Mesh

Japanese designer and inveterate snowboarder Taro Tamai has been hand-shaping his eye-catching Gentemstick boards for over a decade. An answer to the homogenization of board shapes that happened as snowboarding gained mainstream appeal, Tamai’s goal is no less than to “perfectly blend into the terrain miraculously made of snow and wind, just as if birds flying in the sky or fish flowing in the stream.” The upshot of his philosophical approach to the sport (he calls it snow-surfing) is a line of boards renowned for their flexible fins, oversized sized fish tails and rideability in almost any snow condition. Via:[CoolHunting]
Website:Taro Tamai
Website:www.gentemstick.com/en/

When we wrote about Bamboo Bike Studio late last year, we noted the company’s involvement in the Bamboo Bike Project, which seeds bamboo bike factories in developing countries. Working towards a similar goal is Calfee Design, which is helping entrepreneurs in the developing world make locally sourced bamboo bicycles for domestic and international sale.
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Dutch artist, Ebére Groenouwe has created a sculptural hanging lamp made from the waste paper of recycled juice cartons. Ebére drew inspiration from Origami and Biomorphism in designing this lamp.
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Spotted at Design Indaba Expo 2010 a beautiful collection of suspension lighting by designers Dani Le Roy and Laura Summs. Produced under the label Moonbasket, the duo combine their passion for knitting with a desire to aid impoverished communities in surrounding townships.
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Postcarden, a pop-out card that transforms into a bite-sized allotment.
Combining gift and greeting card, Postcarden is available in three designs: Botanical, City and Allotment.

Recipients open and unfold the card, then sprinkle water into the base and scatter the enclosed cress seeds onto the damp paper.

The Postcarden will start to grow in a few days, and will keep for two to three weeks; once grown, the cress can be eaten. Designed and produced by UK-based A Studio for Design, the cards can be sent through the post and are printed in Wales by Ethical Packaging; the seeds and inner tray are sourced nationally as well. Each card costs GBP 7.50 and features enough space to write a personal greeting.
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Awarded the German Designpreis 2010, the Papier collection is a collaborative design project by Saskia and Stefan Diez. The concept derived from the idea to use the familiar, give it further thought and add something new. The creative husband and wife duo agreed that a travel bag must be durable, lightweight, and protective, yet they wanted to use an alternative material other than leather to provide the travel bag attributes.
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Photography by James Moriarty.
Asif Khan’s Harvest is a project that focuses on the use of London’s plant life as a raw material for everyday products and it’s part of a show called “Designers in Residence” at the Design Museum London. Via:[DesignMilk]
Design Museum
Asif Khan

New sculptural eco-friendly plant holders from Woolly Pockets allow gardens to grow anywhere.
Easily turning any home into a leafy green sanctuary, the new range of felt planters from Woolly Pocket help in the urge to count down the remaining days of winter. The collection of freestanding containers, launching this week, consists of dark curvy shapes spanning short and shallow to taller with narrow openings at the tops.
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