Awesome Art & Design

Usually, partnership announcements come in the form of boring memos and press releases. But when two great creative firms like Aardman Animations and NYC CG animators Nathan Love join forces, we get something much more special and entertaining like this.

YouTuber Tom Scott remapped the keys of 14 computer keyboards to each of the over 1,000 emoji and placed an illustration of the respective icon over each key by hand to create a physical emoji keyboard. He grouped the keys category for “ease of use.” 😳

Artist Butcher Billy celebrates Super Mario Bros.’ 30th anniversary with a photo series showing some of the major events and trends – both good and bad – that have happened between 1985 and 2015.

Mercedes-Benz’ newest show car, the Concept IAA (“Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile”) is packed with futuristic tech, the most notable of which is its ability to adjust its body and wheels to take on a more aerodynamic form when it reaches 50mph.

Nendo’s piece for the 2015 London Design Festival, the Nest Shelf cleverly hides an inner copy of itself, effectively doubling its width when fully extended. It’s made of carbon fiber and aramid, then coated in larch veneer.

Animator PES’ latest stop-motion film takes a different approach from his other shorts. This promo film, which shows Honda’s evolution, was created entirely from pieces of paper, each hand-illustrated, and arranged by a team of animators. BTS footage here.

Julie Legros and Lavallard Boget created this truly special interpretation of a classic Eames mid-century modern chair, replacing fiberglass with concrete, and swapping aluminum for steel rebar legs. The seat side has a smooth finish, while the rear is rough and unfinished.

Artist Gerardo Quiroz aka “Kirokaze” creates incredible animated .gif pixel art which conveys a tremendous sense of mood, composition, depth, light and shadow, all with just a handful of frames. Be sure to check out his DeviantArt page for more examples.

Award-winning artist Jim Kay brings Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to life in this illustrated edition, creating 115 illustrations in different media. The other Harry Potter books will get illustrated editions as well. More here.

Joe Marcantonio directed this wonderful short documentary about British pop artist Death Spray Custom, who creates unique and fantastic artwork for everything from helmets to power tools and race cars. That polygonal motorcycle design at 2:40 is sick.

Kat Su’s book of f–d up taxidermy is at once hilarious and disturbing, filled with the strange creations we get when we let crazy people try to do “art” with deceased animals. Buy the book or check out the website.

Using a combination of 3D printing and wax casting, Fire & Bone creates incredibly detailed, but tiny skulls of animals made from bronze or sterling silver. Some even have articulating jaws, like the miniature human. Each includes a 24″ chain and an optional display stand.

Artist Michael Myers of Drawsgood Illustration and Design created this great series of images which imagine Pokémon as those Russian stacking dolls – if they opened up sideways, that is.

Daniel McKee spent six months digging through every crack and crevice of Instagram in search of images that mimic the look, subject matter, and/or expression of emoji. In the end, he dug up 817 of them. We think he did a smashing job, don’t you?

Furniture designers B-SquaredInc created this unique cantilevered coffee table, made from metal and western red cedar. The angular steel tower and guywire keep the tabletop balanced in mid-air. Measures appx. 24″(w) x 55″(l), and the peak on the tower is 36″(h)

Artist Matthew Cassidy of Fragmented Frames takes disused old cameras, camcorders and other gadgets, transforming them into cool works of art, meticulously arranging each component into a shadowbox. A great gift for designers, photographers or tech junkies.

Designer Lars Beller Fjetland created Moment, an ingenious cast iron candlestick which automatically drops a snuffer over the stub of its candle as it reaches the end of its useful life. Coming soon from Hay.

Time-lapse footage of artist Kim Jung Gi (NSFW link) as he creates an intricate wall-sized illustration. The level of detail he achieves with no visual frame of reference is staggering. Every time you think he’s done, he adds more to the canvas. More on YouTube.

Long time Disney animator Glen Keane talks about the emotion and expression that goes into each one of his frames, and the limitations of paper. Donning a VR headset, a pair of controllers and Tiltbrush, he now creates artworks in 3D space. (Thanks Pedro!)

Artist Frank Cohen created Starling, a line of steampunk pocket watches which twinkle with color behind their cutout covers. Each one comes in a cool resin box designed by Disney Imagineer Terri Hardin Jackson, sculpted with elements from the accompanying short story.

Last year, architect Charles Young set a goal to make one small papercraft building a day for a year. He ended up doing just that, creating Paperholm, a city made of whimsical buildings and objects. You can buy some of the models here.

Glasgow, Scotland artist Suzanne Waters creates awesome illustrations by meticulously placing hundreds of individually shaded triangles to form her subjects. Buy prints and commission custom pet portraits on Etsy.

Architecture firm Molecule used The Dark Knight as inspiration in adding a 12-car basement garage to a 1929 house. The old house’s modern garage is accessible through a secret entrance that lifts up from part of the adjacent tennis court. (Thanks Chris!)