Shinybinary is the online presence of Nik Ainley, A UK designer. You might not of guessed it, but Nik earned a degree in physics at Imperial College London before turning to graphics full-time. The two images shown were computer illustrations done for Computer Arts magazine. Of particular note is Nik’s ability to mix dimentional type with highly textured and organic elements for a wonderful finished product.

Let the inner old-school-computer-nerd in you loose with ASCII–O–Matic, a site that generates ASCII art for you. Visitors can upload an image and let the site do the rest. Now you can have that sig file you always wanted.

This Armchair features a revolving aluminum alloy base and external seat body made of stiff polyurethane, painted with scratch-resistant embossed finish white or black. Internal seat body upholstery in self-extinguishing polyurethane foam/ Dacron Du Pont. Fixed internal nylon cover. External removable fabric or leather cover. Manufactured by Zanotta in Italy.

These two bags were designed by Luisella Stroebele, a German photographer and designer. The imagery is an example of Berlin’s street scene. The messenger and small bag are made of cotton and synthetic material. You can find them here for $75 and $155. Ich bin ein Berliner baby.

Photographer Mark Leary has created a new series of work focusing on Beijing. The above image is titled “Soldiers”. His nearly square images have a beautiful formality to their compostions. The warm and predominantly light palette is also nice. While you are at his site check out his other work including the “Bathers” (below).

Since 2001, the OFFF conference in Barcelona (more recently including New York and Mexico) has merged everything digital in the world of creativity. From artists, to designers to musicians, the event focuses on the strides made in new visual aesthetics and interactive fortitude. Some past names on the bill have included; Joshua Davis, John Maeda, Stefan Sagmeister and Renascent (amongst countless others).

However, in this humble blogster’s opinion, what really stole the show in 2007 were the opening titles to the conference. Huge kudos going to Patrick Scruggs Jr., Federico Reano and Tomás Peña for taking us on an astounding ride of the creative process. Ranging from a brainstorming phase, to a reinterpreted vision of the history of analog art. Early century Art Nouveau, Op Art, Expressionism, 70’s Pyschadelia, and every other movement under the sun are hit upon, expanded on, and executed flawlessly. To boot, Eduardo Larez adds some sound design to the mix that truly enhances and elevates this piece into becoming something special. And if you think all that wasn’t enough, grab your old school 3D glasses, this piece is meant to be viewed with ‘em. Now puff, puff, pass… homie.

As if you hadn’t been longing for that reason to visit Spain, we present you the Hotel Puerta America. There’s not much to say that they don’t offer in their websites synopsis, so we’ll leave it to them; ‘This is much more than a hotel. The HPAM is a hotel made of the stuff that dreams are made of: talent, inventiveness, madness, sanity - a real dream come true.’ That works for us. Happy travels.

If you’re a fan of DB Clay wallets (and really, how could you not be), you be happy to get the scoop on the Version 3 collection.

As always all of these are made from environmentally friendly gaffers tape. We stole the show last Christmas when we gave one of these to a cousin and made everyone else suuuuuuuuper jealous. If you’re looking for a nice reasonably priced fathers day gift, look no further.

For all you DIYer’s, they have a guide to making your own wallet from gaffers tape, duct tape, or anything else your little heart desires. Happy crafting.

Ahhh, the many spellings of new. This particular instance comes from some sleek, sustainable furniture, which is not new, but rather old; odd. That being said, Knú’s line of furniture is a refreshing breath of green air. They’ve been recently certified as offsetting 100% of their carbon emissions through carbonfund.org’s program, and are absolutely dedicated to removing their carbon footprint from our more-fragile-by the day environment (see; bizarre weather patterns). So not only is Knú’s furniture actually good for the environment, it also happens to be pretty damn sexy. Additionally, they offer totally customizable wood finishes to all of their products.

Orders are not being taken just yet, but hop on their registration page and receive 10% off your initial order. And don’t worry, you won’t be receiving a paper catalogue in the mail for registering. Now that’s something we can get behind.

The Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa has recently completed one of the more unique restaurants we have ever heard of. Guests of the Ithaa restaurant enjoy 360 degree views of the Indian Ocean as they enjoy Maldivian-Western fusion cuisine. The intimate setting seats only twelve so book well in advance. - Via Stranger Worlds. Thanks Liz.