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

We've mentioned a few Pantone products in our blogs before, the glasses, the coffee sets, the bags. All lovely products. Stylish and quirky, aimed squarely at creative types who get the in-joke of wearing a colour swatch brand item. So what have Pantone come up with now? A visa card of course. The Visa Platinum Rewards Card (to give it it's full title) comes with all the usual benefits like no annual fee, low introductory APR, travel insurance etc. You can also earn points at participating retailers redeemable for a variety of free and discounted stuff like travel,  merchandise, sports and theatre tickets. It's available in 6 colours from the Spring 2011 Pantone Fashion Color Report. So the next time you're in Heals, Habitat or Pedlars you can pay with a smug smile and say "Yes, I'm a designer, I know all about design me – see?"... Visit Pantone for full details.

It's no secret that everyone at  Liv Design  loves cars and motorbikes. In fact, automotive design is one of our favourite areas of inspiration. Two wheels or four wheels - we love them all. They are such a feature of everyday life. Wherever you go you see them or use them, and most of us spend a lot of time in one on a daily basis. There has been a tendency for manufacturers to play it safe recently and aim new models firmly at the mainstream. Makes fair enough business sense. The recession has ruled out a lot of projects and development budgets have been reduced. It's nice to see one of the manufacturers daring to do something different and radical. Electric cars are becoming a realistic alternative with many brands releasing (or about to release) new electric vehicles such as Mitsubishi's iMiEV, the Mini e and Nissan's Leaf, though none of them looking particularly affordable (think around £23k-£28k!) What if there was a manufacturer that thought "let'...