How much more welcoming would a city environment seem if it were filled with friendly creatures? German artist Timm Schneider is filling Weisbaden with very strange beings that are not only unexpected, but also completely lovable.

(all images via: Timm Schneider)

Timm Schneider is a graphic designer who found that his job sometimes left him short on artistic fulfillment. To soothe his creative soul, he began creating street art. Graffiti was too limited for him, but he eventually stumbled onto the type of urban intervention that delighted him and his neighbors.

Schneider’s project is deceptively simple: he makes eyeballs out of styrofoam spheres and sticks them onto inanimate objects, making them look like creatures rather than things.

His art can be seen all throughout his city, adorning everything from public fixtures to products in shops to waste bins on the street. Once the little eyes are stuck onto something, that object is instantly transformed into something lovable and silly.

This type of urban intervention has helped to satisfy Schneider’s need for meaningful art, but it also helps viewers to shift their perceptions ever so slightly.

Instead of walking by an object and tuning it out like we do so often, Schneider’s interventions encourage people to slow down, take notice and see their surroundings in an entirely new light – even if it is only for a moment.

The newly-invented personalities taken on by these urban objects might cause a smile on the face of a city dweller, and for Schneider that is what matters. His interventions are all about pushing the world in the right direction…one pair of googly eyes at a time.

(via weburbanist)

Logo Lounge, for the past nine years, has posted annual logo design trend reports and they have just released the 2011 logo design trends report. I would love to hear your thoughts on the showcased trends.

Do these identity / branding trends effect you or your process? Do you agree with these suggestions? Have you noticed any other trends?

• Logo Lounge: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
• Disucssion on JCD: 2011 | 2010 | 2009

Disclaimer

On this topic of trends, one should not follow trends for the sake of following them. As Bill Gardner points out:

Every year, it’s worth noting that this is a report on trends, not a recipe book of styles. It is also not a finite list: There are other valid trends out there that are not mentioned here.

The report should serve you as an ongoing view of where logo design is headed. The word “trends” in itself can have a very negative cast, but in truth, trends aren’t bad. They reveal our growth. It’s our take on them that allows us to move even further forward.

2011 Logo Design Trends

Gradients

Juvi

Vibrate

O

Earth

Monoline

Series

Brown

Dandruff

Concentric

Loopys

Banded

Comma

Buckys

Fruit

Back Again

Isometric

Blackhole

PickUpSticks

Reactive

Medallions

Do these identity / branding trends effect you or your process? Do you agree with these suggestions? Have you noticed any other trends?’

© Artwork shown is copyright of their respective owners. Designer’s names & clients can be found on the original posting linked above. Original compilation by Bill Gardner.

(from justcreativedesign)

In 1988 the british artist Paul Middlewick started seeing something else but subway plans in the Londonian underground. He took a second look at those maps and saw a forrest. In fact he saw many and many animals formed by lines and dots that actually make the subway map. From Dogs to parrots, passing elephants or turtle, they’re practically all there. He then started drawing them and these were pretty successful. He nows sells all of these Subway Animals on his own website called Animals on the underground.

Subway Animals – Bird

Subway Animals – Cat

Subway Animals – Chicken

Subway Animals – Deer

Subway Animals – Dino

Subway Animals – Dog

Subway Animals – Dog

Subway Animals – Elephant

Subway Animals – Fish

Subway Animals – Fox

Subway Animals – Ostrich

Subway Animals – Parrot

Subway Animals – Penguin

Subway Animals – Pig

Subway Animals – Rihno

Subway Animals – Turtle

Subway Animals – WoodPecker

(from whitezine)

I am LOVING Irina Werning‘s brilliant photo series ‘Back To The Future’. What a cool idea! And it’s good that this is an ongoing series, because I could keep looking and looking with fascination.

Irina Werning is a photographer born, and currently living in Buenos Aires.

Came across this project today called ‘Back to the Future’ by photographer Irina Werning and just had to share. I think its quite genius.

I love old photos. I admit being a nosey photographer. As soon as I step into someone else’s house, I start sniffing for them. Most of us are fascinated by their retro look but to me, it’s imagining how people would feel and look like if they were to reenact them today… A few months ago, I decided to actually do this. So, with my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future.

What have you seen, lively crabs, smart foxes, cute pandas, and other kinds of animals? Not exactly, because what is shown here is merely one thing: lips, and of course coming with various patterns. Isn’t that incredible, our lips now can create impressive paintings too?!

Posted from .

The Meera House was designed by Guz Architects and is located on the island of Sentosa in Singapore. We consider it a daring and original project- after all, not many homes feature green spaces for every floor of the building. Here is a short description from the architects: The plots on the island of Sentosa are not large and neighboring buildings are built close to the sides of each house. Thus our strategy was to build a solid wall to each side neighbor to provide privacy where possible,  while creating a central light and stair well which would funnel the sea breeze through the centre of the building.

The front and rear of the building meanwhile, terrace back allowing each storey to have visual or actual access to greenery. The intention was to try to allow each roof garden provided a base for the storey above allowing the layered effect to make each storey feel like it was a single storey dwelling sitting in a garden…..as much as we could do in the close confines of Sentosa island and with such a large building!! What a wonderful architecture idea and a call to sustainability as well ! (Photographer: Patrick Bingham Hall)

(from freshome)

Posted from .

Posted from .

Hengki Koentjoro was born in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, in 1963. He is a graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California where he majored in film. He now lives in Jakarta where he specializes in fine art photography both underwater and on land.

Posted from .

Guerilla marketing catches one by surprise, and instantly generates a ripple effect through the most coveted advertising holy grail: word of mouth. When cars, such a large part of our typical lives, are thrown into unique and wild advertising campaigns it’s difficult not to tell one’s friends.

(Images via core77, artculture, graphics, kosmograd)

Wireframes models are indispensable to car designers, enabling them to manipulate the shape of vehicles before they’re created. How cutting edge would a new car have to be to escape the confines of the computer before it’s even able to be produced? It’s possible a random side street holds the answer.

(Images via omgbestru4realz, paid4space, hastalacreative, mactalk, designboom, jetsetta)

Smartcars are not known for fulfilling the typical American car values: Power, Looks, and Size, but it’s hard not to be won over when they own their small size as their biggest asset. Creative advertising equate their economical qualities as similar to that of a bicycle, and their small size is accentuated by being showcased in oversized vending machines.

(Images via theinspirationroom, toxel)

Just try slipping this into the shopping cart without the wife seeing… It looks like someone managed to fit this full sized Alfa Romero into a typical shopping cart, though it definitely didn’t escape notice.

(Images via theinspirationroom, funniest-commercials)

When would someone least expect a car advertisement? When they’re moseying down the beach looking for shells to add to their collection. To add to the unexpectedness of such an encounter, these sand sculptures are sure to trigger the ecologically minded subconscious into relating these cars to nature.

(Images via businesspundit, guerillasushi, guerillapromos, guerrillasushi)

One of the few things worse for a car than getting a deep scratch, is getting an overzealous paint job. Throwing paint liberally onto a car is a great way to accentuate an advertisement that’s straining to exceed its boundaries, and an even better way to get tags wagging.

(Images via transportspecs, tomgooday, adsoftheworld)

The best guerilla ad campaigns are temporary, but thanks to the elephantine memory of the internet, the best campaigns live on. One can’t get much more temporary than cars carved to the last detail out of ice, casually parallel parked on a typical city street.

(Images via coloribus, gdpsu, francescomugnai, graphicdesignatl)

A billboard is most effective when it’s parked in front of one’s door. There’s a lot more room for creativity when an ad isn’t stuck in a rectangular shape hanging high above the road. One example of great (though inefficient) marketing, are the empty wheel well graphics that say “got insurance?” on the other side.

(Images via toxel, whatsalltheracquet, weedguru, paper-plane)

What’s more fun than crushing a car? Nothing. That’s why it’s one of the most effective and eye catching ways to advertise a product. These products may not be larger than life, but at least they’re larger than a car.

(Images via worldphotocollections, worldphotocollections, hotfunnynews, cartype)

Sometimes it’s hard to take the billboard out of an ad campaign, so why not spice it up with a life sized vehicle? Adding a little bit of flair isn’t conventional, especially when an ad campaign goes a little overboard.

(Images via dailyshite, adsoftheworld)

Guerilla campaigns don’t only involve cars when new cars are involved. A great message can be passed along and a little creativity doesn’t hurt.

(Images via norcalminis, restartithere)

Mobile guerilla advertising bring the show on the road, catching eyes and proving a point with every mile driven and every passenger’s attention caught. It’s little doubt guerilla campaigns are the best way to get people interested, though it’s doubtlessly too expensive to do on as large a scale as companies would like.

(from weburbanist)

Advertising vs. Reality…

Your head spins, your stomach clenches, your heart pounds furiously. You’re thousands of feet above the ground with nothing but glass keeping you from teetering over the edge in a lengthy and final fall. Do you have the guts to look down? Hundreds of feet in the air, these 13 tower platforms and observation decks – often with transparent floors – offer absolutely breathtaking views of cities like Shanghai and landscape features like the Grand Canyon.

Burj Khalifa Observation Deck, Dubai

(images via: unique buildings, mithunonthe.net, le grand portage)

You’re never going to get a higher vantage point from a free-standing structure than that attainable at the Burj Khalifa observation deck in Dubai. Unless, that is, somebody builds a structure even taller than this world-record tower, which reaches half a mile into the air. The observation deck is on the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa (formerly known as the Burj Dubai) and on a clear day, it provides absolutely jaw-dropping views of practically the whole of the United Arab Emirates.

Stockholm SkyView at the Ericcson Globe

(images via: globearenas.se)

You’ll literally feel on top of the globe when you hitch a ride in one of the glass ‘gondolas’ at Stockholm Skyview, a moving observation deck that travels up two sets of rails on the exterior of the Ericcson Globe Arena in Sweden. Each gondola can take 16 people over 426 feet into the air for an unforgettable view of the city of Stockholm.

Top of Tyrol, Austria

(images via: aste architecture)

Virtually invisible against the snow in the winter, ‘Top of Tyrol’ was designed to blend seamlessly into its environment and provide a vantage point that most people couldn’t achieve without some serious mountain climbing abilities. Designed by Aste Architecture, Top of Tyrol cantilevers nearly 30 feet out from the pinnacle of Austria’s Mount Isidor, about 10,500 feet above the ground.

Shanghai World Financial Center, China

(images via: kanegan, bernt rostad, le grand portage)

Before the Burj Khalifa came along and shattered all kinds of records, the observation deck at the Shanghai World Financial Center was about as high as it got. The glass observation corridor, which spans the summit of the building, is half a kilometer in the air – but the faint(ish) of heart can still get a thrill by checking out lower decks on the 94th and 97th floors instead.

Five Fingers Viewing Platform, Austria

(images via: goldenrochs.at)

Get five different views with five different features in each jetty of ‘Five Fingers’, a viewing platform in the Austrian Alps. The first has a picture frame for souvenir shots, the second a glass floor for that vertiginous feeling, the third a trampoline for the foolhardy (this one is only open for special events, lest tourists bounce themselves right over the cliff), the fourth a hole in the floor to peek through and the fifth, a telescope.

Sands Skypark, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

(images via: marinabaysands.com)

On the top of three skyscrapers, 656 feet in the air, Singapore boasts a 1,246-foot-long rooftop deck by architect Moshe Safdie offering an incredible view of Marina Bay. The curving Sands Skypark is shaped like a ship and equivalent in size to the Eiffel Tower laid on its side. Among its most notable features is a 150-meter-long infinity swimming pool, which makes guests feel like they could swim right over the edge.

Landscape Promontory, Switzerland

(images via: etienne deffinis, architonic)

Designed by Paolo Burgi, Landscape Promontory is a suspended metal platform that almost looks like an insanely oversized, modern version of a carnival ride – except that it (thankfully) doesn’t move. The viewing platform extends out from Cardada mountain in Switzerland and is marked with symbols and explanations that tell of local history and literature.

Willis Tower Skydeck, Chicago

(images via: charlotte speaks)

Step out onto the deck of the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower ‘Skydeck’ – an enclosed balcony made almost entirely of glass – and you’ll feel, for a moment, as if you’re about to hurtle to a rather unpleasant death on the streets below. Or perhaps, if you’re the brave type, the height won’t phase you at all and you’ll just be completely entranced by an unparalleled, uninterrupted view of the Chicago skyline.

