Without question, my favourite creative talent of our time is Fabien Baron. I have been obsessed with his work across all of the genres that I am passionate about for my entire career. Baron's work spans the realms of design, including furniture as shown above for Capellini; magazines - he has been involved with Interview magazine since the Andy Warhol days of the early 1990s, photography, fashion, advertising and graphic design. There is really nothing that he has done that has not inspired me over the past 10 years that I have followed his work. Once again Mr Baron is having an influence in my creative thoughts for Issue Two of Design Folio - the magazine..... my team and I are all very excited by the new direction of the exciting September Issue!!!

To see more of Fabien Baron's work go here.

My old home town's daily newspaper The Christchurch Press, have done a feature on Design Folio in their latest issue of the At Home supplement. Cheers Christchurch Press!

The bike of the future has been unveiled in the UK by Olympic Cyclist Chris Boardman. The new bike includes computer systems that offer finger print recognition, meaning only the owner can unlock the bike.  A mini screen on the handlebars also monitors your progress along your journey, including the ever important calorie burning statistics. In addition the bike features spokeless wheels, making it more aerodynamic while the tiles will be puncture proof. You may have to wait sometime however to ever get to ride this puppy, it's been launched as a cyclists dream concept only, with no immediate plans for development. Typical.

Some amazing architectural photography using some of Brazil's most iconic architectural marvels as the subject by photographer Guido Mocafico. 

To see more of his work visit his website here.

Definitely one of my favourite classic chairs, the Platner Chair designed by Warren Platner for Knoll was recently used to fit out the restaurant in the final scene of Quantum of Solace. Those chairs lucky enough to survive the explositions on set have made it back to a select number of Knoll dealers worldwide (No word on whether NZ made the cut). I think you should make it your mission to track a set down.

Knoll is available locally here.

Polish designer Pawel Grunert has created the SIE43 Chair for the recent exhibition of ecological design in Milan. The chair is made from PET bottles screwed into a steel frame. The bottles can easily be changed if they show signs of damage.

Montecristi Panamas are the world's greatest Panama Hats. Made from extremely fine toquilla straw and woven only in Ecuador,  a handful of master weavers produce the best of the best, which sell for tens of thousands of dollars apiece.  Their latest creation (pictured second from the top) took a full five months to complete. After completing the weaving, five other artisans spent several more weeks preparing and finishing the hat. The resulting item called simply - The Hat, is light as a feather, and like all good Panama Hats can be folded without ever destroying it's original shape.

All this for a mere $100,000 USD.

For the cost-is-no-object photography crowd, Leica is the be all and end all. Now they've delved into the professional field of digital Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras with its new S-System. Packed inside a body smaller than most SLRs is a 37.5 million pixel sensor that measures 30x45mm – more than 50% bigger than the industry standard. The camera body alone costs a whopping $34,000 NZD – and as any serious photographer will tell you, that doesn't even include a lens. Those start at around seven grand, while the cheapest accessory in the catalog is the $600 charger. But it is a Leica afterall!

For more information go here.

Not quite what you'd expect from your grandmothers doily collection, Iceland's  Hildur Bjarnadottir makes a macabre interpretation of a crochet table cloth.

For more information on the artist go here.

With self-sufficiency being all the rage, you may as well house the chickens in a style that's suited to the rest of your design savvy abode.