Affordable design from Target.
It's the week after Christmas and your wallet's empty. This isn't quite a gift guide, it's more like an opportunity to show that modern design can be affordable and accessible. I have a soft spot for Target, the only mass merchandise chain that goes out of its way to purposely partner with and feature object designers. Plus the marketing speaks to me (ex-ad guy here).

So here's what I found in Target's Red Hot Shop:

- Blik Organic Wall Graphics, $19.99 - $29.99
- Wallpaper by Numbers, $84.99
- Wool & Hoop Crewel Embroidery Kit, $14.99
- mesü Serving Bowl Set - 6-pc., $49.99
- Built NY Neoprene Lunch Bag, $24.99
- Confetti Paper Nesting Boxes, $44.99
- Shark-Fin Bottle Opener by Propaganda, $10.99
- Blu Dot 2D:3D Magazine Rack, $59.99
- Inhabit Living Place Mats and Coaster Sets, $12.99 - $17.99
- Wallter Paintable Wall Applications, $39.99
- Tiki Stool by Offi, $42.49 - $44.99
- Loop Tables by Umbra, $119.99
- Mogu Powder-Bead Pillows, $24.99
- Nuevo Drum Table, $74.99

We don't usually put prices in posts because we get sooo many emails from people who think MoCo Loco is a store. But Kevin wrote and asked if we could show prices and "feature some more design that's for sale to us everyday Joes?". Yes, a lot of what's in this site is pricey, but it looks great and often it's innovative. I remember when VCRs were $1500, yet make enough of them and you can buy them for $29.95 at Best Buy. Great design ideas are irresistible, they'll eventually make their way to Target...

+ Red Hot Shop

Architecture for Humanity and WorldChanging team up for reconstruction effort.
By now you've probably donated to the Red Cross or Red Crescent as I have, but if there's any money left, on this last day of the year, AfH/WC's effort deserves it. Why? Because what AfH/WC builds will be durable and sustainable, and will "keep giving" long after the tsunami is a faded memory.

+ architectureforhumanity.org
+ worldchanging.com

We're closing in on our first full year of operation and, as we do every three months or so now, we get the urge to change MoCo Loco. Add new features, new types of content, new design layouts, you name it. One thing we're doing for sure is adding discussion forums. We'd like to know what you think those forums should discuss. What kind of categories should be included? Definitely one per MoCo city (S.F., Amsterdam, Tokyo and Montreal) and one on the subject of MoCo Loco itself, but are there others? Let us know what you think. Send an email with your thoughts to editor@mocoloco.com or send a submission here. If you have ideas for new features, new types of content, or other, let us know too. We obviously can't do everything, but we will read all of your email.

Warhol, Lichtenstein, retro inspired personalized pop art.
We linked to this site a while ago, but they've since added two new styles of art, Lichtenstein and retro, to the original Warhol style. You simply email them the image you want to use for the portrait, they check if the quality's good enough, and they send you back a proof within a week. A month later you get the final artwork. allPopart claims to have made 5,000 of these portraits since 2000, including Warhol-style portraits of Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie for season 3 of the Simple Life, and another for Brian May, the guitar player from Queen. All of whom could could have easily commissioned an original if Andy was still here...

+ allpopart.com

Desk lamp with lit base and shade.
It's both an ambient light and a reading lamp. "Turn Me On has a neutral off- white fabric exterior that conceals two useful functions : the bright 60 watt top bulb provides an ideal white light for reading, while the 25 watt bottom bulb filters through the internal coloured base creating an ambient atmosphere.". From the makers of Bag of Light, Cloud 9 pendant light, Boo! mirrored coat-hook, Flow sculptural wine rack, Time Square blackboard clock magnet board, and Loo Read.

Designers: Dan Black, Martin Blum
+ black-blum.com

Steam oven for baking.
From Sharp, an oven that uses very hot steam to cook and that can also dramatically reduce fat and salt in food. For example, the 300-degree Celsius steam is sprayed onto meat which literally draws out the fat, unlike frying pans where the fat remains to cook the food. Sharp claims that by reducing oxidation the oven also helps conserve vitamin C.

+ sharp.co.jp/healsio