Aurland Lookout, Norway

(images via: todd saunders)

You know that stomach-clutching, heart-in-your-throat sensation you get on roller coasters just as you’re coming up to the edge of a terrifyingly steep drop? That moment is drawn out indefinitely at the Aurland Lookout in Norway, a stunning wooden overlook that puts nothing but a sheet of plate glass between you and the countryside below. Designed by Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen, the minimalist structure celebrates the region’s natural beauty and exemplifies its spare, modern design sense.

Eureka Skydeck, Melbourne

(images via: eurekaskydeck.com)

They named this thing ‘Eureka’ for a reason – it’s about the tamest exclamation that would emerge from your mouth as you walk out onto it. As you look down through the glass floor, you become acutely aware of the fact that you’re nearly 1,000 feet above street level. Jutting 9 feet out the side of the building, the Skydeck offers the highest public vantage point in a building in the Southern Hemisphere.

Grand Canyon Skywalk, Arizona

(images via: vistor.com)

Stepping out onto the Grand Canyon Skywalk is probably the closest you’ll ever get to walking on air. The U-shaped walkway, considered quite a feat of engineering (or an over-developed eyesore, depending on your viewpoint), extends 66 feet from the canyon’s edge and its two-inch-thick glass floor lets you gaze down 3,600 feet to the canyon floor below.

House on the Rock Infinity Room, Wisconsin

(images via: panaramio, gadling)

As you emerge from the cluttered depths of one of America’s most bizarre roadside attractions, The House on the Rock, you can clear your head on a cantilevered viewing platform that extends 218 feet over the forest floor. Once you reach the end of the ‘Infinity Room’, which has 3,264 windows, you can look out the final pane of glass, which is set into the floor at the tip.

i360 Tower, Brighton, UK

(images via: e-architect.co.uk)

England’s Brighton Beach will get a 600-foot needle tower with a circular glass viewing platform that can hold 125 people, following years of delays. The i360 Tower – which might get a name change by the time it’s complete – is set to become Britain’s highest observation tower, granting 360-degree views of the coast.

When snow begins to pile up, snow plows head out to take it down. These glorified power shovels are a triumph of basic technology against the forces of nature, and even then there’s room for adaptation, customization and decoration. So clear the way for these 10 cool cutting edge snow plows… or better yet, let THEM do it for you!

Porsche 968 Snow Plow

(images via: Eastbounddown and Pelican Parts Forums)

Ever wonder what the snow plow driver drives? No, it’s not a shop… but the Porsche 968 Snowplow isn’t exactly what it appears to be, either. “In honor of April Fools Day, each April I write my column about something humorous,” explains Bruce Corwin, owner of the 968 above. “One year I took the snowplow off a friend’s truck and parked my 968 behind the plow. I took a few photos that looked like the plow was attached to the front of the Porsche and wrote a column about the Porsche ‘snowplow option’.”

(image via: Found Shit)

We’re guessing the Corvette Snow Plow above was “constructed” along the same lines, though the flashing orange light on the roof is a nice touch.

Roofus Radio-Controlled Robot Snow Plow

(images via: ConceptPop and Gizmodo)

Meet Roofus, the Radio-Controlled Robotic Snow Plow who’s gonna tell ya somethin’ good: plowing your driveway just got as easy as playing a video game! Shiny orangeRoofus was originally designed to clear snow from roofs – hence the name – but snow is snow and Roofus just eats it up. Roofus rides on twin caterpillar tracks and packs two electric motors plus a gasoline engine – it’s Mr. Freeze’s Prius! Bolt on some peripheral attachments and Roofus can mow your lawn, sweep the drive and more… actually, YOU can, by just flexing your thumbs.

Russian Jet-Powered Snow Plows

(images via: Mileanhour and Dark Roasted Blend)

When General Winter gets all ornery-like and threatens to put the kibosh on your holiday travel plans, who ya gonna call? Snow Busters!… now equipped with Klimov VK-1 jet engines upcycled from Red Army surplus MiG-15 fighter planes. These bizarre jet trucks are used in Russia and the former Eastern Bloc to clear snow off airport runways and, on occasion, de-ice airliners. If you thought flying Aeroflot sucked, guess what? It blows, too.

(image via: Dark Roasted Blend)

Train tracks also get the blow-dry treatment in eastern Europe, as the makeshift snowblower above illustrates. Now that’s one loco locomotive!

Yuki-Taro Robotic Snow Plow

(images via: Pink Tentacle and Geekologie)

Anyone for some Japanese over-engineering with a dash of cute overload? Arigato, snowplow roboto! The cute (of course) creation above is Yuki-Taro, an environmentally-friendly snow plowing robot that seeks out snow with two video cameras (one in each “eye”) and an on-board GPS receiver.

(images via: Ubergizmo and Techeblog)

Yuki-Taro was designed to help elderly homeowners clear their driveways and walkways. As for what to do with the cleared snow, 880 lb Yuki-Taro simply eats it – whereupon internal compactors form the snow into uniform bricks which are then excreted out the back. If a coalition of several Japanese universities and research institutions didn’t design Yuki-Taro, we’d have to guess a bunch of Japanese kids did. Toss in the eyebrows and the Pikachu mod and we’re sure of it.

Fabulous Fifties Snow Plows

(images via: Travelpod/Hildreth75 and Perimeter Run)

They say time goes by slower up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and the winters, well, they seem to last forever. That still doesn’t explain this four door, four wheel drive, 1955 Buick snow plow. We can’t explain it either, so simply gaze upon it in awe and wonder.

(image via: Club Chopper Forums)

One of the most iconic cars of the finned, fabulous Fifties was the 1957 Chevy, ideally as a fuel-injected 2-door Bel Air convertible. The snow plow sedan version… not so much. Even so, you’d have to be Mr. Plow to be any cooler than the driver of this tricked out, chrome-bedazzled rig.

Hybrid GOAT ROBOT 22T Lawn Mower/Snow Plow

(images via: Techeblog)

“Hybrid Goat Robot” sounds like the title of a very bad B-movie we’d nevertheless love to see, but the Hybrid GOAT ROBOT 22T from Eva Tech is actually a tank-like treaded vehicle that maintains your yard and drive season in and season out.

Check out the Goat Robot 22T making a baaad winter goood:

Remote Control Snow Plow, via Lmedinaxyz

(image via: Eva Tech)

You’ll need to put out $11,999 for the pleasure, mind you, but that’s probably cheaper than keeping your own living goat – and they don’t plow snow all that well.

Hell’s Snow Plow

(images via: TheAllisonRose and ZhenPanda)

Train snowplows are all kinds of awesome from the get go and there’s really no need to jazz ‘em up – so when that happens, it’s off the rails awesome… so to speak. Take the Evil Clown artwork on the train snowplow above… Hell’s Snow Plow indeed!

(image via: John Vass)

When this Bozo on expired steroids comes roaring down the track somewhere in the wilds of rural Montana, be afraid, be VERY afraid, be Stand By Me afraid! Oh and we love the single gold tooth, nice touch there.

RoboPlow

(images via: AutoMotto)

When Robocop wants to plow his driveway, you’d better believe he’s not plowing it – he’s a robotic cop, right? Besides, odds are he’s got RoboPlow: the leanest, meanest, robotic snowplow there is. Don’t be surprised if if rolls up – on 6 wheels, no less – and booms out “Clarence Boddicker, I’m here to shovel your driveway!”

Here’s a promotional video from RoboPlow’s creators, IdeaLABORATORIES, showing this badass mutha in action:

ROBOPLOW, via IdeaLABORATORIES

(image via: Godlike Productions)

RoboPlow sports a wicked 50” wide angle-able blade and packs 660 amps of power. It features a pair of 10-watt LEDs for night-plowing (not the same as night-putting), a pair of flashing red LED brake lights and a fully articulated camera on top to freak people out – if looking like a runaway dwarf casket wasn’t enough. When the cam turns your way, you half-expect a Martian heat ray to blast forth! Available in any color you want – as long as its black.

Pedal-Powered Snow Plow

(images via: 1World2Wheels and Simply+Green Solutions)

From the wild to the mild – we give you the pedal-powered snow plow. No motors, no LEDs, no GPS or frikkin’ laser beams and yet, it’s still awesome… AND fun! It might not be mean but it sure is green. “It probably took me 50 to 80 hours to complete the pedal plow,” says crafty DIY-er Kevin Blake. “With a little bit of mechanical aptitude, some metal working resources and a couple of old bikes, just about anyone can make a pedal-powered snowplow.”

Pedal Powered Snowplow, via MrPlowKevin

(image via: Mother Earth News)

Thanks to Kevin’s exhaustively complete directions, just about anyone CAN build themselves a pedal-powered snow plow. We’re not sure what Kevin’s regular job is, but with ideas like these he should tell his boss to “take this job and shovel it!”

Long Island Railroad Snowplow W83 “Jaws III”

(images via: RMLI and TrainWeb)

Looking like a cross between the boss Blue Meanie from Yellow Submarine and a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in Flying Tigers livery, snowplow W83 “Jaws III” was probably the most exciting thing to ever ride the rails of the Long Island Rail Road. Built by the LIRR machine shop atop a 1907 flatcar way back in December of 1915, W83 cleared snow along the main line for decades before being rebuilt and repainted in November of 1978.

(images via: TrainWeb)

After a further 8 years of faithful service, the LIRR finally retired snowplow Jaws III (or perhaps by then, “Dentures III”) in 1986. The larger than life, toothy rolling shovel was handed over to the Railroad Museum of Long Island and remains parked just outside the Greenport Freight House.

(images via: Busted Tees and Culturish)

“Call Mr. Plow, that’s my name, that name again, is Mr. Plow!” Ahh yes, Mr. Plow cruised into pop culture consciousness on November 19, 1992, on the ninth episode of The Simpsons’ fourth season. There it has remained, stuck like a snow plow buried beneath an avalanche on Widow’s Peak. Just consider, though, if “Plow King” Barney had been driving any of the above 10 snow plows he’d never need to be rescued and consequences (and Springfield history) would never be the same.

(from weburbanist)

If you are sited infront of your computer the angry one is on the left and the calmed one on your right.

Now if you walk away from your computer and increase the distance you will see that the calmend one is now on the left and the angry one on the right. Incredible now they are in an opposite position.

This image was created by Phillippe G.Schyns and Aude Oliva from Glasgow University

Look again, the brunette on the back is not naked. It’s the front girl’s left arm.

The blond is not hairy… It’s some guys’ leg.

Evol is a Berlin based artist who is his own kind of urban planner. Like Russian dolls, Evol�s creations are a city within the city; he specializes in stenciling intricate building details onto surprising surfaces. Three dimensional balconies, windows, and mini graffiti create a realistic building facade in the middle of the sidewalk. Here is some of his coolest work:

Stenciled Creations

(Images via picasaweb, printeresting)

Evol uses complicated stencils to quickly tag powerboxes and other worn urban surfaces with the details of a true skyscraper. While the police might not agree with this public art project, they no doubt enjoy the end result.

Art Gallery Shows

(Images via brooklynstreetart, artoutthere)

Evol has been recognized by several highly regarded art galleries, and has showcased his work in shows. While seeing his creations sitting on a hardwood floor might not hold the same effect as stumbling upon them in the middle of a neighborhood street, it�s still damn impressive.

Isolated Showcases

(Images via ceciliahalling, onemoremusicfan, kunstlercast, bestofremodeling, kunstlercast)

The extensiveness of Evol�s work is typically limited by the surfaces he finds available, so most of his mini skyscrapers stand alone, gracing random street corners.

(from weburbanist)

It�s happening all around the world: people are taking pictures of their friends awkwardly lying face-down in all sorts of unlikely places. On top of statues, in the middle of roads, in front of famous landmarks � absolutely anywhere you can conceivably fit a horizontal human body, you�ll find someone playing the bizarre game. The weirder the place and the more people looking on, the better. You may ask why, but the people behind The Lying Down Game would rather ask �Why not?�

Lying Down Game creators Gary Clarkson and Christian Langdon describe their creation as �Parkour�for those who can�t be arsed.� In other words, this is the lazy person�s urban navigation sport. There�s no dangerous jumping or athletic climbing required; just the ability to lie down and stop moving for a moment along with the bravery to tolerate people staring at you as if you are crazy.

