Looking at this it’s hard to believe this is a bank. But it is. Not, however, the usual dull, corporate coloured environment you  would expect from your local bank… This concept store for BNP Paribas, designed by French architect Fabrice Ausset, is the first of its kind. It’s everything you imagine not to see when you walk into your bank’s local branch. But I wish we saw more of this.

Located in an historical building, 2, Place de L’Opera, in Paris, the concept store has managed to respect the history of the building. Colours, shapes and textures add interest to a usually dull environment and create a much more relaxed and comfortable environment for customer and staff alike. I can only hope this is the future for banks.

Check out more here.

These incredibly intricate pieces by Cheong-ah Hwang are an example of just how versatile paper can be.

Check out more paper sculptures from Cheong-ah Hwang here.

This is one of an amazing collection of wall scratches by Alexandre Farto, found in Moscow.

Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, makes use of the layering of textures and colours in existing walls and surfaces to create these stunning etchings. Check out even more on his site here.

Looking for a new dress? Well this may not be what you had in mind but it’s certainly unique…Rie Hosokai, who also goes by the name Daisy Balloon, has won the International Balloon Dress competition two years in a row, yes there really is such a competition! Check out more from Daisy Balloon here.

You might want to avoid any sharp objects with this dress on though!

With the new Oi office in mind I have been looking for inspirational office decor…First off would be a unique, stand out building, something like the Vodafone headquarters in Portugal, pictured above.

Working in the studio, ideas are obviously important, so how about this pod from Mind Lab. Designed by Bosch & Fjord, this is a stand alone pod with the walls made of white board. Also looks a bit like a padded cell for when you are going crazy searching for that elusive idea!

Next up a really cool board room table. Something a bit like this Lego table from Boys and Girls Agency would be cool?

Check out more images of this Lego table here.

Some team meeting rooms would also be useful. Maybe taking inspiration from Google Zurich’s ultra cool converted Ski Gondolas…

Google are well known for their amazing offices and you can see more images here, but how about this for a relaxation space…

As a bit of a fitness freak myself, next on my wish list would be…a running track, what else?!

Dtac Headquarters, Bangkok, includes a massive circular library amphitheatre, and an entire Funfloor with indoor soccer, table tennis, running track, and concert and performance spaces. Crazy!

Check out more images of the headquarters here.

As an innovative company i feel that stairs would just be too mundane. Therefore i would like to put in a request for a slide. If it’s good enough for the Google office…

As for the actual decor, something bright and inspiring, stimulating our highly creative minds…

Upperkut’s studio is based in the basement of a church, so they were unable to do anything with the structure of the building, but have made the most of what they have got by introducing colour patterns and graphics for their walls.

With so many cool offices for inspiration these are just a few snippets but see loads more here.

Another nice bit of work here, this time a bit more brash than DEVIL, but equally as cool (especially if you’re into movie posters like me). This beautiful domestic one sheet for Alex Aja’s Piranha 3D pays direct homage to Joe Dante’s original ’78 film and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. If you feel inclined to watch people in bathing costumes get eaten by fish, you can check out the trailer at the movie title link above.

Beautifully simplistic yet killer execution for the first official movie poster of the new film DEVIL, produced by M. Night. Shyamalan.

This is the guy that won the Audi Tony Stark Innovation contest to promote the R8 and won $15,000 to further develop his idea. His incredible invention consists of a small computer, a pico projector and a camera, all packed into an angle-poise-style light that projects the internet onto the desk, wall or anything you point it at. The camera watches this image and can detect if you touch anything: you can type on a projected keyboard, for example. I’m still speechless by the sheer awesomeness of this. I’m gonna’ have to go lie down.

Seeing as I’m getting wed in a few weeks, this little bit of cool caught my eye today and so I humbly share it with all of you.

A software engineer at Microsoft is getting married to a woman that doesn’t necessarily share his enthusiasm for gaming. But her love is such that she decided to celebrate her beau’s geekery by having a special wedding ring custom made for him with the inscription, “For a lifetime of memories.”

Lifetime of memories?? That’ll be the USB drive built into the ring then.

Ahhhhhh.