Jubilations

Our studio, decked out in a suitably festive fashion!

flatpack TV

I've always been a great believer in approaching problems and ideas from unexpected angles. One of the best examples of this I've come across recently is a new Ikea product, set to launch in the UK in early 2013. It's call Uppleva (which I'm reliably informed by my Swedish friends means 'revolution'). And it's not a sofa, or a new bed, or a potato masher, or even a fancy new type of tea light. It's a TV.

Ikea, making TV's? It doesn't make sense. Except it does: because Ikea have cleverly recognised the problem with TVs today. Its not about screen size, HD, 3D, smart or being able to download apps. It's the fact that most TV's today are bloated, oversized, badly designed monsters, which when combined with the plethora of boxes we now attach to them and all the associated cables that involves means our living rooms all have a proverbial (televisual) elephant in the corner.

Being a furniture maker and renowned for design, Ikea have identified this problem and produced a cleverly Swedish solution to it. A TV that doesn't compete on tech smartness and which doesn't compete with the rest of your living room. Instead, we can now consider it part of the furniture. It's very clever, and it will be interesting to see if it takes off. And if it comes in flatpack. Nik

our favourite {non-fiction} books

The next in our "a few of our favourite things" series, here are some of the non-fiction books we love...

• A Japanese series of creative/interiors books called Editions Paumes - hard to get hold of, and all in Japanese, but worth it for the lovely and inspiring pictures (here).

• London A-Z for the geek inside, I love the attention to detail and the story of its creator Phyllis Pearsal (here).

• Breathe on 'em Salop (history of Shrewsbury Town FC).

• A Year of Mornings: 3191 miles apart - a good coffee table book full of gorgeous photography where two friends, living 3191 miles apart, took photos every morning for a year to share with each other.

• A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes - heavy in both content and physicality, but epic and - incredibly - all true.

• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey - really gripping story.

• Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah - if China is going to be the biggest world power, we need to worry.

our favourite galleries & museums

If you feel a cultural visit coming on - in or out of London - and need inspiration, here are some of our favourites...

goodbye nostalgia, hello über-nostalgia

I've been reading that nostalgia is the key to marketing in a recession (writes Peter): see the design blog of Gloucester agency Alias and the Marketing Society's debate.

From past experience I've noticed that our love for nostalgia does always seem to increase in a recession (this being my fourth).

However, it is ironic that to give the nostalgic experience any life and authenticity these days requires the talent and dedication of extremely skillful designers, artists, film makers and marketeers (and arguably requires more effort than is needed than to create something new and contemporary).

The current nostalgic decade of choice has to be the roaring '20s. And now that artists, musicians and film makers have access to such powerful digital technology, any nostalgia-based creations can be digitally enhanced to make a sort of über-nostalgia that goes beyond the realms of the pastiche.

A few examples of über-nostalgia:

FILM: The extraordinarily successful film 'The Artist' is a tribute to silent movies so faithful that it remains 'silent' throughout. Capturing that old movie feel required ultra modern movie technology, which was then projected onto purpose built and smaller flat screens, as found back in the 1920's.

Has the adorable Uggie from The Artist walked straight out of the 1920's HMV logo?

MUSIC: Take a listen to C. W. Stoneking but with your eyes closed for the first few minutes. Doesn't it sound like he's a black blues hero straight out of Mississippi in the Depression? But no, C.W. is a 30-year old Australian living in Bristol!

PACKAGING: Hendrick's Gin is a beautifully constructed pastiche of the "flapper's tipple of choice". Has this been stolen straight out of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in London?

1920's Gordon's Gin (with medicinal serving suggestion!) vs. 2011 Hendrick's Gin

our favourite shops {anywhere}

Although shopping is kind of off our agenda for January, we've shared our favourite London shops here before and thought in the spirit of New Year's inspiration we'd throw it open to shops anywhere at all. So here are our picks...

From top:

Daikanyama, Tokyo "interesting boutiques beautifully designed and great for people watching"

Topshop, London

Merci, Paris "whereas Colette is too cool for school, this is a concept store that is just really lovely to spend time in"

Independent cookware shops "whoever would have thought you could buy a pair of 'onion glasses' - ingenious

Shrewsbury Antiques Market "a treasure trove of stuff that you just can't find anywhere"

Selfridges, London "after being to New York, Paris, Rome and countless other places, I really think this is the best shop in the world"

J R Raine & Son, Middleton-in-Teesdale "a tiny warren of a DIY shop which sells everything Homebase offers, except in smaller amounts and cheaper"

Paul Smith "nuf said"

The Marvelous Moustachin

One of our designers, Sach, has manned up and is taking part in Movember. Sponsor him here, and laugh marvel at his moustache here: