Welcome to the Liv Design blog, an eclectic mix of great design and quirky finds

Chinese tech giants Lenovo have teamed up with Italian motorcycle maker Ducati to launch a 'racy' new laptop at CES2020 – the Lenovo Ducati 5. Check out the product promo video . Reminds me of Destiny's Child's 'Independent Woman' video which featured Ducati's 748 motorbikes. "Ducati. A symbol of speed, performance, and innovation. The Lenovo Ducati 5 taps into that spirit. Dynamic and aesthetically engineered, it fuses pure horsepower with style and verve. From the metallic racing chassis elements, this special-edition 14" laptop is sure to ignite your passion. Start your engines." T he limited edition Ducati Lenovo 5 comes with a Ducati Corse logo and red racing stripes. The pattern on the vents is also similar to the Ducati Monster bike trellis frame. Another nice touch is the startup chime which sounds like a revving MotoGP bike. Apart from that the specs are standard: 10th gen Intel Ice Lake Core i5-1035G1 8 GB  RAM 1 TB PCIe...

More Star Wars themed products are on their way from adidas next week as they continue their collaboration with the Disney franchise. Next week sees the launch of two awesome new Millennium Falcon and X-Wing UltraBOOST designs. The Star Wars x adidas UltraBOOST19 Millennium Falcon shoe comes in a grey and cyan colour scheme while the Star Wars x adidas UltraBOOST19 X-Wing version are available in grey and orange to match Luke's spaceship. Adidas have produced a number of Star Wars themed product lines in the past including a current range of trainers and clothing featuring Darth Vader Crazy 1 trainers and Obi-Wan Kenobi Top Ten basketball boots. Visit adidas to see the full range and for more details.

Trainer brands are going all out at the minute with a whole host of collaborations and tie-ins. Some are a bit oddball (Puma Transformers or Puma Hot Wheels anyone?...). Others are a bit more successful, such as the awesome Adidas Star Wars Editions. Vans, the iconic skate brand, have teamed up with the Harry Potter franchise to create a clothing and trainer range for 'witches, wizards and muggles alike'. The range feature a host of iconic Harry Potter themes and subjects including the Dark Arts, the Marauder's Map, Quidditch, and of course clothing in each of your favourite Hogwart's Houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. The dual branded Vans X Harry Potter range includes trainers, backpacks, socks, t-shirts, hoodies and caps. Even the white and gold branded boxes look fantastic. Available online now from Vans UK .

This new Glass Sound Speaker (or LSPX-S2 Glass Sound Speaker to give it it's full name) from Sony is a thing of beauty. It's so simple looking, so clean and elegant. This is like something you'd expect from Apple. The wireless Bluetooth speaker delivers features a glass tube that vibrates to give exceptionally clear 360 degree sound anywhere. It also features a built in light with 32 stages of brightness and a Candlelight mode that flickers just like a real candle. Perfect for your steampunk styled loft apartment or your Florence Nightingale themed party. The speaker can be controlled by the Sony Music Centre app and lasts around 8 hours on a single charge. Yours for just £550.00.

Toilet paper... Not the most interesting thing to blog about you might think? Well think again. Let me introduce you to Who Gives a Crap . This eco-friendly and ethical company has been around since 2013 but have been getting some good press recently. They use 100% recycled environmentally friendly materials, donate 50% of their profits to help build toilets in countries where access to toilet facilities is poor, and they don't use inks, dyes or perfumes. And if you buy in bulk, it works out the same as other market leading brands. They also produce tissues and paper towels. Personally I like their irreverent tongue-in-cheek style and their colourful patterned pack designs. It's great to see such a fresh approach and ignore the taboo of the subject. You can have fun and still have a serious message. Why not have fun with your product?

I'm over the moon to announce that my third novel, 'The Silent Winters' , is now available. The final book in 'The Wolf Hound and the Raven' trilogy is available in print and digital formats. The story picks up four years after the events in the second book, 'Return to Havenmill' . Daniel, Mary and Alexander are once again thrown into a grim and violent world filled with political treachery, greed and dark secrets. Destiny forces them towards a Europe that stands upon the precipice of war and chaos. Friends are scattered. Families are taking sides. The story arc is a Victorian-based fantasy adventure about a master race struggling to live alongside mortals and live with their secret in an ever changing world. Ultimately the themes of isolation, belonging, fear and greed are as relevant now as they have ever been. The trilogy is available for download from Kindle , Smashwords , iTunes and all major ebook stores. Paperback copies can be purchased...

It was time to dust off the previous Liv Design brand and give it a smarter new look for 2019. In comes a new palette of fresh, modern colours and a simple font for an uncluttered feel. The logo uses a palette of three colours to bring a touch of variety and diversity. Fonts are Avenir for print and Helvetica for online. A new Liv Design website has also been designed with a more visual look. This is very much a 'work in progress' website! Very often I find things like this naturally evolve and change with use. There's also a portfolio page to finalise (I'm still not happy with how it interfaced) but if you'd like to see some examples of work I can email you a pdf. The main website focuses on the work of Liv Design and news about the core fields of graphic design, branding and packaging designer, whereas this blog is more of a look at the great (and not so great) examples of design from all areas of design from around the globe. It's mainly a blog abo...