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

As lovers of motorbikes, retro-chic and great design, what more can you ask for in a product? These hi-end sophisticated lids are made of carbon fibre by French firm Ruby, created by Jerôme Coste in 2004. He was inspired by the modern/retro street culture style of Japanese motorcycle gangs and his own love of skateboarding, music and bmxing. From lovingly simple to world renowned designer creations, these open face helmets certainly ooze style. Beautiful branding, great quality and amazing attention to detail. Cool...

We don't read at Liv design. Well, we do. We CAN. We are literate. Unfortunately we never seem to get the time to sit down and pick up a book (unless a copy of the Metro on the way home from the office counts?). So when we saw this from Inner City it was right up our street. 200 odd pages full of great images of classic trainers, beautiful limited editions and wacky designs. Featuring amazing creations from all the greats such as Nike, Onitsuka, Adidas and Puma with backgrounds from the designers. Great products, great pics, less text.

At Liv Design we love a good laugh, especially in these times of doom and gloom and financial crisis. And so do the banks it seems. Now we all know that a brand should reflect a company's character, values and goals, so who better to portray these than Barclaycard with their new logo featuring an empty hole and a downward spiral... Can't beat a bit of honesty and irony...

Now these are really cool! A new range of watches from the funky fun loving guys at Swatch. A collection of 22 new watches celebrating 40 years of Bond "Villains" featuring a different watch for each Bond Baddie from every 007 film from Dr No up to the new Quantum of Solace. Check out the range at www.swatch.com/gb_en/villain The site also features a summary of each film, facts about the villains and the actors themselves, plus clips and artwork of the film.