Nano Hummingbird
Named one of the “50 Best Inventions of 2011” by TIME Magazine.
AeroVironment is developing the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) under a DARPA sponsored research contract to develop a new class of air vehicle systems capable of indoor and outdoor operation. Employing biological mimicry at an extremely small scale, this unconventional aircraft could someday provide new reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities in urban environments. Continue reading »
Protest Mural
Protesters take snapshots of a mural picturing people with eye patches symbolizing protesters wounded in clashes with security forces near Tahrir Square in Cairo. (AP)
Dancing in the Streets: Vintage Movie Musicals Posters
Film producer Mike Kaplan has been an avid collector of posters of movie musicals for years. As an exhibition of his favourites goes on display in New York, he offers a guide to the cream of his collection.
Three Audrey Hepburns in a black leotard, Fred Astaire with straw hat and cane, all dancing within four adjoining circles, plus a full colour Hepburn portrait, keep this Belgian poster for the delicious Funny Face in motion. Style in the movies was never better achieved than in Stanley Donen’s toast to romance and fashion. Continue reading »
Skateboard Fashion on the Catwalk and High Street
Since the 1950s, skateboarding has been synonymous with surf culture, slacker kids and an anti-mainstream culture. Fast forward to 2011 and the baggy jeans, sneakers and caps that have become the skateboarder’s uniform have made their way to the catwalk.
From Martine Rose’s Spring Summer 2012 collection, her seventh season. This collection featured a collaboration with Icon Brand. Continue reading »
Skeleton Key
This Skeleton Key is a highly versatile precision mini-tool made in the USA by Triple Aught Design from a solid 6AL-4V Titanium billet. There are two variations available – Spanner and E-Key. The Spanner version is specialized for Strider pivots and our E-Key version is for electronic locks that usually require coins to unlock. Both variations are capable of removing a pestering nail or opening a cold drink. This tool will surely become an instrument for every day carry. Continue reading »
‘Give U My Heart’ Ring by Innopark
‘Give you my heart’ ring by Hong Kong’s Innopark design studio. Two well-placed cuts cleverly transform the continuity of a sterling silver band into a small inset heart shape, left either unfinished or plated in red. Material: sterling silver 925 with platinum plating. Continue reading »
Awesome and Free Birdy Twitter Icons
“After a huge success that we had with Ugly Birds for Twitter we have decided to continue development of icons that our users could use for Twitter. This time we’ve decided to cover all possible styles and implement them on the same bird’s shape. This is what we’ve come up with so far, but it is work in progress and we would like to extend this list, so if you have ideas for other interesting styles that we haven’t covered yet, do send us a tweet @designcontests and we may include it into the next release.” Continue reading »
Sand Portrait of Ponce de Leon
Mark Mason of Sarasota works on a St. Augustine-themed sand sculpture with a bust of Ponce de Leon at the West Palm Beach Waterfront Commons on Saturday. Mason’s company, Team Sandtastic, had four sand sculptors working on multiple sculptures throughout downtown West Palm Beach as part of the city’s Hot Cocoa Beach holiday festivities. “It’s a fast medium from conception to finish,” said Mason when he explained the sculpting process to onlookers. (Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post)
iPhone Alarm Dock
That’s no ordinary cell phone you’re using. It’s a space age, multi-tasking, micro-computing, futuristic wonder. But once they’re out of your purse or pocket, too many iPhones become nothing more than fancy paperweights. Continue reading »
The Tipping Point
Inclined to have a cup of tea? This 2011 Red Dot Design winner will turn your break into a meditative escape, steeped in contemporary style. The teacup has an unusual angled bottom that allows it to rest in two different positions. On one side is a screened compartment in which you place your favorite loose tea leaves. Pour hot water through the screen and allow it to steep. Once it’s done, simply tip the cup in the other direction, lifting the leaves up out of the water. Continue reading »
The Space Hotel
Like a scene from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, it looks like there’s a UFO landing in this forest. But far from being an opportunity to meet E.T. or the martians, it’s actually a place to sleep. That’s because the bizarre retro-looking 50s-style flying saucer situated near the town of Harads, Sweden, is actually a HOTEL. (Daily Mail Reporter) Continue reading »
One Snappy Dresser
Staff at a salon Down Under have given a particularly scaly customer a ‘bikini wax’ and full body exfoliation. In a bizarre bid to show off their skills to potential new customers, they plucked and pedicured a crocodile.
Now this might sting: Louanne Grasmeder gives the croc a waxing at the Parap Day Spa in Darwin. Continue reading »
Artist Creates Amazing Picture from Cake Decorations
Joel Brochu, a fine art student meticulously created the piece using 221,184 coloured sugary balls usually used on cakes and ice cream. The Canadian artist said he used double-sided sticky tape to attach the myriad of sprinkles to a board using a customised template.
