Haunting Figure of a Woman Made with Wood and Bamboo. Cleveland-based sculptor Olga Ziemska works with natural materials like wood and bamboo to create mysteriously figurative installations for her series titled Stillness in motion: The Matka Series. "Matka" means "mother" in Polish and essentially defines the figure that Ziemska recreates. Through this mold of a maternally inclined female, the artist symbolizes a place of origin, further hinting at "our first physical environment—the womb. " The first structure in the ongoing series, displayed in Poland, uses locally reclaimed willow branches and wire to replicate a hauntingly beautiful female form that is all at once figurative and abstract. The silhouette leaves a trail of wispy twigs behind her like a three-dimensional shadow. The second piece in Ziemska's eye-catching series presents a similar form that echoes its environment outdoors.
Like the first sculptural work, the second and most recent addition uses materials that are harvested from the land it is installed on. Little House Cat Acts Like a Brave Big Cat with Wildlife. London-based photographer George Logan juxtaposes an adorable little cat with a variety of large and imposing African wildlife for the new Big Cat Little Cat Whiskas ad campaign. The energetic little feline can be seen playfully clawing at a leopard's tail, running along the grassy plains with a galloping zebra, fishing in a river populated with swimming hippos, and even snuggling up with a lion.
Created by ad agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, the clever pet food campaign revolves around the slogan "Feeding your cat's instincts. " The series of photo manipulated print ads, which have been retouched by Tony Swinney, whimsically gives us a look at how a domesticated kitty with a boost of bravery can summon its inner wild cat while interacting with ferocious beasts. Each image is a digital composite of a house cat and and various wildlife captured in Shamwari, South Africa. George Logan website via [Laughing Squid]
Rolu by Chiaki Murata. Rolu is a minimal design created by Osaka-based designer Chiaki Murata of hers for Metaphys. Murata has created some of Japan’s most iconic designs, and, along with his profession as an industrial designer, is a professor at the University of Arts and Design in Kyoto as well. He is a strong advocate of social responsibility and sustainability, and is constantly pushing the envelope for his designs to adhere to these ethics. Rolu functions as an on-the-go memo holder with a single brass bar holding down the paper. There are perforated edges along the length of the paper in increments of 10cm each, perfect for taking down directions, to-do lists, or grocery lists. The design is influenced by Metaphys’ popular Corda pen, and uses the same material and production process. The design comes in white, black, and orange.
I’m the type of person who still likes to use pen and paper for taking notes and checking off to-do lists. Aakash nihalani interview. Apr 09, 2013 aakash nihalani interview play ground, tape and corrugated board on ground, brooklyn NY designboom (DB) talks to the new york-based artist aakash nihalani (AA)about his influences and recent projects. DB: please could you tell us briefly how you came to work in your current capacity? I stumbled upon using tape by accident… I was using a painter’s roll to attach some screen prints to the wall for a student exhibition. there was a pedestal in the space that was casting a cubic shadow on the floor that matched the shapes I was using in my prints, so I outlined the shadow with the tape. it all made sense in that moment… sum times, tape and corrugated board on wall, brooklyn, NY DB: which have been your most significant and satisfying projects to date?
DB: what draws you towards using geometric shapes? DB: you use many different mediums to produce your work – do you have a personal preference? Portal, tape on wall, new york, NY DB: do you prefer to work indoors or outdoors? (detail) Konstantin grcic: traffic seating for magis. Apr 10, 2013 konstantin grcic: traffic seating for magis konstantin grcic: traffic seating for magisimage © designboom the ‘traffic’ range of seating by konstantin grcic for magis, is a collection of furniture which uses a structural wire framework accompanied by upholstered elements to form each geometric piece–from an armchair, to a chaise lounge, a sofa, bench, and simple platform. presented at the 2013 salone del mobile, the powder coated metal rod structures (in high gloss colors or chrome plated) takes their formal cues from that of three-dimensional line drawings to form their shape, supporting the geometric volumes of the cushions (available in fabric or leather), thus marking a shift from our common understanding of wire furniture, the unassuming simplicity of their overall physique imparting a pleasant casualness.
‘traffic’ armchairimage © designboom ‘traffic’ footstoolimage © designboom view of the chaise lounge’s carefully tailored proportionsimage © designboom. The World of Mad Men Through a 21st-Century Lens. Mad Men fans will just love this graphic series created by the designers at Shutterstock. Entitled Mod Men: The World of Mad Men Through a 21st-Century Lens, the series features a visual time warp in which the designers took the habits of the 1960s characters and translated them into modern trends. The project description explains, "While [the show] has been steadily making everything old new again, we can’t help but wonder what things would look like if Don Draper and company were heading to work in 2013. " For example, in 2013, Peggy Olson's typewriter could easily be replaced with a high-speed laptop, and Betty Francis would most likely replace her cigarette breaks with intense Yoga workouts.
