Rest your eyes today on these wonderfully simple abstract paper roll sculptures by Mexican artist Ana Bidart– there’s absolutely no additional adornment to these plain rolls, except for the carefully carved lines and chiseled edges, whittling away the bottom of each roll. There’s a sense of slowly progressing decay as each roll loses more and more of its edges, and the forms have a fantastic rhythm and organic movement to them, reminiscent of  the smoothly eroded lines in canyons. You can see more of Bidart’s work on her Flickr account here:

Dead simple and lovely– the curves are soft and inviting, but the edges remain razor sharp and crisp as anything. [Via Cosas Cool.]

I’m very amused by these quirky, individually hand-stamped matches by Japanese artist Hiromi Hirasaka– everything from the illustrated matchbox to the delicately detailed faces is delightfully weird and precise and adorable. Named Kokeshi Matches after the familiar Japanese wooden dolls, the match faces started off being drawn by hand, and then were updated to stamps in order to “mass-produce” them (but is it mass production if you still have to hand-stamp each one?)

Alas, you can’t order these outside of Japan, since the matches are ignitable and can’t travel via airmail. [Via That Should Be Mine.]

The hiatus has gone on for too long– back to the blogging grind, now with some fresh new GIFs from the motion graphics duo at Motion Addicts. Their vivid, energetic GIFs are lovely to look at, especially due to the precise timing on each image: there small, subtle pauses and rushes in the animation that really pulls the motion together. From the Motion Addict’s FAQ:

Motion Addicts is made up of 2 motion designers who work together. All the work is created by us, but our individual gifs will stay anonymous for the moment. (it’s like a box of chocolates)

All gifs have been created using After Effects, including the logo. Some use plugins for AE like: Plexus, Trapcode Particular, and VC’s Element 3D.

So, so slick– the GIFs are incredibly nuanced and fun to watch. [Via Inspiration Grid.]

I haven’t written about packaging in a long time, as it can easily get lost in the massiveness of art galleries and openings and installations. This packaging of Onuma Honey by Akaoni Design kept drawing me in, and I have to admit its a huge breath of fresh air from the overly slick packaging I’m used to in our commercials and store shelves. Base in Yamagata, Japan, the Akaoni design team is incredibly versatile, but they have perfected the clean, minimalist look particularly in their packaging design.

Onuma honey comes in 8 flavors (Rapeseed, Cherry, Apple, Blueberry, Watermelon, Chestnut, Sunflower, and Buckwheat) and each stamped package embodies the flavor along with the name of the ingredients in its mix of simple imagery and typography. Everything about this presentation, from the stamped lid to the fine kraft paper and the finishing strip of tape is as pure as the honey it’s meant to contain.

It’s so unfussy. I’d love to taste the honey, but I’m not sure be able to break open the packaging! [Via The Dieline.]

Prepare to be astounded by the sheer level of detail: The Human Printer is an amazing design collaboration amongst University of Derby students who can reproduce the CMYK halftone printing effect… by hand. By layering of dotted color in a pattern to create full-color imagery, the students mimicked the work of an actual digital printer, but with a human element of collaboration and unique artistry (making each image a one-of-a-kind piece.)

The painstaking, imperfect process requires incredible forethought and study, and its the perfect counterpoint to our modern day digital printer, which can produce perfection sheet after sheet on demand. The website also cleverly lists its “printers” (ie students) by class and name with a brief description of their “production method.”

Unlike any other printer the Human Printer creates unique, individual images each time it prints. Following the same process as a digital printer, the Human Printer generates the printed product by hand, a collaboration with the design school of University of Derby. The Human Printer was setup in 2009 by Louise Naunton Morgan. Having setup a design studio with Stina Gromark, the project is now run by Stinsensqueeze (STSQ).

Following the same process as a digital printer, the human printer generates the printed product by hand. Throughout the printing process the human printer assumes the role of the machine and is therefore controlled and restricted by the process of using CMYK halftones created on the computer.

Reminds me of another design student Briar Mark’s work on hand-stitched typography which replicated computer typesetting: very clever and process-focused, with a heavy emphasis on detail, detail, detail. [Via Gaks Design.]

I’m really pleased to finally announce this on the blog– if you haven’t noticed, I’ve recently started running ads! I’ve had a fantastic time partnering with Nectar Ads, who have been providing beautifully designed and design-related ads on the right sidebar. Paid advertising is one more step towards bringing better and better content to you (paying for all those coffees I’ve been consuming for the wifi in cafes, I suppose) and I’m excited to continue delivering design interestingness to you all.