Feel brave enough to participate? The rules are simple, according to the creators: �1) The more public the better. 2) The more people involved the better. Please be aware that the palms of your hands must be flat against your side and the tips of your toes pointing at the ground. Just as if you were standing, but vertically challenged. FACE DOWN!�

The game has been around as a Facebook group since 2006, but the meme really reached its peak in the summer of 2009. Mainstream media picked up on the story and the game was featured by news outlets around the world. After the attention, participation soared and the submitted pictures grew more and more outrageous. The game was at the center of a few controversies as people were caught lying down at work and in some rather unwise places, but lying down enthusiasts continued to play.

Aside from being a silly thing to do to amuse yourself, the Lying Down Game strikes us as a brilliant public art project. Seen separately, these photos suggest thousands of weird people all willing to do something a little crazy. But taken together, the photos of people all around the world lying face down in odd locations looks a lot like collective performance art. It helps that they all seem to be having fun while lying down.

The Facebook page for the group is still going strong after all this time, and it has now reached well over 100,000 members. Want to play? Be prepared for some stares and the occasional �Are you alright?� � and don�t forget to bring a friend with a camera to capture the ridiculous places you find to lie down in.

(from weburbanist)

With the constant innovations of advertising in new media, it�s easy to forget the tried and true forms of advertising that once dominated media buys. The old fashioned billboard tends to be plastered with text and ugly graphics, but there are pioneers who are pushing the limits of a once conservative business. Here are 16 creative billboards that step out of the bounds of an old media:

(Images via danvertising, artatm)

Billboards can do something even the most complicated online display advertising can � and that�s break through the boundaries and become truly interactive with the real world. There�s something about the tactile nature of this kind of ad that impels one to talk about it with friends.

(Images via andersonf, toxel, mymodernmet)

Sometimes it�s not what�s on the billboard, but rather how empty space is used. Removing part of a billboard to make a point is wonderful because it�s both eye catching, and shows that the advertiser took the time to study the environment the billboard would inhabit, and stylized it to interact uniquely.

(Images via inquisitr, billboardom, billboardom, fistofblog)

It�s amazing what you can do with a simple rectangle, and bringing in a little creativity with shape and texture can make a typically two dimensional ad medium really pop out. People expect something from a boring billboard, so it�s great when those expectations are ruined.

(Images via geekologie, greensboring, viviangrant, greensboring)

Bloom supermarkets have pioneered the most interactive billboards yet, by creating two different billboards that emit smells into the surrounding area. The first such billboard wafted steak scents for passing motorists, and the second incorporated a fallen muffin and wonderful blueberry muffin smells.

(Images via dailygalaxy, otakuchick)

Billboards can be a surprisingly effective platform (literally) for environmental causes, as exemplified by these creative setups, which destroy expectations of what�s possible with a rectangular space.

(Images via davewilliamsdesigns, thecrapbox, pedrogoico)

These billboards truly step off the board and enter the real world with their off the wall uses of 3 dimensional features. Figures escape the boundaries of the ad and become compelling entertainment.

(via weburbanist)

From severed arms to crosses made from marijuana, shocking imagery in ads aims to get our attention � and that they do. Advertisers are using bold and bizarre visuals to draw eyes in an increasingly cluttered world and their attempts range from disgusting gross-out tactics to clever interactive displays. Some of these 15 ads effectively help us remember what might otherwise be an obscure brand, while others fall flat, or worse, make us sick.

Finetra: Where Even Nightmares Come to Rest

(image via: scary ideas)

Finetra�s bedding is so comfortable, your razor-toothed evil alien demons will give up on their nightmarish intentions and just curl up with you instead.

You Eat What You Touch

(image via: adpunch)

Mmm, hamster muffin! This ad for Unilever�s Lifebuoy antibacterial soap tries a gross-out tactic to make people paranoid about what germs might be lingering on their hands when they eat.

If You Aren�t Totally Clean, You Are Filthy

(images via: creative advertising world)

A similar ad for Just Liquid Soap states, �If you aren�t totally clean, you�re filthy.�

Exhibit Yourself

(image via: trends updates)

The grotesque image of a man holding open the flayed skin of his chest, showing off his internal organs to the world, is meant to tempt viewers into �exhibiting themselves� at HypeGallery.com, a place where users could show off their artwork and films.

Farewell to Arms

(image via: trendhunter)

A severed arm on the street would definitely attract some attention, and it was a fitting guerrilla stunt for the DVD release of Quentin Tarantino�s gory 2007 movie, �Death Proof�, in Amsterdam.

Mmm, Roach Pizza

(image via: ads of the world)

Imagine devouring an entire pizza and then seeing a cockroach in the box. A pest control company calling itself Dr. Barata (Dr. Cockroach) made up these boxes to scare pizza consumers into calling for help� or maybe just calling health inspectors on the pizza joint that thought these boxes were a good idea.

This Might Make You Puke

(images via: ads of the world)

Italian B-movie store Bloodbuster brought on the gags with a series of puke-themed posters that say �you can�t please everyone.� Doesn�t it make you want to rent one of their movies?

Get Them Off Your Dog

(image via: hooked on ads)

Gross out tactics aren�t the only way to get attention. Clever and interactive, this massive Frontline poster on a mall floor turns people into fleas when viewed from above.

Kiss My Glass

(image via: ad hunt)

Does this ad campaign imply that wearing Glassino sunglasses makes you look like an ass?

Samsung MP3 Player

(image via: ads of the world)

Evidently, this ad for a Samsung MP3 player is telling us that using their product is like having a tiny rapper yelling into your ear. Which is to say, awesome.

We Protect Your Cattle from Almost Everything

(image via: pixel pasta)

Barbed wire company Ideal Alambrec is up front about their product�s limitations: it�ll protect your cattle from almost everything. But when it come to aliens, there�s simply no guarantees.

Does It Matter How You Achieve Your Spiritual High?

(image via: ad freak)

Wonder Cafe, a forum for spiritual discussion, courted controversy with this startling ad featuring two joints formed into a cross. Whether the ad is interesting or crass may depend upon your own religious views, but it definitely attracted some attention.

Those Are Some Dangerous Nose Hairs

(images via: animal)

In what seems to be a bit of a safety hazard, Panasonic twisted power lines through the nostrils on a series of billboards in Indonesia to push nose hair clippers.

Come As You Are (Darth Vader)

(image via: advertolog)

McDonalds told the world to �come as you are� in a long print ad campaign that featured some unexpected characters � like Darth Vader here, who somehow doesn�t seem too happy with his meal.

Don�t Talk While He Drives

(images via: fubiz)

This Bangalore public safety ad, aiming to prevent cell phone-related accidents, tells us that if you keep someone on the phone while they�re trying to drive, you could end up with blood on your hands� and on your face� not to mention splattered all over your clothing and bedding. Careful, that stuff stains.

(via weburbanist)

Unusual bus stop designs

Creative and unusual bus stop designs that make the time you spend waiting for the bus a bit more bearable. (Pics)Futuristic public transport bus stop in Curitiba, Brazil

Curitiba Bus Stop

Football goal posts were placed in bus shelters around Sao Paulo, Brazil to promote the World Cup

Guarana Antarctica Bus Stop

Yummy strawberry bus stop from Japan.

Strawberry Stop

Beautiful Yosemite Falls trail bus stop is perfectly suited for the setting.

Yosemite Falls Bus Stop

Relax while you wait for the bus to arrive.

Hammock Bus Stop

Fully enclosed stop with air conditioning in Dubai.

Air Conditioned Bus Stop

This minimalist structure that looks like a single sheet of white concrete was designed by architect Justo Garc�a Rub�o and located in Casar de Caceres, Spain.

Casar de Caceres Bus Stop

No ordinary bus stop decorated by Iris Hynd in Cornwall, England.

Moroccan Style Bus Stop

Beautiful bus stop design from Estonia.

Estonian Bus Stop

Creative watermelon bus stop in Ishaya, Japan.

Watermelon Bus Stop

Unusual �school bus� bus stop from Athens, Ga.

School Bus Bus Stop

Creative London bus stop by Bruno Taylor gives commuters a chance to have a little bit of playtime while they wait for the bus.

Swing Bus Stop

Bus stop designed for the Vitra design museum in .

Vitra Bus Stop

Creative bus shelter with grass roof in Sheffield, England.

Sheffield Bus Stop

Designed as part of the smart mobilities project, this bus stop was presented in in 2008. Users waiting inside the bus stop could engage via a touch screen interface while pedestrians waiting outside could interact with a 6ft. custom LED display.

LED Bus Stop

(via Toxel.com)

iPhone photography is a growing medium, akin to Lomography in its cult status and the way it champions light-hearted, lo-fi, everyday shooting and off-beat effects.

Like any good burgeoning artistic movement there are already a bunch of brilliant online resources aimed at iPhone photographers offering great galleries, talent showcases, app reviews, exhibition news and more.

Read on for 10 great sites from around the web that we�ve bookmarked for iPhone Photographers and photo-lovers alike. Your favorite not on this list? Please share any other great iPhotography sites you like in the comments below.

1. Pixels at an Exhibition

This site describes itself as a �gallery of the most beautiful and ground-breaking iPhone art on the web and home to an ever-increasing number of visionary pioneers in the exploration and development of this nascent and vibrant new medium.� With a daily pic to inspire you, easy browsing by category or a tag word cloud, featured artists and exhibition news, iPhotographers will find lots to like on this site.

2. iPhoneogenic

Run by Edgar Cuevas, an iPhotographer in his own right, iPhoneogenic is a lovely site to visit. Described as �a place for highlighting the iPhoneographer,� it offers enlightening interviews with iPhotographers from all over the world that sometimes include interesting how-tos on certain techniques. It�s always a fascinating read.

3. EYE�EM

EYE�EM is about more than just iPhotography � it�s a hub dedicated to mobile photography as a whole, where �creative minds from all over the world unite to share their images and create a unique stream of mutual inspiration and creative expression.� You can browse through pics, follow photographers you like, search by location and tag words, comment on photos, and share images. You can also jump into the fray by creating your own stream.

4. iPhoneography

Glyn Evans� great iPhoneography blog covers iPhone photography and videography with app news and reviews (including great info on app updates), photographer showcases, news from the iPhotography community around the world and more. There�s also a user forum for discussions on the topic where you can post questions and help others with answers.

5. The Best Camera

Chase �the-best-camera-is-the-one-that�s-with-you� Jarvis� worldwide hub for mobile photography is the sister site to the app of the same name, with photos from iPhotographers globally uploaded via the app. Viewing a real-time stream of these images is great fun but you�ll get the most out of this site if you post your own content thanks to the great management and sharing options that are available.

6. Life in LoFi

Life in Lo-Fi is the iPhoneography blog of Marty Yawnick, a freelance graphic designer and iPhotographer. Yawnick offers his readers app news and reviews, links to relevant articles of interest he spots around the web, curated Flickr showcases, some of his personal photography and regular promo code giveaways.

7. iPhoneArt

A relative newcomer, iPhoneArt�s aim is �to build a grassroots mobile art community where professionals, beginners, and developers alike can share and discuss all forms of mobile art.� Despite being in its early days, user-generated content has helped create a huge gallery of more than 6,000 photos. The site includes a �Studio Talk� forum, a robust app review section and the option to sign up to create you own online gallery with a unique username-based URL.

8. The Big Hipstamatic Show

Fans of the titular app should definitely look up its sister-site: The Big Hipstamatic Show. The guys behind Hipstamatic run regular contests for best photos under certain titles. The current contest, for example, is �Fields.� You can view the leaderboard to see the hot contenders or view past entries for a wonderful showcase of iPhotography.

9. iPhone Photo

�Gently� curated by Caleb Kimbrough, iPhone Photo is a very simple site offering an online showcase of what Caleb considers �the best user submitted iPhone photography.� Dating back to July 2009, it�s an eclectic collection with some strong photography.

10. Flickr

No, we haven�t gone mad. We know everyone (and their dog) is well aware of the world�s largest photography site, but besides being a place to upload your own pics, it�s a really good resource for iPhotography inspiration, artist discovery and app research.

