If you’ve read this blog from the beginning, you know I have a propensity to write about things finished in gold, ashtrays, and witty titles of design objects. This piece brings all three of my loves together in the golden “Up Yours” Ashtray. It gives a big fuck you to all the smokers out there while still allowing the final few addicts the ability to put down their smoke for a moment.

Lovely Rita is not just a meter maid. It is, for some inexplicable reason, also a bookshelf designed for Kartell by Ron Arad. I’m assuming Mr. Arad is a Beatles fan judging by his pieces names, because no matter how I slice it, I don’t see how this piece relates to “Lovely Rita”. But look past the name, and you get a sinuous, light, paper thin beauty of a book shelf whose modular strength means infinite design patterns.

PID sends me a monthly update of their new products, and a month never goes by that I don’t want to feature at least one of their products. This month, I randomly chose the clear acrylic stool available for $321. This stool also doubles as a magazine rack, but a like it especially for it’s ether quality. It floats on air.

Gold teeth have become so pas·sé these days that who wants to wear them anymore? Not to mention, if you are a young rapper, say eleven years old, you are going to want to wear something more appropriate to your age demographic while still retaining a high level of bling. And speaking of “retaining”, how about sporting a solid gold retainer? I don’t know the designer Kiel Mead. I’m not even sure if it’s a man or a woman with a name like Kiel. But, I commend he/she for taking a bold move in the solid gold dentistry market into new places. I think the only logical next move is to kick it up a notch and have braces installed with little LCD screens on each tooth so you and your friends can get on the PS3 simply by smiling.

A week or so ago, I made reference to the Mosquito chair being the best stackable chair of all time, but since then I’ve changed my mind. That title goes to the Smile Chair by Andreu World. Andreu World is a well established contemporary furniture maker based in Spain who has been making fine tables and chairs since the 1950s. As you probably guessed, I love this stackable chair because it does not look like a stackable chair. I also love this chair because it reminds me of the enduring work of Hans Wegner whose famous and ubiquitous chairs changed the world forever.

I have been contemplating giving who I am and everything I do in life a catchy tag line that will help an audience identify with me. Design Crack, as of yet, has no tag line. It pretty much explains itself, I think, with the mental visual of a design object that is irresistibly addictive- thus, Design Crack. But how about a tag line describing myself? How about a realistic tagline: “Brandon Thomas Baunach: married, overweight architect in love with his wife and expectant son”. Not too interesting. Increasingly, as I come to terms with my love of women’s fashion, I find that a better and more exciting tagline might be “Brandon Thomas Baunach: horn-rimmed shoe fetishist who hates iPhones”. (I just added the last part to get the residual traffic from iPhone-hater haters, but the first part is true.) I wear horn rimmed glasses, and I can’t stay away from a good shoe.

And speaking of good shoe… Ferragamo, seen above. The name brings middle-aged coiffed women to their knees in ecstasy. This brand is what I would consider to be the pinnacle of refined shoe. Salvatore Ferragamo makes the best shoes, but rarely does the brand take risks. They make simple, straight ahead, some would say WASPish shoes for those with the cash. That’s why I was struck by the daring of this Ferragamo shoe pictured above. It’s simple and refined from the front. But the back of the shoe looks as if it were constructed from a Roman mosaic that met it’s end on the heal of a high class call girl. It’s a dichotomy shoe. Virtuous by day. Sinful by night. But, always sexy.

A reader sent me this link some time ago, and I’m embarrassed that I’ve not published this yet. It’s a link to DutchByDesign, a very well curated online design shop. I’ve actually visited the site many times looking for just the right gifts. This site has something for everyone… that is, something for everyone who likes Dutch design. I find the Dutch Designers that I’m familiar with at least to be witty and fun, and they always seem to create a narrative with their design objects outside of its primary function.

I’ve included one image from the Dutch By Design collection called Storyline. It’s a bookshelf that has taken the form of an abstracted sound wave. The designer created the piece in the exploration of the forms words make when they are spoken from a book. The form of this book shelf shown above is for the word “Bliss”. Due to the nature of the designer’s language, I’m speculating that the designer would probably not be able to create book shelves in his native Dutch unless he wanted a shelf that was twelve feet long. Anyway! Once the aluminum shape is created the piece is anodized and there you are.

I was recently scouring You Tube when I came upon this contraption. I would almost consider this more gadget crack than I would design crack. Still, the design that lead to this invention was immense, I’m sure. So, I commend you oh inventor of the Projump stilts. What’s the big deal though? You’d have to see it to believe it. Check out some of the videos here. The design creates a true extension to your legs’ abilities. You can run, jump, and move nimbly in these stilts. It’s prety amazing because at first glance it would look like this contraption would immediately snap your bones in half. Not so, it seems.