Awesome Art & Design

(PG-13: Gore) From greenscreen to miniatures to CGI, there are lots of different ways to produce visual effects. Filmmaker and essayist David F. Sandberg reminds us how simple edits can be one of the most effective ways to create illusions on screen and to integrate disparate elements to create a cohesive effect.

Do the birds in your neighborhood have an appreciation for contemporary art and architecture? Then set them up with one of sculptor Joe Papendick’s modern metal bird feeders. Each one is hand-welded from steel and coated with rust-proof enamel in a color of your choice. A stainless steel screen holds the bird seed in place.

Designer Ian Stell created the Waldhexen, an innovative coffee table that can change shapes by pushing or pulling on its six sides. It it’s made from an arrangement of hinged maple slats that look like long popsicle sticks. We found one of the rare pieces for sale from NYC’s Patrick Parrish. Original video by Evan Orensten.

Filmmaker Rus Khasanov is known for his use of macrophotography of liquids to create colorful abstract art. In this clip, he plays with light, dichroic filters, crystals, and bubbles to produce a hypnotic series of moving images.

Love Hultén creates some truly wonderful retro-inspired arcade machines, computers, and other electronics. His latest build is a business card holder – but it’s anything but ordinary, with a tiny, functional arcade machine built into it. We need this right now.

This fan-built LEGO Godzilla is truly impressive. It took Frenchy Bricks Junky about 4 months to put together this 4,000-piece monster, with its awesome scaly texture. You can purchase the building plans from Rebrickable for about $20 – bricks not included, naturally.

Inspired by an early 20th-century project in which artists predicted the future, Playing Arts invited dozens of artists to do the same for the year 2120. The unique and colorful images come printed on premium playing cards and work in concert with an augmented reality app to bring some of the designs to life. View all card designs here.

Add some pizzazz to your dining table with this modern flatware. This stainless steel cutlery features a playful form that looks like it was sketched out of metal, while a built-in notch lets you lean them on the edge of a bowl or drying rack. Available in black, gold, silver, rose gold, or rainbow finishes. Sold in individual place settings.

We love how the light shows through this unique musical instrument that Burls Art made by carefully cutting, routing and sanding blocks of pink Himalayan rock salt to form its body. It also gives new meaning to the phrase “guitar licks.”

Machine learning technology continues to get more and more impressive – especially when it comes to working with images. A group of researchers from China are showing off DeepFaceDrawing, an amazing piece of software which can synthesize photorealistic human faces using nothing more than a rough pencil sketch.

Using an ordinary computer keyboard as a starting point, maker SKM managed to create a fully-functional keyboard that’s made out of cardboard and popsicle sticks. We’re not sure how long it will last, but it’s definitely more functional than his cardboard mechanical typewriter.

These unique tiki mugs feature imagery of the grim reaper as a reminder to enjoy the splendor and riches of life before we meet our maker. Designed by Becky Cloonan and sculpted by Tufan Sezer and Mike Bonanno for Mondo. Choose from Mortuus, Exsanguine, or tan monochrome variants.

This updated version of Jackson Robinson’s currency-inspired Federal 52 playing cards includes a mix of the artist’s favorite court card designs and artwork from previous special edition decks. We absolutely love the engraved look of the imagery, which includes Jokers that form a scene of Washington crossing the Delaware.

Artist Basil Wolverton was known for his amazingly offbeat illustrations that blended science fiction, fantasy, and humor. The books Creeping Death from Neptune and Brain Bats of Venus chronicle his work from 1909 to 1952, during which time his images were published by everyone from Marvel to MAD Magazine.

While stuck home during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to try and vary your days and mix things. up. In Jan Riesenbeck and Dennis Stein-Schomburg’s strange short film, a man explores the importance of breaking out of routines, while his floating head transforms into some of the many thoughts he expresses.

Swiss artist Simon Berger creates portraits by shattering glass. His technique involves gently hammering away at a sheet of laminated safety glass, which holds together the pieces as his finished image comes into view. Watch him create another of his smashing portraits here.

Just because something is a commercial doesn’t mean it can’t be a work of art. This clip from director Henry Scholfield and Mathematic Studio for Indonesia ride hailing and tech company Gojek is proof positive of that. For all 60-seconds the clip is on screen, it will fill your eyes with magical, VFX-powered sensory overload.

Andres Amador makes amazing artworks on a grand scale that are visible from the sky. But all he needs to create his complex geometric patterns are some rakes and a damp, sandy beach. WIRED’s Obsessed introduces us to the artist to get inside of his head, and how he makes peace with the temporary nature of his work.

We love how builder Laura Kampf is creates objects that are both thoughtful in their function and design. Her latest project is a curved wooden cabinet with a turntable and amplifier shelf, plenty of cubbies for storing records, and spaces for speakers that tuck neatly behind grille cloth.

Inspired by The Seven Deadly Sins manga and Netflix show, Matt and Ilya of That Works created a real-world replica of King’s imposing Spirit Spear Chastiefol. If you love blacksmithing videos, this one is well worth a watch, as it’s packed with satisfying footage of power hammering, punching, grinding, and brazing.

British artist James Cook specializes in what is basically a primitive version of ASCII art. Rather than digitizing an image and using a computer to print images, he types them out one key at a time using vintage manual typewriters.

Pens are usually made from metal or plastic, but 22STUDIO’s unique model has an outer case made from cast concrete. Its name reflects its deeply contoured edges, which provide a nice tactile feeling and grip. Available in two shades of gray and white.

Brooklyn artist James Haggerty creates images using staples as his medium. After wowing us with his Star Wars series, he made an incredible portrait of their family dog, Doxie. The finished piece is made from 75,738 staples in a variety of colors. We love how he arranged the staples to create the hair texture.