Many iPhotographers will name the apps they�ve used for specific photos, giving you an idea of what the different photographic options can produce. Did you know there are more than 30 million iPhone photographs on Flickr? You can browse pics by camera model or head for one of the iPhoto groups � there are tons of them and some amazing photography to enjoy.

(from mashable)

Paint your walls, try out some hardwood flooring, rearrange the room, furnish your home or build a house from scratch � all without getting off the couch. These 10 digital home design tools (9 of them entirely free) let you play architect or interior designer in 2D and 3D, getting a realistic and accurate look at your design ideas without spending a dime on unflattering paint colors and furniture that doesn�t fit.

Floor Planner

It doesn�t get much easier than FloorPlanner.com, an online modeling tool offering both 2D and 3D views. It�s free if you want to just save one project at a time, or you can go pro with a premium account. While objects like furniture, doors and other design elements are somewhat limited, you can specify dimensions for each object and get a good feel for how your furniture will fit into a space.

IKEA Planner

You can stare at those IKEA cabinets for hours, but unless you�ve got a good imagination, you won�t get a real sense of how they�d look in your kitchen. Enter the IKEA home planner, a free online tool that gives you virtual versions of IKEA furniture so you can make your home look like your very own IKEA showroom (whether that�s a good thing is for you to decide). Of course, you don�t have to go overboard with it � and it would probably help you determine whether that huge Expedit shelf system would totally overpower your living room.

Arrange-a-Room by Better Homes and Gardens

Not a design professional? Don�t worry about trying to figure out complicated programs just so you can determine a good furniture layout in your home. Better Homes and Gardens has an online tool that doesn�t take long to load and is a snap to use. BHG online user registration is required but the tool is free. Choose a room shape or customize your own, then add and arrange furniture.

Colorjive

Don�t you hate it when you fall in love with a color at the paint store, then get it on your wall and realize it�s all wrong? Worst of all is when you don�t realize that it doesn�t work until the whole room is painted. Save time, money and frustration by trying out paint colors on photos of your room at ColorJive.com.

Shaw�s Try On a Floor

Having trouble visualizing how various flooring options would look in your home? Upload your own photo and �try on� virtually any flooring thatShaw Floors offers including carpet, ceramic, hardwood and linoleum. It�s entirely web-based � no programs to download � and free.

Autodesk Homestyler

From the designers of AutoCAD comes Autodesk Homestyler, another free online tool that offers both 2D and 3D modeling so you can custom-create an interior and then decorate it with brand-name products from FLOR, Sherwin-Williams, Kohler, Dupont and more. Users have called this program �intuitive�, saying tutorials aren�t necessary to pick it up.

SeeMyDesign

If you�re just looking for a basic online tool that lets you create everything from scratch, you�ll like SeeMyDesign. This older program lacks much of the functionality of other online home design tools, but it�s perfect for homeowners just looking to play around with ideas. Build your room, arrange furniture and add details like paint without any unnecessary extras. This tool, with its built-in cost calculator, is also useful for determining how much paint you need for a particular room and what you should expect to pay for it.

Sweet Home 3D

Wannabe interior designers looking for a downloadable program that�s truly free � without ads or limitations � should take a look at Sweet Home 3D. Like other digital design tools on this list, it offers both 2D and 3D views of the space you�re designing and a host of objects that can be dragged and dropped into the room. Users report that it�s easy to learn and use.

Google Sketchup

Design your own concept architecture, shed, interiors or even vehicles with Google Sketchup, the free and easy-to-use 3D modeling program with loads of design objects, textures and landscapes to choose from. But Google Sketchup has just a few extra bells and whistles that professional designers in particular will appreciate, including a �Match Photo� feature that lets you trace a photo to build a model and a Google Maps tie-in that allows you to assign a geo-location to your model. This program has been lauded for its wide range of uses, and it�s quick and easy to learn. Sketchup Pro ($495) adds the ability to export your designs to CAD and create visual presentations.

Live Interior 3D

Design enthusiasts will love the realistic look of Live Interior 3D, home design software designed exclusively for use on a Mac. The program comes in both standard ($49.95) and pro ($129.95) versions, with the latter introducing the ability to edit 3D objects directly within the program using Google Sketchup. Homeowners can get an incredibly accurate sense of how their improvement projects will look with an extensive database of objects and surface materials and the ability to customize the smallest details including lighting within a room. Perhaps the coolest feature is the ability to �walk through� your design in 3D (a view familiar to first-person gamers), and you can even create virtual tours.

(from weburbanist)

How do you make a full-sized commercial airplane look like a toy, or give the illusion that your human subject is touching a cloud? Photoshopis an easy answer, but a much more low-tech method produces results that are just as amazing: forced perspective photography. Just as in filmmaking when miniatures convincingly stand in for buildings, landscapes or fantastical creatures, the trick is all in positioning, lighting and timing.

The Old Tower of Pisa Trick

(image via: martyportier) Everyone is familiar with this iteration of the forced-perspective photography trick: pretending to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It�s all about where you place your subject in relation to the background. At least this photographer took a different tack, giving his model a �relaxed� pose.

Pluck a Sphere of Light

(image via: mr. moog) Take that same idea and apply it in a new way and you�ve got the kind of photo that makes you look twice. To achieve this effect, photographer Lee �Mr. Moog� used shallow focus and allowed the lens of his camera to render out-of-focus points of lights as little floating spheres.

Mind Your Step

(image via: maybemaq) Is that the foot of a giant descending from the sky to crush a priceless historical site into bits of gravel? From this angle, it sure looks like it.

The Scariest Watering Can Ever

(image via: froodmat) When a watering can is big enough to suck you up into its spout, you�d better run.

Blowing in the Wind

(image via: jeppe olsen) Photographer Jeppe Olsen took a whole set of forced perspective photos out in the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia, which provide a minimalist background ideal for deceptive shots like this one, making both the foreground and background subjects stand out equally.

Fixing the Washington Monument

(image via: mjsmith01) What kind of monstrous crane would be required to pluck the Washington Monument right out of the ground? The silhouetted crane and illumination of the monument make this photo even more effective.

Miniature Woman

(image via: alexandre duarte) Forced perspective photography takes more than just selective focus or using the blur/sharpen tool in Photoshop. Clever positioning and light are also crucial elements in a successful photograph.

Tiny Plane Crash

(image via: maybemaq) In some cases � like this one � timing is everything. No special effects or Photoshop necessary.

Hold On Tight!

(image via: emikw) One of the famed natural formations in Arches National Park, Utah is in the palm of this photographer�s hand when sharp focus is maintained on the entire image.

Giant Jesus and the Toy Plane

(image via: david leeth) Even 900-foot-tall stone Jesus gets bored sometimes, so having a toy plane to play with is a plus.

Toy Cars, or Giant Man?

(image via: erkannix) This is definitely one of those photos that make you go, �what?� It�s hard to tell exactly how the photographer achieved this effect, but according to his Flickr, there was no Photoshop involved.

Please Don�t Fall, Cloud

(image via: p0rg) The artist says �I kept messing it up and not aligning myself ( I was using tripod & self timer) and did it about 10 or so times. When I was happy with the result, I turned and saw that an old man walking his dog had stopped to watch my bizarre antics. He smiled and walked off. I must have looked completely mad because he was not in line with the cloud, so he would have seen my press my camera, run like a madman to the same spot 10 times and preform a melodramatic pray to god.�

Hanging Out

(image via: laura deangelis) �Three years ago, I picked this guy up, put him in my pocket and claimed him as my own,� says photographer Laura DeAngelis.

Splitting Headache

(image via: the moronic inferno) Believe it or not, this photo wasn�t staged. Photographer Dave Brownlee calls it �serendipity� that the heads and bodies of four separate people just happened to line up so well.

Puzzling Place, Indeed

(image via: richard heeks) In this case, it�s the location that�s providing the illusion, not a trick of photography. The Puzzle Museum in Keswick, England contains an oddly-shaped room with a sloping ceiling, walls and floor so that from a certain vantage point, turning one person into a terrifying giant.

(via weburbanist)

Some places — and activities — have a way of making you feel really, really small.

***Copyrighted Material: The images below are copyrighted against unauthorized use. We were granted special permission to feature them in this Matador photo essay. Please visit the photographer links for licensing conditions for each photo.***

1. Uluru, Australia
The massive rock — a.k.a. Ayers Rock — is climbed by 250 every day, despite pleas from local indigenous groups to refrain from doing so.
Photo: Chris Harrison

2. Diving with whale sharks
The whale shark is the world’s largest fish species and can grow to be longer than 40 feet. This shot was taken off Christmas Island, Australia, in January 2005.
Photo: Rob Hughes

3. Cotopaxi, Ecuador
This volcano just south of Quito reaches an elevation of 5,897m (19,347ft) — often higher than the clouds.
Photo: david_rombaut

4. Redwood country, California
Taken in Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, this picture shows me (in red) straining my neck next to the Stout Tree.
Photo: Aya Padron

5. Sea Kayaking, solo
Big water, small boat. Shot taken walking the Southwest Coast Path from Land’s End to Plymouth, England.
Photo: nixwilliams

6. Great Ocean Road, Australia
The coast along one of the world’s most spectacular roads is also good for a walk.
Photo: Andrew Ferrier

7. Ponoras Cave, Romania
Things can get large underground too. Here, spelunkers from CSA explore “Mammoth Hall” in Romania’s Transylvania region. The light trail was produced by a fast-moving caver with a headlamp.
Photo: Bela Nagy

8. Snowfields, Rocky Mountains
This is no photoshop. It’s Matador senior editor David Miller getting in some late-season turns in Rocky Mountain National Park. Read about it in The Dharma Shack Chronicles.
Photo: David Miller

9. Desert, southern Peru
Sand accumulates into massive dunes in one of the driest deserts on Earth. Notice the city of Ica, Peru, in the distance — also dwarfed.
Photo: guilherme cecílio

10. Camping under the stars
So many stars. And camping the best way to let them overwhelm you. This shot was taken near Maupin, Oregon.
Photo: Ben Canales

11. Mount Bromo, Indonesia
This very active Javanese volcano attracts lots of tiny visitors up to its steaming rim.
Photo: Jiang

12. Yosemite National Park, California
That’s me again, this time feeling very small (and a little dizzy) at the top of Half Dome. Notice the gloves — not a fashion statement, but what you use to pull yourself up the cables on the final ascent.
Photo: Aya Padron

13. Antarctica
Travelers to Antarctica report losing all sense of distance — the geographic scale is so immense and the ice fields so flat and white. This is Lake Fryxell.
Photo: Nicolas Arthur Salava

14. Preikestolen, Norway
This rock has a great view of Lysefjorden and is a good place to get close to the edge.
Photo: Sonya Kanelstrand

15. Mont Blanc, France
Europe’s tallest mountain tops out at 4,810m (15,782ft) and sits in one of The 6 Best Starter Ranges for Mountaineering.
Photo: Sarah Brigden

16. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
This salt plain is the world’s largest and traps rainwater during wet winter months, creating a tripped-out sky mirror. Find out how to get there.
Photo: Carlos Díaz

17. On a cliff ascent
This one happens to be the curved limestone face of Malham Cove, North Yorkshire, England.
Photo: Dubris

18. Iguazu Falls, Brazil
The majority of the falls lies in Argentina, but according to the photographer, “the great thing about the Brazilian side of Iguazu is that there are no limits on taking pictures at any time of day….(unlike the Argentinian side).”
Photo: SF Brit

MatadorU Travel Photography Program

MatadorU’s Travel Photography Program gives you direct feedback on your work, and lifetime access to the most supportive, dynamic, and fun community of Travel Writers, Travel Photographers, and New Media Professionals on the web.

(from matador network)

Halloween parties are an excellent chance to show off creative cooking skills, and explore the darker depths of your mind’s pantry for spooky and gross ideas. Here are some examples of ghoulish appetizers and disgusting main courses that round out your already awesome Halloween party:

Dismembered Heads

(Images via divinedinnerparty, petitchef, instructables)

You can’t go wrong sculpting dismembered heads out of food products. There’s something inherently disturbing about digging a fork into something shaped like a human face, no matter how delicious it is. This is a great way to get the creep juice flowing.

