Awesome Art & Design

Do you love to doodle? Now you can carry your sketchbook whenever you carry your cash and credit cards, thanks to Sketch Wallets. Available in a variety of sizes and textiles, each comes with a stubby #2B pencil and a refillable pad for drawing on the go.

Luggage maker Away partnered with color experts Pantone to create this limited-edition series of bags, done up in the 2020 color of the year Classic Blue. The hard-shell roller bags come in four sizes, and can be ordered with or without a built-in USB battery pack. Hand-painted personalization is also available.

We highly recommend going full screen on the biggest landscape mode display you have to get the most out of this playful montage of ultra-widescreen animations made by a team of Montreal designers and curated by Rémi Vincent. The sequence originally appeared on a massive 50:9-ratio projection video wall for MAPP Montreal.

Artists, put down your paint brushes for this one. To achieve this abstract painting technique, you’ll just need some acrylic paints, a mixing cup, and a workbench you don’t mind getting messy. Tiktus Color Art shows how a mix of pouring paints and canvas tilting can create some sweet marbled patterns.

Motion designer Harrison Vincent’s short film features eye-popping close-up imagery inspired by macrophotography, but was created entirely with computer graphics. The breakdown video is just as fascinating. He also provided the Cinema4D source files for download.

Do you have an old, broken laptop lying around? Don’t just toss it in the trash. As DIY Perks shows us, there are a bunch of goodies inside that you can recycle to make things like stereo speakers, lighting fixtures, artworks, and more.

Chainmaille, or colloquially “Chain Mail,” is that sweet looking flexible armor that dates back to the 3rd century BC. The real stuff is notoriously heavy and hard to construct. Tested’s Adam Savage and Ben Eadie show off a creative new way to make the stuff for costumes using laser-cut EVA foam.

London’s William & Watson Ltd makes light bulbs the old-fashioned way, hand-placing and wrapping hair-thin filaments into molten glass, and using vintage machinery to assemble and test each bulb. The company makes both vintage style and modern LED filament bulbs.

Blik’s fabric tiles are printed with wonderful illustrated patterns, and are easy to install on any smooth section of wall or ceiling. They can be cut to make way for switches and outlets, and can be positioned at any angle. Each one has a repositionable self-adhesive backing.

Looking for a cool demo to show off your fancy new HDR display? Look no further than this CGI video from self-proclaimed “GPU melter” lotsalote, in which a set of brightly-illuminated pendulums swing back and forth against a dark background. The 4K 60p footage really pops off the screen with its high contrast imagery.

Fordite, also known as “Motor City agate” is made from layers of baked-on paint that piled up along automotive assembly lines. Its abstract patterns are revealed as its cut and polished. Watch as jewlery maker Patrick Adair combines the material with rose gold and black diamonds to make a spectacular piece of wearable art.

Filmmaker Tyler Fairbank captured this eye-popping footage of some of the Earth’s most incredible wildlife. His time-lapse, flow-motion technique further enhances the stunning 4K footage, leading our eye through some of the most compelling shots he recorded.

Video artist Theo Tagholm’s (aka “mustardcuffins”) experimental short film envisions an alternative version of the world, where the iconic rock structures of America’s Southwest stretch endlessly into the sky. It’s a strangely unsettling, but engrossing visual. We love how the clouds cast shadows onto the totems.

A hockey fan asked woodworker Cameron Porter of Cammie’s Garage if he could craft a wood version of the iconic Stanley Cup. He quickly rose to the challenge, and crafted an impressive mini replica of the trophy using his talents and his lathe. He hopes to get the commission to build the full-size version soon.

It may not play music like Wintergatan’s marble-powered musical instrument, but we still enjoyed listening to the soothing sounds and watching the hypnotic movements of this wooden marble machine, which serves as an example of the modules you can buy from its creator.

Usually when you build furniture, it requires the use of screws, nails, or other fasteners. But maker Laura Kampf decided to challenge herself to craft a platform bed using only wood, and no other parts. The only other materials she used were wood sealer, paint, and glue.

The Slow Mo Guys co-host Gavin Free was inspired by the macro water droplet photography of Markus Reugels, and decided to try and replicate the effect by capturing a refracted map of the Earth onto a droplet in front of his high-speed camera. It took some fiddling to get the focus right, but he eventually got it sorted.

Ever since seeing The Sword of Exact Zero in The LEGO Movie, swordsmith Michael Cthulhu has contemplated making a larger-than-life X-Acto knife blade. With a sponsor in hand for his video, he finally took the time to make his cutting tool for giants a reality. He’s auctioning it off for charity to help save animals from Australia’s fires.

Transform your computer keyboard into a work of art with these colorful keycap sets. Available in rainbow, sunset blue, or sky blue designs, they form a smooth gradient once installed. Each of the 108 keys is made from colored plastic (not painted), and has laser-etched key legends on its side. Compatible with Cherry MX keyboards.

These colorful playing cards are a nice alternative to ordinary red and black decks. Each card features vibrant rainbow colors and dynamic imagery, set against a contrasting background. Choose from day, dusk, or our favorite, night designs.

Oscar Lhermitte’s packing tapes are printed with various units and measurements, so you can tear away just the length you need. One tape is printed with a ruler and a protractor, while the other has various gauges and charts. Sold as a set of two rolls.

Studio Job designed this bold piece of furniture that doubles as a seat and a small side table, while adding a splash of Mexican culture to any space. Measures appx 17.7″ tall, and comes in black, green, terracotta, and ivory. Cast from polyethylene, so it weighs just 7.7 lb.

This unique spin on fidget toys uses helical gears, each with a herringbone pattern than allows them to interlock. Each set comes with a pair of machined brass and aluminum gears, which not only roll against each other, but can attach and spin on their sides thanks to strong neodymium magnets.