I’m hitting the street of Barcelona for a few days. So there won’t be any posts for a while, but I’ll be back with a Barcelona report on my return. Hopefully I’ll be checking out some of the best new hotels, restaurants and bars that the city has to offer – all in the name of ‘Things of Random Coolness’ of course. It’s a tough job, but somebody has got to do it!

The one year anniversary almost slipped by unnoticed! It looks like Things of Random Coolness has reached it’s first milestone – It’s now reached it’s first birthday! I’d just like to thank everyone who reads the blog, and an extra thanks to anyone who’s spread the word in some way through website links, email, etc. It’s very, very much appreciated!!!

I’ve got some special things planned for ‘Year Two’ of Things of Random Coolness, so hopefully it’ll keep going from strength to strength.

Thanks again to everyone for helping to make ‘Year One’ such a success!

Did you ever carved a message into the bark of a tree when you were a kid? Perhaps a subtle declaration of love for a teenage crush, or a profound statement of existence such as ‘I was here’? If you did, you’ll understand the beauty of Grafitti Tree Vases by Johanna Jansson which grew out of the equally beautiful Silver Birch Tree Sculpture.

Grafitti Tree Vases is a series of glass objects that resemble the angular typographic scratched out graffiti messages that you often see carved into the bark of trees. Only now that graffiti is transformed into the decorative touches for an item to decorate your home. It’s a thoroughly beautiful object to remind you of the nostalgia of teenage vandalism.

See more work by Johanna Jansson.

Flattened desktop objects. Here’s a cute little idea by Irish born designer Finn Magee; Flat Life consists of ‘Flat Light’ and ‘Flat Time’, both of them posters depicting ordinary desktop items but with the added benefit of them still having their functionality. So in the case of ‘Flat Life’ which depicts a table lamp, the poster uses LEDs to illuminate the printed lamp. You get “the productive atmosphere of a desk light without the bulk.” Similarly the ‘Flat Time’ poster depicts a radio alarm clock, but the poster houses a 7-segment LED display to tell the time.

See more work by Finn Magee.

Great products. Terrible website. If you can force yourself to put aside your hatred of the annoyingly bad website that Dark uses to promote itself on the web, you’ll find some fantastic products. I particularly like the delicate retro nature of the Franje light (link to PDF, so you don’t have to suffer their website). The light designed by Marcel Reulen is available in any colour as long as it’s black or white.

See more products from Dark.

Do birds believe in God? On the off chance that they do, at least they now have a place to worship thanks to Holy Homes designed for TuttoBeNe by Frederik Roijé. These two bird houses are made out of the best porcelain in the the shape of a cathedral and feature a golden branch. So if you fancy getting all the religious birds hanging around your garden, you had better invest in a Holy Home.

Find out more about Holy Homes.

Ceramics + Music = Design Beauty. I want a Phonofone by Science & Sons. The Phonofone is clever piece of applied science, a beautiful icon of nostalgia, and an ironic twist on the insular nature of personal listening devices. Through passive amplification alone, the Phonofone can instantly transform any personal music player + earbuds into a sculptural audio console. Without the use of external power or batteries, the Phonofone inventively exploits the virtues of horn acoustics to boost the audio output of standard earphones to up to 55 decibles (that’s roughly the maximum volume of laptop speakers). Upon connecting active earphones to the Phonofone their trebly buzzing is instantly and profoundly transformed into a warm, rich and resonant sound.

Find out more about the Phonofone by Science & Sons.

What is the ‘Six Letter Word’? Design? Six Letter Word is the amazingly talented designer Diogo Potes. The Six Letter Word website doesn’t offer up much more information, preferring to simply offer up a banquet of fantastically coloured illustrative designs instead.

Check out the work at Six Letter Word.

Sofa so good. I love the 50’s modernist stylings of Autoban’s Box Sofa, the latest offering from the Istanbul based design firm. I was happy to learn at the 100% Design exhibition that Autoban have teamed up with De La Espada to create Autoban De La Espada a furniture collaboration between design firms.

Find out more about the collaboration at Autoban De La Espada.

This is Tengu. He loves to be around people and he makes his home by your computer. Mr Jones’s Tengu is a small electronic character who connects to your computer’s USB port. Tengu responds to sound, so if you play music then he looks like he is singing along with it. It’s this generations version of the 80’s Dancing Flowers, but not as crap.

Designed by the talented Crispin Jones, I first saw Tengu at the London Designersblock, in which Crispin also showcased his great Watches which help you not only tell the time, but give you guidance on decisions or Mantras to live by.

Find out more information on Tengu and Mr Jones Watches.