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Now that the cold is really starting to set in, it is the perfect time to start shopping for some new outerwear. One new line that has been designed to weatherproof you in minimalist style is Arc’teryx ‘s Veilance 2010 fall collection.

The men’s collection of outerwear is a high quality line. Using only the best available materials and production techniques with meticulous attention to detail. These pared down waterproof jackets use welded and blind stitched seams. The result: these jackets almost appear as one single piece of fabric, with a very minimalist and clean silhouette.

It’s always refreshing to see amazing things coming out of graduation shows. Elin Klevmar from the Swedish School of Fashion & Textiles was shown at London Fashion Week this year for the first time, with her ultra comfortable looking collection.

About her collection, Elin comments:

I have always had an attraction towards the simple and the honest.
And that was also my aim with this collection, to speak my loudest in a silent way.
No need for shouting out loud.
No need for unnecessary explanations.
Aiming for that, every component and detail added plays an important role.
A constant delicate balancing act.
Where the space in between, the restful clean silent space is the most talkative.

Personally, I’m loving the feeling of honesty in this collection. Very MUJI-esque.

“I know that sometimes I get caught up on trying to make my computer as productive as possible, or as minimal as can be – it occurred to me though that while that is all well and good, the best thing I could do would be to setup up my computer so that it works best for me, and only me.”

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To Minimalist Computer Geeks (Like Me) | The Brooks Review

Collecting is a strange addiction. As collectors, we always find an underlying argument to preserve things we like. Artur Walther wanted to find a way to share his personal art collection with the public.

German born, New York based collector and former investment banker, Artur Walther, converted three of his family homes into a private museum to exhibit The Walther Collection. The Walther Collection’s three exhibition buildings—White Box, Green House, and the Black House opened in June 2010, in Burlafingen, near Ulm, Southern Germany.

The White Box, designed by German architect Braungerr Wörtz, honors the spirit of minimalism. Severely stripped of details, the space is calm and pale. The concrete material was not intended to remain beyond the construction phase. Artur Walther liked the raw concrete of the ceiling and walls so much that it ultimately remained exposed, as a design element. The Black House stands quietly, in the green pasture like a dark chocolate cake. Undeniably charming.

Reaching collector status had once a constructive meaning in my life. Inventory no longer makes my heart flip-flop. That’s a relief. (Thank you, Eili!)

Every nook of our lives is filled with advertising these days. It’s so pervasive that we have come to accept it as a fact of life, and it cannot help but have an effect on our minds.

Advertising is highly effective — we might not realize it, but it works on our subconscious so that we want to buy things. It plants desires in our minds, and creates a mindset that, whatever our problem, buying something is the solution. It creates the mindset that buying is the norm, and there’s no other choice.

And it’s everywhere. Watch TV, advertising screams at you all day long. Read a newspaper or magazine, go to a website, and it’s in every crevice. It’s on our Facebook and Twitter pages, in our email, on billboards, on buses, in sports events, in public outdoor spaces, on people’s clothing, in 5K races, on blimps in the sky, in podcasts, in iTunes, before a movie starts, subtly (or not so subtly) placed products inside of movies … everywhere. On websites, it’s seen as inevitable, and a site without ads is almost unheard of (very different from the web of 15 years ago, when ads were rare).

But it doesn’t have to be a fact of life, having advertising everywhere. More and more, the future seems to hold more invasive advertising, more personalized so that it will target our minds more effectively (probably streaming directly into our retinas or frontal cortex). But it hasn’t always been like this, and we can decide not to participate in this.

Just a century ago, advertising wasn’t nearly so intrusive. A century before that, it didn’t really exist (at least not the way we normally recognize it). Sure, there have always been people calling out their wares, but it’s become a whole different order of magnitude — many many orders.

We don’t have to submit. There are other ways of doing things. We don’t have to let corporations control our minds and our lives.

What’s the alternative? First, we must get out of the consumerist mindset — think about what’s really essential, rather than needing to buy all the time. Second, we must imagine other possibilities. It’s hard to do that when we’ve been trained to think in terms of buying and selling, in terms of commerce instead of people. Yes, we need to make a living, but making a living doesn’t mean selling — it means living. We’ve forgotten that, and it’s time to start remembering.

Tray is the new coffee table collection by Spanish design studio Estudi Arola for furniture company Kendo.

The collection is constructed around a central concept: a matt lacquer metal base is combined with mobile trays. These trays, available in a matt lacquer metal or walnut finish, allow you to personalize the object and add a fine touch of color.

Kendo has been somewhat struggling with its brand image, but Tray might well be the start of a fresh future. We’ll see!

Patrick Rhone | Intrvws:

I had the extreme pleasure of being interviewed for Ian Hines’ new site, Intrvws. This is the most comprehensive interview I have ever done. We cover lots of ground, from how I got started writing, my somewhat accidental geekdom, my business, my favorite blogs, and my approach to all of my sites (most specifically this one). I’d be extremely grateful and humbled if you gave it a read.