Everyone knows by now that oil and water don’t mix, but have you ever stopped to wonder what happens when you combine H20 with a heavy Helvetica font? Word is it makes quite a splash. SCR, a subsidiary of Japan’s Tha Ltd. has put together a scintillating new screensaver entitled “Dropclock” that combines the two contrasting elements in super-slow motion and proves once and for all that merging this unlikely duo can indeed make for some captivating imagery.

You’ve lived it up in London, found romance in Rome, and even wandered into a tourist trap in Turkey. So what’s next, you international traveler you? You could take photos of the Leaning Tower of Pisa or eat brunch in Barcelona, but that’s all been done before. Why not try a little something off the beaten path? If you’re looking for a bizarre travel suggestion that doubles as an incomparable life experience, we suggest checking in with Urbane Nomads. The self-proclaimed “travel mixologists” specialize in creating unique itineraries for those who think they’ve seen it all, but ain’t seen nothin’ yet. So if you’ve ever imagined yourself playing polo in Pakistan or at a spa in Sri Lanka, your window of opportunity is wide open.

I won’t lie. The classic scene with Christian Bale in the 2000 thriller American Psycho really got me thinking about business cards. I am already known for obsessing over the finer details and seeking out the extraordinary in mundane, everyday products — so why shouldn’t a small, rectangular piece of paper that is meant to sum up my professional existence deserve some attention? After seeing some samples from Salt Lake City based The Mandate Press, I was hooked.

Ben Webster started his printing business after taking a letterpress class as part of his design curriculum. A side hobby turned full blown business, occupying a 2000 square foot shop, The Mandate Press produces everything from business cards to hang tags and offers hand finishing on products including die-cuts and gluing. And the turnaround on your order is pretty quick for a shop with only two employees. The Press can have a custom project to you within five days, as opposed to two to four weeks from others. Check out their list of personalized cards on the website. You get to choose from six designs and get 250 for under $100.

Nobody is perfect. Even the most advanced design prodigy has room to improve a little bit. So how does a creative creature continue to grow? Well, the first step is admitting that you don’t know everything. The second step is going on an Italian vacation and checking out the four summer courses offered at Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, Italy. Starting on June 27th (but continuing through the rest of the summer) the prestigious design school will offer successive week long workshops with the likes of such industry luminaries as Ross Lovegrove, Fernando and Humberto Campana, Matali Crasset, and Marti Guixa. The individual programs will focus on corporate design collaboration and future innovation. If this sounds like something you want in on, buy an Italian dictionary, book a flight, and reserve your space right now.

“I am not a number! I am a free man!” Or, at least that’s what The Prisoner wanted you to believe. We Are Numbers is a worldwide community experiment / tracking system / T-shirt pitch that wants you to be an individual — in a completely hive-mentality sort of way. The mysterious Number One (aka Dutch designer Twan Verdonck) was tired of the disposable nature of couture fashion — what with its “one minute you’re in, the next you’re out” Heidi Klumisms — so, he decided to make just one style; a handmade T-shirt with your own unique number. Dozens of new members have already posted their YouTube videos, and the first 1000 customers will appear in a book. We just hope the guy who gets 69 isn’t a complete a-hole.

Your Virgin Big Brother is watching. No, not Jeff (although you may want to add a second lock on your bedroom door). The Virgin Eye is a new interactive way for you (and more importantly Richard Branson) to keep an eye on everyone who’s talking about Virgin stakes around the world. From Virgin Atlantic, to Virgin Healthcare, to Virgin Online Dating Service, keywords are aggregated as links in a Milky Way of Web chatter, all scanned by a Dr. Evil-like “laser.” It looks hot, but methinks it smells a bit of the Spectra razzle dazzle.

The popularization of the mind/body/soul lifestyle has brought about a few good changes — the most important being a proliferation of healthier people. But those of us who have been there since the beginning know that it hasn’t always been as easy to jibe with. In fact, even if you are among the newest of followers, you probably already have some experience sifting through the occasional dose of power-hippy, (i.e., things that are a little too all-or-nothing to meld into our individual paths). Thankfully, there is a new approach to conscious living that is rapidly gaining momentum, and it has more to do with the pursuit of happiness than the perfect patchouli. A great example of this progressive mindset can be found in BeThree, an online lifestyle community that is using its message of an energized existence to put the hip in hippy.

The premise of BeThree is simple: spread the gospel of all things fresh for the mind, body and soul. Geared towards women, the daily publication aims to share the most exciting, relevant and uncut truths about today’s health-conscious lifestyle, and aims to do it in the most mod way possible. Delivered in a voice that is engaging, inspiring, and most importantly, realistic, BeThree takes living consciously to a level that is more worldly than new agey. In other words, while the site may cover ways to incorporate more healthy herbs in your life, it won’t coach you through bombing your home with a fistful of burning sage. As an extra perk, the contributors to this site have been at The New York Times, Delicious Living, and Rock and Ice, insuring that the content is coming from the mouths of people who are not only health-savvy, but also rather adept at sentence formation. Read up and sign up here.

