Hickory, steel, and sex appeal. The talented minds at the Best Made Company have done it again. This time, with a pocket axe, hand-painted in four colors. With a wood branded handle, the first release of these beauties is limited to a numbered edition of 200.

Via Acquire.

A minimalist homage to the perfect pasta and sauce, The Geometry of Pasta tells you everything you need to know about cooking and eating pasta like an Italian.

The book pairs over 100 authentic recipes from critically acclaimed chef of the London Italian eatery Bocca di Lupo, Jacob Kenedy, with award-winning designer Caz Hildebrand’s stunning black-and-white designs to reveal the science, history and philosophy behind spectacular pasta dishes from all over Italy.

The Not So Happy Bird, the latest offering from the Dutch artist Parra, makes me feel happy. Produced by Toykyo, these porcelain figurines are limited to 25 of each and are available at Colette in both black and white colorways.

What began as an unproduced poster idea by the talented Aesthetic Apparatus has propagated itself into a series of open/closed signs. Double-sided yet possibly commercially useless, these signs will relay to passers-by or potential customers that you’re not really into categorizing your availability in such limited definitions as “open” or “closed.” Available for purchase now in paper or plastic versions.

Via SwissMiss.

Pantone recently announced the release of the Pantone Plus Series. A modern evolution of the Pantone Matching System, the Pantone Plus Series provides designers and printers with new features and capabilities. Enhancements include the chromatic arrangement of colors for more intuitive selection, an expanded palette of spot colors, the addition of new premium metallics, and a broader range of neons.

The new identity, packaging, and promotional materials were developed by Base. Base started with the name, and worked with Pantone to arrive at “The Plus Series,” to emphasize the added benefits of the upgraded product line—566 new colors, a revised chromatic color flow, and a set of digital tools. Base developed a “+” icon and logo lockup, and framed it in a context that references the classic Pantone Chip.

FIDU (FreieInnenDruckUmformung) or ‘free internal pressure forming’ is a manufacturing process developed by Polish designer and engineer Oskar Zieta, whereby flat, welded steel sheets are industrially inflated to create three dimensional objects. This new process allows for the creation of complex, lightweight and weight-bearing forms while using only a minimal amount of material.

Case in point, the Plopp stool by Zieta Prozessdesign and Hay. The inflated steel sheets and FIDU process lend the stool a unique, playful shape that is reminiscent of an inflatable toy. The Plopp stool has been shown in many exhibitions around the world and has won many prestigious awards, including the Red Dot Design Award, the German Design Council Award and Schweizer Design Preis.

Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg has been handcrafting the finest porcelain for over 260 years. Porcelain services, figures and objects of the greatest quality and purity have been produced at just this one location in the world – the Nördliches Schlossrondell in Nymphenburg – since the 18th century.

It’s worth noting that Nymphenburg’s Sacred Figures collection includes incredible reproductions of skulls and bones, some of which were designed in 1756 by Franz Ignaz Günther, a sculptor and representative of Bavarian rococo. Simply remarkable.

Their products have received many prizes and are part of the world’s major design collections, including the MoMA and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Fondation Nationale in Paris, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien and the Neue Sammlung at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

Phaidon has converted their epic, three-volume set, Design Classics, into a much more portable format for the iPad. With the original print version selling for $175, the app seems like a steal at an introductory price of only $20.

“This authoritative and meticulously researched collection charts the story of product design over the past 200 years. It was years in the making and was compiled via rigorous selection process by an international panel of design-world insiders, including architects, critics, curators, product designers, auctioneers, and historians.

The application offers, at the touch of a finger, access to an encyclopedic, illustrated history of 1,000 timeless design classics by not only renowned designers, such as Marcel Breuer, Achille Castiglioni, Le Corbusier, Jasper Morrison, Dieter Rams, Eero Saarinen, and Philippe Starck but also anonymously designed pieces, such as the clothes peg, the corkscrew, and the chopstick, that have stood the test of time.”

Via Dirty Mouse

Frank Kozik just released his latest 18-inch figure, the Ultraviolence Big Army Man, which Juxtapoz is offering in a limited edition gold colorway. Each figure comes with interchangeable hands. Whether you want the figure to toss a grenade or a rubber chicken while holding a gun or open handedly poised to bitch slap the enemy, he’s prepared.

Writing instruments have never looked better. Düller and IDEA have come together with Dietrich Lubs, former chief designer for the legendary Braun, to form the marriage of Japanese sensibilities and German functionalism in a carefully detailed stationery collection. To cement the design credibility of the range, the Braun design maestro was commissioned to create a series of writing tools featuring a rollerball, fountain pen, and mechanical pencil.

Via Acquire.

The Masters Chair by Phillipe Starck and Eugeni Quitllet for Kartell, expertly combines the silhouettes of three of the most famous chairs in modern furniture design: The Series 7 Chair by Arne Jacobsen, the Tulip Armchair by Eero Saarinen and the Eiffel Chair by Charles and Ray Eames. Together, the lines of these classics create something that isn’t simply another chair, but an entirely new way of looking. Available in three colors: black, red and white.