If you’re like me, you find great pleasure in seeing interesting objects and physical forms. Throughout my screen-laden days, I take great joy in experiencing the effects of beautifully (or peculiarly) defined shapes, materials and textures. It may be a tightly woven coaster made of reclaimed Chinese magazines or the beautiful curves and weight of highly designed tea pot that give some very concrete solace.

Sometimes the variety, rarity, expense or circumstances of great objects make them difficult to have close enough to be appreciated. Thankfully, a wonderfully robust resource just made its way to my inbox and I couldn’t be happier. The Curated Object is an extremely rich listing of object-centric exhibitions around the world, from archeological to artistic, functional to superfluous.

I’m looking forward to Silversmiths To The Nation.

“The combination of confidence and curiosity has produced what I believe is a force to be reckoned with in the design field.” So says design scholar, historian and art director Steven Heller about Citizen Scholar founder Randy J. Hunt.

He and Citizen Scholar are featured in STEP Inside Design’s annual Field Guide to Emerging Talent.

The Jan/Feb 2008 Issue of STEP is on newsstands now.

If you’re not already on the list for The Occasional, our email newsletter, today would be a great day to sign up. hint, hint