MINI Design Competition 4

Design, Enter, Win: New Design Competition
Time to get out your cameras, pens, paper, and other design artillery and get crackin' on the newest MINI Space design competition. The theme is "Always Open."

Your designs will be shown on MINI Space where the top three will be chosen by the MINI Design team. In addition, MINI Space users can vote for their favorites, and the most popular design will win a Wacom tablet.
Prizes (click for info)
1st - Apple Macbook Air
2nd - Canon digital camera
3rd - Design book by PHAIDON press
4th (Popular Vote) – A Wacom Design Tablet 20 top finalists will receive recognition on MINI Space.
Creative Briefing/Some Tips for You
Reinterpret the topic "Always Open" by designing a background for the MINI Space website. We took our inspiration for this theme from the MINI Cabrio Campaign, but your work does not need to feature the MINI brand, or even the MINI car to win. Our theme can be taken literally, but it certainly doesn’t have to be. When you think "Always Open," you can think of anything from a flashing neon sign in front of a shop late at night, to a creative mind hard at work, always open to new ideas and new channels of inspiration. Remember, in the end, this is still about creative use of space, and since your space is your computer background, we want you to think creatively, but also logically, about using it. Keep in mind that the left side of each uploaded background will always be covered up by MINI Space content. Think about how your design can work with the format of the site and fit with the content that is already there. We want your designs to be seen clearly by all our users. So maybe you want to use vector graphics and photos to create a really stunning and original design, or maybe you want to use other forms of expression, such as collage, drawing, sculpture, or typography. The voting system is now updated but the competitive design edge remains the same, so go for it! To sum up: - Designs should be created to work both as a background image for the homepage of MINIspace.com and as a stand-alone image.
- The design can be made out of any type of still media (photographic, illustration, graphic, etc.) as long as you have the rights to all design elements that you use.
- You are welcome to use MINI material in your design but it is NOT necessary nor will it increase your chances of a win.
- Your image should be 1280x800 pixels in size and JPG format.

Deadline
Upload at least one (and up to 9) design/photo until 1st of April 2009, 11:59am GMT.

Link:

http://www.minispace.com/en_us/background/?country

Wallpaper* Select Prints

Wallpaper* Selects

Wallpaper* magazine works with the most exciting and acclaimed photographers in the world, despatching them to far flung corners to shoot boldly and beautifully. Now you have the chance to own limited edition prints of our unique archive of work by Jonathan de Villiers, Mauricio Alejo, Jonathan Frantini, Christopher Griffith, Stefan Ruiz, Daniel Stier, Benedict Redgrove and Joël Tettamanti.

A collaboration between Wallpaper* and contemporary art publishers Eyestorm, Wallpaper* Selects offers you the opportunity to start collecting some of the most compelling contemporary photography, produced in editions of 10, 20 or 30 and signed and numbered by the artists. All of the works have appeared in Wallpaper*, having been commissioned especially for the magazine, but have never before been available to buy.

http://www.eyestorm.com/wallpaperselects

Rooikop

For the quirkiest designer accessories, and interior elements, with sustainability and conscience!

Rooikop (Afrikaans for Red head) is the brainchild of Zoe Willems - Eco entrepreneur deluxe!
And as her red hair was often the cause of ridicule - it is now her brand with endless opportunities! So too the humble plastic bag, despised for its contribution to the landfill is transformed, to become a beautiful designer bag

On the weekend of the 19-22 of Feb Rooikop was launched at the Homemakers expo, and the response was phenomenal!
Our growing product range includes designer handbags, and interior elements i.e. lamps.

Rooikop's Products are mainly manufactured from recycled plastic packets.
So you, yes YOU, buying one sexy bag, equates to 16 less plastic packets in your local landfill!
We will be opening a recycling centre in the near future.

We know that you will enjoy the gallery of images or visit our site (www.rooikop.co.za)

And be encouraged! By the fact that one creative idea has led us to do our bit towards saving the planet!

Contact Details
Website: http://www.rooikop.co.za
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

Le Corbusier cards, by Stefi Orazi

Cité de Refuge, Paris, Le Corbusier (1929 - 1933)


Illustrator Stefi Orazi has for some time been taking inspiration for her work from icons of modernist architecture and design across her home city of London, so it wasn't suprising that she had started to look further afield.

INFORMATION
The cards cost £12 for a pack of six.

Website
http://www.thingsyoucanbuy.co.uk

ISCM World New Music Days 2009

ISCM World New Music Days 2009
in Sweden: Visby – Växjö – GöteborgSeptember 24 – October 4

The 2009 edition of ISCM World New Music Days will be held in Sweden between September 24 and October 4. The festival will move through three cities, each with a strong contemporary music profile. The first part will be in medieval Visby on Gotland, the meeting place in the Baltic Sea, the second one in Växjö and the Kingdom of Glass and the last one in Sweden’s gateway to the western seas and the Continent, namely Göteborg. The artistic theme for the 2009 festival is Listen to the World!

Second Solar spaceship, Germany

The small German city of Böblingen is now home to what might be the world’s biggest and most elaborate children’s toy. The Second Solar spaceship, designed by Different Futures and constructed for the Sensapolis fun park earlier this year, is a three-level, 850 sq m interactive replica of a real shuttle, albeit one better suited to exploration of the cognitive rather than the galactic variety.

Website
http://www.sensapolis.de

Address
Flugfeld-Allee
Böblingen-Sindelfingen

Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur

The ever so slowly passing day hastens to become the shimmer of dusk, reflecting in my soul the mistery of what is to come. I do feel intreuged by this fear of illusion, for my heart longs for words unspoken to man. The journey to my centre being has started, to bring forth from it the mere, yet awe inspiring passions of creativity. The deserts I have passed through, lingering in the heat of a blazen sun. Burning, bowing down to the forces of nature. Being moved by them, strenghened to stand alone. Beginning the journey with faith. Coming to the mountains of old, yonder my voice can be heard shadowing the sun and shades of the hills and dunes. I have come to climb the mountains to find in it the heights of Yastribar. My hearts feared fire of bitter envy, yet overcoming it by the compasion for the white snow covering my soul. Cold I have become, illuminated by the reflection of life. For days, and years now I have tread this path of bewildered enlightenment. Now I have come to a place of calm in my heart, to find that I have reached the lands of great. Yet they lie before me waiting, I cannot go into them, as I need to prepare myself the final journey down the mountains. Finding the woods and jungles in them full of evermore so fearsome creatures. Yet my instinct tells me to be quiet, and follow no path laid by man, but only that that has lead me this far. Oh day of revelations come hastely to me as I have come to thee in a manner of suffering and passion. To follow where there is no path, I do need to find the Turqoise Night of Neyshabur in all it`s wonder so my blue colour may shine amongst the shades of Royalty in the lands of great.

MJP

Motorola’s premium handset AURA

To celebrate the launch of Motorola’s premium handset AURA, Amsterdam-based architecture practice UNStudio were commissioned to create an installation ‘that pushed the boundaries of design’. The piece, entitled 'Time Out of Scale' opened to the public yesterday at St Martins Lane hotel in London and Wallpaper* went along to see what it was all about.

Beijing

Architecture overview: tall buildings

In the old days, tall buildings were the shape of up-ended bricks. Sometimes they may have had a tiered effect in the higher stories, but that's as fancy as it got. Now though, all manner of forms are appearing on the skyline. It's partly to do with clever construction techniques, and partly to do with developers' egos. After all, who doesn't hanker after a few superlatives, and an eye-catching visual to match?