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

Here's an alternative (but valid) Christmas message we received from the Design Council... It's always difficult to be different and stand out during the 'traditional' festive period. Although it's the season of excess, do we really need to turn our home into Blackpool illuminations for a month?... Visit www.designcouncil.info/xmas08 for the full message. Since it's that time of year we'd like to wish all our clients, friends and associates a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year too!

Here's a great idea to an ongoing problem for cities (well, two problems – congestion and pollution). Designer Hugh Frost’s answer is the Freight*BUS, an innovative design that combines a passenger-carrying bus with that of freight haulage (a system called 'On-Route'). When used as a bus it can carry 43 more passengers than a bendy-bus but takes up 20% less road space. It can convert in seconds to carry freight, the suspended seats simply fold out of the way to allow 34 standard pallets when the bus is not in service. Submitted to Transport for London (TfL)’s ‘A New Bus for London’ competition, which Mayor of London Boris Johnson launched earlier this year. Although the Freight*BUS was not the final winner of the competition, Hugh is looking to take his idea to the next level and create a prototype. Check out www.onroutebus.co.uk for more details.

Can you believe the humble mouse is 40 years old this week? On the 9th December 1968 its joint inventor Dr Douglas Engelbart first demonstrated the device as part of an integrated computer system called NLS. The mouse was built of wood with two wheels, a single button and a thick cord to connect to a computer (which his team thought resembled a tail, hence the name). The mouse was considered a revelation, allowing users to use the computer to easily cut and paste text, use hyperlinks, edit in real-time, use multiple windows and even share screen teleconferencing. It was wasn't until a visit from Apple founders Steve Jobs and Jef Raskin in December 1979 that the future of the mouse was guarenteed as the near-universal means for controlling a computer. The mouse, along with the idea of the graphical user interface, lead to the development of the first Mac introduced in 1984. Unfortunately for Dr Engelbart he never became rich from his invention, despite a token amount from Steve Jobs...