Writhing Worms

(Images via octoberlicious, easycupcakes, instructables)

One of the simplest, yet most effective, grossout techniques is to create a plate full of writhing worms. Get the right coloration and the perfect pasta selection, and you’ve got a disgusting dish that’s certain to creep out your friends.

Classic Skulls

(Images via notmartha, hubpages)

The only thing better than feasting on a human head, is feasting on a decomposed human head. Take a slice of that skull and try not to cringe as you feel the crunch as you chew down…

Gross Creations

(Images via mentalfloss, crazyfunnypictures, ljcfyi)

Halloween is a time for creativity, so don’t just stick with the typical ghouls and ghosts – flex your disturbing mind muscles and come up with anything and everything that will make your friends struggle to eat your food. Organs, bugs, and strange animals are always a hit.

Ghoulish Fingers

(Images via whatdoveganseat, window-blinds-project, marthastewart, maplespice)

Dismembered fingers are easily reproduced in food form, with gory (and delicious results). I especially love the fake fingernails, which look incredibly crunchy and cringeworthy.

Plucked Eyeballs

(Images via maplespice, fancyflours, mentalfloss, halloweenexpress)

Dangling eyeballs are the star of any Halloween costume, and eyeball dishes are no different. Easy to make, versatile, and totally disgusting, when in doubt, throw in an eyeball. They can be added to a stew, made out of cupcakes, or even crafted into giant cakes.

Brainnnnnssss!

(Images via petitchef, annies-eats, ghoulfriday, partyideasparade)

Cold brain is disgusting to think about, but with the wonder of the internet and brain shaped molds, it’s easy to craft them out of jello, or decorate your favorite baked goods with the tell tale twists and turns of human gray matter.

(from weburbanist)

One of my passions if photography, and even if I have a good camera (nikon d300) with lenses to cover from 10 to 200mm, most of the times I don’t have it with me.

What I do have with me is my iPhone 3GS (waiting for the iPhone 4).

I am pretty happy with the quality of photos and videos the iPhone 3gs does, and I am looking forward to the iPhone 4 which is much better.

For the photos I would like to recommend 3 apps that will make you a better iPhone photographer:

Autostich

Autostich is an app that will allow you to make panoramas, so you don’t need wide angle lens ;-)
The beauty of this app is that you take photos that overlap a 20 to 30% side by side and they the app puts them together on a single panoramic photo.

In addition to this you can even take a second row of photos and add it too!

Here you have a couple of photos using this app:

Hipstamatic

Hipstamatic transforms your iphone into an old camera. You can change the lense from the typical John S, to a Jimmy, Kaimal Mark II, Helga Viking, Lucifer VI, etc…

Also you choose the film: Blanko, Ina’s 1969, Ina’s 1935, Kodot Verichrome, Blackeys B+W, etc…

And the flash (simulated), from a dreampop to redeye gel or berry pop…

The results are amazing. Take a look at the photos I just took:

Pro HDR

Pro HDR is a great app for when you are facing a contrast, like a photo at home with the window. Either the inside is OK and the outside is burned, or the outside is OK but the inside is black.

HDR has been introduced to the iPhone 4. The technique is simple, you take an overexposed photo and an underexposed and you mix them. The result is not natural but it is great. I use this technique with my nikon too. I read that this app is far better than the one coming with the iPhone 4.

Take a look at the photos:

It is just a GIF image… 3.3Mb but just a GIF…

A London-based graphic designer has created a series of maps depicting Europe according to the national stereotypes in the minds of various peoples. Yanko Tsvetkov, a Bulgarian living in Great Britain, created the first one in 2009 in the midst of the energy dispute between Russia and the Ukraine. Russia was labelled “Paranoid Oil Empire”, the Ukraine “Gas Stealers”, and the E.U. as “Union of Subsidized Farmers”. Switzerland was simply “Bank”.

“I created the first one in 2009 because at that time there was an energy crisis in Europe,” Mr. Tsvetkov said. “I just created it to amuse my friends but when I put it up on my website so many people liked it that I decided to really focus on the project of mapping the stereotypes based on different places in Europe. I was surprised by the reaction because I never really expected it to take off like this.”

Europe according to the French

Europe according to the Germans

Europe according to the Italians

Europe according to the British

Europe according to the Americans

Timelapse Montage from Mike Flores on Vimeo.

Crocodiles.

Bulk Rice.

Mixed Meat for the choosing.

Orange Juice And Cooking Oil (fish?) pack.

Turtles and other stuff.

Who knows…

Walmart Brand Spirits.

Rib Cages.

Assorted Dried Reptiles.

Beautiful Boxes Of Liquor.

Frogs.

A Large Selection Of Chopsticks.

Ducks on a rack.

Great Value Brand Beef Granules.

Pig Faces.

Antibacterial Bikini Underwear For Men.

Diet Water.

Meat Water.

Specialty Pickles.

100% Powdered Horse Milk.

Calling all shopaholics and sacks addicts: we’ve got your fun bags right here! These 15 weird & wonderful shopping bag designs take the concept of “love handles” to a whole new level while consigning the basic, bland, brown bag to the boredom bin.

Shopping Unplugged

(images via: Ads Of The World)You know those Smart Electricity Tips your power provider often includes with your monthly electric bill? The ones you glance at and then toss in the trash? Meralco (the Philippines’ leading power company) had a better idea: give away cool designer shopping bags that have “Electricitips” printed on them.

(images via: Ads Of The World)Not only do Filipino power users keep their electricity tips handy, they also look cool toting the reusable, faux power cord handled shopping bags wherever they go.

Leather & Laces

(images via: Kong Online)Kong Shoes wants you to remember them, any time and any lace… laces, actually. Yes, it’s the old “cinch your bag by tightening the shoelaces” trick, gets me every time. I guess that’s the idea.

Not Your Father’s Golf Bag

(images via: Wisdom By Woody and I Believe In Advertising)When French advertising agency Agence V was charged with raising the visibility of the VW brand at the 2009 Paris Auto Show, they whipped up this neat shoulder bag that displays part of the door from a Volkswagen Golf GTI, then gave out free bags to everyone who attended the show.

(images via: Creative Guerilla Marketing)Not only was traffic at the VW booth noticeably higher, show-goers took the versatile bags home with them, thereby spreading the VW brand long after the auto show ended.

Bags Under Your Eyes?

(images via: Coloribus)The somewhat disturbing “Eye Bag” was conceived and created in 2009 by the Leo Burnett Frankfurt advertising agency to help promote Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara. The cute yet creepy bags were distributed to customers at selected department stores and included a free sample of the mascara inside.

Amused By Muse

(images via: This Next and AdGoodness)The Muse Beauty Salon (c/o Tokyu Agency Inc., Tokyo) has come up with an ingenious alternate use for those twisted and braided samples of dyed hair commonly displayed at the hair dye rack. Maybe “twisted” cuts a little too close to the bone, but carrying ANYTHING by its hair just seems a little odd. On the other hand, it’s so easy a cave man can do it.

Bag Those Braids

(images via: ThinkAboutIt and Humor.com)Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko‘s claim to (fashion) fame was her trademark golden hair braid. At least, it’s better than being known as the “Gas Princess”. In any case, someone with mad photoshop skills decided her crowning glory could be put to a more prosaic use – carrying a load of perogies, perhaps?

Bags To Make You Blush

(images via: Adverbox)So you’re a lingerie store in the heart of Berlin, Germany, and you want to show the general public how nice your lingerie is – by showing how nice it would look on your customers. That’s the challenge thrown down by Blush, the Berlin lingerie store, to ad agency BBDO. We think BBDO did a great job if the photos above are any indication. Then again, we haven’t seen photos of Hubbies or grandmothers carrying the bags – danke schoen!

No Waisted Effort

(images via: Lab092)This cleverly designed bag – called the “Burn Bag” – was used in the Philippines to advertise GNC‘s Burn 60 fat-burning supplement. If only it were that easy to shrink your waist a few inches… which seems to be the message GNC’s trying to tell you.

LIFE (Or Other Magazines) Behind The Burka

(image via: Duval Guillaume)When P Magazine from Belgium wanted to get people thinking of what life behind the burka was like, they came up with this clever shopping bag that burka-izes the beauties featured on their magazine covers.

(image via: Adtention)The idea for the Burka Bag grew out of an article in P Magazine about the daily life of women in Afghanistan, where wearing a burka is commonplace. The magazine commissioned over 100.000 black bags designed with a burka cutout at the level where most standard-size magazines show the eyes of their cover girls. Indeed, as the above image shows, most any magazine featuring a full cover shot of a woman can get burka’d by being bagged.

Shop Until You Drop

(images via: AdGoodness)Graphic artist Antje Gerwien treads a fine line between groovy and grotesque, the the above bag designs illustrate so well. According to ReVital, who commissioned Gerwien to create the bag design, the intent was to “focus on putting the demographic curve back to normal”. We see… so, are we there yet?

The Choice Of Teabaggers Everywhere

(images via: I Believe In Advertising and Mastione)This shopping bag was designed in the form of an extra-EXTRA-large Lipton Clear Green Tea bag. Created by the DDB Integrated advertising agency of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the bags included actual sample bags of Lipton Clear Green Tea and were given to shoppers at area malls.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Of Champions

(images via: Bored Panda)Wheaties, more than most breakfast cereals, has always striven to break new ground in attention-grabbing advertising. The “six-pack abs” bags above are a prime example. Lift a few fullWheaties shopping bags on a regular basis and you, too, could look like a champion!

Migraine, No Gain

(images via: Directory Journal)Panadol wants to be what you grab when you’ve got a headache, so they whipped up a series of excruciating ad bags to bring that fact to your attention. The full effect is realized when you either grab the bag by the grips (above left) or swing it by its strings.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

(images via: Directory Journal and Ads Of The World)One of the classic trompe l’oeil (“deceive the eye”) techniques involves associating a real object with the image of another. The shopping bags above do just that, with an orangutan and a human child.

Case Closed

(images via: PicForMe)Speaking of six-packs… no need to brown-bag your bottles anymore, thanks to this graphic bag that literally has nothing to hide. Designed to advertise Shumensko, a Bulgarian beer, this bag comes in handy when you need to tote anything beer-related or otherwise – there’s an otherwise?
(image via: Odd Stuff Magazine)With the use of shopping bags as advertising media on the upswing, one wonders how long before we’ll see bags featuring flexible OLED screens showing video ads and commercials. We’re guessing it won’t be long… can you handle it?

(from weburbanist)

Radial Engines

Radial engines are used in aircrafts having propeller connected to the shaft delivering power in order to produce thrust its basic mechanism is as follows

Steam engine Principle

Steam engine once used in locomotives was based on the reciprocating principle as shown below

Sewing Machine

Maltese Cross Mechanism

this type of mechanism is used in clocks to power the second hand movement.

Manual Transmission Mechanism

The mechanism also called as “stick shift” is used in cars to change gears mannually

Constant Velocity Joint

This mechanism is used in the front wheel drive cars

Torpedo-Boat destroyer System

This system is used to destroy fleet in naval military operations.

Rotary Engine

Also called as Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine has a unique design that converts pressure into rotating motion instead of reciprocating pistons

(from world of technology)

Chelsea brought this article and this fantastic little apartment to my attention. I am guilty of not covering apartments very often but I love the use of space in this one and you must see it.

The article written by The Seattle Times Rebecca Teagarden is titled “Tiny apartment shows the value of a good fit” and talks about Steve Sauer’s 182-square-foot Seattle condo which shows the value of a good fit, from the soaking tub built into the entry floor to the “video lounge” tucked beneath the “cafe area.” Sauer shopped Ikea for many of his home’s furnishings, such as a little table, and used tabletops to fashion cabinet fronts.

Photos by Benjamin Benschneider of the Seattle Times

Steve Sauer watches television in the video lounge, which has seating for two. The horizontal band around the condo, accenting the powder-blue walls, is coated with blackboard paint.

Saurer’s says, “What I really wanted was one place with exactly what I needed and wanted. Quality is more important than quantity for me, and extra space only a problem,” he has written, describing his nearby too-big-for-him, one-bedroom condo.

