Perfect for giving as a gift if you’re creative. The book publisher Penguin have come up with a great idea for allowing people to customise their own books.

When we decide whether or not to buy a book, cover design is always the most important thing. Despite this, we’d like to introduce you to a new series of books called My Penguin.

We’re throwing open six of our favourite Classics by publishing them with naked front covers and we’d really love for you to be involved - and to have as good a time coming up with covers as we’ve had in putting the series together.

You’re encouraged to draw, paint, stencil or whatever on the covers in order to make it your own, and make it unique. If you’re a designer, or an illustrator, this is a perfect opportunity to give your loved ones a really special personalised christmas present.

Find out more at My Penguin.

The Wan lamp by Naoto Fukasawa for Yamagiwa. I’m really interested in lights at the moment. I bought an old house that I’m renovating, and in a fit of crazyness I plastered over all the ceilings leaving no lights. The idea was that I would do something really different and modern with the ceiling lights at some point, the problem is that I haven’t figured out what that idea is yet. So, at the moment, I don’t have any lights. Until I find somekind of inspiration, I’m going to tide myself over with cool floor lamps. I think the Wan lamp by Naoto Fukasawa fits that catagory.

Available from Yamagiwa.

I love seeing designers get their crazy on! I’m not fussed about the Ego Cup by Stefan Lindfors for Iittala. However, I do enjoy watching Stefan Lindfors act like a crazy designer in the following videos from the Future Design Days conference.

Watch Part 1, then Part 2 (these might not be funny to you - I have a strange sense of humour).

BTW, there are more YouTube Videos from the Future Design Days conference if you like that kind of thing. Although, if you really like this type of stuff, watch the Ross Lovegrove Talk from TED.com

Another great up & coming French designer. The young French designer Bertrand Clerc has got loads of great ideas and designs. I know I’ve seen his “Marilyn” seat mention in a few other design blogs (but, (a) I can’t link to it because his site is done in flash, (b) as anyone who regularly read this blog knows, I’m trying to stay aware from chairs at the moment).

See more work from Bertrand Clerc.

Disco tables for alcoholics. I’m sure drinking would be infinitely more interesting with the iBar around.

iBar is a system for the interactive design of any bar-counter. Integrated video-projectors can project any content on the milky bar-surface. The intelligent tracking system of iBar detects all objects touching the surface. This input is used to let the projected content interact dynamically with the movements on the counter. Objects can be illuminated at their position or virtual objects can be “touched” with the fingers.

You’ve got to check out the YouTube Video tto get a better idea of how it works.

Find out more about the iBar.

Simple is always good. That’s why I like the Mono Stool by Sami Laine for Rehti. This post is short & sweet. Just like the stool.

Check out the other products available from Rehti.

More amazing video grafitti madness! Remember the One Week of Artworks post I made back at the start of this month? Turns out the guys behind that video are called Rinpa Eshidan.

“Rinpa” is a word created by the founders of the group meaning “to bring people together, while “Eshidan” essentially means “art crew.” The Rinpa Eshidan is a team of artists brought together by a common creative expression.

Rinpa Eshidan have also made a couple of other equally amazing videos of artworks in progress being continually reworked. Check them out on their website.

Read more about Rinpa Eshidan.

Sorry, I can’t help it. It’s a compulsion! This whole chair-love thing is getting a bit out of control, it’s like torettes syndrome. So I’m going to try and make this my last post about chairs for a while, and try and focus my attentions on anything else that’s cool. Anyway, I like the Desalto Armchair by L Design.

L Design is a Paris based international design company that do everything from print to product design. They’ve got some mega-hot lighting products as well.

go and check out everything they do at L Design.

Lighten up your choice of books. This is a great little idea by Sam Johnson. His Light Reading light looks like a book, so you can slot it right in there with the other books on your bookshelf. Then when lit up, it’ll bring a touch of quirky light to your bookshelves.

Available from Thorsten Van Elten.

How can you not love it? Every metre of the Panamic Rug by I Love Both contains 3000 variously sized felted wool balls stiched together to form these inviting textured surfaces.

With the weather turning colder around here, this sort of thing looks like solution to early morning cold feet on freezing wooden floorboards.

See more products from I Love Both.