Awesome Art & Design

Azerbaijan artist Faig Ahmed combines the Middle Eastern style of carpet making with urban art and digital media, creating pieces that look like they’re just altered images but are actually purely embroidered.

While you have to go to a fancy pastry competition here in the States to witness this art form, in Xian, China, it’s as easy as going to this street vendor, who crafts intricate candy animals by blowing into molten hot sugar.

This single purpose Tumblr takes a page from the back of Wired to envision how modern technologies and changes in social behavior might affect the warning signs we see in everyday places. We were promised jet packs.

Artist Takeshi Murata created this mind-bending illusion which appears to be a molten sphere of metal that is constantly flowing. The effect is based on a zoetrope, using strobe lights and synchronized still images. Read more here.

The Faceswap meme involves digitally switching out the faces of people and characters, transforming once familiar scenes into surreal alternative universes. We have to say that Dame Judy Dench looks pretty dapper as 007.

Walt Disney shows off an incredible invention his studio created in the 1950s – a camera which could capture multiple layers simultaneously to produce impressive background depth, a dramatic advancement in animated filmmaking.

Jessica Harrison’s Flash is a series of porcelain figurines of women in ball gowns with tattoos on their exposed skin. If you think that’s hardcore, check out her earlier work. Flash is currently on display at Galerie L.J.

Inventor Trisha Cleveland is working with Quirky in hopes of producing this set of folding mats which convert staircases into impromptu indoor slides. It’s designed for kids, but we’d like to head downstairs this way every day.

While most beer bottles end up being recycled or trashed, Russian designer Constantin Bolimond envisions durable wood and plastic bottles which could double as bowling pins once you’re done enjoying their contents.

Artist Spacewolf laser engraves cherry wood to create these totally awesome limited-edition posters. In addition to flicks like Godzilla, he’s done posters of popular TV shows like Game of Thrones and True Detective as well.

Engineers at the EPFL are working on a robot arm that can figure out how to catch objects on its own. Like humans, the robot learns through imitation and trial and error. Robot baseball is going to be short and boring.

JBF Customs made this one-off pair for Cleveland’s Got Sole. Its upper and lower halves are from different Air Max 1 releases. It also has lizard, python and sueded crocodile skin, lambskin leather and a custom painted midsole.

Pop Chart Labs not-so-scientific wall chart catalogs 303 metal bands from AC/DC to Zyklon and everyone in between. Our favorite element: Te – The Tony Danza Tapdance Experience. Seriously, has anyone heard of Zyklon?

Learn how to read over 400 basic Mandarin characters using simple illustrations which help your brain associate words with images. A great coffee table book, but also quite useful if you need to pick up the language in a hurry.

Hoang Tran creates detailed miniature sculptures by carving crayons. He often add extra colors to a piece by melting other crayons. He also accepts custom orders. You can see more of his work on his blog.

Made of fir and iron, this unique furniture can be used in three ways. Keep it flat and use it as a dining table, lock it vertically as a standard shelf, or lock it halfway through to create a leaning shelf (or impromptu ladder).