati Tags: Adobe Photoshop, art, design, free oriental brushes, illustration, free oriental Photoshop brushes

The Chinese are copying themselves this time with these retail editions of The Birds Nest and Water Cube designs!

A bit bizarre to say the least, but we shouldn’t be surprised at any attempt to cash in on the Olympics. I just wish they would sell real Birds Nest dishes and sports editions of bottled water.

Via Core77

Technorati Tags: Beijing, Beijing National Stadium, Birds Nest, China, retail design, Water Cube

Coke merchandise for the Beijing Olympics includes twelve trading pins designed by two Chinese artists - Tim Tsui and Alice Chan.

They’ll be available at the Olympic Village but I’m not sure about anywhere else.

Via VinylPulse

Technorati Tags: 2008 Beijing Oympics, Alice Chan, badges, Coca-Cola, designer toy scene, Tim Tsui, trading pins

This is the closest I will probably ever get to an olympic medal. The Official website of the Beijing Olympic Games displays the designs for their medals.

The medal for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is designed with inspiration coming from “bi“, China’s ancient jade piece inscribed with a dragon pattern. The medals, made of gold and jade, symbolise nobility and virtue and are the embodiment of traditional Chinese values of ethics and honor, sending forth a strong Chinese flavor.

The medals are 70mm in diameter and 6mm in thickness. On the front side, the medal adopts standard design prescribed by the International Olympic Committee. While on the back, the medal is inlaid with jade with the Beijing Games emblem engraved in the metal centerpiece. The design inspiration of the medal hook derives from jade “huang“, a ceremonial jade piece with decoration ofb and “Pu“, the reed mat pattern.

Noble and elegant, the Beijing Olympic Games medal is a blending of traditional Chinese culture and the Olympism. It gives the winners of the Games great honor and acclamation as recognition of their achievement.

From the Official website of the Beijing Olympic Games

Via Surfstation

Technorati Tags: 2008 Beijing Oympics, China, design, Olympic medals

These are a variant of the pictograms being used for the events at the Beijing Olympics, that the NY Times used in their Olympics section.

Traditional Chinese stamp stylee!

Via SwissMiss

Technorati Tags: Beijing Olympics, China, Chinese stamps, design, sport

Here are some wild animal hair creations by Japanese art director Nagi Noda, photographed by Kenneth Cappello.

Not sure what they’re designed for but they’re great to show what a little quirky creativity can do!

Nagi Noda is known for her direction of music videos, TV commercials and ad campaigns for Coca Cola and Nike.

She turned to the animal kingdom for inspiration in this unique project. The hair pieces depict dogs, lions, cows, rabbits, giraffes, monkeys and other animals.

More on TrendHunter via NotCot

Technorati Tags: animal hair hats, art direction, Japan, Nagi Noda, wild animal hair creations