Awesome Art & Design

Need a getaway from the daily grind? We’ve always wanted a custom-built cabin in the woods to escape the world. This 256-page book by Sofia Borges and Sven Ehmann offers a visual catalog of some of the world’s most bucolic hideouts. It’s a great source of architectural inspiration and relaxing thoughts.

A truncated icosidodecahedron is a polyhedral shape made up of hexagonal, decagonal, and square faces. Maker Michael Mikkelson shows how he made one of the polygonal globes from laser-cut birch plywood, 3D-printed connectors, and 360 screws. Up for the challenge? Head to Instructables for the full build instructions.

Inspired by the Jackie Chan movie The Spy Next Door, maker JLaservideo created a sword that stores like a belt. The tempered steel weapon works like a tape measure, bending around his waistline, then maintaining a semi-rigid shape when deployed. We’d be afraid of cutting ourselves pulling it out of its sheath.

The classic NASA “worm” logo is back, and now you can own a memento of this iconic work of graphic design thanks to Register Seven. The company will produce a sweet CNC-machined version of the logo milled from 6061-T6 aluminum, then anodized in NASA red, black, or grey. Measures 7.5″ w x 2″ h x 1″ d.

Most books have covers made from thick paper, though you might find some vintage ones made from wood. What you won’t find are any books with covers made from cast aluminum. Black Beard Projects teamed up with Nerdforge to create just that, and the result is a impressive work of readable art. Watch part two here.

Jason of JK Brickworks shows of an amazing LEGO kinetic sculpture of Greek goddess Artemis. When a crank is turned, she draws her bow and fires an “arrow” made from a piece of flexible tubing. The mechanism’s design was inspired by a wooden automata created by Del Cat.

You’d think that creating a badge for a car would be no big deal, but in the case of UK luxury automaker Aston Martin, every little detail matters. Car fanatic Mr JWW visited Vaughton’s, the factory where they meticulously create each badge, and got to help make a custom badge for his special-edition DBX Q SUV.

Among his many creations, Paul from Jackman Works has made some ridiculously large hand tools. Now, to show off his new X-Carve Pro CNC machine, he built a pair of giant hands. We were hoping he might try and use them to pick up his oversize tools, but they seem pretty awkward to wield given their weight.

From the expert machinists at AltDynamic comes their most impressive creation yet, a family of elegant aluminum playthings which look nothing like a sphere, yet can roll like one. Each one splits down the middle and is held together with magnets. They come in three variants, each with its own unique rolling properties.

Memes of the Floating World takes the classic Japanese art style known as Ukiyo-e and applies it to popular memes like the famed Shiba Inu Doge, Longcat, and Women Yelling at Cat. The images are also available as prints from Society6.

LEGO builder Tom Gerardin is a big fan of Aardman Animations, so he designed a fun kit that includes poseable models of Wallace, Gromit, The Cooker, Feathers Mcgraw, and Shaun the Sheep. Accessories include The Wrong Trousers, a cup of tea, cheese, crackers, and a cracker packet. Show your support on LEGO Ideas.

You’d think that slicing up resin blocks filled with nails on your table saw and then grinding them down on a lathe might be a bad idea for the well-being of your tools (and your body), but that didn’t stop maker R Humphrey from testing out the idea. The resulting bowl he created has some really cool textures and patterns.

Maker Ross The Random loves to turn ordinary items into works of art. In this video, he shows us how he transformed a simple brass bolt into a shiny metal phoenix through a series of heating, bending, hammering, filing, and cutting with basic hand tools.

Not long ago, we saw a custom-built 3D printer that could output infinitely-long objects. Now 3D printer company Creality is readying a version that anyone can buy. The 3DPrintMill has a heated continuous belt print bed which lets it print multiple small parts in a row, or very long objects. It offers a print accuracy of +/-0.1mm.

Sergey Vasiliev decided he had enough of the old “in Soviet Russia” trope which represents his country as technologically backward. Incorporating some clever visual effects, his brilliant short film imagines a Russian farm where everything is running on the latest tech. The footage reminds us of the work of Simon Stålenhag.

This playful analog timepiece transforms just about any object into a clock. Designed by almost object, the Stretch Clock comprises a large rubber band and a battery-powered clock movement. Simply strap it around an object of your choice, and it turns into a clock. Pre-orders start shipping 4.2021.

We’ve seen how cymbals are made, now find out how the drumsticks that are used to play them are born. Vic Firth shares footage from inside their factory, where they transform sticks of freshly-cut wood into their premium 5A American Classic sticks, then precision matches them for weight and pitch to ensure perfect pairs.

Maker Laura Kampf has crafted some pretty impressive items over the years. In between larger projects, she decided to do something a little less daunting, and built herself a unique lighting fixture out of found objects and scrap wood. The finished lamp looks like something you’d find in a high-end lighting store.

These special pencils from Germany’s Lyra are designed to help youngsters get a better grip, but we think anyone can benefit from their grooved exterior and anti-roll shape. They come in a variety of styles, including blue, metallic, or slimline with regular leads, as well as colored pencils.

Designers Yuma Kano and Yu Miyama came up with this clever way to keep your bicycle standing upright… using a much smaller bike. The 14″ long miniature bike is made from steel, and comes in versions for tires up to 1.6″ or 2″ wide. Unfortunately, importing one via Japan Trend Shop is a costly endeavor.

Back in 2015, Faroe Islands doom metal band Hamferð performed a moody, acoustic version of their track Deyðir varðar while a solar eclipse played out behind their backs. They timed the live performance perfectly and managed to resist the urge to turn around as day turned to night and back. (Thanks Kartin!)

One of the many things we love about The Mandalorian is how they show concept art in the closing credits. This 256-page hardcover book lets you give some of these images a more permanent home. The book is packed with art and sketches, along with interviews with the cast, crew, and creative team behind the Disney+ series.

As we saw in his Batman & Superman clip, Animator DeeKay’s style is light and cheerful. In this clip, he takes us inside the process of creating one of his fun animations, as his digital avatar portrays the character doing the animation, and who creates a new friend in the process.