Fifty years later, the world is an entirely different place and this project visually compares the differences that a half-century can make. If you like this project, you can check out the Shutterstock blog for more detailed descriptions of each comparison. Shutterstock Blog via [Lost at E Minor] Breathtaking Photos of Colorful Rock Formations in China.
In the Gansu province of China lies the Zhangye Danxia Landform, a beautiful expanse of land featuring naturally formed streaks of color. It's hard to believe, but these images of the vast landscape with a brilliant array of colors are not Photoshopped. They naturally boast rich hues of red, green, and gold in addition to the normal rock pigments of brown, black, and white. Scientists postulate that the landscape's physical formation is the result of millions of years of orogenic movement, or structural deformation of the Earth's lithosphere due to tectonic plate movements. The mountainous landscape has dealt with water flow fissures, erosion, and oxidization due to high temperatures drying up the basin, which have all played a part in forming and exposing the colorful layers of sediments.
Photo credit: chanmelmel via [Zeutch] Playful Seniors Wear Organic Materials to Personify Nature. Gorgeous Collage of 11 Full Moons Rising Behind Downtown LA. Can You Guess the Owner? New Macro Photos of Animal Eyes from Suren Manvelyan. Photographer Suren Manvelyan took the web by storm back in 2011 with his Animal Eyes series, where he captured spectacular macro photographs of various critter’s eyes. Manvelyan is back with a new series of extreme close-ups which seem to peer right into the soul of various animals, even though it’s not exactly clear whose soul you’re looking at. I left captions off the photos above, but you can use the list below in order of appearance to check your answers. I got exactly one right. 1. Garden Tree Boa, 2. Gecko eublepharis, 3. Basiliscus lizard, 4. Gorgeous Macro Photography of the Periodic Table’s Elements. EmailEmail If you never liked chemistry, it’s probably because you haven’t seen the beauty of it.
Japan-based photographer R. Tanaka reveals the beautiful side of science in his close-up photos of the periodic table elements. Thanks to his work, we’re able to see the details of such elements as gold, silver, various crystals and many more. Website: d.hatena.ne.jp, flickr Bismuth Ruthenium Gold Palladium Silver Platinum Sulfur. Animated Lake Michigan Ice Floes Captured by Dave Gorum. Even after living here for 14 years I’m always struck by the juxtaposition of Chicago’s towering steel skyline against the brutal midwest winter as it transforms the lakefront into an arctic landscape. Dave Gorum, co-founder and creative director over at Carbonmade, went out last week and shot some footage of the densely packed ice chunks as they sloshed around in Lake Michigan off Lake Shore Drive and then converted them into these great gifs.
You can see more over on his Tumblr. (via tumblr radar) Red Hot Wooly Magma. These photographs that appear to capture red-hot cracks in the Earth’s surface weren’t taken in Hawaii or Indonesia, but rather in the studio of artist Eszter Burghardt who uses wool and colored lights to create miniature natural landscapes including volcanoes, glaciers, fjords and rivers. See many more of her Wooly Sagas and a similar project using food: Edible Vistas. (via sinatra blue) Volcanic Lightning Photographed by Martin Rietze. Photographer Martin Rietze recently traveled to Japan where he had the incredible opportunity (or near grave misfortune?) Of photographing the Sakurajima Valcano in southern Kyushu as it spewed forth smoke, fire, and lava bombs. If that wasn’t enough the hellish volcano also caused a lightning show that lasted over 20 seconds giving the photographer ample time to flee for his life take these stunning photographs. You can see many more images from the series right here.
Of note, the photographer’s grit and fearlessness landed the top photo a feature on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day earlier this week. Clever Typographic Designs of Famous Scientists' Names. Mumbai-based graphic designer Kapil Bhagat creatively presents the names of some of the world's most famous scientists, honoring their pioneering line of work in the process for National Science Day in India. His typographical creations playfully hint at each respective genius's breakthrough discovery. From Darwin's theory of evolution to Pythagoras' theorem and Archimedes' principle, Bhagat covers all scientific grounds with a lighthearted look at the names of the men who have greatly shaped the world we live in today. The artist uses the famous story of Isaac Newton observing an apple falling from a tree, which inspired him to develop his theory of gravitation, to produce a minimalist look at the physicist's name with the "o" in red at the bottom of the frame, mimicking a fallen apple.
In a similarly clever fashion, Bhagat uses Albert Einstein's E=mc2 formula to logically replace the "E" in the theoretical physicist's own name with mc2. Kapil Bhagat blog via [Neatorama] Sarcastic Posters Reveal What it’s Like to be a Photographer. EmailEmail Every profession has its general image among people – and photographer is probably one of the most romanticized professions ever. The Shoppe Designs studio released a series of ironic graphic posters, called the Shoppe Satire: each poster carries a line of what photographers would say to most of the stereotypes and misconceptions about their work.
If they would say it out loud, that is. Whichever side you’re on, we’re sure you’ll enjoy these! Website: theshoppedesigns.com.