Charles is in charge of this year’s most charming box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. No crushed red velvet or heart-shaped boxes here. The San Francisco chocolatier is serving his organic sweets in traditional, no-nonsense flat boxes with the perfect pinch of modern design. Templin Brink, who cooked up the logo, packaging, and website, took a dignified design approach to marketing to today’s cocoa connoisseur. Each piece is tastefully photographed (by Laurie Frankel) so there’s no need to play the guessing game, unless you want to.
http://www.charleschocolates.com

Ryan Sovereign and William Beck, both graduates of The Rhode Island School of Design in Industrial Design and Sculpture, respectively, are fashioning a line of street-smart silk ties. Drawing upon the traditional and classic ideals of tie design (they maintain the standard size, shape, and material), the Sovereign Beck collection of neckwear is turning heads in their bohemian neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where ties are not the norm. “Flight,” a silhouette of flocking birds against a pattern of green stripes is a favorite.
http://www.sovereignbeck.com

At Stanford University’s Product Realization Lab, a prototyping and fabrication facility, three female graduate students—a product designer and two mechanical engineers—met and became entrepreneurs “overnight.” Two years after graduating and launching the jewelry start-up, RedStart Design, the three have designed and produced a lavish line of sculptural jewelry. Their most popular item is The Subtle Safety Defensive Ring: a kind of brass-knuckle idea but prettier. This elegant stack of stainless steel rivets wards off potential bullies.
http://www.redstartdesign.com