THE BEST Art & Design

While teaching himself 3D computer animation, Mike Booth thought it might be fun to practice some techniques by recreating the opening title sequence from the 1980s animated classic ThunderCats. We think he did quite the admirable job. Check out the side-by-side comparison video here. ThunderCats, roar!

While there are lots of keyboards out there with LED backlighting, this is the first we’ve seen that puts the light show outside of the keys. Featuring an aluminum alloy case inspired by Tesla’s Cybertruck, this unique 75% mechanical keyboard has 200 programmable RGB LEDs on its back edge, along with hot-swappable keys.

One of the great things about metal is just how recyclable it can be. In this video from Random Hands, he shows how he transformed a rusty old bolt into a shiny new lighter with a steampunk aesthetic. While the reused steel was only used for its main chamber, the additional brass pieces really give it a finished look.

Unlike other miniature crossbows, builder M.N. Projects‘ palm-size weapon features an impressive upgrade to its mechanism. It has a pair of rotating cams with a spring drive mechanism, enabling more powerful and longer launches of its tiny, but dangerously sharp metal bolts.

Teach your old books a new trick with these playful bookends that feature a duo of inflatable doggies showing off. The bubbly and joyful red pups are made from cast resin, while the angle structure is made from sheet metal for weight and stability. Each bookend measures 9.75″ L x 4.75″ W x 7.75″ H.

Making the woven metal armor known as chainmail (or “chainmaille”) is a time-consuming, laborious process. So imagine what it must be like to create a suit of chainmail armor for a giant. Blacksmith Timothy Dyck painstakingly forged 250 circles then riveted them together to make a scaled-up version fit for Paul Bunyan.

This unique piece of wood furniture from Solidhorse features a modular design that lets you adjust the heights and positions of its shelves using pegs. It comes with two serving/display shelves and two small bottle holders that are great for serving wine and other spirits. They also make a similar laptop desk and folding table.

Gadget artist Dr. Katsumoto Yuichiro demonstrates a couple of intriguing robot designs which can shape-shift themselves using a combination of telescoping arms and hinges. The first video shows a cube configuration that turns itself inside out, while the second features triangles that can flip themselves over.

How’d you like to spend your weekends in a lunar lander? Catamaran designer Kurt Hughes turned his skills towards building an earthbound structure inspired by the iconic space vehicle. His 250 sq.ft. “fishing shack” sits along the banks of the Columbia River, and is made from carbon fiber panels, plywood, and epoxy.

Since 1980, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s friend and drummer Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz has been documenting Al’s misadventures, capturing images of the world’s greatest novelty singer in the studio, on tour, and on video sets. Schwartz’s 208-page hardcover book is filled with never-before-seen photos shot between 1983 and 1986.

Back when we worked in an office, we always wanted a gavel so we could demand order in the conference room when people started talking on top of each other. Jimmy DiResta’s friend just became a federal judge, so he made him a beautiful brass gavel from scratch. We had no idea you could mill brass with a razor blade.

Russian art collective TUNDRA teamed up with display company HOLO ONE to create this hypnotic artwork. It features a series of modular, scalable persistence of vision screens which display moving patterns that highlight and reflect the space in which they are installed. The piece made its debut in Shanghai, China in July 2020.

Like to doodle? This series of online courses will help you to advance your character drawing skills. You’ll learn about the anatomy and gestures that make an image believable and accurate, along with specialized drawing styles like pinups, wild west, and more. Get lifetime access to all 11 courses in The Awesomer Shop.

BRONSON is a collaboration between the members of ODESZA and Golden Features, and the music video for Keep Moving perfectly suits the track’s industrial beats, thanks to StyleWar’s deft juggling of stock corporate videos and insane visual effects.

Artist Love Hultén pays tribute to Martin Molin and his incredible Marble Machine X project with a miniature, battery-powered version of the programmable, mechanical music maker. Since there are no blueprints for the original, Hultén based his model entirely on available video footage.

There are time-tested blacksmithing techniques for twisting metal into knot-like structures. But what if you want to tie a steel rod into an actual knot? Paul Pinto shows us how his method for making a tight overhand knot using a combination of bending, hammering, and stretching. The engine hoist trick is a good one.

There are lots of guitars out there made out of fiberglass or cast resin, but ones made out of actual glass are rare. Morningstar Glass Guitars walks us through the tricky process of building one of their very special instruments, which has both a glass body and a glass neck. The Starlight II shown here sells for $3859.

We never really thought of the Alien movies as being colorful, but now you can bring some brightness into their dreary world with this Alien coloring book. Its 80 pages are filled with terrifying and gruesome scenes of xenomorphs in their various stages, along with favorite characters like Ripley and the Nostromo’s cat, Jonesy.

Making a basic chair from straight pieces of wood isn’t that hard. But crafting something with a bent wood structure that can hold weight takes a bit more carpentry skill. Lignum shows that he’s up to the challenge, building a modern wooden chair from laminated strips of spruce formed into “U” and “L” shapes.

Ouroboros ARQ loves to build miniature structures using full-size construction techniques. Their latest project is a scale version of a suspension bridge, complete with steel-reinforced concrete pillars, and dozens of meticulously-threaded wires to support its paved roadway and guard rails.

Visual Suspect took advantage of the warped look of a 360º camera lens, and combined it with additional distortion effects to create this beautifully twisted perspective on the world around us. The film was shot in Hong Kong in stunningly crisp 8K resolution.

You can pick up the classic board game Battleship for under $30, or you could build your own from LEGO bricks. Designed by engineer Aaron Glafenhein, the Battle Brick Game set is made using 2,980 pieces, and includes two folding game boards with built in storage compartments. Show your support for the concept on LEGO Ideas.

Artist Dr.Bks Varma shows off a remarkable drawing technique, in which he takes a cotton thread saturated in india ink, and uses its tip to draw solid lines, and its edge to create feathered shading. Watch him create another string and ink portrait here.

Most cheap globes are made by forming cardboard or plastic around a mold. Maker SKM shows how he built his own cardboard globe from scratch by building a spherical skeleton, then wrapping the structure in triangular slices of paper. More impressive is the 3-axis rotating stand, built primarily from popsicle sticks formed into rings.

Model maker Boylei Hobby Time shows us how with a little creativity and skill, off-the-shelf model kits can become so much more. For this build, he took a miniature X-Wing Fighter and a duo of TIE Fighters, and brought them to life using LED filament lights to simulate lasers, and a little steel wool to create a spark effect.

Daihei Shibata created a series of visual illusions for the Japanese TV program Design Ah!, in which each scene starts off with an ordinary premise, but its outcome is very different than what you might expect. Catch the first two videos here.