Liquid Treat

Just when you thought you had squeezed every last morsel of enhanced, shared, and tagged pleasure out of your digital photos comes Tunepics, a sharp-looking app (free to download from Apple's app store) that makes it possible to give each of your images its own soundtrack. The creators, on a mission to unite music and images, are playing up the emotional dimension with colorful mood charts (feeling blue or just Rhapsody in Blue?) and image filters, so you can match the music to the photo or vice-versa.

What began as Ethan Lipsitz's college hobby of tweaking his friends' hoodie sweatshirts is now a burgeoning fashion company with a DIY twist. Los Angeles-based Apliiq ("It rhymes with unique and freak," advise Lipsitz and his team) collects rare, deadstock and recognizable textiles and applies them to everyday garments (think crying-out-for-customization American Apparel tees). The website offers an ever-changing assortment of limited-edition products and a fabric library that makes for a dizzying array of possible color and texture combinations.

The World Cup is, alas, over, but the spirit of international competition lives on in this deck of national flag playing cards from the design champions at IDEA International ($12.00 at neo-utility's online shop). Featuring 52 flags and a jet-setting bellboy joker, this durable plastic deck is bound to last 'til Russia 2018.

Just in time for vacation reading, Sophie Lovell's Dieter Rams: As Little Design As Possible (Phaidon) is making its debut in digital form. The iBooks edition of the best-selling hardcover will be available beginning Tuesday, July 15. Reformatted for iPad, the comprehensive monograph delves into the life, work, and succinct philosophy of the famed product designer, now 82, whose wildly influential designs for the likes of Braun and Vitsoe continue to sell briskly worldwide. Tap and scroll your way through many of Rams' sketches and prototypes, as well as an interactive timeline, essays, and a foreword by Apple design guru and consummate Rams fan Jonathan Ive.

Design is a good idea. This simple truism, printed on a tomato red mousepad, was an unlikely hit for the type maestros at Berkeley-based Emigre, and demand for the item quickly outstripped supply. Fast forward a few years—to today—and they've brought back the design-boosting desk brightener, topped with spill-proof Lexan to ensure that it stays bright and ready to spur you to new creative heights.

The 3D-printing revolution is coming for you. Succumb painlessly with MakerBot PrintShop, a new (and free) app that allows you to harness the mind-boggling power of one of the company's newest desktop 3D printers with little more than an iPad and a dream. Ideally, that dream would be of a sign, letter, nameplate, piece of jewelry, or other customizable object that is not bigger than a breadbox—unless you favor petite loaves. Notes MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis of the new app, "We have removed the obstacle of not knowing 3D design to be able to 3D print."

Alarm clocks don't have to be alarming. Start your day a calmer way, with simple, minimalist design (think lowercase, ultra-lightweight Helvetica Neue deployed in a gentle gray-and-orange color scheme) and unique sounds designed for a gentle awakening. "The first thing you feel should be calm," says Rob Bridgett, the serene creator of Calm Clock. The new app, designed for the iPhone and iPad, will rouse or alert you with your choice of seven ambient sounds such as "rain," "droplet" and "temple," and a clean white slate of an interface.

Ever dreamed of debating the finer points of kerning while scarfing s’mores? Meet Type Camp, the immersive design workshops founded by typographer, designer and educator Shelley Gruendler. This year's sessions kick off tomorrow with a hand-lettering session in Vancouver, to be followed by an August "creative residential retreat" in the Pacific Northwest getaway of Galiano Island, British Columbia. Come September, the band of nomadic type junkies will cross the pond for a week in Dublin and Derry/Londonderry filled with all things Irish typography.

The New York City-based Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is set to reopen to the public on December 12 after a major, multi-year renovation. In the meantime, you can admire the museum's bold new logo, designed by Eddie Opara of Pentagram, and signature typeface. Created by Chester Jenkins of Village and unveiled this week, the Cooper Hewitt font is a bold sans serif that can be downloaded free of charge as installable fonts, Web font files and open-source code.

Mother's Day? Check. Father's Day? Done. Summer is prime time to bestow gifts on yourself. Check out the spot-on selection at AHAlife, a "discovery shopping destination" that offers an ever-changing range of life-enhancing goods. Amazon this is not, so don't bother hitting up the site in search of bargains or staples. Instead, design-minded buyers will find a treasure trove of perfect presents, from the functional (Rich Brilliant Willing's Channel desk lamp, inkless pens) to the wonderfully ridiculous (a platinum iPhone, the $300 chocolate skull).