Awesome Art & Design

Consistently awesome animator and illustrator Steve Cutts offers up a topsy-turvy take on the destruction of our environment and climate change, envisioning a world in which animals are destroying the place, and humans have to deal with the fallout of their actions. The Track is The Turning Point by Wantaways.

Adventure photographer Corey Rich travels to the edge along with his subjects to capture incredibly dramatic images of adrenaline junkies and outdoor athletes. From hanging off of a cliff to standing on the top of the mountain, this 288 page book takes us inside of the artist’s process and features 130 color photos of his works.

The Volkswagen Beetle made its first appearance all the way back in 1938, and was produced in one form or another all the way until 2019 when the model was retired. VW sends off the bug with this moving animated tribute to the little car that could, accompanied by children’s choral version of the Beatles’ “Let It Be.”

Animator Bebop usually makes silly, but well-executed stop-motion films about food. But this clip is a bit more esoteric and abstract than their typical work. That doesn’t make this short film starring a disembodied hand any less compelling. We’re not sure what it all means, but it’s a cool work of visual art.

Created by Raven Kwok for Shanghai’s TODTOWN, time++ is a computer generative artwork which displays the passage of time in a unique way. Particles appear on its screens representing the current second, and then migrate into position to display the hours and minutes as giant digits. Can we please have this as a screensaver?

Roman Khramov of 5 min Minibricks shows us how to create a tiny diorama of a boat and ocean waves inside of a tea cup using 3D printing, paint, cotton, and resin. The base was created with a Snapmaker 3D printer, but it required craftsmanship and skill to bring the scene to life with such detail. (Thanks Niklaus!)

Tiki bars have had a bit of a resurgence of late, with their Polynesian-themed cocktails and kitschy tropical decor. Sven Kirsten’s 640-page, hardcover coffee table book delves into the history of America’s pop take on tiki culture, with lots of wonderful archival photos and historical artifacts dating back as far as the 1930s.

New Jersey artist Monique Sarfity creates one-of-a-kind mosaics using thousands of recycled computer keycaps. In order to create the images, she uses a mix of whole and partially sliced-up black, white, and grey keys.

French artist Zoer transformed a junkyard full of old cars into a giant work of art. He painted each of the 144 cars a different shade, creating a rainbow of color when viewed from above. Each car also has its RGB Hex color value applied to its hood.

While we’re not sure how often you’ll need to actually photograph coffee, we still appreciate the creative tips offered by COOPH in their latest photo hacks video. On the other hand, many of the ideas could be applied to other kinds of food or product photography.

With builds like this and this, maker Giaco Whatever isn’t exactly known for his subtlety. So when he wanted to shoot a promo video for an upcoming Kickstarter campaign, he not only busted out one of those crazy Laowa probe lenses, but he fabricated a camera mount for an industrial robot to give it motion control.

One of the great things about vinyl records is that they’re display worthy. Record Props gives you a variety of options to show off your records and their sleeves. You can set the sleeve on a tabletop, or hang the record and its sleeve on your wall.

Artist Arktk Berkut created the mindblowing visuals to accompany Moa Pillar’s track And the Moon Stopped, complementing the dizzying ambient track with a kaleidoscopic journey through a virtual world made up of digitally-manipulated photographs.

(Spoilers) The smash debuts of Disney+ and Star Wars The Mandalorian have us obsessed with mysterious helmeted characters, stark desert planets, incredible creatures, and a ridiculously cute baby Yoda. If you’re craving more, too, take a peek at this original gallery of concept art from Chapters 1 to 4 of the series.

To pay tribute to Sir David Attenborough’s 40 years in broadcasting, artist Quentin Devine decided to create a portrait of the famed nature show narrator. What makes the image extraordinary is that his face comprises 40 different animals he’s featured in his programs over the years.

As metalsmith Shurap has proven before, you can make damascus from just about any kind of steel hardware. In this clip, he melts down thousands of tiny ball bearings, and transforms them into a uniquely patterned blade. Because of their sheer number, they appear to be one of the more challenging materials to work with.

Designed by Marcus Ødegaard Voraa, this prototype dining table provides a unique way to expand its tabletop. Rather than requiring leaves to be added or removed, simply slide the end of its base and unroll more or less wood for its top. There’s no indication that it’s gone into production, but you can always contact its creator.

Motion artist Colin Toupe presents a series of three digital portraits, each of which is a wild abstract image which morphs through a trippy landscape of color and procedural textures. The resulting video is like a crazy fever dream.

Daqi Concept’s cleverly designed functional home decor looks like a birdcage, but instead of housing one of our avian friends, it’s plays home to a porcelain bird-shaped light and a Bluetooth speaker. It has a 5-watt amplifier, ambient LED lighting, and runs for 15 hours per charge. Available in other finishes a The Apollo Box.

As a statement on climate change, conceptual artist Leandro Erlich created a surreal scene right in the middle of Miami Beach. The installation, titled “Order of Importance,” featured 66 actual vehicles buried under sand to create a traffic jam.

Inspired by other videos of guitars being made with unconventional materials and techniques, Cranmer Guitars decided to build a custom electric guitar featuring a scene from Super Mario Bros. He created 29,000 pixel blocks by slicing popsicle sticks into perfect squares, dying the wood, then gluing them in small sections.

Animator Cyriak Harris takes us on a typically trippy journey through one of his weird and imaginative worlds. This time, the place is populated with self-replicating fractal teddy bears, spiraling highways, and cats operating mechs made out of buildings. As the insanity passes by, it eventually circles back on itself.

London’s iconic hotel, The Savoy partnered with LEGO to create the Twelve Rebuilds of Christmas, a dozen installations made from 372,931 bricks. It took 2,200 hours to snap together a castle, a dapper tea-drimking lion, and a motorcycle fit for Santa. The massive centerpiece? A dragon-shaped Christmas tree made from 150,000 bricks.