Special Online Shopping Deals From Free Shipping To Discounts. Happy Thanksgiving.

For those of you who do your shopping for the holidays online, here's a collection of special online offers (coupon codes, free shipping, thanksgiving day sales and early specials for the holiday). Just click on the boxes below and start saving!

eBay & Toys for Tots use QR Codes to Window Shop for "Good" this Holiday.

Created by eBay's ad agency, Venables Bell & Partners, eBay and Toys for Tots have launched the GIVE-A-TOY STORE.



An interactive window display in New York (at 35th and Broadway) and San Francisco (at 117 Post St.) lets you donate a toy by scanning its tag (a QR code) with the eBay mobile app.





Once scanned, the animated toys come to life, encouraging passers-by to get into the holiday giving spirit.



It's a clever, engaging and cute way to be charitable this holiday season and to make many a child happy.

And, for those of you who can’t stop by in-person, you can donate some joy at ebay.com/giveatoystore.com

There is also a Facebook application called "Build a Toy."



Users donate by customizing one of the classic, virtual toys at Facebook.com/eBay. eBay will donate $1 for every toy customized, up to $50,000.

Toys for Tots
Ebay Give A Toy Store
Facebook.com/Ebay Build A Toy

CREDITS:
Client Name: eBay
Name of Ad: eBay Give-A-Toy Store
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Live Date: 11.11.11
Executive Creative Director: Paul Venables and Will McGinness
Creative Directors: Lee Einhorn, Tyler Hampton
Art Director: Brad Kayal
Copywriter: Kelly Diaz
Director of Interactive Production: Heather Wischmann
Interactive Producer: Elissa Polls
Print Producer: Jacqueline Fodor
Account Director: Anne Cummings
Account Supervisor: Lindsay Cole
Account Manager: Kim Claytor

(OUT-SOURCED BELOW)
Interactive Production: Brand New School East
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Interactive Director: Justin Bakse
Developer: Brian Tobin
Producer: Jeanette Etchebehere
Associate Producer: Joe Balint
Post Production: Brand New School West
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Director: Robert Bisi

Designers: Andy Bernet, Sakona Kong, Ed Laag, Angela Li, Waka Ichinose
CG Lead/VFX Supervisor: Marco Maldonado
3D Modeling: Andy Kim, Derrick Sesson
3D Animation: Hao Cui, Max Keane, Alfredo Ramirez, Derrick Sesson
2D Animation: Maithy Tran
3D Artists: Martin Furness, Andy Kim, Ryan Kirkwood
Storyboard Artist: Max Forward
Compositor: Ryan Kirkwood, Maithy Tran
Executive Producer: Jason Cohon
Producer: Jeanette Etchebehere

Media Company: Monster Media
Creative Producer: Radhames Almanzar
VP of Marketing & Client Services: Natalie Brokaw
Client Services Coordinator: Lindsey Fuller
Project Manager: Sloan Jenkins
SVP of Sales & Marketing: Tim O’Brien
Original Music: Jingle Punks
Sound Design: Brad Kayal, Chris Konovaliv

The Hippest Gifts In Every Category For Everybody This Holiday Season.

Let me be your personal shopper this Holiday Season. Seriously.

I have spent the past several years creating specific shopping lists on the community shopcasting website This Next. The lists I have painstakingly compiled include images of the items, a description and a link to purchase, making it very easy for you to find and buy the perfect gift for just about anyone this holiday season.

My Christmas Gift To You.
You can benefit from the fact that I've already scoured the online (and offline) stores for the hippest items in tons of specific categories. The coolest products for designers, kids, pets, friends, fish-lovers, art-lovers, buddha-lovers, dog-lovers, gun-lovers, tattoo-lovers, graffiti-lovers, luxury lovers, casual acquaintances, signficant others and more. Home decor and furniture, technology and gadgets, piggy banks and jewelry... whatever you need, if it's hip, it's here.



From $10 items to $100,000 items, from trendy items to classic items, there's a total of 4,643 items to choose from, starting with the hippest holiday home decor.

Here's how it works. Click on the category below that interests you and you'll be taken to that list of items. Click on the name of the item that interests you and the screen will change to display that item. Lower down on that page it says : shop for this 'here' and you just click on that! Easy, peasy.

• MODERN CHRISTMAS DECOR (wreaths, trees, ornaments, etc) -205 items

Now, for the selections of gifts:

• PANTONE AND PANTONE-INSPIRED PRODUCTS (great for designers) -30 items

• SALUTING DESIGN: An Army Of Military Inspired Items - 35 items

• AQUARIUMS THAT ROCK: the coolest fish tanks - 40 items

• BUDDHA BOUNTY: All Things Buddha - 76 items

• MODERN DOLLHOUSES & ARCHITECTURAL MODELS - 44 items

• THE COOLEST WAYS TO WARM UP (candles, radiators, towel racks) - 131 items

• THE DISH ON DISHES (hip dinnerware and tableware) - 229 items

• EARTH-FRIENDLY AND ECO/ GREEN PRODUCTS - 87 items

• DIVINE DAMASK (home decor and products with damask patterns) - 72 items

• TAG, YOU'RE IT! (Graffiti inspired and related products) - 74 items

• WOOD WONDERLAND (wood furniture, toys and more) - 156 items

• GREAT GIFTS FOR GEEKS - 20 items

• REALLY ROMANTIC GIFTS -104 items

• FOR THE HIP BABY OR CHILD - 250 ITEMS

• LIST FOR LEGO LOVERS (Lego® everything) -50 items

• LIGHTEN UP (The best lighting and lamps) - 160 items

• MONDRIAN MADNESS (products inspired by Piet Mondrian) - 46 items

• ALVAR AALTO INSPIRED ITEMS - 14 items

• CHAIRS THAT ROCK (modern rocking chairs) - 56 items

• OBSCENELY DECADENT GIFTS (luxury products)- 60 items

• DEATH BECOMES YOU (over 160 things with Skulls) - 164 items

• FANCY FRIGGEN FLOORING AND RADICAL RUGS -163 items

• OUTDOOR ITEMS (from furniture to birdhouses) - 142 items

• HEDGEHOG HEYDAY (items inspired by Hedgehogs) - 33 items

• IF IT'S HIP & STICKS TO THE WALL (art and more home decor) - 180 items

• READY, SET...GLOW! (illuminated items and furniture) - 77 items

• CONTEMPORARY ART I WISH I COULD AFFORD - 117 items

• THE HIPPEST ANIMAL/PET STUFF (for both people and their pets) - 203 items

• TECHNOLOGY THAT ROCKS - 215 items

• TATTOO YOU. AND THIS. AND THAT. (tons of tattoo-related products) - 77 items

• HIP JEWELRY FOR MEN AND WOMEN - 216 items

• MODERN PIGGY BANKS OR MONEY BOXES - 65 items

• DIY STUFF FOR FRUSTRATED ARTISTS - 96 items

• PUT THAT DOWN, THAT'S MY GRANDMA! (modern cremation urns) - 27 items

• SHOP OR I'LL SHOOT! (gun-shaped products of all kinds) - 71 items

and lastly, many of the items that have been featured in this blog :

• IF IT'S HIP IT'S HERE - A list of items that celebrate design, functionality and art. Things to appreciate and admire. - 2056 items


Now, you have no excuse not to have found the perfect, or at the least the hippest, gift.

What You Will & Won't See Of Marcel Wanders' Christmas Collection For Target

You may have already heard about, or seen, the 2009 Holiday collection for Target by Dutch designer Marcel Wanders. A designer with a sense of whimsy, excellent taste and style (and easy on the eyes to boot), I have blogged about him four times before, including his gorgeous Christmas collection and displays for the Dutch department store, Bijenkorf from last year.

This year, he lends his Christmas designs to Target. In his own words, here's the directive from the United States chain of stores: The brief asked for a modern and unexpected "Wanders" twist to the traditional holiday giving season. The concept behind the collection, "It's A Gift To Give" resulted in a holiday collection that reinterprets classic icons and plays with charming patterns, festive decorations, and distinctive designs with flair and style that will surprise and amaze guests all over the U.S., making it enjoyable to be the gifter or giftee.



But it's what you don't see at Target that is really spectacular. In addition to the items in the collection, I'm going to share with you some of his prototype designs for Target from his Inspiration Book. I'm also going to show you some of his sketches, fun 'extras' and photos of his work, some of which combine several of his pieces for Target with some of his pieces for Moooi and Droog.

What You Will See At Target:
First, the products that were produced and are presently being sold at Target consist of wrapping paper, a bell wreath and bell tree, flocked stockings and tree skirt, tableware, disposable tableware, pillar candles, some bar ware, a few vases, a teddy bear with light-up nose and a few other attractive, but inexpensive pieces of festive decor:







Shop for the above items and more from the collection at Target here.

When shopping online at Target, the Marcel Wanders collection, while appealing, is not incredibly impressive. The simple products on white backgrounds don't do the work of Mr. Wanders justice. For example, the products for Target, when placed against his signature flourishes, backgrounds and patterns in the four images below, take on a greater festive significance and style:






That's where his "Inspiration Book", a 314 page online flip catalog created by the Marcel Wanders Design Studio and Culture & Commerce. comes in. It is from this catalog that all of the following images come.


What You Won't See At Target:

Temporary lip tattoo:

Pattern Paint:

Helium Filled Flying Balloon Netted Chair designed to fly over the North Pole during Summer:

Faces Of The World Ornament:

Bobbleheads:


Still lives of his products for Target combined with his products for Droog, Mooi, Habitat and from his personal collections:




Pages from his sketchbook of Target products:



Rejected By Santa:



The Use... And Misuse Of Products:

The Marcel Wanders Paper Doll:

A special Christmas Edition of his VIP Chair produced by Moooi for Santa:


This is just a small sampling of the fun, inspiration and design process behind the Marcel Wander Collection for Target. There is so much more to enjoy, like I said, the Inspiration Book is 314 pages. See more here.


More Marcel Wanders:

•Marcel Wanders Designs a Regal Christmas Collection for Bijenkorf Department Store

•Marcel Wanders For Holland Electro: WOW

•Marcel Wanders' Carpets For Colorline: World Carpets & Tartan Collections

•Marcel, Mondrian & Miami: Wanders Designs Luxury Apt. Complex In Biscayne Bay.