Art & Design

(NSFW) Durex wants to make long distance relationships more bearable with its concept underwear. Available for both men and women, the underwear has actuators that are activated using a mobile app. Learn more about it here.

The Omni is an omnidirectional “treadmill” that can track when a user walks, runs or jumps, the perfect companion to the Oculus Rift. Virtuix will launch a Kickstarter soon, with pricing expected between $400-$600. More demos here.

Designed by Lucien Langton, the FireWriter is a dot-matrix printer that uses a torch to burn images into a surface instead of ink. Not only is it highly impractical, it’s a major fire hazard. Still, the ink cartridges are a bargain.

Loopwheels are unusual 20″ bicycle wheels with built-in suspension in the form of flexible carbon composite springs. The wheels still work with conventional hub brakes and gears.

The sky is nature’s canvas, but Matt Molloy makes these natural masterpieces more mesmerizing. He merges hundreds of images of the same sky together using the lighten blending mode in Photoshop.

Portraits of city dwellers outline cityscapes in photographer Jasper James’ series. James says, “The images are made in camera with just a basic adjustment in contrast and colours but no retouching.”

The Concept GLA is a compact SUV designed to take you off road and pamper you when you get there. Its headlights have projectors built-in and it has two cameras mounted on its roof. Good luck finding a flat screen in the wild.

Photographer Ulric Collete has created a series of family portraits, by seamlessly combining the images of two blood relatives. The results are both striking and a little bit creepy.

A group of art students at the UK’s University of Derby have been creating a series of images using the CMYK halftone technique to reproduce color photos – with one minor difference – they’re drawing every single dot by hand.

Explosive lamps designed by Docstone.  Mister Boom is a light switch shaped like a comically large and old-fashioned detonator, while Little Miss Dynamite is a small dial switch. Both connect to dynamite-shaped “light bombs.”

Want to turn heads while you’re on your motorcycle but can’t afford a fancy bike? Get a Wolf Helmet. Available in two equally insane, DOT-certified designs, they are at once outrageous and sensible.

Steffen Heidemann & Viktoria Klein create these 50 x 70cm (~20 x 27.5″) silkscreened astronomical charts, worthy of display in any home or office. Choose from Northern or Southern skies and various color combinations.

French artist Jeremy Laffon creates spiraling towers and sculptures using the humble material of chewing gum, then documents their decline in video and photographs by applying heat to slump the structure.

John T. Kim came up with Engraved out of his desire to make his business cards memorable. Each card is made from laser-cut wood and has a unique grain. You can also customize your order with your own design.

Designer Karim Rashid’s geometric bookends remind us that books are the best food for the mind. Made from rubber-coated stone resin from a 3D model of Rashid’s own head, with a colorful brain design on the inside.

An palm-sized, energy-efficient laser-based nightlight that projects hundreds of tiny blue points of light around your room. Uses just 0.4 watt of power, and can travel anywhere thanks to its AAA battery power source.

The Cintiq 13HD is a lightweight and portable pen display for creative work. Weighs 2.65lbs., has a 13.3″ 1080p widescreen, a pen with 2,048 pressure levels, express keys, touch ring and HDMI and USB ports. Demo on Engadget.

Dan and Dave collaborated with design agency Stranger & Stranger to create this gorgeous playing card deck. Each its 54 cards is a unique work of art. Comes packed in a cool embossed and foiled box, sealed with a retro tax stamp.

Pick up your cob with style, with Lana Filippone’s Jurassic ceramic corn holders. We only wish that T-Rex held the corn with its tiny hands. These are prototypes, but keep an eye on Imm Living for the production version.