I am writing up my visit to Paris with Renault last year, as a piece in Curve magazine based around the really interesting and whimsical rebranding of Renault as an electric car company with a little je ne sais quois !

As a tickler, check out this Renault ad for an electric lifestyle (leading into its range of electric vehicles).  Then below click on the link to my Twizy drive to get a feel for how a rollercoaster car would drive if you took it off the tracks....heres the video...

On Thursday this week I head to Sydney to assist with the inaugural Simon's Swim Surfari: where Simon takes a team of local swimmers from North Bay Masters and elsewhere, and heads to Sydney where the Festival and Sydney, Australia Day and general summer festivities will show Sydney off at its best. Oh - and where we will swim from the Opera House on Australia Day, Train at Bondi Beach (bay swims and Icebergs) every morning, then complete the Palm Beach to Whale Beach swim on January 26.  With lots of great meals and fun times in-between.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on his logo.  Due to my inability to actually realize my visions digitally - and perhaps this is the year to either take on a graphics intern, or actually learn some graphics and photoshop skills myself - we outsourced the final logo to an online company for the fixed rate of $180.  and here it is - now affixed to t-shirts and bags in readiness for our Suyd

Have a look at this fantastic NASA image of the world by night, demonstrating so clearly where the power is.  Almost the entire continent of Africa - sans the northern edge and South Africa down the bottom - is in darkness.  Around 500 million people dont have access to basic electricity, and that has a direct impact on a community's productivity, and their ability to educate.
Then check out Australia - only the coastal cities are lit.  No hint of the remote communities up north or in the centre - which makes you wonder how they are going on the basic education front while our city kids have the world at their fingertips.
I was fortunate enough to meet with Lyndon Frears from the multi-award-winning CAT Projects, when he visited San Francisco last month.  Lyndon was in town meeting with Google to discuss CAT's Bushlite India project, and its possibilities for application in other sizeable power-starved communities.  CAT brings their sturdy solar power solutions to indigenous communities in Australia as well as overseas, and the products are developed in Alice Springs where CAT engineers live out a rugged, fairly remote lifestyle with enough dust and grit to thoroughly test their products.  Below is a "menu" of powered products which forms part of the Bushlite communications package for Energy Budgeting. 

 I am hoping to cover the CAT Bushlite project in lots of detail for Curve Industrial Design magazine early next year.  Meanwhile I have just completed a feature on Goal Zero, a US-based company manufacturing innovative portable solar power products for use in developing countries, but also for sale to sophisticated outdoor adventurers in countries like the USA and Australia.  I have a Goal Zero energy pack that I use at Burning Man - we covered it in the Whole HOG BUG section a few months ago (September 2011).   Brilliantly simple and really effective.  Check it out.

Simon is leading a swim tour from San Francisco to Sydney in January 2013, to swim the Palm Beach to Whale Beach "Big Swim", enjoy Australia Day and a bunch of other Syd-centric stuff you can only do in January.  I cant wait!  PLUS we are getting special order Budgie Smugglers for the occasion.  But first - I have to design a logo for the team gear.

I had been messing around with a combination of the Golden Gate and Sydney Harbour bridges, with it was all getting a bit esoteric yet chunky.  Then I jumped on line for some inspiration, and found this collage of "the best logo designs of all time".  its a very US-centric selection but it emphasized to me the importance of integrating the word.  So - below is where I am at: the original combo bridges logo that doesnt really tell the story but could be cool.....(maybe a bit architectural tho), and the logo one inspired by Ken Done's classic 

About a year ago I worked with tea tree expert Dr Lyall Williams to formulate a delicious and effective range of dog grooming products based on Australian essential oils.  We call it ttfordogs  - although a fair handful of humans use it too - and its packaged in recycled plastic, and doing very nicely thankyou.
Now sometimes in a startup business you have to sacrifice pride for the the bottom line - and I really feel like I have put it out there for tt.  At the SuperZoo show we were asked to put up video explaining our products.  Why me?  Because Simon refused to wear the hat!
Taking one for the team - here I am spruikin' the goods....

We are entering our second day showing my new range of Australian Oils dog grooming products at SuperZoo. Who knew adding live animals to a trade show could make it so much more fun?! We zip lined through the downtown strip with Toby Skoveon from PetLoo yesterday - stay tuned for my interview with Toby- self proclaimed "owner" of the pet waste market - in the next issue of Curve industrial design magazine. Meanwhile here are some pics from the show....

I am super excited about this photo that ace snapper Murray Fredericks took of a recent bathroom I designed with Sam Quick, of QuickDominguez (naturally!!).

Starting to prep for Burning Man I was thinking nostalgically about the electric Diggler scooter I was lucky enough to have last year - would be particularly useful this year where the lack of precipitation has created an uber deep, very dusty sand base.  Anyhoo - around the same time I was spinning around the playa on the Diggler I discovered this fantastic open source innovation: the 2GO. I reckon everyone needs one!