THE BEST Art & Design

This fan-built LEGO Godzilla is truly impressive. It took Frenchy Bricks Junky about 4 months to put together this 4,000-piece monster, with its awesome scaly texture. You can purchase the building plans from Rebrickable for about $20 – bricks not included, naturally.

Inspired by an early 20th-century project in which artists predicted the future, Playing Arts invited dozens of artists to do the same for the year 2120. The unique and colorful images come printed on premium playing cards and work in concert with an augmented reality app to bring some of the designs to life. View all card designs here.

A few years back, maker Peter Brown created a set of coasters that he cast from bubble wrap. He’s decided to revisit the project now that he’s got more experience with resin, and the new ones look even more frustratingly realistic than the originals – at least before he added the colored resin.

Add some pizzazz to your dining table with this modern flatware. This stainless steel cutlery features a playful form that looks like it was sketched out of metal, while a built-in notch lets you lean them on the edge of a bowl or drying rack. Available in black, gold, silver, rose gold, or rainbow finishes. Sold in individual place settings.

We love how the light shows through this unique musical instrument that Burls Art made by carefully cutting, routing and sanding blocks of pink Himalayan rock salt to form its body. It also gives new meaning to the phrase “guitar licks.”

Machine learning technology continues to get more and more impressive – especially when it comes to working with images. A group of researchers from China are showing off DeepFaceDrawing, an amazing piece of software which can synthesize photorealistic human faces using nothing more than a rough pencil sketch.

Using an ordinary computer keyboard as a starting point, maker SKM managed to create a fully-functional keyboard that’s made out of cardboard and popsicle sticks. We’re not sure how long it will last, but it’s definitely more functional than his cardboard mechanical typewriter.

The spice might be life in Dune, but on this alien’s world, it’s sugar that reigns supreme. This animated short follows the story of an extraterrestrial on a quest to bring the critical condiment back to his home planet in hopes of saving it. Created by Ilya Landshut for HumanArtStudio.

These unique tiki mugs feature imagery of the grim reaper as a reminder to enjoy the splendor and riches of life before we meet our maker. Designed by Becky Cloonan and sculpted by Tufan Sezer and Mike Bonanno for Mondo. Choose from Mortuus, Exsanguine, or tan monochrome variants.

This updated version of Jackson Robinson’s currency-inspired Federal 52 playing cards includes a mix of the artist’s favorite court card designs and artwork from previous special edition decks. We absolutely love the engraved look of the imagery, which includes Jokers that form a scene of Washington crossing the Delaware.

Artist Basil Wolverton was known for his amazingly offbeat illustrations that blended science fiction, fantasy, and humor. The books Creeping Death from Neptune and Brain Bats of Venus chronicle his work from 1909 to 1952, during which time his images were published by everyone from Marvel to MAD Magazine.

While stuck home during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to try and vary your days and mix things. up. In Jan Riesenbeck and Dennis Stein-Schomburg’s strange short film, a man explores the importance of breaking out of routines, while his floating head transforms into some of the many thoughts he expresses.

Artist Pete Betcher of The BKPK Shop makes all kinds of cool and geeky objects for the home. Among them is this illuminated wall art which looks like a modernist Death Star. It’s made from baltic birch plywood and acrylic, and casts cool shadows onto the wall around it. Measures 11″ across, and takes a 40w candelabra bulb.

Swiss artist Simon Berger creates portraits by shattering glass. His technique involves gently hammering away at a sheet of laminated safety glass, which holds together the pieces as his finished image comes into view. Watch him create another of his smashing portraits here.

Just because something is a commercial doesn’t mean it can’t be a work of art. This clip from director Henry Scholfield and Mathematic Studio for Indonesia ride hailing and tech company Gojek is proof positive of that. For all 60-seconds the clip is on screen, it will fill your eyes with magical, VFX-powered sensory overload.

Andres Amador makes amazing artworks on a grand scale that are visible from the sky. But all he needs to create his complex geometric patterns are some rakes and a damp, sandy beach. WIRED’s Obsessed introduces us to the artist to get inside of his head, and how he makes peace with the temporary nature of his work.

Pop Chart’s “Spirited Schematic of Mixed Drinks” is a wonderful piece of wall art for any home bar. It’s packed with illustrations of 120 cocktails, with each one visually broken down to its ingredients and quantities. The print measures 24″ x 36″, and is also available mounted on a birch plywood panel.

We love how builder Laura Kampf is creates objects that are both thoughtful in their function and design. Her latest project is a curved wooden cabinet with a turntable and amplifier shelf, plenty of cubbies for storing records, and spaces for speakers that tuck neatly behind grille cloth.

Inspired by The Seven Deadly Sins manga and Netflix show, Matt and Ilya of That Works created a real-world replica of King’s imposing Spirit Spear Chastiefol. If you love blacksmithing videos, this one is well worth a watch, as it’s packed with satisfying footage of power hammering, punching, grinding, and brazing.

British artist James Cook specializes in what is basically a primitive version of ASCII art. Rather than digitizing an image and using a computer to print images, he types them out one key at a time using vintage manual typewriters.

Pens are usually made from metal or plastic, but 22STUDIO’s unique model has an outer case made from cast concrete. Its name reflects its deeply contoured edges, which provide a nice tactile feeling and grip. Available in two shades of gray and white.

Brooklyn artist James Haggerty creates images using staples as his medium. After wowing us with his Star Wars series, he made an incredible portrait of their family dog, Doxie. The finished piece is made from 75,738 staples in a variety of colors. We love how he arranged the staples to create the hair texture.

Ceramic artist Stepanka Summer creates unique porcelain tumblers and mugs embossed with lettering that allows light to show through. The creamy white tumblers come with numbers, Xs and Os, or Love lettering, while the mugs simply send a message of love.

Filmmaker Yiannis Biliris and Visual Suspect offer a trippy new perspective on the world. By digitally manipulating footage of automotive traffic into complex repeating patterns, they visualize “the arteries and veins” of an imagined mega-metropolis.

Looking for another fun project to do at home? Artist Mathieu Stern shows us how to use digital photo software plus a couple of specialty chemicals to make your own unique cyanotype prints at home. You can get the chemicals or pre-treated fabric sheets on Amazon or Blick Art Supplies.

Eugene Koksharov and Anna Dobrunova of Russia’s Art Brothers Glass created this fantastic tribute to the characters of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. A customer commissioned this extraordinary handmade stained glass window, but they’d be happy to create a custom piece just for you.