The “Playground for the Rich” better known as Dubai may have seen the last of their overly excessive building boom because of fallen oil prices and the global credit crisis. Check-out CBS’s video above for a glimpse of what may be on the horizon.

Before the boom (1990):

Dubai in 2003 at the height of the development boom:

Here’s a clever and unique concept for milk packaging brought to you by Ashley Linnenbank that’s sure to give you that fresh from the teet feeling. We’ve included some additional noteworthy dairy packaging concepts below:

Milk Packaging by Hattomonkey:

The Manhattan Milk Company:

via The Dieline:

For those of you who find your self short on napkins, as well as a being constantly uncertain of what day it is, help has arrived. Stas Aki designed this 2009 napkin calendar for you in mind.

via Today and Tomorrow:

Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours.

Noam Chomsky

Today, Cubans celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution amid a floundering economy. It was 50 years ago that Dictator Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba in the early hours of Jan. 1, 1959 and a young lawyer turned revolutionary leader (Fidel Castro) emerged from the jungle to declare victory and take power along with his supporters.

Raul Castro, who took over as acting president last February, will address the Cuban citizens from the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba. For a more in depth look at where Cuba finds itself at this anniversary year click here.

This series of posters was designed by José Papiol Torrent to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Cuban revolution.

1959:
1 of 10 in a series created for the tenth anniversary of the Revolution. The letter “R” of Revolución is superimposed over a well-known photographic image of Ché and Fidel.

1960:
The letter “E” of Revolution in the form of the Cuban flag serves as the central design element.

1961:
This poster commemorates the Bay of Pigs. The letter “V” of Revolution is superimposed over a photographic image of armed soldiers on a tank.

1962:
This poster focuses on the October Crisis of 1962. The letter “O” of Revolution with a circle of stars superimposed over photographic image of a missile serves as the central design element.

1963:
The letter “L” of Revolution superimposed over photographic image of Fidel Castro serves as the central design element.

1964:
This poster commemorates volunteer agricultural workers. The letter “U” of Revolution superimposed over photographic image of a field worker serves as the central design element.

1965:
This poster commemorates the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). The letter “C” of Revolución serves as the central design element.

1966:
The letter “I” of Revolution superimposed over photographic image of a soldier serves as the central design element.

1967:
This poster commemorates Ché Guevara. The letter “O” of Revolution superimposed over a photographic image of Ché serves as the central design element.

1968:
This poster focuses on the ten-million-ton sugar harvest goal of 1968. The letter “N” of Revolution superimposed over a photographic image of an agricultural worker and a machine serves as the central design element.

via Design Observer:

Over the last few months we’ve highlighted a few calenders that caught our eye. Here’s a look at our favorites.

Who would’ve thunk It?:

Bubble Wrap calendar:

Eirik Solheim created this time lapsed video of the four seasons of 2008. Find out how he did it here. See you in the new year.

PSFK has just released a 80 page book that contains 9 Good Ideas for 2009. Buy yours here. In addition, there will be a “Good Ideas Salon” in London. Over 20 speakers will be participating to discuss topics such as design, collaboration, and trends in London.

Heaven, by Capella Garcia Arquitectura, is an ephemeral space created to show off the virtues of a constructional system using a plastic material which was developed by the Resyrok Company. This impressive display can be found in Barcelona’s Casa Decor Fair as part of the “Pathway to a sustainable environment” exhibit.

“Heaven” invites the visitor to travel along a tunnel revealing the material’s varied possibilities. There are two openings in the facade: one of them, which comes forward to receive you, is the entrance, and the other, which seems to retreat from you, is the exit. The interior lighting keeps changing colour and shade, making the plastic membrane into something living. As you enter you go through a large dome where an oscillating lamp hangs like a tonsil. In one place, the glossy-finish plastic material looks like a painted wall and reflects the light; in another, the same material, but this time with a translucent finish and illuminated from behind, turns the walls into a great lamp that keeps taking on different colours, through a system of electronically-programmed LEDs [RGB]. When you reach the end, the black walls make the space disappear, and in the darkness the moving image of a fire emerges and vanishes behind the microperforated surface of the material, deceiving the eye and producing a hyper-realistic effect. Opposite the image, in the central zone, one whole wall is filled with a projected video of the sea-bed in constant motion, giving the sensation of being submerged under water. Continuing towards the exit you come to an oval window where the material becomes semitransparent, and through it can be seen a curtain of autumn leaves in silhouette, in constant movement thanks to a fan.

via Yatzer: