Excuse the pun. Who says that advertising can’t help people? This innovative bus stop poster combines creative with functionality as it doubles as a charging station for mobile phones.

Despite Vitamin Water actually have very little to do with technology, the message is beautifully simple. It tells you that the drink will revive, restore and recharge your internal batteries, much like what the poster will do for your phone.

(Source: www.trendhunter.com)

In his newest business venture, Richard Branson is offering  the ability to reach ocean depths that have never been explored before. The Virgin Oceanic  will be the first submarine to be able to sustain operation at 37,000 feet below sea level. Watch the video below to see its design:

Though we admit that some of Branson’s product extensions have been a bit too much, we think this is awesome. We can’t imagine how much one of these trips would cost but are intrigued to see the footage that will come of this new exploration! Branson will be a co-pilot along with pilot Chris Welsh. Very cool.

Happy Friday!

(Source: Geek.com)

The bookshelves are easy to assemble and are attached to a wall with just two screws.

We think these are a really creative, modern portal to get children excited about reading and about showing off their books and subsequent knowledge.

Keeping with the children’s theme, we must commend Hot Wheels’ recent advertising in Bogotá, Colombia from Ogilvy and Mather:

The monstrous poster is quite life-like and is guaranteed to garner some double-takes. After all, what child wouldn’t want to go on a real life loop after subjecting their invincible/invisible Hot Wheels  drivers to such daredevil fun?!

(Sources: MyModernMet and Neatorama)

London entrepreneur Ajit Chambers is looking to rehabilitate and spruce up 26 closed London underground stations in order to reopen them as bars, tourist attractions, and music venues. Chambers has already received permission to do so from Mayor of London Boris Johnson under the condition that no public money is used in the renovations.The reopened areas would likely include Aldwych station (which is already featured in many films), South Kentish Town station, Y0rk Road station, Brompton Road station, closed tunnels and platforms at Euston station, and Down Street station, which now acts as an emergency exit for the Picadilly Line.

We think this is a fantastic idea! Since some of the stations were closed down as early as the 1930′s , they will still feature the decor and architecture of that time period which could offer a really cool theme to the new establishments. And, there’s nothing else happening in them, so why not? Though Transport for London has warned Chambers about potential safety hazards due to some of the stations being close to operating railways, he is still moving forwards with plans. After hearing about the successfully innovative events in the Old Vic Tunnels this year, we look forward to seeing this project go through!

(Source: The Independent)

(Source: Ads of the World)

It must have been quite entertaining to shoot, but we can’t imagine the amount of editing behind it! It put a smile on out face on this grim Monday. And made us want to escape to Venice, space hopper in hand!

(Source: Neatorama)

First, there’s the school bus. Can you imagine being a kid and being picked up by a giant Pikachu? Would probably be the most awesome thing ever!

Very similar to it, but for people affected by the Peter Pan syndrome (aka once a kid, always a kid), there’s the Pikachu car. Tacky and geeky…

There’s also this “theremin-esque Pikachu statue”, which is pretty much a talking Pikachu. Pretty standard as merchandising. But someone had the brilliant idea to get 12 of them and turn them into an orchestra. Press play and prepare to cringe.

For the hardcore female gamers (we doubt guys would every wear such thing), there are the Yellow Gameboy shoes with Pikachu. Platforms are already pretty dodgy to walk with, adding a Gameboy on the side probably doesn’t help the process.

Finally, there is the real live Pikachu! And they are so cute, but pretty pricey. Yes, the gentleman who caught them, and put them for sale on Yahoo! demands 99,000,002,805,760 yen (over $900 million) for one. Pretty expensive for a… Mouse?

If you haven’t had enough of yellow for a day, there’s more here.

It implied re-designing the whole bus stop, from covering it with posters, to painting the poles accordingly, changing the seats into matching chairs, and even planting lemon trees on the roof!

Each style represents the personality of each product pretty accurately. We definitely wouldn’t mind waiting for the bus at one of those, especially as some of the chairs look pretty comfortable.

(Source: Zeutch)

The new design is meant to attract the next-generation of riders, but it has lost all the Vespa charm! How disappointing.

We understand that they needed to freshen up the look a little, add a few gadgets and all for it to appeal to the technology addicts, but isn’t this pushing it  a bit too far? It has made us a little sad. Could you imagine Italian streets filled with scooters that look like props from The Fifth Element?

We couldn’t really find more information about the project on Google, and if it’s not on Google then it doesn’t exist! So we hope it’s only a potential design, and that Vespa is not going to bite it.

To be honest, it’s probably us being a bit old school. And if so, this scooter isn’t really targeted to us anyway.

(Source: The Design Blog)

First, there is Samsonite new baby: a suitcase that also works as a scooter. Or vice versa. Definitely something that could prove quite useful to businessmen whose lives are half-spent running from one airport terminal to another. We only wonder how practical it is to carry: the wheels, handlebars and all must be quite heavy. Well, we guess the whole point is to let it carry rather than the other way around, but probably not when stairs are involved.

Then there’s the 2 in 1 switch shaker, or how to make us even lazier. Press the button to swap between salt and pepper. But, we love the way it looks, and it would probably be quite fun to use!

At first, we weren’t sure what we were looking at. It looks a bit like storage of some sort. Turns out this is a pocket-sized, solar powered lamp. Perfect for camping in style, and no need for batteries!

Our favourite is this phone: the Nokia E-CU. We don’t think it looks that great, with it’s crackled-skin-like case, and its strange shape, but we love how it works. Unlike any other phone, it doesn’t get its juice from a plug, but from heat. Just stick it in your pocket or on a heater and you will never run out of battery. And that’s also good news for the environment.

(Source: NotCot here and here, TreeHugger, Dezeen)