Awesome Art & Design

Daihei Shibata created a series of visual illusions for the Japanese TV program Design Ah!, in which each scene starts off with an ordinary premise, but its outcome is very different than what you might expect. Catch the first two videos here.

Artist Thomas Trum is known for making paintings with unusual tools and techniques. Among the weapons in his creative arsenal is this paint gun designed for road line marking, which he uses to spray a gradient rainbow of colors as he moves it along a canvas.

Musician Tolgahan Çoğulu shows off a unique instrument he put together after his son Atlas gave him the idea. The acoustic guitar uses LEGO studs all along its neck, allowing for microtonal positions throughout the fretboard. The trick was to build a custom 3D printed baseplate for the LEGO bricks to click onto.

In Japanese art, there’s a process called Kintsugi, a mending method which uses a mix of resin and gold powder to repair objects, accentuating the repair, rather than hiding it. Paying tribute to this tradition, artist Victor Solomon renovated a South L.A. basketball court using a similar method to fill in cracks in the court.

Made by UK outfit Direct Wood Co. this wooden workbench packs up flat when not in use. Its cutouts allow it to be set at three different heights, and its lid is covered with 20mm holes that can be used for holding clamps or bench dogs. Remove the top, and its legs can be used as saw horses. Its surface measures appx. 51″ x 28.3″.

Artist dP Truong spent over 3 months working on this impressive flipbook animation based on the “I’m Always Angry” scene in The Avengers, as Dr. Bruce Banner transforms into his alter ego Hulk and takes on a massive mechanical enemy. The finished flipbook is made up from a whopping 1093 individual images.

Motion artist Dirk Koy teamed up with iconic German group Yello to create a music video that perfectly suits the rhythmic dance beats of their track Out of Sight. Like in his other videos, Koy plays with object geometries in strange and unexpected ways. From the album Point.

There are bigger and more powerful laser engravers out there, but if you’re looking for something compact and inexpensive, this model from Chinese outfit Wainlux looks like a good option. Its 3000mW laser can engrave designs onto wood, leather, fabric, plastic, acrylic, or even food items up to 3.14″ x 3.14″.

Artist Rayclay used a combination of 3D modeling software, 3D printing, and hand-finishing to create miniature models of a freediver and a manta ray. He then precisely painted the pieces and submerged them in transparent resin to create the illusion they were swimming beneath the ocean’s surface.

Artist Michael Murphy of Perceptual Art designed this mind-blowing sculpture that looks like Michael Jordan’s iconic Jumpman logo when viewed from the front, and a Nike Air Jordan 1 sneaker from the side. A very limited number of the handpainted resin sculptures goes on sale 8.6.20 at 12pm ET at the Perceptual Store.

When you sit down to work on an art or design project, there are so many different directions you could take it in. Chico Jofilsan’s animated short film uses itself to illustrate the seemingly endless possibilities which emerge during the creative process, and how one might make choices.

Artist Cássio Vasconcellos takes aerial images of man-made constructs like roadways and airport terminals, then stitches them together to create fascinating and surreal new patterns that serve as a sort of preview of an overcrowded future. We’d love to see his full-scale images in person.

Material Immaterial Studio presents a unique piece of interactive tabletop art. Cast from concrete, the diminutive Factory features design elements of Brutalist industrial architecture and incorporates a rolling ball maze. Just roll the tiny steel bearings from its tower, and enjoy the show! Measures 8.07″ W x 4.33″ D x 6.29″ H.

Motion designer and editor Duncan Robson has been painstakingly cropping, aligning, and sequencing images from movie posters in order to create the illusion that each featured actor is turning their head. You can view the individual animations over on the project’s Instagram page.

From Bicycle’s Cardistry collection comes a deck with vibrant orange backs and fronts, accented with bold geometric patterns. The non-standard card faces have no pips or numbers, making them great for showing off your flourishes, though useless for playing poker. Their Air-Cushion finish is designed for smooth shuffling.

Electronics hobbyist splat238 shows off an awesome mask they built with 104 RGB LEDs layered in front of the fabric, and behind a mesh structure. Working with a Wemos D1 Mini and an Arduino-compatible controller, it’s able to display more than 40 different lighting effects. Check out the full build details on Instructables.

Elephant’s playing card tech-decks feature custom illustrated fronts and backs inspired by the intricate traces on printed circuit boards. They come in blue, green, white, or our favorite, a premium edition with two-tone foil on its box, and gold and silver metallic inks.

The cheery Ballo Stool by Humanscale combines functional design with the playfulness of an exercise ball. An ideal task seat, it comfortably tilts with your movements thanks to two pliable air-filled domes on an innovative center column. It can help correct posture and alleviate back pain by naturally aligning the spine.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, television cabinets made out of wood were the norm, but modern flat-screen displays are pretty much all encased in plastic. The Q wanted a PC monitor to match his wooden mouse and wooden keyboard, so he built a new case for his display, complete with PHILIPS logo and burnt wood control lettering.

Richard Branson revealed details of Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo’s sleek interior cabin. Each of the six reclining passenger seats minimize g-forces during boost and re-entry, relays flight data on a personal screen, has a pilot communication system, and comes with an out-of-this-world ticket price: $250,000.

The BetterBook fits neatly in front of your keyboard thanks to its ultrawide 18×9 ratio. Its shape and black border improve mobile scans too. The spiral-bound notebook lays flat, and comes with blank, grid, or or dotted grid papers. Each set includes both a desk-size (310x160mm) and pocket-size (130x70mm) 40-sheet notebook.

Like the Gixie Clock, this tabletop digital clock uses RGB LEDs and sheets of laser-etched acrylic to simulate the look of an old Nixie tube clock, but with multiple colors. It offers a variety of color modes, supports 12/24 hour time formats, and has an alarm function. Requires a Windows PC or Mac for programming.

Artist Roman Booteen is a master at modifying vintage coins, engraving intricate details and augmenting them with added depth. His most impressive design is this 1921 U.S. Dollar coin with a mechanical hand that grips a sword in its center when a hidden button is pushed. He also makes some amazing lighters.