Yakima KingJoe Pro by James Owen Design

Check out the new KingJoe Pro, Yakima’s renowned Trunk rack. The Yakima King Joe Pro is this year’s top-of-the-line rack. With updated characteristics for 2011, the innovative King is sturdier than ever so you could rest at ease making sure that you cargo stays protected and secure. High-clearance design with ultra soft padding ensure you car never comes in contact with the attached bikes. The King Joe Pro fits minivans, cars, SUVs, hatchbacks and many more with Yakima’s Quick Trigger hub system that makes trunk attachment and fitting easy as pie. These racks are highly flexible.

Designer : James Owen Design

TOFI 12mt Trimaran Was Inspired by Tropical Fish

TOFI 12mt trimaran is an innovative yacht design concept, which features simple lines that expresses gratifying, casual vacation and noteworthy yacht experience. The designer who was highly inspired by the tropical fish that stimulated him to imagine the tremendous features of under sea world, named this small and cute trimaran as TOFI. To symbolize the underworld sea world, the designer focused on 3 prominent features including natural beauty, thrill and fun and also designed several aspects for its purposes.

Designer : Hyun-Seok Kim

At first, the designer focused on creating an attractive exterior shape in order to stimulate people to dream of a great vacation. He then tried to install certain specialty to access the mantrap of sea nature. Some of Tofi’s attractive features include a wide opened and lower positioned rear deck, a safety buoy system for both children and adults and diving board to enhance amusement of sea dabbling. To offer a real retreat tothe passengers when they are on board, the designer has designed exclusive furniture and stunning upper dining area.

Tofi stays exceptionally unique from other yachts with its stunning external view and beautiful interior details. In total, this 12mt long yacht will certainly give the passengers with a wonderful marine vacation experience.

Credit Card for The Blind by Kwon Ki Nam

To help the visually impaired carry out day-to-day activities just like others, designers are coming up with new innovative products. The latest one by Kwon Ki Nam is the Credit Card for the Blind. When a blind person uses his credit, there is no way for him to check the paymentamount. Also, after the card is swiped over the card reader, it requires the car owner’s signature, which becomes quite impossible for the visually impaired. However, the Credit Card for the Blind makes use of fingerprint recognition technology, which serves as a security device and does not necessitate a signature. The payment sum is displayed over the card with Braille. To help blind people recognize thepayment amount, a voice recording is broadcasted from a small speaker, delineating the products that are purchased. With no hassle, the visually impaired can use credit card and have an enjoyable shopping.

Designer : Kwon Ki Nam

Dog on a Gun!

Trust the Russians to teach us how to train a dog! Actually it’s more like shooting, err… walking them on a leash with the Povodokus! A pistol – shaped retractable dog-leash fit enough for your canine friend. Make that ANY friend!

Designer: Art Lebedev Studio

A Bus Can Be Sexy

Unlike many car-goers in Los Angeles, I will hop on the bus any chance I can get! I’m sure if the LA Metro looked anything like the Cityline concept others would be more inclined to use what I like to refer to as- my “public chauffeur”. The daytime LEDs add to it’s futuristic look, and I particularly love the way the windows merge seamlessly with the exterior panels and roof to create a smooth silhouette.

Designers: Rafal Pilat & Michal Bonikowski

New Museum & Friends to Take Over the Bowery for the "Festival of Ideas for the New City"

The New Museum, the preeminent contemporary art institution in Lower Manhattan, recently announced the full details about the forthcoming "Festival of Ideas for the New City," set for May 4 - 8 in and around their home base at 235 Bowery. The multifaceted, interdisciplinary event is at once a celebration and an investigation of downtown creative culture as a locus for discourse about the future of the city.

The Festival of Ideas for the New City, May 4-8, 2011, is a major new collaborative initiative in New York involving scores of Downtown organizations, from universities to arts institutions and community groups, working together to affect change. A first for New York, the Festival will harness the power of the creative community to imagine the future city and explore the ideas destined to shape it. It will take place in multiple venues Downtown and is organized around three central programs: a three-day slate of symposia; an innovative StreetFest along the Bowery; and over eighty independent projects and public events. The Festival will serve as a platform for artists, writers, architects, engineers, designers, urban farmers, planners, and thought leaders to exchange ideas, propose solutions, and invite the public to participate.

Courtesy Family & Playlab. Photo by Dean Kaufman.

More details and teaser pics after the jump...

Cronocaos at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia. Photo: OMA / Marco Beck Peccoz.

Urbanism enthusiasts can geek out and network during a series of symposia, lectures and workshops featuring the likes of Vito Acconci, Elizabeth Diller, and David Byrne (who is set to 'introduce' a Mayoral Panel, promising insight into city-level politics), not to mention keynote speaker Rem Koolhaas.

Freitag Compost-Canteen. Courtesy Swiss Institute.

For those who are more interested in practice instead of theory, Saturday, May 7 marks the transformation of the Bowery into "an innovative, minimal-waste, outdoor StreetFest"—hence, Festival of Ideas. Support local businesses and organizations, including food producers and vendors, while you learn about urban gardening, homemade robots, street furniture, or even the Bowery itself.

POEMobile by Bowery Poetry Club.

Last but not least, myriad projects represent more traditional venues for art and design, namely exhibitions and performances that span the creative spectrum. There are more details to come, but the all-nightPechaKucha, in particular, sounds like our kind of shindig.

Deborah Kass and pulp, ink., I Wanna Rock With You, 2011. Courtesy of the artist.

The three-pronged approach—conference, streetfest and projects—means there will be something for everyone, so definitely make time to visit if you're in New York between May 4 - 8.

Check out the full list of events and collaborators here.

Courtesy Family & Playlab.

Truck Farm. Courtesy Truck Farm and Wicked Delicate Films

Bring to Light 2010. Artwork: "Light and Glass Dance" by Miho Ogai and "Elemental Harmonics" by Ryan Uzilevsky. Photography by Randy Plemel and Stephen Kennedy. Photo Montage by Pepin Gelardi

Anne Apparu - There Are No Recipes. Photo by Linnea Covington.

Girlzilla and her Robot Pets. Courtsey Lower East Side Girls Club.