Sauer relaxes in the cafe area of his 182-square-foot condo. “I was worried as I filled in all the upper spaces that it would feel cramped, but it didn’t,” he says. The window is at street level. The little table is Ikea. It has a glass top that swivels open, providing storage.

“I wanted to compress my home to squirt me back out to the community,” he says, taking inspiration from dwellings in Scandinavia and Japan, places where space is dear. “That was one of the philosophical reasons. I want to be able to shop daily, not store a lot and eat really well.”

Sauer checks his messages at the dining table, which includes a leaf to expand for company. The undercounter refrigerator is Frigidaire, from Lowe’s.

When Sauer couldn’t find the things he needed, he designed them and built them: The stainless-steel shower caddy, towel bar. For other pieces, “Ikea came through again.” Lighting, cabinet pulls, and butcher block for shelves, the table top and cabinet fronts. The rich flooring, Brazilian walnut, was installed by Matt Messenger. A bureau from West Elm fit to 1/8 of an inch, and so it was ordered.

Sauer designed the tiny condo for two. Just inside the door is the bathroom to the left, and a soaking tub inserted into the floor and covered with a 3form Chroma panel.

“My dream is to put 300 of these in a building and not have it be a tenement.”

Read the Seattle Times article here.

One bike is tethered to the ceiling for storage. Steam heat comes from the building’s system. The ventilation chimney runs across Sauer’s ceiling, and was easy to pipe into. “It was passing through here anyway.”

The bathroom wall is covered in 1-inch tiles from Tiles for Less. Light filters into the room through a 3form Chroma panel, shared with the kitchen. The ceiling is tempered glass meant for a table top from Ikea. The toilet is Philippe Stark for Duravit. Sauer designed and manufactured the stainless-steel shower caddy and towel bar.

The video lounge is tucked beneath the cafe area and next to the dining table. “All along the way this project’s had good chi, so that’s good,” Sauer says. The bureau is from West Elm. “It fit to within 1/8 inch. It was a nice find. I didn’t want to build another piece of furniture.” The floor is Brazilian walnut.

(from tinyhouseblog)

Thailand

Chances are you already know Steve McCurry as the man who took one of the most iconic photos of our time. It was of a 12-year-oldAfghan refugee girl who’s piercing green eyes told us her harrowing story. The image itself was named as “the most recognized photograph” in the history of the National Geographic magazine and her face became famous as the cover photograph on their June 1985 issue.

Beyond just that one photo, McCurry has shot over a million images spanning 35 years. More than anything, he is one of a few that has that amazing ability to capture stories of our shared human experience. As he says “Most of my images are grounded in people. I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face. I try to convey what it is like to be that person, a person caught in a broader landscape that you could call the human condition.”

Looking through his large body of work, we get to experience fantastic faraway places we can only dream about visiting. It’s in his incredible photos that we feel connected to the world at large, appreciating our similarities and our differences, our cultures and our histories, and our past and our present in a truly unique and everlasting way.

Afghanistan

Yemen

Tibet

Cambodia

India

Burma

Eastman Kodak let McCurry shoot the last ever produced roll of Kodachrome transparency film. The film, known for its rich saturation and archival durability of its slides, was discontinued last year. The roll will be the subject of an upcoming documentary by National Geographic. Can’t wait to see it.

Steve McCurry

(from mymodernmet)

All praise the zipper: the ubiquitous, maintenance-free, no muss, no fuss fastener that trumps both buttons and Velcro! Zippers operate smoothly, silently and safely day in and day out, often in close proximity to our most sensitive bodily parts yet they rarely – “There’s Something About Mary” excepted – cause us anxiety or grief. These 10 toothy examples of zany zipper art illustrate the mix of appreciation, admiration and YKK-stamped tabs by which society holds these fascinating fasteners.

Zippered Walnut

(images via: Ellen Rixford Studio and WebMD)

Artist Ellen Rixford knows how to grab one’s attention, as this zippered walnut shells, er, shows so well. The walnut is actually crafted from clay, is 6 inches long and is highlighted by an industrial zipper. Rixford created this striking image for a drug company advertisement… perhaps regarding a non-surgical treatment to replace testicular surgery.

Juming Museum’s Zipper Lotus Pond

(image via: BIG art)

Fly fishing anyone? Get your rod (and reel) to Taiwan, where the lushly landscaped grounds of the Juming Museum are graced with a most unusual pond. Designed by respected Taiwanese artist and sculptor Ju Chun, the Zipper Lotus Pond was completed in 2009.

(images via: My Confined Space and Broccoli City)

Sharp eyes may notice that the zipper slider carries the logo “JU-JUN”. It’s not clear exactly what the artist’s intent was in using this logo though the similarity to his name may offer a clue.

Zipper Tongue

(images via: Stylelist and Snopes)

When zipping your lips isn’t enough… yes, this is a photoshop. Not completely though, the zipper hardware was added to an actual “lingua bifida” body modification for a Worth1000 photoshop contest. Considering the increasing number of bodymods that have crossed the Net of late, we may yet see an actual zippered tongue some day. You just won’t see it in my bathroom mirror.

Life In The Fastener Lane

(images via: Pixyard, TACO and Telovation)

This group of images highlights zippers that have been painted or otherwise integrated into streets, avenues, boulevards and other paved pathways. One might ask (in a Seinfeld-esque voice),“What’s the deal with zippers and roads?” Perhaps artists note some correlation between the role of roadways in society and the functionality of zippers on an individual’s clothing. Or, maybe they just need sufficient space.

(image via: Impact Lab)

While paint and chalk make sense for roadway artwork, more obtrusive installations such as the Big Zip above are best suited to sidewalks and soft shoulders. Pedestrians and bicyclists may disagree, however.

Sebastian Errazuriz’s Zipper Dress

(images via: Britannica and Newslite)

Guys who already have trouble “unwrapping” their dates aren’t going to be thrilled by the Zipper N3 dress. Designed and created by 31-year-old Chilean artist Sebastian Errazuriz, the intention wasn’t to facilitate hanky panky but instead provide women with a so-called “credit crunch dress” that can be adapted to form over 100 different styles. Errazuriz used 120 zippers to make the dress, which he hopes to have mass-produced by a major clothing firm.

Amalia Versaci’s Upcycled Zippers

(images via: AmaliaVersaci and Amalia Versaci – ETSY Shop)

Amalia Versaci has got a name made for fashion and indeed, the Rhode Island School of Design grad focuses her creative energies on clothing and accessories. Her special emphasis is on the zipper, however, and her designs often employ zippers and parts thereof in original yet appealing ways. Versaci has taken a special interest in vintage and upcycled zippers, taking inspiration from the shapes and designs popular when zippers were as new, exciting and futuristic as Velcro is today.

(images via: Amalia Versaci)

Hear no evil with Amalia Versaci’s zipper slide earrings! I SAID, HEAR… ok, we’ll move on. Upcycling vintage zipper slides and adding today’s colors, tones and shades adds up to an attractive combination well suited for today’s New Traditionalists.

(images via: Amalia Versaci)

Jewelry isn’t the only purpose Versaci dedicates her zipper creations. Above are magnets made from heavy-duty YKK industrial zipper slides and collages crafted from vintage zippers still attached to their backing fabric strips.

Hirotoshi Itoh’s Grinning Stones

(images via: ScienceBlogs Bio-ephemera)

Part of the fascination of fossils is that what’s been locked in rock for countless millions of years is suddenly displayed before your very eyes. Hirotoshi Itoh’s zippered stones are something like that, except weirder. From skull-like grinning boulders to congealed coin purses to a soupcon of seashells secreted in silica, Itoh offers a glimpse into the heart of rocks whose concealed treasures are revealed with a mere casual zip.

(image via: Jiyuseki)

Creepiest, of course, are Itoh’s granitic grinning stones. Funny, I don’t recall Han Solo smiling as he gazed out from Jabba’s imprisoning block of Carbonite… unlike Itoh’s mouthy marbles, I guess he just wasn’t into it.

Benoit Lemoine: The Zip Tape Experiment

(images via: Benoit Lemoine and Design-Milk)

The cool thing about zipper tape is that it can be used to reveal heretofore un-noticed shapes and structures that COULD be zipped but aren’t. Forked tree limbs, bipod street lights, anything that conforms to a Y-shape (don’t get cheeky now)… just zip it! Benoit Lemoine has made somewhat of an artistic career for himself being the Banksy of Zipperdom, an odd avocation if there ever was but hey – someone’s gotta do it.

(images via: Stupid.com)

A variation on the zipper tape Lemoine chooses to use is Popped Zipper Tape, which makes your parcel, package, briefcase or whatever look like it, well, popped a zipper.

Karen L. Davidson’s Zipper Mosaics

(images via: Zipper Mosaics by Karen L. Davidson)

Winters are long & cold up in Minot, ND, and residents have come up with some interesting ways to avoid cabin fever, snow blindness and the like. One of the coolest (sorry) ways to get through those frigid months – the ones with an R in them – is Original Zipper Art as practiced and promulgated by Karen L. Davidson. From pins to plates to Christmas Trees and more, Davidson knows how to make a zipper do tricks that’ll bust your buttons.

(images via: Zipper Mosaics by Karen L. Davidson)

Davidson takes advantage of the wildly diverse color palette bestowed upon today’s plastic, polyester and metal zippers by manufacturers, thus avoiding messy paints and volatile solvents. A bonus is that the colors are either baked on or mixed into the zippers’ substrates. Designed to be long lasting from the start, Davidson’s zippers do the same for her art!

Zipping Across The Ocean

(images via: Asiajin)

Japanese artist Yasuhiro Suzuki set out to make a big impress ion at the 2010 Setouchi International Art Festival, and one would have to agree his zany zipper motorboat helped him succeed in spades. Suzuki must have noticed that the long, radiating wakes left by boats on smooth water look a lot like zippers unzipping… well, somewhat. In any case, inspiration led to construction and the result was the world’s only Zipper Motorboat. Here’s a short video of Suzuki unzipping Neptune’s fly:

Zipper Motorboat at SIAF 2010, via Shumiyama

(image via: Funny-Potato)

Zippers: where would clothing (and zany art) be without them? Buttons and Velcro have their good points but zippers are faster than buttons and they make a cool sound; not that painful ripping sound that so irritated Morty Seinfeld and doubtless many others. The Art of the Zipper simply completes the zipper’s long interaction with modern society by meshing the functional with the creative. Not much more to say… so I’ll zip it.

(from weburbanist)

We drink beer from bottles, but even with a small single-serving wine bottle there is always a glass – so why not combine the two in to one and save everyone some hassle? These plastic glasses might not go over well at a formal dinner party, but for a toast-on-the-go or quick picnic they could just be the perfect table(-free)wares.

One inventor did just that, and then founded Wine Innovations around the concept. Though his yogurt-style, peal-off lid initially did not go over well with potential investors it ultimately has led to booming sales in Great Britain.

Think about it: sports games, large celebrations, all without the worry of broken glass underfoot and with the easy-carry advantage of walking around with non-spill, pre-filled glasses of wine. Hopefully they can do not just red and white but sparkling wines as well, since these would be ideal for something like a sizable New Years Eve event.

Whether this one-use disposable partyware is a step in the right direction in terms of sustainability is another question. Still, the units can be recycled, and surely it is at least a better design than handing out both miniature bottles and plastic cups (as they do on airplanes, etc…) for wine.

(from dornob)

Since I found out that the Carrefour logo (French supermarket chain) had a hidden “c” (in white), I started seeing a lot of logos with hidden stuff.

Here you have some:

Carrefour

Living in France and having Carrefour supermarket all around Europe, it is only now that I realized that there is a “C” in the white part of the logo. Carrefour is one of the biggest European retailers, and it’s also French for “crossroads”. The logo symbolizes this word via two opposite arrows. They also added the first letter of the name, because if you look closely you’ll see the letter C in the negative space between the two arrows.

Toblerone

You’ve probably seen the Toblerone logo dozens of times – it’s just a mountain, right? Look closer. There’s a bear shape hidden in the negative space within that mountain, symbolizing the city of Bern, Switzerland where the Matterhorn mountain that inspired the logo is located.

Sony Vaio

VAIO was originally just an acronym for Video Audio Integrated Operation – since changed to Visual Audio Intelligence Organizer. But the strange, seemingly abstract logo derives from another lucky coincidence: ‘VA’ represents an analog wave and ‘IO’ represents digital binary code, perfectly illustrating the integration of analog and digital technology.

