Liquid Treat

F. Scott Fitzgerald suggested that it was the profusion of Gatsby's beautiful shirts that brought tears to the gray eyes of Daisy Buchanan, but we suspect it wasn't so much the "stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange" but those "monograms of Indian blue" that really got her. Put your own stamp on Gatsby's glam "JG" with this Monogram Maker app from Warner Bros., the studio behind Baz Luhrmann's supersaturated film version of the classic novel. Simply select a pair of shiny letters and a desired shape and then download your new personal logo for use in a range of digital formats.

How will we work in 2020? That's the question posed by Metropolis magazine and Staples in a new contest that invites students, emerging designers and professionals from across the design industry to submit concepts that envision and exemplify the evolving workplace -- and be in the running for a $7,500 prize. "Technology has changed everything we do and the way we do it," says Metropolis editor Susan Szenasy. "In the future, the workplace will include many more advanced features, innovative materials, and developing technologies that will enable workers to perform with greater flexibility and effectiveness." Concepts and designs must be received by July 31.

As the temperatures rise, keep cool at your desk with the Mini Elephant Fan ($75 at the MoMA Store), a USB-powered breezemaker designed by Naori Miyazaki for ever-quirky IDEA International of Japan. The new gizmo gets its name from the expandable, bendable duct that resembles an elephant's trunk and can direct airflow at just the right angle. Set the speed at strong, weak or "rhythmical" (a combo of the two). Complete your summery set-up with the "aroma attachment," a little bulb that you can fill with the scent of your choice and attach to the end of the trunk. Caution: Do not try this with real elephants.

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.