In an increasingly crowded marketplace product customization has become the catch phrase of the day. If Gwen Stefani and J-Lo can “design” their own clothing lines why shouldn’t we be able to pick a few color swatches and make our own products? Now you can take your bling to a whole new level by designing your own tailor made Ferrari through the company’s Ferrari Atelier program.

In an increasingly crowded marketplace product customization has become the catch phrase of the day. If Gwen Stefani and J-Lo can “design” their own clothing lines why shouldn’t we be able to pick a few color swatches and make our own products? Now you can take your bling to a whole new level by designing your own tailor made Ferrari through the company’s Ferrari Atelier program.

Getting paid to jet set? JetBlue has come up with a totally new jet ownership program called JetSuite. Now you can enjoy the luxury, convenience, and satisfaction of owning a private jet minus the liability, regulatory risks, and operational hassles. If you sign up, you will receive a brand new BMW designed Embraer Phenom 100 Jet. You can fly in style with a number of set hours to use each year and additional hours are always available for purchase.

We could get used to this kind of transportation, a jet that is always on call, well maintained, with hangar, & pilot included? Sounds like our kind of life. When your not using your private plane, JetSuite will keep it garaged and polished for you. The cost is offset by JetSuite charting your plane out while your not using it, and its even possible to generate positive cash flow this way. Best of all, you will be eligible for the full tax advantage of accelerated depreciation on the plane itself.

Already have a jet, but want to join? No problem, placing your aircraft into the JetSuite fleet is hassle free and at no additional cost to you. The program sounds pretty tempting. We might just have to pick ourselves up a new jet.

If you are familiar with the work of Paris’ Ora-Ito the concept of a flashy yet well designed gold hard drive is no surprise. This design resides among a long list of creative remixes of everyday products. Having dreamed up designs for Louis Vuitton, Apple, Addidas, among many others Ora-Ito is definitely one studio I’ll be keeping my eye on. You can pick up this Gold Hard Drive at A+R

I’m sure the last time you rolled through Silver Lake you hit Intelligentsia for some espresso while you were shopping for kicks…but if you are shopping for a moped there is a far better espresso waiting for you at Choke. I’m privy to the Cappuccino myself. Serious.

Choke is a straight vintage motorcycle shop where bikes are fixed in the back, mopeds are sold out the front, and espresso is served from the counter. Adorned with an old soda pop machine, a community pack of Lucky Strikes, and a signed Evil Knievel poster, this mom and pop joint is the spot for the moped packs on the Eastside. No Mom & Pop tho – Jeff & Nick opened the place about a year and a half back and cater to the serious moped enthusiast. Their bike of choice is a TOMOS, which originated with the Puch 250 SGSS, a racing bike manufactured in Slovenia back in the early 1950’s. TOMOS evolved rapidly and developed several trophy-winning racing bikes in the 60’s and 70’s in the up to 50 cm3 class. These racing mopeds transformed into two-wheelers for the average biker and hit big in the US in the late 70’s when gas prices soared and people desired an alternative ride to their high gas consuming four-wheel vehicles…anyone hear an echo?

Choke stocks an assortment of bikes – a Sprint or two usually, and on some days there may be a Streetmate R to see. TOMOS are quality machines that have a long history of reaching and exceeding EPA standards and sport a modern look while not compromising comfort. They do have off-road lines, and a few years back even made a deal with BMW to have them produce some component parts for some of the bikes. Visit Choke for an awesome portal to these European classics and a great ol’ school neighborhood vibe.

What do you do when you buy lovely furniture that becomes a part of the house and you have to leave it when you move? Well wipe away those tears, because Kohler has created a vanity with an innovative hinge system that can be effortlessly assembled and disassembled. Made with a polyurethane finish and moisture-resistant materials to ensure durability and available in four standard sizes, and four distinct architectural styles. You can find examples of the newest creation by Kohler here.

We told told you about the Botanist Blank Canvas project a few weeks ago and we can finally allowed to brake our vow of silence on the impressive list of participating designers. The full list includes-

Karim Rashid
Massimo and Lella Vignelli
Yves Behar
Margo Chase
Milton Glaser
Kahi Lee
Joe Ricchio
Claude Zellweger for One & Co.

If you missed last weeks post, the Botanist Black Canvas Project is one of the first ever product design endeavors to incorporate philanthropy. For the rest of the details click here.

Who wouldn’t want a hard drive the size of a credit card? An integrated cable pulls out and tucks back in. Works on Mac or PC. USB 2.0. The 30 GB model comes in orange and runs $130. The 40 GB version comes in black for $160. (We’re in love with the orange one) You can pick them up here.

When we posted about laser engraving your ipod or laptop a few months back you guys went nuts and all of a sudden it was the thing to have. Well our friends at Engrave have got back to us with a new twist we totally love, laser engraved Moleskine sketchbooks.
For the unitiated, moleskins are the pocket sketchbook of choice for artists from Neil Gaiman to Picasso. If you need a gift for a friend who likes art, their jaw will drop like a sack of hammers when they get one of these.

For all the artists out there you can also upload your own design to be laser engraved on your moleskin, which should pretty much make you the envy of every other artist in sight. If you want to meet that hot artsy girl or guy on the other side of class, here’s your instant conversation piece. Just paste in a few photo’s and draw on them like Peter Beard or Ben Watts then pour some wine and turn on the Marvin Gaye. The conversation should go something like this-

Them: Wow, cool notebook. Where’d you get that?

You: Oh thanks, I made this.

Them: Huhwhat? You made that? That’s so cool, you must be a really good artist.

You: Oh, I don’t know, I just like to make stuff. Check out this thing I did for my friend’s band (etc, etc, until they fling their clothes at you).

There’s even the potential to make a few bucks if you have the chops. Engrave offers %15 royalties to artists who’s designs they use. If your work chosen you get a little piece of the action every time someone picks your design to get engraved on their book.

For more info check out www.engraveyourbook.com

 We were happy to show you the Botanist from our friends at Orange22 way back when, but they’ve just take it to a whole new level by giving designers the chance to give back. The Botanist is a minimalist indoor outdoor table made from a single sheet of aluminum. The fun comes in as designers use hydrojets to cut or etch designs into the table surface.The Botanist Blank Canvas project has recruited some design heavyweights by giving them a royalty, then giving a match donation to the charity of their choice. This is a new twist for the product design community, and hopefully one that will continue.We promised not to release the list of collaborators until the public launch of the project at ICFF next week, but if we made a list of our top ten favorite product designers, at least five of them are doing this. Place your bets now!For more info you can check out the Orange22 website.

This three-wheeled wonder is absolutely rocking our world. The Aptera Typ-1 is compact, but has enough space to fit two people, 15 bags of groceries or even a couple of seven foot surf boards, all while being extremely fuel-efficient. The Aptera’s engineers have developed the most aerodynamic body shape possible to reduce drag and maximize fuel efficiency. According to their website, the Typ-1 can run on battery power for approximately 120 miles, and if you run out of electricity the gasoline hybrid engine will kick in which gets a stunning 230 miles per gallon.

Aptera has scheduled the Typ-1 to hit the streets sometime in November. For a sticker price of $26,900 for the electric version and $29,900 for the hybrid model. To get on the waiting list, click here.

To see more photos of the interior and exterior of the Aptera Typ-1, click read the rest of this entry below.
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