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

This is a beautifully designed and crafted limited edition card by UK artist Rob Ryan. Entitled 'Can We Shall We' . The laser cut card/poster is signed and numbered, and limited to just 1000 pieces. Rob Ryan was born in Cyprus in 1962, to Irish parents, and now resides in East London. He specialises in paper cutting and screen printing, and has worked with Vogue, Paul Smith, Liberty, and has illustrated many book and album covers including John Connolly's novel The Book of Lost Things , Erasure's album Nightbird , Una McGovern's  Chambers Lost Crafts  and Dara Horn's novel The World to Come . He also produces the Global Gift greeting cards for the charity Trocaire. Visit Rob's website for more of his great work. Available to buy from his studio shop Ryantown, Etsy, and from the lovely  Soma Gallery .

French car maker Citroen brings a little sunshine to the Springtime by teaming up with Irish graphic and fashion designer Orla Kiely to create a limited edition DS3 range - the DS3 by Orla Kiely Collection . The cars will be a 'limited edition' of 500 cars. "Collaborating with Citroen and DS3 was such an exciting project as it's so different from all my previous work. I love the designs we've created and the way they're incorporated into the car" stated Orla Kiely. The limited edition car will be available in four colours, each featuring Orla's iconic 'kitsch' stem and acorn patterns/logo on the roof, window, rear spoiler, leather headrests and carpet mats with a signature on the boot (perhaps a little much?...) The DS3 by Orla Kiely Collection is based on the HDi 90 manual and includes Bluetooth and USB connectivity in addition to the graphics and colours. The cars are due to be launched Spring 2011. We'd be cynical to say Citr...

We discovered these lovely examples of great packaging for eclectic US brand, Urban Outfitters . The series of candles were designed by US designer Joy Deangdeelert Cho in collaboration with Joya Candles and are created "to evoke homemade preserves." Sweet...

We found these lovely labels by US designer Ashlee Beggs for Sleeve Vodka. There are six different designs in a bright eye-catching tattoo style. The designs are: Japenese, Pin-up, Religious, Sailor Jerry, Graffiti, and, er, Veggies... Here are our favourites. Reminiscent of Chrsitian Audigier's 'Ed Hardy' brand but with a little more innocence and charm we feel. 

At Liv Design we love lights. We've got a ecelctic collection of nice lights ranging from Tord Boontje, Mathmos, IKEA (who hasn't!?) and our favourite, Ingo Maurer. Lighting is so important and highly underrated as design pieces. Not only do they (obviously) create the right light for a room but they set a tone, create a focal point and add character. This is a beautiful light created by Raffaele Celentano for Ingo Maurer in 2002. It features ten original Campari Soda bottles suspended by a cable. The coloured contents create a beautiful warm amber glow and are sure to create a talking point for any room. The Campari Soda bottles themselves were originally designed in 1932 by Italian futurist painter, writer, sculptor and graphic designer Fortunato Depero. Available to purchase from the  Conran shop

Norton is one of those brands whose name is synonymous with English heritage. It embodies the 'good ole days', conjuring up images of post-war Britain, of village life, and representative of a burgeoning UK manufacturing and engineering industry (notably cars and motorcycles). Like Triumph, it shouts Bristishness. London design agency Carter Wong Design were given the task of creating a new brand and logo by "taking the best design aspects and features of all the logo’s".  The first Norton logo appeared back in 1902, and has undergone a number of incarnations since, the last one in 2006. The resulting logo is arguably very similar to the previous incarnations, particularly with the Norton logo of the 1970s, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. As they say "if it ain't broke..." Evolution, not revolution... Surely that says something about the power of the previous logo, that it's an established brand. It remains classic, and classy. It...

The world's largest coffee shop chain, Starbucks, has unveiled a new logo at the start of the year as part of their future brand strategy for 2011. The new logo retains the iconic green colour and the twin tailed Siren, but loses the words 'Starbucks' and 'Coffee' paving the way for expansion into other markets. Starbucks plans to extend its product range in the USA initially to include beer, wine and ice-cream. This is the first time that Starbucks has changed its logo in 20 years when it became a plc in 1992, and ties in with the companies 40th anniversary. The new logo will appear from March onwards. Mike P, Senior Creative Manager of Starbucks describes the process: "We broke down the four main parts of the mark – color, shape, typeface and the Siren. After hundreds of explorations, we found the answer in simplicity. Removing the words from the mark, bringing in the green, and taking the Siren out of her ring. For forty years she’s represented coffee...