Crazy, we know it, but at a massive international auto show where the biggest true reveals are a Dodge crossover and hybrid pickup trucks, it becomes possible for a 35-year-old French/Czech mashup to steal our heart. And judging by your comments, the same goes for you all. Of course, this shared sentiment got us thinking. How could this be? How could a design study blow our collective minds farther than a $1.4 million carbon-fiber Lamborghini? I mean, the Faurecia doesn’t even have an engine, let alone performance numbers. Oh, and as the Faurecia is indeed motor-less, we’re going to go ahead and name it out green car of the year. Shake a carbon footprint at that, you dirty old hybrids. Anyhow, the reason why the Faurecia is so head slappin’ after you jump.

TAKEN FROM jalopnik.com/cars

The main advantage of excellent typography lies in its ability to be both attractive and functional at the same time. Although images communicate more vividly, text presentation can impress visitors with its sharpness and precise geometrical forms and curves. Consequently, chosen wisely and used carefully, it can be very effective — and there are dozens of outstanding examples of how the latter can be achieved.

However, web typography doesn’t have to support the overall design. It can dominate. It can be loud. It can be bold. And it can be everywhere on a web-site. In many situations it’s reasonable to give the typography the prominent position it deserves, leaving visual cues in the background or removing them at all. Doing that, you have to risk large font sizes surrounded by a generous amount of white space. What comes out of it? Elegant web sites with a unique form, style and sense of precision.

In this article we present over 35 examples of big, “loud” and yet elegant typography in web design; some listed designs are Flash-based, and in some cases designs are based not only upon typography, but also upon some visual elements.

• You might be interesting in the showcase of simple and clean designs we’ve published before.
• Please notice that all images can be clicked and lead to the sites from which the screenshots have been taken.

The Showcase Of BIG Typography

Experimental Solutions

TAKEN FROM www.smashingmagazine.com

Can you believe it’s already the fourth week of our Coolest Workspace Contest? Oh the places we’ve been! To recap, we’ve already covered the beautifully integrated home office, the killer multi-monitor setups, and the stylish design dreams. This time, we’re highlighting workspaces with a keen eye for organization.

Each entry has a little something special to offer in the organization department, from clever cord management to smart tricks for hiding all those messy electronics meant to be used, not seen. Hit the jump for this week’s Coolest Workspace: Organizers edition.

Hidden desk in a dresser

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Kyle Shipp’s penchant for hidden computers has graced our pages before, and this time he went all out—refinishing a free dresser from Craigslist and completely hiding his electronics. When everything’s closed up, it’s your regular old dresser. Open the drawers and you’ve got a kickin’ office command center.

Wall-to-wall orgainization

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Sick of the mess of tangled cords that had plagued her in the past, Kate Dohe “bought the biggest bulletin board she could find” and started sticking whatever she could on the wall—anything from cords and clipboards to DVD spindles and iPods.

It’s what’s underneath

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Chris Stroud took all of the peripherals that had cluttered the top of his desk and strapped his peripherals to the bottom of it. Sound familiar?

Making Space

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Tammy Lenski found space for almost all of her peripherals tucked away inside storage containers or on shelves, leaving her desk virtually free from cords and clutter. Pristine.

Simple with a brilliant dash of cord management

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Drew Dabbelt’s office may appear rather simple compared to some of the impressive workspaces we’ve seen, but I wanted to highlight his set up for sheer appreciation of his peripheral cord management system (check to photo for his details). Anyone who has trouble keeping their peripheral cords under control can appreciate this simple little desk accessory.

taken from lifehacker.com

Volkswagen prepares to stand “Up!” here at the Frankfurt Auto Show with a new concept car designed to compete with the Smart ForTwo. As we were the first to tell you earlier, it’s called the “Up!” and VW’s planning on bringing the rear-engined, high-design subcompact to market in the next two years and we’ve heard rumors of a 100 mpg target fuel economy. We’ll have more tomorrow, but for the time being, here’s the press shots we’ve got — seeing as km77’s gone with it — why the heck not?

taken from jalopnik.com/cars

We brought the news to you first just a week ago and even made fun of it earlier today, but now it’s official — here in Frankfurt, Lamborghini just rolled out its first entry in the seven-figure car sweepstakes. To be dubbed Reventon, it’s based on the Murcielago LP640, and it’ll cost a breezy one-million euros. Only 20 are set to be constructed, and all have been already betrothed to high rollers who’ve reportedly ponied up more than $300,000 each as a deposit. Rumors had indicated the car was inspired by jet fighters, a prospect bourne out by the greenish dash cluster. It even has a gauge to track G forces, just in case you weren’t busy enough making that sweeping left hander off the back straight on track day. The official rollout will take place at the show tomorrow. We’ll be there.

taken from jalopnik.com/cars

Unfortunately the one of us that’s writing up this post doesn’t know a lick of German other than “Ein juden!” — a phrase that while true, in no way shows up in this video. Thus, all I can tell you is it’s the Mercedes F700 concept — even before it’s officially revealed in just an hour. We won’t be there live — but here’s some video of the DiesOtto concept car. You know, for the kids. The diesel-loving kids.