The other day, a guitar fanatic friend of mine - who incidentally also handcrafts guitars for an impressive list of virtuosos you’d all know - burst into the room looking like a kid fresh off of his first roller coaster ride, and began spouting off about this new Paul Vo designed Moog Guitar. When I was able to to calm him down enough so that he could speak sufficiently clear for me to understand what he was saying, he began explaining to me why the release of this guitar is such a big deal. See, the ‘guitar’ as we all know it employs technology that is older than most of our parents– over the years, Bob Moog has breathed freshness into the instrument by way of his synthesizers and effects; those changed the way modern guitarists approached the instrument because they broadened musical possibilities.

This guitar is - as I understand it - a landmark addition to the guitar family because it (on its own) vastly widens the range of sonic options through its ‘infinite sustain’ and muting capabilities. Plus, it goes for $6,500, so it must be an ass-kicker, right? Any feedback from our guitar heroes out there?

Related: Wired’s Moog Unveils Badass Guitar with Infinite Sustain

Callaway has always been an innovative leader in the golf equipment industry– I’ve toured the facility where they invent and create their golf balls, and recently had a chance to hit a set of their new clubs while playing at La Cantera in San Antonio– they’ve always impressed me. Callaway has struck a new, flexible chord with their line of I-Mix Drivers. For all of you golf buffs who constantly strive to find the right combination of club head and shaft, or who — depending on the conditions or course layout — like to mix it up, the I-Mix system was dreamt up with you in mind. With 2 club head options, 70 shaft options, and a tool that allows you to swap em in and out in a jiff, you’ll be honing your game and turning the cart girl’s head before you can yell “FORE!”
Via Uncrate

Sure, your genetic code makes up the building blocks of who you are, why you’re balding, were never good at sports, and will probably die some time in your mid-forties … but beyond the science and premonitions of doom, what has deoxyribonucleic acid done for you lately? Has it provided bedroom wall art? If it hasn’t, you better take a look at DNA 11. The medical maestros who decoded our art appreciation gene with a personalized DNA portrait are now further customizing with their GenePak. Isolate specific traits, such as Sport, Brain, Love, Gender … or just frame your anal retentiveness or inability to finish anything, and hang it up for all to see. When you buy your very own visual representation of your genes at DNA11’s Website you can honestly say that you have a personal portrait in your home.

Brazilian design studio BrainBox Design Estrategico just won a bronze in the 5th Annual Festival of the Creation Club of Paraná for their fun brand identity package. Using recycled materials from a specialized paper company called Hörlle, the business cards are sturdy and beckon a DIY feel. The company’s cute but effective icon is an open head container of pencils to emphasize BrainBox’s belief that despite our technological age, the best ideas still start — you guessed it — the old-school way. Refreshingly true.

Photo from Aletp.com

Now that summer’s in full swing, it’s pretty much a given that there’s going to be a lot of grilling going on. If you don’t have a gas grill, odds are you might have to employ the traditional combination of hot coals and lighter fluid to get the party started. Unfortunately, that often leads to a fluid-infused food flavoring. If you’d like to avoid that taste mingling with your marinade, break from the Kingsford tradition and grab a Baja BBQ Firepack from Mike and Maaike, available at gourmet grocery stores. Their chemical-free charcoal packaging makes starting your fire simple. Thanks to its 100% biodegradable paper pulp makeup, all you have to do is light the box and voila. The two pounds of natural lump coal contained within take a mere 15 to 20 minutes to be in perfect cooking condition with the aid of the package’s integrated chimney design. All you have to worry about now is overcooking.

Earlier we talked about smelly art, and now we’re ready to predict that the art of smell is becoming a trend. The Website I Hate Perfume has confirmed it for us. They sell small capsules of oil scents like "Winter 1972" or "The Experience in the Library." Their goal is to produce smells based around life. The scents conjure up experiences and memories so accurate, you need to smell to believe. With all the technological development of what can be created in our noses (referring to smells, not snot) it won't be too much longer until companies (other than The Body Shop and Yankee Candle) begin to prominently incorporate scents as a part of their shopping experience.

Via Poshdeluxe

Italian industrial designer Djordje Zivanovic submitted a fascinating orb-like watch concept to the Signity International Watch Design Competition. Inadvertently, he has created an entirely new graphic representation of time. First there was the wall clock, then came digital, and now we have the linear orb. As Djordje explains, “The idea for this watch is a classic plastic bracelet, with incorporated lines inside the watch that show the current time. Those three line are rotating around the watch and show the time, while the seconds line is going around all the time. Adjusting the clock is easy because the watch is the touchscreen. All you have to do is to touch the line, click the adjust icon, and slide current time line to correct time.” Swatch would be lucky to get this one …

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 creative industry. Josh Spear also serves as an Advisor and Guest Curator for the Behance Network.

So far artists have relied on two senses to display their work: sight and hearing. The current exhibition "If There Ever Was" at Reg Vardy Gallery is expanding art's influence on the senses by clearing out their paintings and sculptures for 14 empty rooms examining the art of the scent. The idea comes from the curator Robert Blackson, who got the idea of creating scents from the section of Fast Food Nation that discusses how flavors and smells could be recreated using chemicals. He gathered a team of 11 perfume and fragrance designers to set about the task of recreating unreachable smells, ranging from extinct plants, to the sun, and even a strand of Cleopatra's hair.

If you happen to be in Northeast England, pop over to Sunderland to see the exhibition before it closes on June 6th. For the rest of us in London and beyond, we support art transcending all the senses. Hopefully the next exhibition of this kind can focus on taste and give us an amazing five-course meal.