Awesome Art & Design

Animator Felix Cosgrave’s latest short took him over 2 years to create, but the result was well worth the wait, as he transports us to a weird and wild universe where strange characters take turns trying to steal the crown of a surreal kingdom. What the heck did we just watch?

A CNC knitting machine. Kniterate (knit + iterate) lets you create apparel and accessories (or at least their prototypes) out of digital templates. You’ll be able to design templates using Kniterate’s web app or import previously made designs.

(PG-13) Kaptainkristian tips his hat to Tom Fulp’s Newgrounds. Not only did the website pioneer several social and commercial features for online content creators, its continued independence and creator-friendly atmosphere makes it a great home for aspiring artists.

Designer Paul Braddock of the Mold3D Channel demonstrates how to use objects made with a 3D printer to create silicone molds for casting items from a mix of metal powder and resin, giving them a sturdy and substantial part with a weathered metallic look with actual rust.

Carbide3D shows us how to use one of their cool desktop CNC machines to carve upgraded wood and metal parts for a cheap Milwaukee Fastback knife. It’s a great demonstration of how desktop fabrication tools can make quick work of otherwise difficult tasks.

Lusine’s chill ambient track is complemented perfectly by this minimal video from Michael Reisinger, who used 2300 colorful LED’s to illuminate the face of its subject, as she drifts into another plane listening to her headphones on the bus. From the album Sensorimotor.

If there’s one new series we’re looking forward to, it’s American Gods – Neil Gaiman’s ancient gods vs. modern gods story. Created by Patrick Clair of Elastic, the show’s titles are simply stunning, awash with neon-tinged symbols of American religion and culture.

Designer Siyu Lou’s wall-mounted lighting fixture is designed to provide a warm glow reminiscent of sunlight streaming through a window. Its pull-down shade design lets you change the amount of surface being lit, or even bend it where the wall meets your desktop.

Kyle McCabe shows off a neat prototype he put together a few years back – a car brake light that gets wider and brighter as more brake force is applied. A simple, yet smart idea we’d love to see go into production vehicles.

These small plastic building blocks have magnets built inside of them, allowing for quick-snap construction of your own 3D voxel art creations. A companion app will provide ideas for pre-made designs too. Bricks will come in 16 vibrant colors to start.

Beyond the Brick shows off Claus-Marc Hahn’s astounding model of the Red Keep from Game of Thrones. He used over 125,000 bricks, and a multiple EV3 servo motors to mechanize the build, so the whole thing turns, its towers move up and down, and their cupolas spin.

Artist Peter Draws creates a wonderful line art illustration using “invisible” ink under a black light. Watching the ink flow off of his glass pen tip into the water is just as mesmerizing as onto the canvas itself. His charming and soothing narration definitely reminds us of Bob Ross.

Joshua Smith makes incredibly detailed scale models based on real world buildings, streets or objects that capture the grit and grime of urban life. He recreates everything including the caked dirt on roofs and walls, fallen leaves and even bits of trash. (Photos: Andrew Beveridge)

ApolloCrowe from Carbide 3D uses one of their Nomad desktop CNC machines to slice up soda cans, and transforms them into parts for a pair of robot sculptures. There’s a lot of handwork involved after the aluminum is cut, but it’s still cool to watch the machine work its magic.

A winner of Android Japan’s Experiments: Object contest. Kosho Tsuboi’s Magic Calendar is a large digital calendar. Tsuboi’s prototype uses a low reflection display, but he hopes that in the future there will be an E-ink display that looks and feels like paper.

Aluminum and brass desktop sculptures which celebrate landmarks around the globe. Creator Konstantin Kolesov says they’re meant as a modern take on travel souvenirs, but we think they’re cool even if you’ve never visited the locations. Each comes with a wood base.

Carpenter Theo Cook shows off just how tightly and precisely two pieces of wood can be joined together, using an ancient Japanese technique called a “sunrise dovetail” joint, which avoids the need for nails or other fasteners.

A thorougly clever design for a sign which can transform from reading “open” to “closed” while fully concealing the letters which are currently not in use. You can download the designs to 3D print your own over on Thingiverse.

Shnatko shows off one of the coolest coffee tables we’ve ever seen. It’s got a matrix of 512 RGB LEDs he’s programmed to display a variety of animations, and proximity sensors which can be used to detect movement and objects, and change the display accordingly.

Lomography’s latest camera has a wide-angle 38mm (21mm equiv) f/4.5 glass lens. It’s designed to offer the sharpest pics you can get with an instant, and can focus down to about a foot. It does multiple exposures, and comes with a remote shutter release and color gels.

Henk Hesselink of the Netherlands Aerospace Centre presents a conceptual runway design, designed so airplanes can land from a variety of vectors to avoid dangerous crosswinds, as well as reducing concerns about wake turbulence caused by jets flying one behind the other.

“The fruits of human imagination freed from the task of imitating nature.” PBS’ The Art Assignment tries its best to chart the origins and define the original elements of surrealism. The movement’s call to find meaning beyond logic and norms will forever be relevant.

Researchers at EPFL looked to the soft wings of insects to create a drone that could solve one of their biggest problems. Its frame is made of 0.2mm fiberglass, which makes it soft and flexible. The rotors attach to the electronics with magnetic joints for added resilience.