January marks the time when many are looking ahead to the new year and are inspired to make a change in their lives, whether to take their game to the next level or by pledging to do something a little different, and Nike wants to help give you that extra push to make it a reality. With the help of superstar athletes like Cristiano Ronadlo, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, Nike is asking everyone to join them and pledge to how they will make 2012 count.

These Nike’s Athletes have already announced their resolutions for the year on Nike’s Twitter account and they’ve also posted some inspirational shots to help get you moving on Nike’s Instagram page. Additionally from 12/30/2011-1/3/2012, 13thWitness will be shooting photos, inspired by inspirational tweets that contain the #makeitcount hashtag; all of these photos will be published on the @Nike Instagram and Twitter accounts. Once you’ve decided what challenge you want to take on this year, use #makeitcount to let the world know and then get out there and make it happen.

Check out the official video launching Nike’s Make it Count campaign after the jump

The black and white illustration above certainly isn’t too impressive, but its in fact the preliminary sketch of Rick Deckard’s police spinner in the movie “Blade Runner”. Adding fuel to the perpetual rumor mill of an upcoming sequel by director Ridley Scott, the original sketchbook to the 1982 sci-fi classic, long out of print, is now available for view online. A dystopia Los Angeles set not too far in the distant future, Scott, along with notable sci-fi illustrator/futurist Syd Mead (who also worked on “Tron”, “Aliens”, “Star Trek”, and more…) and other conceptual artists, created a world much more parallel to the present day, down to futuristic taxi and parking meters. While we might not have androids yet, we do already dream of electric sheep…

See the digitized version of the “Blade Runner” sketch book after the click.

Say you’ve just gotten the Air Jordan 11 Concord and want to show off your latest loot on your SneakerWare virtual warehouse…except, you lost your precious Apple iPhone during shopping mall mayhem just before. Instead of braving the melee once again, you can soon update your SneakerWare account via its website. You can also search the site by using keywords, check out recent uploads by other members, and rate and comment their collections as well. Who knows, maybe one of them found your iPhone, too.

You can visit the updated SneakerWare website at www.sneakerwareapp.com. You can also download the SneakerWare app, free of charge, on Apple iTunes.  For a glimpse at the most recent Air Jordan 11 Concord craze, simply click here.
SneakerWare – Website Update Features:

• Search By Keywords
• Recent Uploads
• Rate Collections
• User Comments

If you have ever wondered how to start an online retail store, then this is a video you should not miss. In this 13th installment of the 1-2-1 with Jeff Staple video interview series, Jeff sits down with the Founder and CEO of Karmaloop, Greg Selkoe. Perhaps if you have been living under a rock for sometime, you may not have heard of Karmaloop, but for the rest of us with an internet connection would know them as a dominating force online. There are many good points raised by Selkoe on his strategy to stay relevant to the ever so fickle fashion industry to come out on top. Watch the full interview after the jump and learn a thing or two about the retail game.

New Balance aficionados will no doubt hear the word “Flimby” and recognize straightaway that the name refers to the small town in Cumbria, England, that’s home to New Balance’s celebrated UK factory, known for its premium craftsmanship and high quality work. Just in time for the brand’s 30-year anniversary of manufacturing in Britain, New Balance has launched a new website, VisitFlimby.com, that pays tribute to both the production facilities and the village of Flimby itself. The site chronicles New Balance’s commitment to domestic manufacturing in the UK and delves into the stories of the unique individuals who make up the factory workforce. It also functions as a travel guide, documenting places of interest and fun activities for potential visitors to Flimby. Numerous images of the scenic landscape are provided by photographer Percy Dean. Finally, the site wouldn’t be complete without a section devoted to its famous “Made in the UK” shoes, highlighted by an archive of SMU collaborations.

Google is finally unveiling its Google Music service which should be great news for Android users. It is said that 23 independent music labels, including EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal, will be offering music to fill up a catalogue of 13 million songs. What is more, the Apple iTunes contender will be offering its services to Google+ social networks as well. To kick off the program, Google Music will be debuting the latest studio album from Busta Rhymes, as well as The Rolling Stones and Coldplay who will be adding their never before seen live performances to the online store.

Furthermore there is the additional Artist Hub, which allows unsigned artists to create their own page at $25 fee, enabling them to market their own music at price set by themselves. In turn Google will take 30% of each sale from the musicians in the Artist Hub. Currently this store is only offered to US customers and there are no talks on whether this service will be offered to countries outside of US.

There are plenty of female snowboarders shredding the slopes around the globe, and Burton is dedicating a special section of their vast website just for the ladies. A new URL, Burtongirls.com, will now feature women’s products from Burton. The easy-to-navigate website showcases the latest in hardware such as boards, bindings and boots, as well as soft goods, apparel, bags, goggles and masks. From a design point of view, the pages are in line with the rest of the Burton website, allowing for seamless integration of the new pages. Stay tuned to this site to get updated on the latest products from Burton this season.

That Burton Snowboards is a company with deep design talent – both visual and technological – no one can question. However, it’s been increasingly clear in recent years that the company devotes a good deal of that talent towards creating interesting online content and experiences. Burton’s websites have evolved to keep pace with the absolute bleeding edge of design and aesthetic; they combine the slight edge of a boutique print shop with intuitive user interfaces and creative layouts (an artful ripoff of the Google header bar, for example). The company has just launched a “History Wall” microsite, which uses all that digital talent to highlight the brand’s decades of snowboard history. Against a tacky ski lodge aesthetic, Burton has laid out a scrapbook-style showcase of annual milestones – starting with the Burton Backhill from 1977, through the radical 1980′s and grunge-inspired 1990s, the Olympic era, the technological innovations of the 2000′s, to the new mystery project for 2012. This is a solid retrospective for fans of contemporary graphic design too – there are early Burton graphics displayed here that inspired countless design projects in recent years. Check out some of the highlights after the jump, and go on over to Burton’s History Wall to view everything.

The saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” could not be more fitting to a brand like Rocky Mountain Featherbed. You would be excused for thinking that this brand is an all American brand; that is actually far from the truth. Rocky Mountain Featherbed was established in the late 60′s in Wyoming, however, the company closed its doors in the 80′s. Fast forward a few decades, one Japanese man laboriously researched and recreated the garments produced by Rocky Mountain Featherbed. The rest is history and the brand is now operated by its new parent company, 35 Summers, in Japan. Since its reincarnation in 2005 until now, they had very little online presence but finally, they are launching their official website. Head over to their website to learn about the brand history, product range and get connected through their social networking sites.