Ford 021C by Marc Newsom

As we move out of the Aughts and into what some financial analysts declare "recovery", Ford Motor Company is doing what they can to present a greener, unflappable front. It's not been a good decade for Ford. Despite the bailout, key product placement in The Dark Knight and Bond movies, and the introduction of a fusion hybrid, Ford still feels flat-footed. Too bad they aren't taking chances like they did ten years ago. In 1999, then-head of design, J. Mays, hired UK product and furniture designer Marc Newsom — who, by the way, had never before designed a land vehicle — to create a concept car for the brand.

Newsom came up with an affordable and simple design made from carbon fibre, replete with back-hinged rear doors, swivel seats, and a drawer-like boot. Dubbed 021C after Newsom's favorite Pantone color, the car was met with universal distaste, but somehow feels fresh and cheery today. I wonder what people would have thought of the Scion or Cube a decade ago? Maybe the world is ready now ... if only Ford was. Jalopnik has a nice futuristic vehicle round up here. [via Design Year Book. Thanks, Sam, for the link!]

A Moment To Oneself, à la Clair

Using stop animation, Clair Neal of à la Clare has captured an important category of alone time: Escapism. The music is Le Carnaval des Animaux by Camille Saint-Saëns and captures the mood beautifully.

Simple Home by Mark and Sally Bailey

Simple Home is the new book (the first one being Recycled Home) by Mark and Sally Bailey of destination home-ware store Baileys. The sparse, rustic interiors are beautifully captured by photographer Debi Treloar — be sure to check out her website for more stunning images. [via Pacha Design, by way of Dress Design Decor]

Crayon by Luxirare

For those of you who know and love Luxirare (killer clothes & fine cuisine), this Crayon project will not come as a surprise. But that doesn't stop its fervent involvement and creativity from blowing us away. Whole ingredients (almost all healthy) were chosen for their color (rather than flavor), ground up, and pressed into molds to look like crayons. For instance, the green crayons were made of peas, green beans, dried kiwi, green fruity pebbles, and dried pumpkin seeds. The individual artistic sticks were then wrapped in paper and packaged in a homemade box. This entire process is done by one remarkable girl — from conception to testing to photographing. As Refinery 29 said, "Luxirare gives us a serious case of blog envy".

Log House by Piet Hein Eek

I just love this amazing little mobile cottage by Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, created as study for music-entertainer Hans Liberg. Check out a great interview with Eek at Dwell. [via the Thomas Mayer Archive. Thanks, David, for the link!]

Reed + Rader

Witness, the fabulous fashionscape photos of New York based Reed + Rader.

The Ladies of CRAFT

I'm eye deep in a week long convention of meetings at MAKE & CRAFT. My salvation? As always, the women! There's a proper spoonful more girls on our team than in this pic, but it's still a rarity to get this many in one place at the same time. From left to right there is myself, and blogger/online editors Brookelynn, Natalie, Becky, and Goli. Missing from the editorial staff are Shawn, Rachel, Laura, and Arwen. Our fabulous photo editor, Sam, took the shot. Blog posts will resume when I can string to sentences together again!

Michel de Broin: Superficial

Invited to reflect upon the notion of transparency, Canadian born artist Michel de Broin chose to cocoon the facets of a large rock resting deep in the forest with fragments of mirror. The effect is one of conspicuous invisibility — "because it reflects one cannot be mislead by its presence, yet we cannot seize it, rather it is the rock that reflects us." [via Very Very Fun]

Hindsvik

Daniel and Valeria are a young couple who run an online vintage store called Hindsvik. They sell more than furniture (I just have a thing for chairs), including home decor and lighting, but it was this 1960s map desk that first swept me off my feet. Check out their Etsy for purchase (based in Canada). [via What Katie Finds]

Howl's Moving Castle Paper Project

I am a huge Miyazaki fan and recently had the pleasure of stumbling upon Ben Millett's video of building a paper model of Howl's Moving Castle. The video is 5 minutes long and represents 72 hours of labor over the course of 3 weeks — no small feat! Many of the parts actually move as they do in the film; the tongue sticks out, the cannons swivel, the pulley wheels turn. Unfortunately, the template Millett used is no longer available, but apparently Amazon.co.jp sells a Japanese paper template book (DIY translation) if you are interesting in attempting this yourself. See Millett's final set on Flickr. [via PJ Lighthouse]

Luisa Uribe

I am just swept away by the work of Colombian illustrator Luisa Uribe. From classic fairytales and children's books to fabulously strange little characters, Uribe's earthy pallet and delicate line work create, in turns, enchanting and ghostly effects. Either way, her world is entirely captivating. [via Design Work Life]