Riusuke Fakahori is the “Riul-Fakan deal”….doing Gold Fish Style.

The artist Riusuke Fakahori painstakingly paints in layers—one layer of acrylic followed by one layer of resin, then acrylic again, and so on—creating a very lifelike 3-dimensional effect.
The final results are quite impressive, even by “crazy-Japanese-attention-to-detail” standards.

"Goldfish Salvation" Riusuke Fukahori from ICN gallery on Vimeo.

Voices from the Abyss

These old souls in college-aged bodies (scrawny legs and all) put a warm smile on my face. Richard Thompson’s 1952 Vincent Black Lightning:

If your heart is in it, you'll find a way to win it.

On Failure & Imagination

A powerful argument from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

Brilliantly Adorable; Adorably Brilliant.

By Dei Gaztelumendi

What can you do with 4,242 Rubik’s Cubes?

A 19" x 8'6" x 2.25,"1000-pound mosaic of MLK, of course.

Read all about Pete Fecteau here.

7 billion (defined for visual thinkers)

We’re moving!

To those of you who are continuing to comment on posts, bless your hearts. We’re momentarily turning our attention to the redesign of our new site and apologize for the pause. Rest assured, more to come!

Flash Workout

I can’t think of a better way to convince kids to exercise. . .but then, I’m not Beyoncé or Michelle Obama. This is a campaign called Get The Kids Moving aimed at fighting obesity. The flash workout took place in middle schools across America this afternoon.


And, it comes with instruction:

Arthur Szyk

. . .a.k.a master of minature, crazy-detailed illuminated art. If you’re in SF within the next 10 days catch Arthur Szyk’s show at the Legion of Honor. Thank goodness for patience, passion and magnifying glasses!

Illustrator Extraordinaire

. . .David Roberts, one of my long-time favorite children’s book illustrators. His characters capture that charming balance of quirky imperfection, English humor and feisty charm—plus, a good helping of fashion. Yes, please!

1923 aka Heaven

I want to apologize to the two people who have been enjoying our blog. We haven't posted anything since the end of October so I want to make up for it by posting one of the coolest animations, I've ever seen. The director is Max Hattler and it looks like he got a small team of talented collaborators to create this beautiful piece. More info can be found here. If the video stutters, turn off the “HD” feature.

Short description:

1923 aka Heaven is one of two animation loops directed by Max Hattler, inspired by the work of French outsider artist Augustin Lesage (1876-1954). 1923 is based on Lesage's painting A symbolic Composition of the Spiritual World from 1923. Here is the painting that he references (and if anyone requests to see more of Leseage's work, I will post more here. Its pretty amazing stuff.):

For the Facial Hair-Challenged

I don’t really know what to say about this—except that it’s hiiiiiiiilarious. And, funny ranks high on my criteria for successful design. If you should need a crocheted beard, do call on Ms. Tara Duff of North Logan, Utah.

Cool Book Alert!

I don't think I've ever seen this many good illustrations in one book: Illusive.

The Big Caption

So this post is way overdue, but better late than never! I was having a drink with my friend Ian and he mentioned that he created a blog where he matches photos he finds with his own copy & typographic treatments. I think they're great and you should check out his site (http://thebigcaption.com/) if you like what you see.

The Design that Would Have Saved My Computer

So, I spilled a glass of water on my beloved MacBook Pro laptop (long sigh). If only I had known about this brilliant and beautiful invention (that doesn’t look or feel like a sports bottle or sippy cup), maybe I’d still have use of my keyboard’s s, q, h, n, etc.

Contigo’s 100% spill- and leakproof travel mug. The ”autoseal” feature means that the only time liquid can escape is when I am sipping. Keeps drinks hot for 4 hours or cold for 12. Yay!

Connected!

There’s hope for Prom yet.

. . .and believe it or not, teens can be pretty cool too, as proven by these duct tape creations motivated by a nationwide contest drummed up by some smarty-pants PR gurus for Duck brand duct tape.

A Word on Words

I don’t think it’s a stretch to admire a bit of creative writing in this here blog. These two stories (offered below as podcasts for all you multi-taskers) inspired me in the way that all good art should. I felt utterly naked by their relentless insight into the human psyche, all the while impressed that each could so bluntly, lovingly and accurately capture the deepest parts of grief.

Hey, I know that I’m not the only one here with dark places. So, maybe these stories will resonate with you too. Maybe in your own set of fears, anger, loss, etc. etc. you’ll feel less alone—and maybe ultimately: hopeful, too.

click here: SPAR
Written by Kij Johnson, presented by EscapePod (fantasy fiction podcast magazine).  Don’t listen to this one at work—it’s rated X.

then here: LITTLE GODS
Written by Tim Pratt, presented by PodCastle (fantasy fiction podcast magazine).

Ooo la la!

I have been perusing the world of fashion illustration lately, researching for a graphic design project we’re currently working on in the studio. And I have to say, as in all fields there sure are a number of duds. What a breath of fresh air Barcelona-based Ms. Sandra Suys was for me. Yes, I am biased towards high contrast art—the marriage of muted monochromatic tones plus brilliant color; expressionistic strokes mixed with crazy photo-realistic details; etc—but I think anyone would attest: these illustration sure are sweet, no?