Shower of sprinkles: Artist Joel Brochu created a work of art that appears as a high definition photograph however it was created using thousands of sprinkles. Continue reading »
The Marvellous Miniatures on Display in a Doll’s House
Karon Cunningham, owner of a miniatures shop in Bath, uses the doll’s house, below, to showcase some of her wares – each with an amazing attention to detail and period design.
Twelve rooms, illuminated by tiny LED strip lights in Karon Cunningham’s show cabinet in her Bath shop, show the various ways miniatures can be displayed. Continue reading »
Crucifixion by the Romans
A Christie’s auction house worker poses for photographers sitting in front of a 1887 painting by Vasily Vereshchagin, entitled ”Crucifixion by the Romans’ in London, Britain. The painting will be part of Christie’s Russian Art Sale on November 28, 2011. (AP)
LEGO Christmas Tree
Duncan Titmarsh, the UK’s only LEGO Certified Professional, places the star on top of a Christmas tree made entirely out of LEGO at St Pancras International. The tree is 12.2 metres high, is made up of 600,000 LEGO Bricks, and has 172 branches and 1200 baubles. (David Parry/PA) Continue reading »
Hand-Made Road Sign
A frustrated homeowner has painted a 15ft road sign on the side of his house because he became tired of speeding cars racing through his village. Tim Backhouse, 47, spent five hours painting the sign after he had repeatedly written to the Highways Agency asking for a review of speeding on the road outside his home. The father-of-three finally snapped and with the help of a friend designed and painted the mural on the side of his four-bedroomed semi-detached house. The house is situated on a busy main road on the side of the A3072 in Bow, near Crediton, Devon. (Adam Gray / SWNS.com)
Season Food Styling
Andrea Bricco and food stylist Diana Perrin depict the changing seasons through the medium of food, with spring, summer, autumn and winter created using ingredients ranging from blue cheese for the ocean to sliced lemon for the summer sun. (Andrea Bricco/Diana Perrin / Rex Features)
Elf Sculpture made from Engine Parts
An elf sculpture made from engine parts by Tom Samui. The Swiss artist has created hundreds of sculptures and statues made entirely from scrap car parts. Tom Samui and his team of 15 people spend hundreds of hours building sculptures of animals, vehicles, people, fantasy creatures and furniture. (Tom Samui / Rex Features)
Skin Rug Made of more than 500,000 Cigarettes
Chinese artist Xu Bing’s tiger skin rug art work made of more than 500,000 individual cigarettes is pictured in Richmond, Virginia. (Xu Bing / Barcroft USA) Continue reading »
Golden Christmas Tree
An employee of Japanese jeweller Tanaka Kikinzoku unveils a 150 million yen (£1.24 million) Christmas tree which will be on display till Christmas Day at the company’s main shop. The 2.4 metre tall Christmas tree is decorated with heart and orchid shaped ornaments, ribbons and a star made of gold. (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)
Artist’s 5,000 Lightbulbs Brighten up an English Winter
Ed Manders makes final adjustments to lighting artist Bruce Munro’s latest installation ‘Field of Light’ in the grounds of the Holbourne Musuem on November 23 in Bath, England. (Matt Cardy / Getty Images) Continue reading »
Alien Bar
MUSEUM HR GIGER BAR
in Château St. Germain, Gruyères, Switzerland
The interior of the otherworldly environment that is the H.R. Giger Museum Bar is a cavernous, skeletal structure covered by double arches of vertebrae that crisscross the vaulted ceiling of an ancient castle. The sensation of being in this extraordinary setting recalls the tale of Jonah and the whale, lending the feel of being literally in the belly of a fossilized, prehistoric beast, or that you have been transported into the remains of a mutated future civilization. Continue reading »
Steaming Ahead, the 180-Year-Old Toy Train that’s the Oldest in the World
A rudimentary model of Stephenson’s Rocket that was made by a father for his son after seeing it chug past their home has emerged as the oldest toy train in the world. The simple wooden toy was hand-crafted out of scraps of wood by the loving dad who whittled them into the shape of the legendary steam locomotive.
Made from sight in the late 1820s or early 1830s, the model is almost as old as the first real locomotives. The ten-inch long toy has four wheels attached to a block of wood, a cylindrical piece that may have been a stair banister for the boiler and a chair leg for the iconic blast pipe. (Daily Mail Reporter)
Sarasota Chalk Festival 2011: Best International Artwork
The Sarasota Chalk Festival, an annual international street art exhibit and competition in Sarasota, Fla., closed on Nov. 7, 2011 after a week of events, and this year, latecomers were in for an unwelcome surprise. For the first time ever, Sarasota officials were spraying down the sidewalks the day after the 2011 festival, erasing the hundreds of chalk traditional, mosaic and 3D artworks created by artists from around the world.
Juandres Vera, of Mexico, finishes his submission for the 3D Pavement Art category at the 2011 Sarasota international Chalk Festival. Continue reading »