Presbyterian Church

How many symbols can you fit into one relatively uncluttered, uncomplicated logo? The Presbyterian Church logo is a pretty good example of making this work: you’ve got a cross, a bible on a pulpit, a pastor’s robes, a dove, a fish and fire all within the same basic shape.

Northwest Airlines

Before they changed it to something far less interesting – and then faded into oblivion by merging with Delta – Northwest Airlines had one of those logos that contain a bit of symbolism entirely  unnoticed by the vast majority of the public. Sure, it’s got the ‘N’ and ‘W’, seemingly placed inside a circle for no good reason – but check out the location of that little triangle making up the upper corner of the ‘W’. It’s the arrow of a compass, pointing northwest.

Museum of London

Well now, isn’t that a pretty… blob. But there’s more to the Museum of London logo than an artsy splash of watercolor; the various colored circles actually represent the changing shape of London throughout history.

Milwaukee Brewers

Sure, it was just a bit of luck that gave the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team a name with the initials ‘M’ and ‘B’, but it took a great logo designer to see how those letters – combined with the negative space in a lowercase ‘b’ – could form a mitt with a baseball in it.

London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra escaped its staid reputation a bit with this redesigned logo, featuring the letters ‘LSO’ in a modern script that forms a single wavy line. But what you may not see immediately is the abstract image of a conductor waving with one arm and conducting with the other.

Hope for African Children Initiative

In this trick of the eye, you’re actually drawn to look at the negative space first – the continent of Africa in white, albeit a rather unfaithful rendering. A closer look reveals the shapes of a child and a woman on either side in shades of orange.

Elefont

Designed by Mike Erickson (otherwise known as Logomotive) for a fictitious company, this logo has three different elements combined into one simple and visually striking symbol. That curving lowercase ‘e’, which stands for ‘elefont’ and highlights an elegant font, also has an elephant trunk shape hidden inside it.

Eighty 20

Do you ever see a logo and think to yourself, what was the designer thinking? How does this random image contribute to or identify this brand’s identity? In this case, at least, you’re simply not in on the joke – unless you’re a math nerd. If you view the dark squares as ‘1′ and the light squares as ‘0′, the two rows read 1010000 and 0010100, which read 80 and 20 in binary.

Cluenatic

Perhaps it’s not the most readable logo ever, but it works flawlessly as a visual representation of the puzzle game ‘Cluenatic’, which involves unraveling four clues. Each of the four letters in the world ‘Clue’ are nested inside each other like a puzzle or a maze.

Bison

Designed for a rock band from Vancouver, this logo is like one of those left brain/right brain quiz images: what do you see first, the picture or the word?

Amazon

This logo doesn’t seem to hide much at first sight, but it gives you a little insight in the philosophy behind the brand. First of all, the yellow swoosh looks like a smile: Amazon.com want to have the best customer satisfaction. The swoosh also connects the letters a and z, meaning that this store has everything from a to z.

Baskin Robbins

The old logo of Baskin Robbins had the number 31 with an arc above it. The new logo took this idea to the next level. The pink parts of the BR still form the number 31, a reference to the 31 flavours.

Big Ten

Big Ten is an academic union which was founded in the year 1896. Until 1990, this union consisted of 10 universities, but in June 1990 Pennsylvania State University was added. They didn’t want to change their name, so they added the number 11 to the logo.

Continental

Continental is a manufacturer of tyres. You could actually see this in their logo, because the first two letters create a 3-dimensional tyre.

Eight

Every letter is made of the number 8.

Fedex

This is probably one of the best known logos with a hidden meaning. If you look closely, you’ll see an arrow that’s formed by the letters E and x. This arrow symbolizes speed and precision, two major selling points of this company.

Formula 1

At first, this logo might not make much sense. But if you look closely, you’ll see the number 1 in the negative space between the F and the red stripes. I also love how this logo communicates a feeling of speed.

GreenLabs

I know this logo looks like a simple, boring green tree, but if you look at the tree crown, you’ll see that it can also be interpreted as a brain. The logo lays emphasis on the strong intellectual capabilities of the company’s staff and also reflects ‘green’ and ‘labs’ parts of their name.

Hartfort Whalers

This logo also uses a negative space to create the letter H. You can see three different parts: the letter H and W and a whale’s tail in blue.

NBC

The NBC (National Broadcasting Company) is one of the biggest American television networks. I think most of you have already seen the peacock in this logo. The peacock has 6 different tail feathers, referring to the six divisions at the time that this logo was created. The peacock’s head is  flipped to the right to suggest it was looking forward, not back.

Roxy

Roxy is a company that specializes in clothing and accessories for girls who love snowboarding, surfing… The company is actually a part of Quiksilver. The Roxy logo is made of two Quiksilver logos that form a heart.

Sun Microsystems

The Sun logo is one of the most famous ambigrams in the world. You can read the brand name in every direction; both horizontally and vertically. This logo was designed by professor Vaughan Pratt of the Stanford University.

Tostitos

If you look at the centre of this logo, you can see two people enjoying a Tostito chip with a bowl of salsa. This logo conveys an idea of people connecting with each other.

Twins

This logo was made for twins. To reflect the essence of the duo, a bold typeface was created to reflect the boldness of their approaches. The number 2 was integrated to show the creativeness of their ideas.

Unilever

Unilever is one of the biggest producers of food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. They produce a huge amount of different products and they wanted to reflect this in their logo. Each part of the logo has a meaning. For example: the heart represents love, care and health -  feeling good, a bird is a symbol of freedom. Relief from daily chores – getting more out of life.

Body Wisdom

In this case, a logo design for a high end day spa,the hands effectively convey massage, while the proximity of the “eyes” within the owl shape created by the hands clearly say “wisdom”.

Amnesty International 30th anniversary

This logo was designed by Pekka Piippo from Finland, for the Amnesty International 30th Anniversary of Finnish Division. Clever multiplication of 5 fingers on 6 hands mark the occasion of 30th Anniversary occasion.

ED logo

The designer of ED – “Elettro Domestici”, “Home Appliances” in English, changed the concept of traditional logo designing through this logo. The designer has amazingly used the negative space to demonstrate the letter “E” and “D”

Fuga

It is a logo for Architecture Center Of Budapest. It might seem something like a maze but if you follow the white space, the four lettered company name will become evident.

!N3K8

It is a business and IT consulting company based in the UK. The logo explains the word “intricate”

Lafayette

Galeries Lafayette (Paris), you will notice that it’s logo represents Paris with its joined letters “t” to form Eiffel Tower.

Marriage

What better logo can be used to symbolize a marriage with two mirrored “R” in the middle. No frills, no shadows, still so powerful and meaningful.

Mosleep

Very cleverly the designer have integrated a bed and the letter “M” in this logo. You cant miss to love it.

Piano Forest

If you notice the logo closely you will observe the trees placement form the keys of a piano. An intelligent way to display two different terms, “piano and forest”, through a single logo concept.

Yoga Australia

At first glance the logo is a simple picture of a young girl doing her yoga but if you watch it carefully the body posture is creating the Australia Map.

8 fish

I am sure, at the first glance you can’t figure out the 8 fish instantly or maybe I am being a little dumb. The designer, very creatively, uses the negative space and monotones to show 8 fish in one logo.

Academy of Fine Arts

The logo shows merger of the lower case letters “A”, “S” and “P”.

B

Although you might think it is a simple “Symbolic Logo” showing a “Bee” but what makes it more appealing is the portraying of the letter “B” and the real “Bee” through a simple symbol.

Minimum

This wavy logo looks like “a queue of letter ‘U’ but I would like you to give a second look. Designed by Kilment Kalchev, the logo spells the word minimum in an unrecognizing manner. I really enjoyed figuring it out

New Man

The reversible Newman logo. This logo is the best example of simple but clever logo.

Treacy Shoes

This logo is the cutest example of hidden logos. The hidden shoe packed between the company initials conveys the company message in a very stylish and interesting way.

A group of designers living and working in Barcelona for Herraiz Soto & Co created a family of stickers to personalize the Apple logo on the MacBook with some hair. Clearly, these designers are not business types. If you’re a Mac user (like me) you may relate. The collection is called Stick With Me Baby. I don’t care if you think mustaches are out, these decals are in.

Anthropomorphic design is nothing new, but these furniture objects are quite literally made of people. A cross between art photography,performance artand home furniture design, these strange shots show us a surreal artistic perspective on everyday household objects. These photographs may not be safe for work … nor are the creations they depict safe, and they do not really work.

From stacked human shelves to place settings set on structural bodies, arched figures holding entertainment systems to a lamp-headed person, these images shot by photographer David Blazquez feel almost uncomfortably raw and personal.

The feeling of discomfort is augmented, of course, by the nudity of the posed figures – but is also tied to the surreal depictions of familiar forms. The composite ‘people furniture’ seems at once stable and solid yet also simultaneously soft and poised to collapse.

Sensual or sexist? Simplistic or sublime? It is said of the best and most controversial artists in history that they were masters of their craft before they broke away from mainstream techniques, materials or approaches. Likewise, Peter Rolfe did not simply start by making suggestive and erotic pieces of furniture – he began by becoming a master of fine wood furniture design and construction.

These forms may come as a shock to moral sensibilities – or might not, depending upon the cultural context of the viewer. Either way, however, the layered, carved and polished wooden forms are incredibly well-made despite the complexities involved with having opening and closing doors, drawers and other moving elements.

Whether sublime, sexy or something else entirely, each part is carved with incredible delicacy and precision – from the human forms themselves to the props with which they interact – such as the supporting object above designed to look the part of an remarkably life-like cloth draped over a dresser.

Before you begin to wonder whether this work is more sexist than sexual, it is worth noting that he has crafted male forms as well as female ones.

Still, some of the women are modeled with arguably unrealistically ‘perfect’ curves by societal standards – and the locations of some of the drawer openingsand storage spaces do leave open questions about just how erotic these pieces truly are. But perhaps that is their purpose, or at least part of the point: to create conversations, spark controversy and question our avoidance of sexually suggestive forms in contemporary furniture design.

(from dornob)

“The Shorebreak Art of Clark Little” is nothing short of epic. Getting inside, over and under 30-40 foot waves is no small feat, especially with bulky camera equipment, and a goal of finding that perfect angle and lighting condition that makes a perfect shot.

(all images copyright Clark Little, used with permission)

Clark Little is pretty well known today as the foremost shorebreak art photographer (his art has been seen on “Good Morning America”, and featured in a number of glossy magazines all over the world). But as much as we like the fantastic shots of various wave’ innards, we are even more impressed to see him pitched against dangerous, massive amounts of water – violent waves, where you only have a moment to make that shot and to get out of the harm’s way.

With exclusive permission of Clark Little Photography we publish today the rarely-seen photographs of Clark Little heading with his camera into…

Into the Vortex!

(Clark with his camera “inside” and “under” the waves)

Encounter with a Wave (almost alien-like in intensity, if you ask me):

The Result: Out of This World

A glorious, almost Mandelbrot-like complexity is simply striking in this “Glitter” photograph (our favorite):

Unusual, over-saturated colors show up inside crystal clear waves, reflecting kaleidoscopic world around them:

There is also a place for pure abstraction, even psychedelic touches:

This image is titled “The Twelve Disciples” – see if you can spot some faces inside that wave, too:

Here is perhaps his most famous image: the wave’s “mohawk”, an amazingly colorful splash, featured recently inside National Geographicmagazine:

Another singular splash:

Inside the belly of the beast: “The Twister” photograph shows what a violent wave is made of -

Even in the absence of killer monster waves, the shorebreak art can look slightly alien… Here is the little “Frosty” guy:

(all images copyright Clark Little)

The Book! The Ultimate Spectacular Photo Book!

Can’t get the computer screen wide enough and HD TV capable enough to give justice to Clark Little’s slices of glorious wave eye-candy? Well, now you can order his book, a coffee table-sized huge book, in fact arguably a “mother of all coffee table books”: 182 pages, over 100 photographs, 12×12 size, weighing close to 7 pounds.

Make sure you own a coffee table big enough to do this book justice (you might have to move your coffee cup closer to the edge, but then you might be already seating at the edge of your seat – with excitement over Clark Little’s fantastic images).

