According to what we learned in kindergarten, a watch is a watch is a watch. However, according to Matthew Waldman, the free-thinking founder of New York's Nooka, a watch is just another opportunity to turn a washed-up concept into a fresh idea.

Now in its sixth year, what began as a grade school flashback has grown into an entirely new way of telling time. Intellectually alluring, visually impelling, and incredibly functional, Nooka's unusual materials and playful methodology have reinterpreted the traditional method of watching the hours fly, and trendsetting time-tellers (us and so forth) are snapping them up like Vampire Weekend remixes (not to imply we have any strong feelings, positive or otherwise, for turbo-hyped indie bands).

We've been watching Nooka for a few years now, and each new season brings us more reasons to keep on keepin' on. Join us as we chat with Matthew about the past, present, and future of our favorite non-watchlike watch company.

JoshSpear.com: Nooka was born from a first grade flashback - Can you tell us more about that, and give us a brief history of the company?

Matthew Waldman: I was a creative director of an interactive design studio in the late 1990s when I began to explore information architecture over aesthetic design for my clients. When I try to figure something out, it’s in my head 24/7, running like a program until it figures things out. The rule for intuitive design is simple: If you need instruction, it’s not intuitive. Seeing a big wall clock gave me a flashback to first grade where we learned how to tell time… and if someone had to teach it, how intuitive is it really? This was my inspiration to explore alternative systems. (Read More…)

March is upon us and the folks at PopJunkie have done their damnedest to come roaring into the first month of spring like a lion. Our old friends have some new gear that you'll surely be warming up to just as soon as the weather does. The San Francisco-based design team has baked up a fresh batch of hoodies and clocks, not to mention reprints of old designs on new women's shirts for your purchasing enjoyment. You can even display them on your person if you like. They're also having a sale on a good deal of their men's and women's shirts. So if you're looking for a great deal, or just some sweet new stuff, we recommend checking them out online or if you're in California you can find some of their gear at these locations.

Attention George Foreman, you’re about to be knocked out. At least, it would is the inspired collective that visits NOTCOT had their way. In an attempt to fuse fun, creativity, and design, the site introduced by NOTConcepts and Hero Design is a chance for artistic minds to collaborate on an existing item (in this case a grill), and reinvent the hell out of it. The results are anything but unoriginal. Concepts for the grill post run the gamut from what can only be Phillippe Starck’s backyard BBQ to a rotisserie oven that Steve Jobs might have worked on.

Here’s the way it goes down: Three posts are put up. The first is a general idea and some reference art. The second is sketched out concepts, and the third is 3D renders…all happening in about two weeks. So, go ahead and play. Give your boss your uninspired, second-rate ideas.

Several days ago at the TED conference we told you about Kluster's mission to create a product in seventy-two hours with the assistance of one thousand of the brightest people in the world. Well, the results are in, the votes have been tallied and we have your product. The result of the massive meeting of the minds is over there. No, don't look behind you, that's the name of the product. Over There is an ingenious (it better be if it had that many minds working on it) board game that both tests and fosters global awareness. It’s also the first of what we hope to be many productions developed start to finish through the Kluster team — and we couldn’t be more excited to watch what happens.

The Saint Petersburg, Russia design team Indeepop demonstrates their expertise in character design with their Japanese Moleskine Project. The team presents a unique set of characters, meticulously and continuously illustrated from cover to cover in a traditional Moleskine notebook. Indeepop is a truly diverse team that has ventured as far as custom Converse shoes and toy design, and their Moleskine project emphasizes just how imaginative they are.

Each week, JoshSpear.com explores the latest projects by top creative professionals in the Behance Network and highlights a few that are pushing the edge of the creative industry. Josh also serves as an Advisor and Guest Curator for Behance.

A while back we told you about the eco-friendly bedding designers at Amenity, who turn bedrooms into green rooms by making bedding from only organic and sustainable materials like hemp and organic cotton. Formed by longtime friends Kristina de Corpo and Nicole Chiala to provide an air of the rural tranquility of their youths to their urban adult environs, Amenity specializes in creating “monochromatic toned large-scale botanical silhouettes” that seem to please both the male and female aesthetic sensibilities. Luckily for those of us who are in need of bedding and having our aesthetic sensibilities appealed to, Amenity has a new line of nature-inspired bedspreads linens and pillows for Spring ‘08 that are sure to make you feel close to the Mother Nature while being nice to her at the same time.