Liquid Treat

Plenty of apps promise to boost productivity but require you to maneuver around screens that are a visual downer. TeuxDeux to the rescue (resceux?)! A collaboration among Tina Roth Eisenberg, FictiveKin, and Jonnie Hallman, the to-do app was created to be simple enough to compete with a piece of paper and beautiful enough that users wouldn't mind -- and might even enjoy -- looking at it all day. Freshly upgraded and relaunched TeuxDeux is faster, mobile-friendly, and includes new features such as custom lists and recurring to-dos. Put a free 30-day trial (it's a few dollars a month thereafter) at the top of your priority list.

Add some international intrigue to your desk with Rad and Hungry, which aims to take lovers of interesting office supplies on a "world tour of limited-edition goods with lo-fi style, pushing design through travel and travel through design." Founded by globetrotters Hen Chung and Sam Alston, the Philadelphia-based company assembles an ever-changing selection of country-themed kits stocked with imported pens, pencils, stationery and other exotic desk goodies, all beautifully packaged. A Rad and Hungry subscription (available on a quarterly or monthly basis) is the perfect gift for the design lover who has everything...except a ruler from Turkey.

"Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times," said Keith Haring (1958-1990). "It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic." The artist and activist's own drawing lives on in "Art Intelligence: Keith Haring." The new app ($5.99 on iTunes) allows users to immerse themselves in Haring's graffitied world. High-resolution images of his poptastic work are contextualized through a series of timelines studded with remember-the-'80s moments, from MTV and the New York club scene to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the AIDS crisis.

In need of a last minute Mother's Day gift? Tell her the monkey is in the mail. Husband-and-wife design duo Robert and Cortney Novogratz looked to Brazil as the inspiration for their new collection of furnishings and homegoods for CB2, and a standout is the Luli Lamp ($129), a polyresin monkey topped with a grey linen shade. "Our home in Brazil is literally in the middle of the jungle with amazing plants, flowers, and wildlife," say the Novogratzes. "Recently, a monkey came right into our home and climbed up onto our wine rack. We named him Luli, our daughter Tallulah's nickname."

In 2007, Seth Casteel began volunteering to photograph homeless pets and watched his personality-showcasing shots result in countless adoptions. In the years that followed he carved out a career as a lifestyle pet photographer and recently made a splash with images of submerged canines, collected in the 2012 tome Underwater Dogs (Little, Brown). Now he's back in the pool working on a companion volume involving puppies and awaiting the September release of Underwater Dogs: Kids Edition, a book for children that pairs new and favorite photos with rhyming verse. Check out his website for images of dogs and cats (wet and dry) as well as more exotic creatures, including a sea lion ready for his close-up.

After years of hype around the cliché of "thinking outside the box," the latest e-business craze is all about surprises contained within them. Expert DIYers and aspiring makers alike will delight in Whimseybox, which delivers a selection of craft supplies directly to your doorstep. A $15 monthly subscription includes delivery of project materials and instructions as well as a 5x7" art print, all tucked inside a reusable storage box. Beyond the boxes, founders Alicia DiRago and Patrick Navarro are looking "to create a community where people can find great materials, project ideas, inspiration and education about all kinds of DIY and craft projects."