Balloon Lights

I may not be a kid any more, but dammit I still like balloons (I don’t get balloons on my birthday anymore, which kinda bums me out). Anyways, enough about my sad balloon-free life and onto something more practical, like balloon lights!

These ceiling and wall-mounted balloon lights from Estiluz are absolutely stunning. Granted, you’d need to paint your ceiling a dark color to get the full effect, but I’d say it would be worth it. For more information, visit Estiluz’s site.

(via this isn’t happiness)

Painting with Shadows and Lights

All I have to say is…you’ve gotta be kidding me. I can’t even imagine how hard this would be to set up. Artist Rashad Alakbarov from Azerbaijan uses suspended translucent objects and other found materials to create light and shadow paintings on walls. Seriously, I’m amazed.

(via Colossal)

Skatebearding

How cool is this illustrated skateboard (skatebeard?) deck by Mr. Bingo?! He’s got a lot of great illustrations in his portfolio. Definitely worth checking out!

The Truth About 3D

Ok, so there are exceptions, but generally speaking, I completely agree with this illustration by Viktor Hertz: most 3D flicks are just a dressed up version of a steaming pile of terrible movie. I like to imagine that movie execs are sitting around saying, “Well, the movie sucks. There’s no doubt about it. But if we make it 3D, people might not notice!”

Illustration by Viktor Hertz (via Flickr)

Coconut Water Virginity

Here’s yet another example of why I love Twitter: Last week I tried coconut water for the first time and instantly loved it. So what did I do? I pulled out my phone and tweeted that I’d “just lost my coconut water virginity”. The next day, Karen Kurycki (a.k.a. CMYKaren, the long lost sister of CMYBacon) posted an illustrated version of my tweet on her site, Absurd Overheard, which is an illustrated collection of absurd/funny/silly statements overheard. I encourage you to check out Absurd Overheard to see more of Karen’s illustrated statements. Seriously, she’s got some real zingers.

Olly: Robot That Turns Social Media Notifications Into Smells

So this is a really unique idea. I came across Olly, the web-connected smelly robot, on Kickstarter yesterday…I’ve really never seen anything like it before. I’m not completely sold on it, as it seems like a bit of a novelty, but I’ll admit it’s a neat concept.

Here’s the gist of how Olly works: You first put an essential oil, perfume, bacon grease, or whatever you want into a little tray (below). Then, after configuring the device, it will emit that scent whenever you get a pre-determined notification from a social network like Facebook or Twitter. Image it like this, you’re sitting in your living room and suddenly you start smelling bacon. Delicious. But it’s also an indication that your significant other just sent you a message on FB, for example.

Olly was created by Benjamin Redford, a designer at Mint Digital in London. To learn more about this project, check out Olly on Kickstarter.

Rugs Made From Stuffed Animal Skins

There’s something a little creepy about Agustina Woodgates’s rugs, namely that they’re made from the “skins” of stuffed animals. That’s right, Teddy and all of his fuzzy friends. But seriously, these hand-stitched, kaleidoscope-like rugs are truly beautiful, don’t you think?

Typographic Wooden Teething Toys

If I ever have a baby, the little rugrat will definitely be receiving a few of these typographic teething toys made by Little Alouette. The 5.25″ letters are made of locally sourced hardwoods and, if not left unfinished, are finished with organic flax seed oil. Bottom line: it’s never too early to introduce kids to typography!