Happy New Year - I hope that you’re having a good one. I’ve got a day of shopping planned (Winter Sale starts today in Japan) - but wanted to leave something here on the blog for those of you with a little more time on your hands.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to reflect back on the year. This post contains some highlights for this blog and the top 10 design from the last 12 months of archives.

When you see a Lamborghini, you see style, elegance, power and performance. Top of the line in all it has to offer inside and out. Lamborghini has always been a car that is truly unique and one that out performs all others. With the birth of the new Lamborghini Reventon, the style, power and performance has been knocked up several notches.

Designer: Lamborghini

It is now officially the Holiday Season and I am quite sure many of you will be going to parties, and enjoying fun times with family and friends. So why not invite Peggy to your home for the Holidays? Peggy is not a person, but a design created by Chetan Sorab. Peggy is a wonderfully functional tool to help make parties the best on the block. This design is both a can opener and 30ml mixer that can open bottles of beer or mix the perfect drink for your holiday festivities.

Designer: Chetan Sorab

Conserving water is important in today’s world. We waste more water than we should. As relaxing as taking a long, hot bath in deep water is to relieve stress, we must think about the effects that has on our environment. That is why designer Lyndon Craig designed the Peak Bath. The Peak Bath was designed to fit the contour of our bodies while we are sitting in a tub taking a bath.

Designer: Lyndon Craig

In a somewhat unusual design by Derrik Wang, the Piggybank is one where you want to keep your money safe. This design is to help people save money and not spend it. The piggybank has a clever way of keeping you out and guarding your stash of money.

Designer: Derrick Wang

The waterfall was created by a group of men for a public display in the heart of Tokyo in 2006. The architecture was designed by Tadao Ando and the “waterfall” optical glass bar was designed by Tokujin Yoshioka and installation was performed by Olafur Eliasson. Together, this group of men created what appears to be a bar made from water.

Designer: Tokujin Yoshioka

In a day where portable music devices are a must have, and the desire for “chill-out” time is even more crucial, designers are hearing what we need and making those needs a reality. Designers Per Arlander, Madlene Linstrom and Ozgur Tasar have created the MPillow which uses both light and sound to create those moments of relaxation and calmness. The pillow can be used as the consumer sees fit.

Designer: Ozgur Tasar

Designed bearing similarities to an old garden table, the Mulinello, or “the twist” table combines several designs into one table. In the middle, the table can spin around similar to that of a “lazy susan”, allowing for dinner guests to grab what they need without having to reach across the table with bad manners.

Designer: Franco Marino Cagnina

No matter where you are or what you do, the need for personal quiet time and space is important. To get away and be alone in silence is therapeutic for the mind and the soul. Unfortunately, it is hard to find that space in a world that is so busy and loud. However, designer Michael Jantzen has created a place for us to go and be fully enveloped in quietness and stillness.

Raise Me Up is an electric powerstrip designed to make it easy for one handed operation. Normally you would have to brace a powerstrip with one hand while pull the plug with the other. Raise Me Up uses a simple lever switch to connect and disconnect plugs.

Designer: Yoo-Kyung Shin