The Gumby bike. The invisible steering bike. The spokeless bike. All kinda bizarre. All kinda awesome. Designed by Luke Douglas as an entry for the James Dyson Awards, the Lunartic Cycle boasts a toothed belt drive and hubless rear wheel. I want one. Previously, The Invisible-Steering Bicycle.
Ever feel like your brain is playing tricks on you? Well, that's because it is. Lifehacker has put together ten common weaknesses of the human mind, and how you can be beat them.
Hongkiat has compiled a collection of beautiful examples of "Bokeh" photography (1, 2):
Art or candy? Would you eat the chocolate nipples? Via Gastronomista:
Meet Rex, the Robotic Exoskeleton—a pair of wearable robotic legs that promise to help the wheelchair-bound get back on their feet. The wealthy ones, at least. The device is expected to retail for around $150,000 stateside.
If only all bicycles were as twisty and malleable as Gumby- they'd be easier to lock up, and much easier to transport. Wait a sec. Perhaps there is a such a bike, after all.
This is one stylin' bicycle. Ok, I admit. I stared at the handle bars and marveled. Wow, the designer and driver of this masterpiece must have impeccable balance. You know, the "look ma no-hands type of balance". But I was wrong. The design is even more clever. Finnish designer Olli Erkkila installed a steering rod running through the frame. Venice Beach bicycle fetishists are drooling in envy as you read...
We love it when everyday material is used in a new and unexpected application. Cardboard is something most of us take completely for granted. We need it when we're moving, and that's about it. When Frank Gehry created the cardboard chair in 1972, he blew the minds of both the furniture and the design world. So strong. So durable. So fluid.
Glastonberry Solar Concept Tent
These Dutch architects fear that those Chinese drivers might get confused! You may think I'm making a cheap joke about Chinese drivers. But I'm not. The Hong Kong-Zhuai-Macau bridge is a 31-mile, $10.7 billion project and this unique design is meant to address a clash of two driving conventions.
Loving Breakbot’s newest single, Baby I’m Yours, featuring Irfane. But I'm even more impressed by the music video. Created by Irina Dakeva (of Wizz Design), the rotoscope animation was tediously made with over 2,000 watercolor paintings. Check out motionographer's interview with Irina on her process. Previously, Björk Rides Magnificent Waves of Clay.
What do these egg-carton lamps by American designer Victor Vetterlein have in common with Frankenstein's monster? More than you'd think! Both are green. Both have bolted necks. And both are assembled from materials most would be happy to let decompose.
INSANE what you can do with a truckload of packing tape. Viennese/Croatian design collective For Use/Numen uses the common junk drawer office supply to create massive, self-supportive cocoons that visitors can climb inside and explore.
Via WonderHowTo World, She Shops: Feel a breeze sweeping through your bottom half? If you're wearing Viktor & Rolf it would be for good reason: Part of your dress is missing. Yes, gone. Finito!
Did you know you can use your Nike sneakers as a fishbowl? Or video game controllers? Or dueling race cars? In honor of Nike's 78th birthday, Paul Jenkins, a graphic designer in the UK, held a themed "redesign" initiative for this year's London Design Festival. The results are incredible.
Review: Marmaduke I liked the part where the fake dogs danced.
The 360 might be going through a (useless?) rebranding in the next few weeks, changing the box art to a more greenish wave.Before:
Well, not just chicks. A couple LEGO dudes, too. (Oh, and a horse). All I can say is, I'm head over heels in love. With a LEGO People operated, felt tip pen printer. B3ta forum member Squirrelfantasy spent about three weeks building his LEGO printer, which uses a felt-tip pen in place of an ink cartridge.
Experimental house, "Roll It", is a collaborative project within Germany's University of Karlsruhe. The basic concept is as follows: using a cylindrical design to maximize space within a minimum housing unit. Not sure how "space efficient" this would actually be, but using it as transport could be fun (until the nausea inevitably sets in).
Here's a little inspiration for the aspiring fashion designers out there. Having majored in textile design (printing and weaving), I am totally stunned by these West African ritual garments.
