StumbleUpon gets new design for website and iOS devices…do you Stumble?

StumbleUpon was once just a browser add-on in Firefox. Then it became internet famous and was bought by eBay – only to be sold back the founders two years later. And today it is humming along with 25 million users and two bold new designs for its website and iOS – iPhone, iPad.    

The best sports website – SB Nation – gets a new design

SB Nation is the hidden gem you’ve never heard of. The 3-year old site has 316 blogs – one for every sports team – and is run by rabid fans, not paid writers. The one I follow – with about 200 other crazy UCLA fans – is Bruins Nation and it’s incredible. Calling it a blog …

MySpace releases video showing off the new design…to break-up music

I think it’s funny and the perfect way to bring back MySpace. The whining tones of missing your girl and wanting to get back together, they help you get over the moment of – I’m so over MySpace. And then you can see the new design for what it is – focused on music and …

Have you used Fab yet? – The design site has 7 million customers and is booming

If you can, imagine the intersection of Ikea and Etsy. Industrial home manufacturing meets quirky internet designers. That is Fab.com. From the CEO: There are now nearly 10,000 products on Fab every single day. (Btw. Ikea boasts having 9500 products on their website.)  We’re building the world’s greatest design store.   And it seems to be …

The Republik of California in San Clemente – unique products for modern rebels

There is a new brand on the street, Republic of Kalifornia, and they are producing some awesome designs. Starting with a re-design of the California flag: the iconic bear, star, and red stripe…with a fuzzy twist.    

The future of street lights – hybrid power with mini-wind turbines & solar panels

A friend recommended these to me after her company installed them. From UGE, they are streetlights combining solar panels with mini-wind turbines. They are quite amazing: From the brochure (pdf): Our hybrid model operates entirely off-grid. Can be installed in remote locations which are inaccessible to the electric grids. Lower utility costs – avoid the high …

Nine Lights founder Jeff Beck – improving surfboards by placing the stringer on the outside

Last weekend, while attending the Sunset Beach Handplane Demo Day, I met a fascinating surfboard shaper by the name of Jeff Beck. Through his company, Nine Lights, Jeff is performing some incredible experiments that could change the surfing industry. He had many of his boards on-hand to try for free, which is a regular part …

History of Olympic Pictograms overcoming the language barrier

  Of all the instances in which graphic communication is necessary to transcend language barriers, the Olympic Games are, if not the most important, probably the most visible. We take the little icons of swimmers and sprinters as a given aspect of Olympic design, but the pictograms were a mid-20th Century invention—first employed, in fact, …

Tiffany & Co. celebrates 175 year anniversary with a new jeweler’s metal – Rubedo

A robin’s-egg-blue box never fails to elicit delight – the kind of unparalleled magic Tiffany & Co. has carefully created during the last 175 years. While the company has become synonymous with covetable jewels and memorable moments (who could forget Audrey Hepburn’s morning gnosh in front of the Fifth Avenue flagship in Breakfast at Tiffany’s?), …