It’s important to me that I’m running ads that are relevant to reader’s interests (I’m assuming you may have interest in art and design, right?), and so I’m running a short 2-minute reader survey with Nectar Ads to better understand the blog audience. As they explain it:

This information will help us understand the types of people visiting the site, leading to better, more useful advertising that will continue to help fund this site and other great art sites. The survey is anonymous and we will not be collecting or sharing any personal information about individuals.

Click Here to Start the Survey

I’d really appreciate it if you could please take a moment now to fill out the reader survey. Thanks!

(…and if you or anyone you know may be interested in advertising on the Nectar Ads Art Network, please get in touch with them!)

This installation is pretty old in interweb years– Stefan Sagmeister and his team completed it in 2008– but it still deserves a revisit for the lovely presentation of a statement that many a designer can resound with. On September 13, 2008, Sagmeister and his team began laying out 250,000 Eurocents on Waagdragerhof Square in Amsterdam into this intricate, shimmering line of text that reads, “Obsessions make my life worse but my work better.” The subtle 3D effect of the text was achieved by carefully sorting out the Eurocents into 4 shades, which were then carefully placed into the flowery design.

The display was meant to be interacted in any way by the general public, and it drew some unexpected reactions from the surrounding population. From Sagmeister’s website:

After completion the coins were left free and unguarded for the public to interact with. Less than 20 hours after the grand opening, a local resident noticed a person bagging the coins and taking them away. Protective of the design piece they had watched being created, they called the police. After stopping the ‘criminal’ the police–in an effort to ‘preserve the artwork’–swept up every remaining cent and carted them away.

It’s an absolutely bizarre ending that would be unbelievable if it wasn’t true, making the piece a perfect juxtaposition between art, obsessions, life, and politics. [Via Junk Culture.]

I know, I know– the internet already adores RRRRRRRRoll, but I still feel that this fun single-serving Tumblr deserves its own post here. RRRRRRRRoll is run anonymously, and it features only one type of movement in its clever & playful animated GIFs. Something or someone (well, its always the same solemn Japanese girl in every GIF) is rolling (rotating) silently forever in the photos in an entirely whimsical fashion: objects spin suspended in odd places, or the stone-faced girl rotates in desolated, very ordinary Japanese landscapes.

It’s the precision to these GIFs that make it so visually fascinating– there’s only a subtle jitter or a misplaced shadow in them, if there are any mistakes at all, contrary to the typical visual hubbub of the average GIF online. Mesmerizing.

The Tumblr is updated roughly once a week– its clean and simple and good for some wide-eyed wonder. [Via Yatzer.]

I was pretty thrilled to find the Things Organized Neatly tumblr a few months ago, but only recently came to the realization that the best of the best out of those knolling photos were all taken by Portland-based photographer Jim Golden. He has a solid collection of perfectly knolled objects (read up on the skill of knolling!) and its a delight to see large collections of say, 8 track tapes being laid out in such a methodical way.

Each collection is a delicious snapshot of colors, texture, and variety. You can buy prints here.

This look is deceptively simple– there is a balance and rhythm to knolling that takes some practice, and even the simplest photograph involves elaborate set-ups and careful lighting. Some process photos:

More, please. [Via Things Organized Neatly.]

A few months ago, the internet was all aflutter about a wonderful illustrated GIF that appeared on a New York Times opinion piece about Amtrak’s Quiet Car– the GIF was a sweet and subtle animation of the train interior with muted scenery flying by in the windows. This GIF magic was drawn by Brooklyn artist Rebecca Mock, who has a particular talent for creating charming illustrations with simple animated effects: in one GIF, the ceiling fan lazily spins above a sleeping couple, and in another, nothing is perceptibly moving besides a sign swinging in the wind and one lone “Don’t Walk” signal blinking alongside.

From her interview with Poynter:

“I really like cinemagraphs — GIFs that are made to look like ‘still’ photographs but have a moving element,” Mock says in an interview conducted via instant message (I’ve edited the transcript lightly for style). “I like to think of my GIFs like they’re clips from movies or a window into a scene, that kind of thing.”

Even her non-animated illustrations (oh wait, those are normal!) are fantastic. Great use of color to suggest light, shadows, and everything in between (especially dusky/dim lighting).

Hopefully this marks the beginning of using more custom-drawn GIFs for articles– it does wonders in evoking the precise mood that is meant to be conveyed in the article. [Via Gaks.]