Tats that Fly! Augmented Reality Skin Art
Looking for a cheap & easy stylus (but not interested in using processed pork?) Adam Kumpf of design firm Teague demonstrates how to make a DIY soft conductive stylus for the iPhone, iPad, or any device with a capacitive touch screen. All it takes is a pencil and sock. Yes, it's that easy. "We've been experimenting with conductive foams and fabrics in search of a middle ground. Fortunately, it's quite easy to make a soft, conductive writing tool using some pretty basic materials. All you need...
Here is an interesting mini-doc about the set designer Ken Adam. Here he discusses working on the Dr. Strangelove War Room set. This style would influence many films to come and would become one of the most memorable graphic elements in film history. The funniest thing about this doc is his story about Ronald Reagan who thought the War Room from Dr. Strangelove was a real place and he wanted to see it, now that is great design! Here is the very MOD movie trailer for "Dr. Strangelove"
Kojiro the robot has muscles, tendons and a flexible spine- just like you! Combine Kojiro with the doppelganger bot and you'll have something supremely sci-fi freaky.
If you're a veteran cake-decorating-tutorial googler, you probably already know about Wilton Cakes. But if you're just beginning to use the web as a cake decorating resource, FYI, Wilton Cakes has THE treasure trove of pro cake decorating tutorials.
This kid looks less than pleased (skip to 2:37). The goal of Swarm-bots is to show how many small robots can work together to achieve a larger task (such as dragging a little girl's body across the floor):
This is the ultimate Scrabbler's wet dream. The Scrabble computer keyboard. Richard "Doc" Nagy, a steampunk artist, has successfully designed a keyboard made with real Scrabble tiles. He's currently in the process of building a batch of them for sale, so keep an eye out for them.
What if you could plan your wedding twice as easily, on half the budget? How does the thought of saving some green - while being green - sound? If this kind of wedding planning is right up your aisle, then you're in the right spot!
The itch chair, designed by Dana Gordon and Alejandro Zamudio Sánchez, is a futuristic chair that scratches the back of the sitter.
Feeling ambitious in the hack department? Try taking on the DIY Pong Clock. Via Core77,
This clever stop motion film by comedy duo Rhet and Link uses 222 t-shirts and few special effects. To learn more about the process, check out the second video in the gallery below.
CNN has compiled a list of the best ten ideas presented at this year's TED conference.
Conceptual furniture project by designer Kai Linke proposes the idea of growing furniture from plant roots.
This updo is a great way for curly hair to dress up for an evening out on the town. Begin by freely pinning hair up with bobby pins. Each time, take another small section of hair and pin it up. Insert the bobby pin deep into the hair in order for the hair to stay neat and tight. Press down on the hair and gather all the loose ends. Apply hair spray and pat it down with the hands. For a more dramatic look, add a favorite designed barrettes. Watch this video hair styling tutorial and learn how ...
This holiday season, don't go the old-fashioned route when decorating for Christmas, stay in the present. To see how to joyfully adorn in the present, and no I did not say "presents," just check out this video on how to decorate a Christmas tree in a contemporary style.
In this video we will show you where you can find the perfect tree for your wedding centerpiece or table decor. If you choose to use a metal tree for your crystal floral arrangement, our video will show you numerous ways to decorate metal trees with crystals, flowers, orchids, candles and numerous other event styles and decor. The most often asked question is "How many crystals?". In this video of the Crystal Wedding Tree by Cristalier.com we will help you choose the design to fit your budget...
If you know After Effects, you know how important expressions are to your workflow, but you may have forgotten about the expression controls. In this three part tutorial Aharon Rabinowitz introduces you to expression controls, a series of effects designed only for use with After Effects. The third video has the most advanced tools for experienced users. Use expression controls in After Effects - Part 1 of 3.
This hacking how-to video focuses on the art of lock picking in less than half a minute. It will teach you the mechanics of cylindrical lock so that you will be able to take advantage of the lock's poor design without any lockpick skills. Follow along with this hack tutorial to learn how to open any cylindrical bike lock in thirty seconds or less. Open any cylindrical bike lock in 30 seconds or less.
if you're ever wondering what to do on a server, you can ask people to set a challenge for you, or even set a challenge for yourself to create something new.
Twitter, the global social networking site, announced on October 21st that it would be launching a new feature that allows all users to create polls. The company stated that the goal is to allow people to "weigh in on all the topics they care about."