Seeing these images of Toy Atlas Rainbow by artist David T. Waller on Colossal this morning made me want to run to the nearest antique store and look for intriguing shades of vintage cars. The rainbow installation features 2,500 old toy cars and showcases some lovely vintage paint hues. They say blue sells and that seems more than true in the toy car world! I am fascinated by the gradient of hues in the close-up shot as well as the small but mighty purple and pink centre. Explain to me again why real cars don’t come in such awesome colours?

(spotted on colossal via fasels suppe)

Artist Lee Baker used 10 thousand metres (or 32,808 feet) of colourful yarn to create his fascinating work ‘Refractive Monolith’. Commissioned by The Future Tense for its SPECTRA I exhibition, the piece utilizes the corner of the gallery to showcase vibrant acrylic strands pulling across a grey gradient pyramid and stylized graffiti-like clouds. A three dimensional reaction to his paintings, Baker explains the installation as the quest to use “vivid colour and extreme perspectives to ‘build’ fantastical meta-cities against a stormy backdrop of ashen clouds and pending darkness”. I love the up-close images of piles of yarn and how the strings intertwine to create different palettes from different perspectives. I imagine “Refractive Monolith” is one of those works of art that you see something new in upon each and every viewing. I would love to see Lee take this idea to the street and bring his grey illustration/bright yarn combination to urban art installation…

(thank you tabara!)
(images via lee baker and ma cup of t)

I was poking around the website of Norwegian-American artist Brit Hammer and became more than a little intrigued by the close-up shots of frescos she creates in cement. I want to reach into the screen and touch the beautiful texture. Doesn’t it feel like you are on the surface of a planet covered in icy, colourful grooves and craters? To create her vibrant frescos, Brit uses cement mortar powder, water and pigments which forces her to work quickly as the materials are fast drying (unlike traditional plaster frescos). I’m thinking Brit could start a side business of selling detail photographs of her beautiful work. Maybe even add some tiny space figures to the shots? I’m picturing a vintage silver astronaut. Hmmm…

I have posted about the work of Elisa Strozyk before or, to be more specific, gushed about her incredible talent for wood design with a fabric-like soul. I was visiting her website a couple of days ago and spied these spectacular Coloured Wooden Rugs. Elisa attaches dyed wood to a fabric base and the result is a dreamy wooden textile. These beauties have only fueled my daydreams that Elisa will one day open a shop of her work. I would be more than happy to camp out for a few days in order to nab one of these gorgeous carpets…

(photographs via elisa strozyk)

I think I just found a new sculpture to add to the top of my “art I would kill to have” list. Created by Canadian designer Miya Kondo, ‘Composition Light‘ is a light sculpture comprised of five different shapes of light with five different frames of colour. Each piece can stand alone as well as be grouped together in an infinite number of combinations. In addition to the beautiful use of light and colour frames, I love the use of bright cords and wiring. Rather than simply make those technical elements white or hidden, they are pops of colour that add to the entire piece and remind the viewer of what is powering the sculpture as a whole. I’m hoping there will be a home version of Composition Light one day. The only other thing needed is a big loft with industrial beams to showcase it in….

(photographs via miya kondo; spotted on via designboom)

Milan’s Cinema Manzoni was one of the most important film venues in Italy for over fifty years before it closed to the public in 2006. In her show ‘Parasimpatico‘, Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist took over the historic space and covered every surface with “a new skin of imagery” resulting in gorgeous and ethereal light, sound and movement installations. Those photographs of rooms lit by coloured gels make me want to hop a flight to Milan and be immersed in hues. How beautiful is that top image of magenta and blue floors with a dash of red light? I also love the ornate Italian details covered in modern colour (including that intriguing chandelier that acts like a screen for projected imagery). If you happen to be in Milan, the show is on until December 18th. See more about the installations here.

(spotted on and photographs via designboom)

You know those round nonpareil sprinkles that are liberally tossed about during holiday cookie decorating? Imagine meticulously placing 221,184 of them by hand using jewellery tweezers and a pixelating computer program. Are your eyes burning from that thought? Mine are! Canadian artist Joel Brochu was inspired by a previous project he created exploring the pointillism technique of applying small dots of colour to create a larger image and decided to re-create a photograph with sprinkles. Using a photograph of a beagle by Shingo Uchiyama, Joel needed just six colours of sprinkles (red, orange, green, blue, black and white) to create a surprisingly large spectrum of hues. It’s amazing how colour can be suggested and created with the right combinations and placement. Nonpareils are just 1/16 inch thick so 221,184 of them were needed to re-create the 4′ by 1.5′ photograph. Crazy, painstaking work that makes me wonder what Joel could do with a dozen cupcakes…

(spotted on my modern met)

‘Blinking City’ is a project investigating how traditional maps for cities can never accurately reflect the speed of urban growth nor the rate at which things change. In other words, “as soon as the map is done, the city it describes has already gone”. Created by artists Marcella Campa & Stefano Avesani of instant hutong, the chalk pastel piece is a collage of several Hutong neighbourhoods of Beijing and was stenciled onto a wall of a dilapidated courtyard house in the Xianyukou district of the city. The colours were also assigned meaning to illustrated some of the ever-changing events that occur in a big city every day (see the legend here).

