May 2012 Blog Posts (214)

My longtime girlfriend Grace recently told me about a Tumblr blog that's just too cute for words. Children With Swag features young babies and kids dressed up in some pretty sweet outfits. Whether they get their sense of style from their very hip parents or just have a natural talent…

Calling all design lovers! The new London 2012 Olympic ticket designs have just been unveiled. Interpublic's brand consultancy Futurebrand incorporated pictograms designed by Someone into the tickets. They also color coded them according to venue. To reduce counterfeiting, a hologram, a barcode and the name of the booker will be printed on the ticket. Love the bright colors! What are…

Chicago firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture envision a pair of magnifcent towers shooting up into the sky of Seoul, South Korea. Aptly named Dancing Dragons, the buildings feature glass scales, which are inspired by Korean mythical dragons. Gaps between its overlapping panels feature operable vents through which air can circulate, making the skin “breathable”…

Damien Rayuela wants us to use our imaginations when viewing his series Halted Traveler. We only see the back of his subjects as they face an interesting landscape and we are left with a looming curiosity of not only what they are specifically looking at, but also what they are feeling at that particular moment.

"The term 'halted traveller' is usually associated with German romantic…

Contemporary artist Gilles Barbier's sculptural installation titled L'ivrogne, translated as The Drunk, depicts a sullen man, down on his luck. Replicated after the artist himself, the figure has a spiraling whirlwind of thoughts physically emerging from his head. The artist uses his masterfully sculpted clone to give us a glimpse into a drunkard's inner…

Three friends form the foundation of the company Ébullitions, a place that has been passionate about giant soap bubbles since 2006. Sylvain was the brains behind perfecting the bubble recipe, and Ophélie and Annaig later joined him to become a team of professional bubble makers.

The team uses custom-made wands to form all shapes and sizes, including giant…

Mario and Bowser in Mario Series

Whoever said that you can't learn important life lessons through video games hasn't seen this adorable new set by artist PaperBeatsScissors. Aptly titled "Stuff I Learned From Video Games," they are cute illustrations that feature characters we all know and love like Mario, Pikachu and Sonic. My favorite life…

Artist Manuel Felisi is interested in the concept of the dimension of time. He creates artwork that tells stories about people, places, and objects that exist or that have become collective, living memories. His installations involve a sensory experience of a space and time, while his photographs of that same installation allow the art to live on, in new form, for long periods of time.

In…

California-based artist Annie Vought is passionate about the written word and the impact that handwriting has within a historical context. Vought says, “A letter is physical confirmation of who we were at the moment it was written, or all we have left of a person or a time.” As we shift into modern day communication styles like emails, text messages, instant messages, and Twitter, the…

Korean artist Jae-Hyo Lee is known for his comprehensive works made with organic materials found in nature. The contemporary artist's pieces often utilize the natural media, reconfiguring their shape to create unnaturally manufactured creations. The works reflect the original elements' beauty in a newly stylized form. From sculptural…

Photographer Tram Tran just sent us this great photo of couple Daniel and Irene on their wedding day.

Tran worked with fellow photographer Linhberg to set up this dreamy shot that features the kissing couple, an empty parking structure and a…

Swimmer Michael Phelps

Can you believe that the 2012 Summer Olympics in London is only two months away? To get the country pumped up about our national team, photographer Lucas Jackson took these shots of our incredible athletes stretching. No Photoshop involved. As you can see, the athletes need to be in the best shape of their lives to…

You might remember French artist Daniel Firman's elephant balancing on its trunk that Alice introduced to us last year. Well, the acrobatic mammoth is back defying gravity. The sculptural installation titled Nasutamanus depicts an elephant once again performing a balancing act…

How fun! To celebrate the upcoming London 2012 Olympics, LEGO will be releasing a new set of minifigures! The Great Britain Olympic team has been immortalized with their own figures which include a brawny boxer, a stealth swimmer, relay runner, judo fighter, tactical tennis player, flexible gymnast, wondrous weightlifter, horseback rider and agile archer. Each comes with a gold medal and…

If you looked up into the sky last night, you may have witnessed an annular solar eclipse, when the moon does not completely block the sun, but leaves a fiery ring around its circumference. Also known as the Ring of Fire, it was visible from only certain parts of the world - the Chinese coast, northern Taiwan, the south of Japan, and the western United States. For American skywatchers this was particularly signifiant since it marked the first time in 18 years that an annular solar eclipse…

Originally an illustrator and designer, Peter Clark now uses a collection of various papers to form all kinds of patterned, textured artwork. The London-based artist creates collages of everything from trophies, to animals, to clothing. This particular series features various breeds of dogs, ranging from the French Bull to the Dalmatian. For each piece, Clark searches flea markets, garage…

Currently based in Bermuda, James Cooper is an artist who finds intrigue in the world below the surface of the water. He uses all kinds of props, colorful liquids, and people to create these imaginative and mysterious photographs within a tropical surrounding.

The surreal scenes involve figures submerged underwater, surrounded by vibrant clouds of color, tied to small red boxes,…

Beijing-based painter Mu Lei creates a dark and glossy world where women amassed with feathers reign. The surreal realm offers an unusual blend of dark, moody sensuality merged with video game aesthetics. It's like the unlikely crossroads where Black Swan meets…