Birthday Wishes for DesignTrawler.com

Whilst trawling in Brazil this month, DesignTrawler.com turned one year old. Like a fine cheese, whiskey the mancave is known to get better with age. Depth, complexity and richness all take time to develop, and the patina of time has benefited one design feature more than most.

A spontaneous autograph from a visiting Tokyo Trawler left a lasting impression. The bistro blackboard transformed in to an oversize guest book; charting the comings and goings of an eclectic mix of international guests over the year. Here's to you guys; until next time!

You Know it's Time for a Bigger Cave...

This month, Design Trawler hit Rio De Janeiro to seek out the best in moden Brazilian art, design and architecture [sun, sea and samba had nothing to do with it honest]. Alongside the fantastic buildings by Oscar Neimeyer and iconic Romero Britto artworks, was this mamoth modernist beauty.

Almost two meters long, this painting exhibits a cool South American sombreness; perfect to sit above anything by Corbusier or in a Grand Design with polished concrete floors. Sadly, the current cave isn't large enough to display it. Several Brazilain Real later and I'm now looking for a larger cave... or gallery space.

President Obama is DesignTrawler.com Fan!

That's right, DesignTrawler.com has been appointed as special mancave envoy to the White House. The Røros Tweed blanket previously featured on the site has been snapped up by President Obama as a fitting addition to the Washington mancave [the Museum of Modern Art in New York swiftly followed suit]

While around 1,500 Design Trawler readers hail from across the pond, it appears that the big man himself is also one of them. What else could explain Obama's decision to specifically opt for the monochrome design pictured? Pope Benedict probably has a cheeky Argentinian cowhide tucked away somewhere too...

Damien Hirst | 松久 信幸 for Nobu / Japan

My first Hirst. This week Nobu Matsuhisa closed his London restaurants to the public to host a charity dinner for the victims of the Japan Earthquake. Young British Artist and enfant terrible of contemporary art, Damien Hirst designed a special edition of the Nobu West cookbook for the event.  The edition of 400 is triple signed by Hirst, Nobu Matsuhisa and head chef Mark Edwards.

Like a signature dish from the top notch eatery, the composition is masterful. Hirst is Britain's richest living artist and Nobu is one of the world's most successful culinary business people. Both have been subject to their fair share of controversy, have a penchant for seafood, and both both blur the lines between art and enterprise. Whatever your views, the stylised cookbook contributed to raising over half a million pounds for the Japan Earthquake Appeal.