To launch the 2011 lifestyle collection, New Balance bring the New Balance Flimby shoebox factory! The model factory commemorates New Balance's core beliefs (fusing classic designs from the past with bold, innovative ideas from the future), and celebrates vivid, wild imagination. Us lot at Canoe were charged with the task of building the model shoebox factory from a campaign film clip. After a few tubes of glue, blunt scalpels and a plethora of papercuts (of all depths and sizes), the completed version took pride of place on the New Balance Bread & Butter Berlin show stand which took place...

Living in the UK most of us have learnt not to expect too much from our summers. We learn to cherish those few precious days of glorious sunshine, enjoy the rare, blissful beach trips, the idyllic BBQs, and those heavenly days spent lying on the grass with the sun warming our skin. Unfortunately not everyday can be as perfect as that all sounds. Us Britons are plagued with temperamental weather and working hours, which always seem to coincide with those infrequent sunny days. To fill that sunless hole in our hearts, or maybe just tease it further into a...

We caught up with Brighton born, East London based jewellery designer Eleanor Bolton after her final MA Jewellery show at the prestigious Royal College of Art. Currently busy working on her new collection and a series of exhibitions across Europe, she's already catching the eye of the fashion press with her latest designs. Tell us why you decided to go into jewellery design I always enjoyed the physicality of working directly with materials and used to make sculpture, that combined with an interest in fashion and the notion of adornment, led me to jewellery. Before the Royal College of Art...

Amy Robinson is a good friend of ours here at Canoe. Her story's super interesting too; having initially trained to be a plumber she decided that, well, her heart wasn't really in it. So she became a high fashion designer. Studying fashion at the University of Northampton, Amy's just shown her collection at the institution that is London Graduate Fashion Week, which finished yesterday. Amy says of the collection: "My inspiration behind the collection is a mix between eclectic, pretty, country interior with a dark personality and life behind it. I portrayed both sides, the first side by using laser...

We love Danny Sangra. And there's some good news - the artist, director and good friend of Canoe has been nominated for the Hospital Club 100 of Established English Designers. Take a look at some of his work: Pretty awesome, I think you'll agree. You can see more of Danny's visual wizardry over at his BLOG and VIMEO, and if you're sufficiently feeling his work, you can go vote for him over HERE. All you gots to do is scroll down to the Design section, go to Established, find Danny Sangra and vote! Oh, and see Danny featured on IdN,...

Milan's Salone Internazionale del Mobile at Entratalibera is in full swing right now, and artist Dominic Wilcox has several works on show there. One of them is Field, an installation made from over 500 eco-friendly Terra Plana shoes and 'grass' laces that rise into the air as if reaching for the light. The installation seeks to explore issues of ecology and sustainability - which also happen to be the founding principles of Terra Plana. It's a pretty good match if you ask me. The Terra Plana shoe featured is the Pop: The Pop was chosen by Wilcox because unlike most...

We have a fair amount of viewers from across the pond, so if you're in the Chicago area this week and into graphic design, typefaces, Americana or just concerned that we are losing precious crafts and skills from older generations, go see the documentary film 'Typeface', crucially focusing and raising awareness of the last of a dying breed (tickets from Ticketmaster). Produced by Kartemquin Films, Typeface aims to highlight the plight and struggle to keep a Hamilton type factory doors open for future generations to learn the old craft and methods of printing and letter-cutting. The factory holds millions...

I don't know about you lot, but I'm always in search of new sites from creative individuals that provide and highlight fresh content that inspires. Here's one that I've recently become aware of: Deer Brains. These guys have literally only just started their design-lead blog; the first post was published on 2nd January, and it's already looking pretty strong. Here's what they have to say: "We are two boys & two girls from the South of England who are very much interested in art, fashion, music, technology, dreams, typography, photography, design, marketing, social networking, internet...! We all decided upon creating...

A while back (i'm lazy yadda yadda!) a few of the Canoe Crew heard James Jarvis at the Creative Review Portfolio seminars and I personally found it intriguing to discover how this man known for the famous ‘Amos’ toy brand sees himself primarily as ‘a person who is lucky to earn a living from drawing’. Refreshing too was to hear the level of integrity regarding his work, his name, his company and beliefs. For example, his approach to his new film project ‘Onwards’. Rather than a marketing project initiated by a large ‘street’ brand such as Nike, the film...