Threadless Scout Books

Handy notebooks from everyone's favorite crowd-sourced company

Another clever idea from the minds behind the crowd-sourced t-shirt phenomenon, Threadless has teamed up with Scout Books to create a run of handcrafted notebooks made from 100% recycled paper and printed with vegetable ink in Portland, OR. The notebooks, operating under a similar model that brought so much love to Threadless in the first place, will feature a selection of themed designs from their …

Jean-Baptiste Fastrez

How a young French designer's radical approach yields soulful results

Toying with high and low, mixing handmade craftsmanship with mechanized production, contrasting natural materials against plastics—the work of emerging industrial designer Jean-Baptiste Fastrez is a study in opposites, shedding new light onto everyday objects by highlighting dissonance. But unlike many exploring the same concepts only to deconstruct design, this rabble-rouser sets up the tension as a means to give “soul” to an object. His latest …

The Modern Picnic

Everything you need to take the feasting outdoors

When the weather complies, a picnic represents near ultimate sensory satisfaction. Snacking and sipping, mingling with the beauty of the great outdoors, and basking in the warm seasonal glow—the tradition has all the romance of camping without forgoing a shower. For an update to wicker hampers or all-in-one sets (both destined to rot in your closet), we came up with a few urban-friendly solutions for …