Just announced this morning on Autodesk's AliasDesign site: a preview version of the brand spanking new 2010 release of SketchBook Pro. For FREE.

It won't officially hit stores until sometime in April, but interested digital artist and designer types can head to the site now and download a fully-featured copy that will run for 15 non-consecutive days, enough time to wrap their heads around the thick stack of new features Autodesk is touting, like custom texture brushes, free canvas rotation, and arbitrary straight-edge ruler guides.

An extensive rundown of new features, with video and interview with the SBP product manager is here, trial software download is here for both PC and Mac.

We've been hearing rumblings about other super-spiffy new design-oriented features in the rest of the Autodesk line-up, which may become clearer next month when we head down to Autodesk's Portland offices for more previews -- keep an eye here, and we'll keep you posted.

Ceramicist Jo Davies and photographer Matthew Booth's amusing Tangle Lamp has a cable management "solution" that looks like the scribbly line above Charlie Brown's head when he's frustrated. And while it might look like a fire hazard, the ball-o'-yarn part isn't really wired up.

Davies explains the design of the lamp to Contemporist:

Matt and I met at the Royal College of Art. He's a photographer and I'm a ceramicist. The Tangle Lamp is the collecting together of some of our aesthetic interests. I think you can see strongly Matt's influence as a photographer on the design through the use of directional light and mine in the form of delicate porcelain flutes that create a swaith of many openings. The Tangle Lamp is the result of hours of discussion and argument over every detail. The result is bold but I think also results in quite a calm object as we made sure every detail was resolved.

We were also both keen to get this sense of tension in the knot and the weight of the object through its suspension. Matt is a keen rock climber as well as photographer which is where the driving force for this aspect of the design comes from. In my practice I design lights and so am often thinking about new interpretations of old formats - in this case we were looking at the desk lamp. In it's original form the Tangle Lamp was literally desk lamps strung together with their own cords and hung from the ceiling. These were in the days before we thought about Health and Safety and only knew we had a cool idea. I have to say, although I'm loath to do it because it's like a magician giving away his tricks, the electrical cord in the final Tangle Lamp is not electrified. But perhaps you already guessed that?

We see the Lamp as a bespoke item which has some special installation considerations. Each context is obviously different and a balance of design with practicality must be considered. It may, for instance, not always be practical to have 12 flutes. A client may want fewer, or even more, so we would have to adjust the design.

American pottery manufacturer Heath Ceramics has had their kilns burning for more than half a century, employing craftsmen at their Sausalito, California factory to produce tableware and tile. In recent years, Heath has been creating focused, hand-crafted collaborations with a carefully curated list of designers and artists including Christina Kim (Dosa), Roy McMakin and chef Alice Waters. "Our collaborations are inspiring for those of us working on design at Heath, as well as the artists and designers with whom we collaborate," explains Creative Director Cathy Bailey. "They are true collaborations where we all are learning something new and opening our minds to different possibilities in our work. They are also inspiring on many different levels, from new techniques to new perspectives offered by the artists and designers we're working with to create and craft on an entirely new level."

The newest edition to their artist roster is the Los Angeles-based illustrator and graphic designer Geoff McFetridge. Best known for his abstract, hand wrought line illustrations that depict everything from land- and cityscapes, fantastical creatures to crowds of people, McFetridge's work has been featured on products from Nike, Pepsi, Stüsy, Burton, Patagonia and in Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are and Adaptation. The collaboration with Heath is McFetridge's first foray into the medium of clay, although not his first work for interiors—he creates graphics for his wallpaper and fabric company Pottok prints. This collaboration marks a first for Heath Ceramics as well, "the first type of collaboration that is very graphical and where the artist is doing the illustration himself."

A natural extension of a long friendship between McFetridge and Heath LA Studio Director and potter Adam Silverman, the resulting collection was a true conversation between brand and artist. Bailey shared that the process, "was a deeper level of collaboration... Adam worked with Geoff on the general concepts. We then all worked together to figure out what a good merger would be—how Geoff's work and shapes would translate to clay. We also had to take into account how a piece is made (slip cast or jiggered for example) and whether or not it was appropriate to paint on or carve into the surface and even if we needed to consider throwing a new shape of pot. What was so gratifying about this collaboration was the exploration of technique and process."

This exploration resulted in a complete custom-painted dinnerware set, hand-carved vases and hand-carved teapot and cup sets for the collection, My Head Disappears When My Hands Are Thinking.

We sat down with Geoff to learn more about his illustrations and carvings for Heath—read on for more info about coin-hunting, yoga-skateboarders in leotards and making art for the masses. If you're in Los Angeles, you can see the pieces for yourself—the show opens tomorrow.

My Head Disappears When My Hands Are Thinking

Heath Los Angeles

7525 Beverly Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA

Through December 31st, 2011

Core77: Can you share a bit about your approach to this collaboration? Why did you choose the specific characters and drawings for Heath?

Wildlab.com's Test Rides iPhone app is geared to help you match your body to a bicycle of appropriate size. After photographing yourself in the specific position seen above, you then mark your joint locations on-screen, enter the dimensions of a bicycle, and the app tells you whether it's a good fit or not.

We're excited by the human features potential of this app not just for bicycles, but for furniture and workstation design. While it probably won't replace the classic Human Dimension and Interior Space designer's bible anytime soon, with a few tweaks this program could quickly give you vital dimensions of people reaching for cabinets, ascending stairs, slouching into unfocused unconsciousness, et cetera.

Guys and gals at Wildlab, if you're reading, check out this book!

via wired

The entries are pouring in for this month's 1 Hour Design Challenge: Business Card Hacks, where designers and makers are invited to create ingenious items out of ordinary business cards. The concept above, "Seed Card," is a twice-ingenious design. The business card is part seed paper, part paper. You tear off the seed paper part and plant it in some soil, then use the remaining portion of the card as a plant flag with the card holder's info on one side and the flower type on the back. Says designer Greenman, "We typically use flowers to think of, or remind others of us, so I thought it was appropriate." Nice.

View all the 1 Hour Design Challenge Business Card Hacks right here, and upload your own. The 5 top designs will win 1000 free business cards from our sponsor, UPrinting.com.

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