For years, Tokyo’s Akihabara district was home to one of the most amazing little shops. But after 43 years in business, Koichi Shimayama shuttered his tiny electronics shop under the tracks. After being gifted the remnants of the shop, Norm Nakamura from Toyko Lens (with the help of his supporters) paid a crew to dismantle and rebuild it inside his studio.
3D printing expert Lee David came across this cool design for a mechanical drink coaster. KrakDrag’s Mug Trap is based on the design of an animal trap, except instead of trapping bears, it traps beverages. When you place your cup, can, or mug on its center, its jaws clamp down on your drink. You can download the STL files to print your own on Cults 3D.
Hypno Motion makes stop-motion animation. In this short clip, they took some brick-built LEGO chicken legs, battered them up in 1×1 bricks, and fried them in a pot. Of course, you can’t have fried chicken without a side dish, so they also cooked up some french fries. Their Hidden Patterns Inside video series is a fascinating watch, too.
Game show fans will love this mini version of the Showcase Showdown wheel from The Price Is Right. A&M 3D Prints and More lovingly crafts this accurate replica of the iconic set piece. The set includes a spinning wheel, base, arrow, and four walls, while the “lite” version is just the wheel with a small base. Serious TPIR fans will want all the games.
Because Adam at North of the Border can’t get enough Mario, he decided to work up sculptures of some of the franchise’s many monsters. Though his “realistic” versions of Boo, Blooper, Piranha Plant, and a group of Goombas are the stuff of nightmares. Adding pointy teeth to stuff is always guaranteed to up the creepy factor.
This jewelry artist shows how they made an articulated snake bracelet using metal from coins. They started by slicing the golden coins into a zig-zag pattern and then flattened them into a wire. After that, they bent the wires into the bracelet’s woven links, melted down and carved other scrap jewelry to form the head and tail of the snake.
Weapons are usually built from durable materials like metal or plastic, but The S built this one primarily from cardboard. The oversize toy blaster fires plastic balls and uses a corkscrew to feed them into its motorized chamber for launching. Bonus points for incorporating those flip-flops into the firing mechanism.
There are chefs with knife skills, then there’s Ryota Togishi. In this clip, the kitchen blademaster shows off his skills by cutting impossibly thin slices of bread, tomato, cucumber, and bacon. An extra-sharp Japanese knife certainly helps, but it also takes incredible dexterity to cut with such precision.
Field Notes teamed up with renowned Minneapolis printer Studio on Fire to create these hot-foil stamped memo books. They feature fencing-inspired artwork by Aaron Draplin stamped in silver foil on Indigo blue cover stock. The set of three notebooks comes packed in a silver paper tuck box with blue foil. Field Notes subscribers get a bonus gold and red edition.
Artist Eric Blackwell makes unique home decorations, mostly using upcycled scraps from a guitar factory. His collection includes these cool wooden clocks that incorporate mid-century modern aesthetics, including starbursts, satellites, and abstract shapes inspired by Googie architecture. In his Etsy Shop, you’ll find a mix of tabletop, mantel, and wall clocks.
UK printmaker Dorothy and artist Malik Thomas teamed up to create this large-format A0 (33.1″ x 46.8″) digital print, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop. Its giant boombox is filled with iconic moments and musicians, including Grandmaster Flash, Run-D.M.C., Sugarhill Gang, Beastie Boys, Salt-N-Pepa, De La Soul, Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, and many more.
Mathematician and maker Henry Segerman shows off more of his fascinating interactive mechanisms. This series of interlocking straight gears uses a rack-and-pinion mechanism to transmit motion. Henry posted the models to 3D print your own recursive racks on Printables.
Tears of the Kingdom and Katamari Damacy have a few things in common, like gathering objects to create more complex ones. That inspired Studson Studio to combine the two games into one epic diorama. He gathered some characters and Zonai objects from TotK, rolled them into a jumbo Katamari, and then made a combo of Link and The Prince.
(Flashing images) Filmmaker Conner Griffith created this riveting short video from public domain images found on Wikimedia Commons. It starts with a single-cell organism, and as each frame advances, the subjects evolve into larger and increasingly complex things. Conner’s 2023 showreel is also well worth a watch.
For the art installation, Colapso in Bilbao, Spain, SpY created this simple yet effective display. Sitting inside a cube, a 10-meter balloon gradually inflated over four days. When the balloon burst, it revealed it was filled with colored smoke. The cloud lingered for only a few seconds but produced the perfect red sphere captured in this slow-motion video.
After making a computer desk with a terrarium inside, Tanner from SerpaDesign went all-out with his latest creation. He built this waterfall-edge coffee table from live-edge pine boards and incorporated a terrarium with living plants and a working waterfall. Hopefully, the epoxy and fiberglass will hold up to the moisture and plant life for a long time.
This drink coaster commemorates the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Concord Aerospace is making a limited number of these slate coasters, printed with a micro-scale recreation of the Sea of Tranquility. Look carefully, and you’ll see the Eagle lunar module, U.S. flag, and other details on the lunar surface. A magnet on back lets you display it on your fridge.
Artist Alain Biet created this mindblowing short film, which starts out with an artist painting an image of a pencil. As soon as he’s done with that one, more everyday objects start appearing and accumulating until the frame is completely filled. We can’t imagine how long it took Alain to create all 8,000 watercolor paintings. Music by Yan Volsy + Pablo Pico
Master of Chocolate Amaury Guichon shows off one of his most impressive creations yet, a larger-than-life teddy bear. He built the 5-foot-tall, 150-pound bear using a giant egg-shaped mold for its belly, rolling cylinders of chocolate for its arms, and sculpting other body parts using water-filled balloons as forms. The zipper teeth were cut using a waterjet.
These artful ceramic cups are perfect for enjoying a small espresso or cappuccino drink. The conical cups each sit on a small stone base and hold 100 ml (appx. 3.4 oz.) of hot liquid. They come in a variety of colorful finishes for a mix-and-match palette. Kyoto Kitchenware also sells a larger 200 ml size.
LEGO brings the iconic supersonic jet, the Concorde, to life with a fantastic 2083-piece kit. The brick-built model looks like the real airplane, with a tilting nose and tail landing gear. Under its roof, you’ll find a micro-scale cabin, complete with seating. The finished plane measures 42″ long with a 17″ wingspan. Comes with a display stand and an information plaque.
LEGO builder ScottMakesMOCs spent an unfathomable amount of time creating this Mario Kart roller coaster. The intricate build includes Kart-inspired cars, Bowser’s castle, an airship, and lots of characters and details from the Nintendo game. He’s recently built an expansion to the theme park, and Beyond the Brick has a great interview video.
This 432-page hardcover book from Taschen explores the origins and evolution of iconic corporate logos. Graphic designers and history buffs will love exploring the more than 6000 logo designs from the 1800s to the 1940s, some of which are still in use today. It’s a great source of creative inspiration too.