The latest issue of Urbis has landed in stores filled with coverage on fashion, the Milan Furniture Fair and Urbis Designday. Also featured in this issue is this necklace (right) from New Zealand jewellery designer Kat Gee of Kagi Jewellery. Urbis has a set of 'My Kagi' interchangeable jewellery to give away. One lucky reader will receive a Kagi Crystal Ice Necklace (RRP $145) and Crystal Teardrop Pendant (RRP $125) to mix and match for multiple looks. Simply email urbanism@agm.co.nz with the answer to the following question in the subject line (name and address in the body please): What type of designer was Kat Gee before she turned to jewellery? (answer on the website).
Entries close 16 June.

>> Kagi Jewellery website

Auckland's new Q Theatre is hitting its stride – and if you're hitting yours down Queen St sometime soon you'll find it hard to miss the pink-tinged frivolity surrounding the Q building site. A couple of days ago, shocking-pink hoardings featuring works by acclaimed New Zealand photographers Simon Devitt, Jason Hailes and John McDermott were put in place around the structure (a neat tie-in with The Auckland Festival of Photography, below). Q Theatre also has a new website, so you can keep an eye on when this new mid-sized professional performing arts venue will be finished.

>> Check progress on Q Theatre here

These days photography is more than a spectator sport – sometimes it seems every man, woman and child has a camera at the ready; ready to upload their latest antics to their electronic friends on the interweb. Aucklanders in particular love a good photo (insert jibe about Auckland and vanity here), and as such the soon to be er, SuperCity has its very own Festival of Photography, which kicks off tomorrow. Amongst a glut of activities and exhibitions, surely the highlight of this year's festival will be the Olympus Auckland Photo Day on 12 June – an open access public competition run over a period of 24 hours. Last year's winner was Malcolm McNeil's Te Henga (right).

>> Auckland Festival of photography details

Wellington-based light artist Gina Jones has opted for drama of a different kind to showcase the works in her upcoming solo exhibition 'Black Out'. For the duration of the show, the gallery space at Sanderson Contemporary Art will be entirely blacked out. Viewers will experience a space in which the only light source is the luminous glow of Jones' LED light works. The works cycle over time through the colour spectrum, and ideas surrounding 'shift' and 'transition' are key facets of the show. The dramatic setting and interplay of light and dark promises to provide an enveloping experience for the visitor to this must-see exhibition.

>> Sanderson Contemporary Art Gallery

Houses magazine has been redesigned! Ken Leung, the London-based creative director behind the redesign drew on the craftsmanship of traditional architectural drawings and their hand lettering when he refashioned the magazine. Leung, who has previously worked on Monocle, currently leads the London-based design consultancy Modern Publicity.

To celebrate the re-launch of Houses, one lucky reader will win $8000 of designer products, including: a Coastal Design Coco daybed; a Series 7 chair from Corporate Culture; a Kent Firenze wood fire; an Orbiq Triflow kitchen tap and spray rinse from In Residence; and $1700 of Apco Ezicover paint.

>> Find out more on the Selector blog

People do the darnedest things in cars. On my way to work this morning, I spotted a couple of women applying makeup, another eating breakfast, a father mopping up a toddler’s spill, and one man shaving. Some of the best designs are simple ideas that make our lives easier, and as such Kleenex has redesigned the standard tissue box into a streamlined tube that fits snugly into a car’s cup holder. So, when you spill shaving cream or pie filling down your front there'll be no more groping around for the box on the back seat.

Urbis has 10 packs of nine Kleenex tubes to give away, just email urbanism@agm.co.nz with your name and address. Entries close 16 June.

>> Visit Kleenex

Urbis Issue 56 on sale now! Inside, you'll find great photos of all the recent Urbis Designday installations, including the spectacular Paper Sky collaboration between Poggenpohl and Oh.No.Sumo that graces the cover. There's also a comprehensive report on the novelties, innovations and trends from the Milan Furniture Fair and editor Nicole Stock's City Profile on this great Italian design locale. From furniture to fashion, we look at the latest events, shapes and ideas in the local and international design scene.

Subscribe now to Urbis and go into the draw to win $5000 of designer furniture from Coastal Design.
Visit www.urbismagazine.com/subscribe.