Awesome Art & Design

Rus Khasanov’s experimental short film features vivid and colorful imagery created by shooting macro images of blobs of specially-formulated paints colliding to create new and larger formations, which are at times reminiscent of celestial bodies. Music by Dmitry Evgrafov.

Animator Joseph Melhuish presents a welcome video for observers and travelers to the planets of the fictitious “Udaya” system, which happens to share its name with Moon B’s album, from whence this smooth and funky electronic instrumental track comes.

Director Robert Löbel’s wonderfully animated short film introduces us to a pair of characters who find themselves conjoined by a single, stretchy mop of hair, and the struggles they face to live as individuals in their attached world.

Filmmaker Vladimir Tomin is back to his digital antics once more, with another silly short film in which a computer’s arrow cursor interacts with the real world. Can’t get enough of the pointer? Be sure to watch the prequel, Outside.

(PG-13: Language) Gadget guru Sam Sheffer is friends with deadmau5, who was kind enough to give him a behind the scenes tour of the centerpiece of his Cube V3 stage set, a gigantic, cantilevered cube covered with programmable LED panels. It can rotate and tilt on a turntable with deadmau5 performing behind it.

LEGO fanatic Han Sbricksteen submitted this awesome idea for a set of four brick-built dioramas, each paying tribute to a master of 20th century art. The initial 680-piece concept includes Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali, but we could see this becoming a whole new LEGO Artist’s series.

Maker of cool things W&M walks us through the painstaking process of milling a set of teensy brass chess pieces, and crafting an elegant wooden board on which to play the game. The pieces are so small, the game needs to be played with tweezers.

Simply put, Iceland is one of the most stunning, and unspoiled places on our planet. Filmmaker Vadim Sherbakov visited some of the country’s many beautiful landscapes with his DJI Mavic 2 Pro camera, and compiled the footage into this all-too-short film.

Artist Mike Slobot has been making cool robot sculptures and other robot art for 15 years. To celebrate, he’s created a series of fun mid-century style prints of robots made from vintage radios and TV sets. They’re available in eight designs, in a variety of sizes. Awesomer readers get 15% off purchases over $25 with code 15years.

We’ve seen designer David Weeks‘ articulated wooden robots at art museum shops before, but this multi-colored series is our favorite. Each one is made from beech wood and elastic, allowing you to pose them into various positions, including a cube. Sold individually in 4.25″ tall and 6.75″ tall sizes.

This colorful card game is the perfect gift for graphic designers and other visual artists. The game challenges players to use creativity to assemble abstract images of characters using 15 official Pantone colors. Opponents earn points guessing the images with as few clues as possible.

We’ve visited Manila before, and can attest to thew fact that it can be one of the most overwhelming places on the planet. But there are also pockets of quiet and order to the chaos in this densely-packed city. Photographer Joerg Daiber managed to capture both ends of the spectrum in his vibrant tilt-shift, time-lapse clip.

Designer James Paulius extends his collection of colorful wooden architectural blocks with a miniature version of New York City. The full set features two iconic skyscrapers, a handful of shorter buildings, and a smattering of urban greenspace. The Empire State building and greenway models are available separately as well.

Artist DP Truong creates works in a variety of medium, from paints to pens to pencils, but one of his most intriguing approaches to art is portraiture made from thread. Watch as she transforms 44 white threads into a portrait reminiscent of the waveforms on the cover of the Joy Division album Unknown Pleasures.

Not only is this teensy axe that blacksmith Paul Pinto made adorable, he upped the challenge of creating it by using a miniature anvil and hammer he previously made. The only problem with the video is the sped up drilling sound reminds us of the dentist too much.

Herschel Supply Co. pays tribute to the enigmatic NYC artist’s work with a dynamic print of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s most iconic 1981 painting Untitled (Scull/Skull). The featherweight snap-front windbreaker comes in a water-resistant, polyester diamond dobby ripstop fabric, thin enough to pack inside an internal storage pocket.

While the metal helmets worn by soldiers in ancient times weren’t exactly cushioned like today’s foam-filled models, they did save lots of heads. In this clip from metalsmith Andrey Yumanov, he takes us through the process of heating, forming, and finishing sheet metal to form one of those old-style military helmets.

Kenma’s unique silicone phone cases feature a surface on back which can be written on, then erased. It’s compatible with oil-based ballpoint pens, and is designed to resist smudges and ink bleeds. Available from Amazon Japan or importer Japan Trend Shop.

Artist Scott Reinhard creates images of America’s national parks and other notable locations by rendering a topographic relief map onto a survey map, then printing them onto high quality photographic paper for a stunning 3D effect, despite being flat sheets of paper. Each one has lots of nifty geographic and geological details.

Artist Justinas Zozo shows us the amazing technique he uses to create his photorealistic paintings. He painstakingly cuts dozens of intricate stencils, which he then uses to mask layer after layer of spray paint colors. Kingfisher took him about six months to complete.

Filmmaker Roman De Giuli used crisp macro photography of iron powder, magnets, pigments, and glitter to capture this visually spectacular short film, which despite its otherworldly looks was created without any CGI. Music by Son-J.

Designed by December Boys, these unique playing cards feature a twisty black and white zig-zag pattern on both their fronts and backs, creating for dramatic illusions for cardistry enthusiasts. Comes with four double-backed green cards for chromakeying effects in videos.

Ukraine model designer Denis Ohrimenko of TimeForMachine makes a variety of cool laser-cut wood kits, including a series of awesome robot monsters. Each one has movable legs which can be swapped out with other models. Choose from Scorpio MN 3.1, Scarabeus MN 9.1, Arachnoid MN 2.1, and Prometeus MN 1.1 designs.