(thank you jorge!)
(photographs via instant hutong)

Airports are fascinating places. Some are rather frightening and clinical, some are gleaming structures of great design. The latter category more than fits ‘Harmonic Convergence’ by Christopher Janney, a spectacular interactive sound, light and colour installation at the Miami International Airport. Created in the walkway from the rental car terminal to the main airport, Christopher used diamonds of coloured glass, the constant sun of Florida and a liberal coat of white paint to create a dazzling hall of pure colour. The pattern created on the floor is stunning. When the sun finally sets, the installation remains vibrant via computer-controlled LED lights. Christopher also designed a “sonic portrait” or composition of constantly changing tropical birds, thunderstorms and other distinctly Floridian sounds to interact with the coloured light. Christopher says his installation “announces” the airport to visitors as they enter or exit the main terminal and I am certain this component of the trip would be unforgettable. If I ever visit Miami, I can now count on one thing – a lengthy trip to the airport. You can find me in the hall of colour, staring at that pattern of light…

(spotted on designboom)

Is it facet day? Not officially. Maybe if there is a third post on the topic? I love these Crystal Crayons by Kikkerland. They are perfect for a creative kid or art supply lover. Personally, I think a white bowl of these crayons would look fantastic on a design studio desk as they feel like little faceted sculptures. I would love to see a set created in jewel tone colours…

Like geometric patterns, I have always had a love affair with facets. The handsome flat faces of geometric shapes are gorgeous in nature’s sparkling gems and as forms used in design. Throw in some paper art and I can barely contain myself. Case in point? This beautiful photo backdrop by Matthew Parker Events created for the Design*Sponge book tour party at Anthropologie in Seattle. Hundreds of faceted white shapes were careful folded and artistically hung from the wood frame. It feels like a sublime drift of peacefully geometric snow…

(images via matthew parker events)

I can’t think of a music video that required more dedication to craftsmanship than this one for “In Your Arms” by Kina Grannis. This stop-motion spectacular was created over the course of 22 months by 30 people and required 1,357 hours of work. Oh and 288,000 colourful jelly beans! Sure, it would have been much easier to just employ some CGI and green screen magic but director Greg Jardin was adamant that every single one of the 2,460 frames be assembled by hand and shot individually. Insane, brain-exploded level of commitment to handmade design and crafting a true stop-motion piece. (I love the jellybean test pattern at the end of the video!)

The making of video is a must-watch. How great are those individually marked tubs of jellybean colours?

(spotted on peta pixel)

Continuing my affair with papercraft posts this week, I love this editorial for Madame magazine art directed by Matthew Brodie and Hattie Newman and photographed by Matthew Brodie. The theme was dresses in an environment of design supplies and the results are beautiful. How fabulous is that pencil shavings dress? And the top of billowing ticker tape? What about that bubble of individually handcrafted paper tabs glued together? I love the curls of origami-like paper in the background too. See the full credits and awesome behind-the-scenes photos and sketches here.

(images via matthew brodie)

I love these meticulously and artistically crafted paper flowers by Thuss+Farrell, a married Brooklyn-based design and photography duo bursting with insane talent. What a fantastic mix of bright colour, pastels, patterned detail and texture. The pops of black make the flowers feel artful and modern rather than simply pretty. I wouldn’t mind a vase full of these beautiful examples of papercraft….

(spotted on simplesong)

I have posted about the sublime embroidery work of Evelin Kasikov before but with every visit to her website, I am reminded of Evelin’s immense talent and am inspired to post again. A project that I just love is her Stitched CMYK Colour Chart. Embroidering the cyan/magenta/yellow/black or CMYK colour model required in colour printing, Evelin creates a handmade printing process that charts colours combinations by an interval of 25%. Designed for the Digital Soirée event at Central Saint Martins, this piece is a beautiful fusion of meticulous handmade design and the technological aspects of printing. I can’t wait to see where Evelin takes her fantastic CMYK embroidery talent next. Perhaps a completely embroidered Pantone guide?!

Colour Nativity is the latest thought-provoking creation of industrial designer Sebastian Bergne. A set of seven handmade and painted wood blocks make up a minimalist nativity scene while the wooden storage box becomes a manger and the gold divider becomes a modern Star of Bethlehem. I love the way the pieces look in the box. Like a religious television test pattern perhaps? It’s quite striking how such an iconic scene can still be recognizable when reduced to a simplistic set of blocks. The power of colour, proportion and placement is certainly on display in this piece. A Christmas decoration to consider for your modern mantle…

(spotted on co. design)