(Clark Little with Jack Johnson (musician) and Kelly Slater (9-time Surfing World Champion) at book signing)

Some of Clark’s newest images can be seen here… don’t forget to look for his book in your bookstore, or order it online.

(from dark roasted blend)

This are some of the most creative business cards you can find in Internet. Enjoy!

I don’t know what’s happening but take a look at the photos. Looks like in all films, movies, series are using the same fake newspaper… incredible!!

And there are more!

Power Rangers Zeo

Scrubs 6×16

A texasi láncfrészes

Everybody hates Chris 2×05

Modern Family 1×16

Angel 3×04

Lucky Louie - 1×06

A Murder of Crows

Desperate Housewives - 2×13

No Country For Old Men

Craig Tracy is dedicated to creating surreal moments in time. Without the use of digital manipulation or photographic tricks, he creates dazzling body painting compositions that have elevated this particular type of artistic expression into the realm of fine art. He recently opened a gallery in New Orleans: the first gallery in the world dedicated to fine art body painting images.

Although he’s been an artist his whole life, it took Craig Tracy a number of years to truly find his passion. His first professional art job was airbrushing t-shirts in a shopping mall. This experience gave him the foundation that would later lead him to discover that he could – and should – paint on unusual surfaces.

After college, Tracy went on to become an illustrator. Like many artists, he found the work dreary and depressing. With no artistic freedom and no way to imbue the projects with his own style, he felt trapped. After retiring from illustration and declaring his freedom from stuffy commercial work, he discovered that body painting was the only type of art that truly made sense for him. Starting out painting faces, he progressed to painting bodies and eventually began showing and selling prints of his body paintings in his own gallery.

Since then, Craig Tracy’s work has developed into a full-time passion. His body paintings show the strength and aching fragility of human bodies, juxtaposed perfectly with the fluidity and transience of the pigments in which they are covered. In some paintings, the model blends with the background, creating a stunning illusion. In others, the painted model is the focus of the piece. The above piece (bottom right), named “Butterfly” as a reference to the subtle butterfly disguised as a nose, features a woman as the leopard’s nose bridge. Her bottom forms the big cat’s top lips. The artist took 24 hours to paint the model and backdrop, pausing only for a one-hour nap.

Unlike Emma Hack, an artist who uses body paint to melt models into the background of her paintings, Tracy seems to celebrate the human form present in his work. Rather than hiding the model, he allows the curves and shadows of her body to interact with the entire piece, adding a depth, texture and powerful mystery to the paintings.

In doing this, he travels to a rather artistically dangerous zone. Just how much should the model’s form be allowed to influence the shape and direction of each piece? At what point does the body cross the line between canvas and subject? Each of Tracy’s paintings seem to play with these limits, exploring the human form as both the focus of the painting and an incidental part of it. Between those two extremes are many shades of grey, each of which is explored lovingly by the brush of the artist.

(all images used with permission of Craig Tracy)

The result of his playful and experimental approach to art and his obvious passion for what he does have made Craig Tracy one of the most respected contemporary body painting artists in the world. If you’d like to see more of the artist’s work, Craig Tracy Gallery can be found in New Orleans. It’s the only gallery in the world dedicated to fine art images of body paintings, and it also features videos of the body painting process for those interested in seeing the paintings unfold.

(from weburbanist)

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geek Art, Urban & Street Art. ]

Jumbles of beheaded bodies, limbs entwined, torsos twisting, hands reaching out – in compositions that are both glaringly Asian-influenced and psychedelic – call to mind some orgiastic body painting experiment, until you focus on the strange perspective and profusion of hands in various sizes.

This is no ordinary example of beautifully crafted body painting, and as stunningly realistic as the images appear, they’re actually computer-generated. Contemporary Korean artist Kim Joon uses 3D animation software to assemble the perfect body for each piece, building the form and grafting on skin texture before moving on to the intricate designs.

One piece, entitled ‘Neverland’, pays respects to Michael Jackson, but deeper behind this lies an homage to what Kim admits is his idea of the perfect male body: ebony-skinned and powerful. But the real star of each digital work is the body decoration, which Kim identifies as tattoos. To Kim – who says his single biggest influence is Jimi Hendrix – tattoos are sensual markings that simultaneously represent desire and repression, beauty and scars.

“I would like people to be able to think about their own tattoos and re-examine their lives through seeing my work. Tattoo or tattooing symbolizes the multi-layered composites of desire and will, emotion and action, pain and pleasure of self and other (tattooist) which can be translated as a complex system of complicit activities,” Kim told Art Radar Asia.

“This is much like the way in which our lives are conducted in the larger social matrix. I want people to be able to feel the tension between human (in)ability to control desires and situations. That we have less control than we think in defying forces in capital driven society.”

(from weburbanist)

[ By Delana in Architecture & Design, Guerilla Marketing & Ads, Subvertising & Counter-Ads. ]

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but there are times when the packaging matters just as much as what’s inside. When you’re shopping for anything from a bottle of juice to a new pair of shoes, the package is what catches your eye long before you consider the merits of the actual product. That’s why designers spend so much time and energy designing the perfect container for every product imaginable. Some are perfectly sensible and some are so far out that you can’t help but wonder what they were thinking. These packaging designs are some of the most eye-catching and wonderfully inventive from recent years.

Fast Food Fun

(images via: TheDieline)

Eating at a fast food restaurant is always fun for kids, but what about grown-ups? This Burger King concept from designer Bernadette Coughlin would let adults have fun creating their own Burger King from their various food packages, and switching his appearance by changing out the pieces.

(images via: TheDieline)

Just as fun is this suite of interactive, modular takeout packages for the Food City chain. The boxes are totally waterproof and free of glue, and the customer transforms them from box to eating tray. Add-on containers hold sides and sauces, making for a customizable experience without any excess waste.

Healthy Foods Can Be Fun, Too

(images via: TheDieline)

On the other end of the spectrum is this brilliant brand of healthy snacks called VitaMeal. They’re aimed at reducing childhood obesity by putting appropriate serving sizes of healthy foods into places where kids congregate, like schools and recreation centers. Each product has a “personality,” making them easy for kids to get excited about. The vending machines themselves are modular in nature so they fit into the available space, and they’re designed to work with special “credit” cards that bear the likeness of one of the snack characters. Parents put credits onto the card and decide which snacks their little ones can and can’t buy.

(images via: Toxel & Gajitz)

Making healthy foods more appealing is often just a matter of the way they’re presented. Above, fruit juice is packaged in boxes that look and feel like real fruit skin, making them interesting to the touch as well as delicious to the taste buds. Just below that, a new concept for packaging healthy foods puts carrots, celery and blueberries into packages usually reserved for very unhealthy products. Carrots are packed like cigarettes, celery comes in a French fry container, and blueberries are in a blister pack like chocolates…all in the hopes that consumers will want more fresh, healthy foods if they come in unusual packages.

The Packaging Is the Product

(images via: Treehugger 1, 2)

As beautiful as some packaging is, sometimes it’s simply excessive. With some products coming wrapped in two or three layers of plastic, paper and cardboard, it’s enough to drive any environmentally-minded person crazy. So when a company integrates their packaging into their product design, it’s a win on every level. At the top, Hangerpak is a box to ship tee shirts that transforms into a hanger once in the customer’s hands. Below that, Lite 2 Go is a modular hanging light kit that’s packaged inside its own shade, greatly cutting down on the amount of waste generated by each individual product.

(images via: Treehugger)

One of the worst parts of bringing any new product home from the store is having to deal with all of the wasted packaging – this is especially true of carefully-packed items like televisions. They usually come with layers upon layers of styrofoam, cardboard, plastic and plenty of little paper leaflets. But this packaging design from Tom Ballhatchet is different: it’s actually functional. The box formerly used to hold a television transforms into a stand for that television; the cavity that once cradled the TV and kept it safe turns into shelves for your DVD player and other accessories.

Smells Like Creativity

(images via: The Dieline 1, 2)

Women’s perfume is often packaged in lovely curved bottles, but men’s cologne is usually stuck in plain square or rectangle containers. These two concepts take men’s fragrance to a whole new level of packaging design. At top is Scent Stories, a concept from Polish design studio Ah&Oh. The bottles are all based on classic literature, featuring quotes from Poe, Orwell, de Sade and Laclos stories, along with tops that resemble characters from memorable pieces by each author. Below that is Levelus, a tongue-in-cheek package for a manly fragrance; the level is functional and can actually be used to straighten picture frames in the bathroom while you get ready for a big date.

It’s All About the Shoes

(Images via: LovelyPackage, Gizmodo, Treehugger)

It’s often said that you can’t improve on the design of the mousetrap – and the same goes for the humble shoebox. But that doesn’t stop some designers from trying to cut down on shoe packaging waste or simply make the box more interesting. At top is Milli, a concept from student designer Jenny Kim. Milli stands for both millimeters – the unit of measurement used for bullets – and milliseconds – the unit of measurement that often decides the winner of a race. Her bullet shoebox represents the speed and power needed by runners. Bottom left is a brand new packaging design from Puma that incorporates a less-wasteful box with an exterior bag, eliminating both the laminated cardboard box (which is often hard to recycle) and the single-use exterior plastic bag. Bottom right: Newton shoes are packaged in 100% recycled cardboard (rather like cardboard egg carton material) and instead of being stuffed with paper, the shoes are stuffed with a pair of socks and a reusable shoe bag.

Drink it Up

(images via: TheDieline, LikeCool, TheDieline and DesignYearbook)

Beverages – from sodas to sports drinks to alcoholic beverages – already come in a wide variety of packages. But often, when we go into a store not sure of what we want, a unique package can be the deciding factor for our purchase. Above, beverages packaged in these incredible bottles would be sure to catch any shopper’s eye.

(images via: Reuben Miller and TheDieline)

Not all packaging innovations are for the sake of aesthetics only. These unique packages were designed with a desire to make lives easier. Above, a resealable soda can would prevent bugs and dirt from contaminating an open soda while allowing advertisers a brand new spot to reach their audience. The rectangular soda bottles would be the first major change to the shape of plastic beverage bottles, but it could save untold amounts of money. Packaging beverages this way would allow them to stack more closely and save room, thus drastically reducing transport costs.

(images via: LovelyPackage, TheDieline, VisualAdvice, PackagingoftheWorld)

Although most of us don’t want to admit it, a product’s packaging has a huge impact on what we purchase. Would you rather have a package on your shelf with a boring plain label or one that has clearly been designed to please the eyes and be useful? Above: flavored vodka comes in astonishingly cool flasks, the design of which won a bronze award at the 2009 German Art Director’s Club Competition. Lower, the 360 Paper Bottle could dramatically cut down on plastic bottle waste and still give the consumer a fun drinking experience. The “Milk” package is a two-liter carton which was designed as an experiment in unique packaging and communication. Bottom, a visual representation of what’s inside: a spoonful of sugar.

Playful Packages

(images via: TheDieline 1, 2)

It can be almost painful to throw away the coolest packaging – when you select a product based on how it’s packaged and bring it into your home because you like the way it looks, tossing the package into the trash is a little heart-wrenching. These products allow you to keep the wrapping around. Top, a set of dice help you decide what to be for Halloween while the canister they come in is an endlessly entertaining toy. Below that, a package containing rolls of film also works as a pinhole camera. It comes complete with instructions to help you construct your own photographic masterpiece.

You’ve Got the Music in You

(images via: PackagingoftheWorld 1, 2)

Music, being creative and highly subjective, lends itself well to creative and innovative packaging. Here, Peter Gabriel and the band Marrow both went with unusual packaging ideas for their music.

(images via: Azltron)

Science vs. Witchcraft did something a little different with their CDs and packaged them in old floppy diskettes, complete with retro labels and paper sleeves. As an added bonus, users can play a text-based game when they insert the diskette into a computer.

(images via: PackagingoftheWorld)

You wouldn’t use just any earbuds to listen to all of that creatively-packaged music, right? Audiovox designed these packages knowing that many people choose their earbuds as a fashion accessory rather than an electronics accessory. They put them in these personality-rich packages to help consumers decide which personality fits their lifestyle and their needs the best.

Power Up: Health Products

(images via: PackagingoftheWorld and