TAKEN FROMjalopnik.com/car

We’ll have the full live reveal up shortly, but here’s a few shots of the big-butt BMWbecause you know, like everyone’s doing it and stuff.

BMW X6 Press Shots

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TAKEN FROM jalopnik.com/car

BMW rolled out its first hybrid-drive vehicle this morning at the Frankfurt auto show. Under the banner of its Efficient Dynamics technologies, the company showed off an X6 crossover with a hybrid-drive system. That’s the same system the company developed with strange bedfellows DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. Execs say the system will result in an overall 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, roughly that of GM’s and Mercedes-Benz’s projections for their similarly truckish, two-mode hybrids. The company’s chairman of the borard Dr. Norbert Reithofer says it’ll be on the barket by the end of 2009. BMW also rolled out its non-hybrid X6, for a brief showcase amid a flurry of Bavarian hyperbole. We’re still trying to figure out what it all means.

TAKEN FROM jalopnik.com/cars 

Following yesterday’s 787 news, Hong Kong real estate tycoon Joseph Lau has just ordered a Dreamliner VIP. It’s the same airplane you and I are going to use, but instead of being crammed in seat 36D between Biff, the overweight shoe salesman, and Chantal, the aerobic teacher from Fort Lauderdale, he’ll have a 2,404 square-feet luxurious cabin all for himself. As a bonus, check the just-unveiled new interior designs for the 747-8 VIP, complete with SkyLoft, “vaulted ceilings, spiral staircases and video wall displays” after the jump.

787VIP

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While I really don’t mind Chantal picking on my carrot cake, I would certainly prefer to have Lau’s battalion of sexy cyborg ninjas resting on king-size waterbeds, having swan-feather pillow battles all over the place or taking a hot bubbly bath in a full-size english tub. Or something like that. Lau’s VIP Dreamliner, just the 7th to be ordered in the world, costs $153 million at today’s list price.

And if you prefer to have even more space, you can order a 747 VIP to enjoy its 4,786 square-meter cabin.

These new interiors, which include a new SkyLoft area, were presented yesterday in Geneva, at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition.

TAKEN FROM gizmodo.com

  

They probably aren’t something you immediately think of when thinking of beautiful colors in nature… but from poison arrows to woodland dwellers, the world of frogs and toads is loaded with color. Used as camouflage or a warning of toxicity, the ranges seem unlimited. A COLOURlover, fazai38 used them for inspiration and created some great color palettes…

18 Colorful Frogs, Toads & Amphibian Fun Facts

Despite being called ‘poisonous,’ only a few frogs carry enough poison to kill a human, and they wouldn’t actively seek out a human. The poisons would only affect the human in contact with them if handled or eaten.

Frogs use a variety of ways to attract a mate such as courtship calls, body colour and limb movements.

Frogs can live equally well on land or water, despite popular belief that they live only in water, and toads only on land.

At last count there were over 5,000 species of frogs worldwide, but scientists continue to find new ones every year.

Amphibians must shed their skin as they enlarge in size. The old skin is discarded like a piece of clothing that has become too tight and is usually eaten.

The smallest frog may be a species of Cuban frog, in the genus Eleutherodactylus, which only grows to be less than 1/2 inch long.

Most frogs absorb all of their water through their skin. Many have a special patch on the belly for water retention.

The largest frog in the world is the Goliath Frog. Its body can grow up to a foot, and its legs grow at least that long.

The oldest frog fossil found was from the Age of Dinosaurs and frogs, as you may have noticed, have outlived the dinosaurs.

It actually can rain frogs when water from a pond containing frogs is sucked up by a wind storm like a tornado, and deposited elsewhere.

Toads are frogs. “Toad” is typically used to describe a member of the frog family Bufonidae. It is actually impossible to contract warts from a toad. Whether thickened skin or specialised glands, they are not contagious.

Tree frogs have developed disks or adhesive pads on the toes of their feet to help them climb into the tree canopy.

Frogs can lay anywhere between only a few eggs and 30,000 at one time. The difference is in response to the egg-laying environment, based on the amount of predators, the size of the mother, and climate.

Some frogs can survive in conditions well below freezing. The Grey Tree Frog, for example, can survive even though its heart stops. By making its own ‘antifreeze,’ its body will never freeze completely.

Like most of the animal or plant kingdoms, this frog’s skin is an indicator of poison. Meant to serve as a history lesson, after one eats a blue frog and becoming sick, those observing will follow by not eating blue frogs.

The Colorado River Toad and the Cane Toad were once popular gateway drugs. When agitated, both secrete a hallucinogenic chemical through the skin. Licking that skin became incredibly popular, but the party practice could be fatal - some toads emit a cardiac toxin.

Frogs can be found almost anywhere except the Antartica. However, most species are found in tropical regions. More frogs are found in warmer countries.

Frogs can breathe by means of the lungs and also through their skin. This is because of the way their heart is formed. It has three chambers instead of the normal four

TAKEN FROM www.colourlovers.com