Design

With a very sturdy folded steel frame and elegant simple design, the Mosquito or Mücke electric bike is one good-looking machine. Its 48V lithium batteries only cost a few (European) cents to charge up and will give a range of about 60km (37 miles). The 0.8kW motor produces a top speed of around 50km/h (31mph) and the bike also has a removable center pole for instant accessibility. Read More

As a manly man who will eschew a shopping trolley in favor of carting a multitude of plastic shopping bags (on the rare occasion I forget my more environmentally friendly cloth bag, mind you) to the car - only to find I don’t have the third hand required to find my keys and open the boot - I would probably be the perfect candidate for the Yoke Shopper. This ingeniously simple device allows shoppers to lock together a number of plastic shopping bags and carry them on a shoulder. Read More

The release of a new iPhone App is sure to please graphic designers, decorators and artists who work with Pantone colors. Pantone has been the industry standard in color for many years, but carrying around a Pantone book full of color palettes hasn’t always been practical. And they’re expensive books to lose, too. Pantone LLC has launched myPANTONE, a digital app for iPhones that gives designers more flexibility when choosing and working with Pantone palettes. Read More

Call me crazy, but isn’t a sofa meant to be a place of relaxation? Apparently, it’s not any more. Swiss-based Artanova has created a modern, upholstered sofa that incorporates multimedia into its design. Featuring creamy upholstery and stainless steel feet, this is one stylish-looking piece of furniture on its own, but it also boasts a computer, wireless MP3 player and iPod/iPhone dock, as well as subwoofer and loudspeakers. Read More

Antalya is a city of around 800,000 people on the Southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Like most cities in that region, it has played host to a revolving cast of empires over the centuries, from the Romans, to the Byzantines to the Ottomans and Turks. Nestled between a stunning coastline and majestic mountain ranges, it's known as one of the most beautiful cities in Turkey, and it's also the site of one of the world's most unusual hotels. The Hotel Marmara Antalya features the only fully rotating hotel building in the world - and the way they've done it is fascinating. Read More

Young German designer Johanna Schoemaker was last night awarded the prestigious International BraunPrize during a ceremony at the company's headquarters in Kronberg. Schoemaker's elegant Clam OLED Lamp was among four worthy designs shortlisted by the jury from a field of more than 1000 entries from 54 countries. Read More

Danish duo Larry vs Harry have taken the obviously functional but visually uninspiring cargo-bike and given it a funky makeover. Notable for a streamlined design that's not much wider than your average bicycle and weighing as little as 22kg, the Bullitt range sports jumbo-sized hardened aluminum tubing, top quality gears, hydraulic braking and puncture-proof tires with an added dash of iconic branding. Cue the 1970s soundtrack! Read More

With personal watercraft design evolving at what some may say is “a rate of knots”, a rather interesting concept has come to our attention. The brainchild of Spanish designer Miguel Angel, this cross between a Jet Ski and a body board is designed with speed and maneuverability in mind – but does the idea have what it takes when the going gets tough and the water gets rough? Read More

The design team that brought us the Alma crib has taken their Fresco baby chair to the furniture equivalent of an auto-mechanic shop, lacquering it in new-car-quality high-gloss red and adding an extra design function. The limited edition Fresco Fiamma was rolled out by the four designer dads behind Bloom to celebrate the company’s third birthday. The global production has been limited to 1,100 units that come individually inscribed with a unique model number. Read More