Steampunk Gas Masks & Helmets So Exquisite, They'll Leave You Breathless.

It's hard to believe that Tom Banwell has no formal art training and is largely self taught when you look at his expertly crafted collection of leather and metal Steampunk Gas Masks & Helmets. The masks and helmets are an impressive display of workmanship, complete with mechanical parts, fully wearable and entirely original.

A Temporary Tattoo Inspired by Pantone Chips!

In contrast to my earlier post today about permanent inking here's a much more light-hearted temporary option. As part of the Designy Temporary Tattoos from Tattly, graphic designer Josh Smith created an ode to Pantone color chips by creating a temp tatt inspired by their color chips.



The transparent rubdown is named TATTONE and uses the numbers and letters "5k1n" spell out skin:





Each sheet comes with 2 chip-sized Tattones and a deluxe-sized Tattone for when you need to send a stronger message. $5
Buy it here

To see the full collection of Designy Temporary tattoos, visit Tattly here.

A Permanent Reminder Of What Plagues The Planet: The Social Tattoo Project.

Let me say, right off the bat, that this doesn't sound like a very good idea to me. But then again, I'm not a tattoo-type of girl. Permanently inking the world's problems on one's body seems akin to tattooing a loved one's name on your body. Things might change... and what seems relevant or important today could very well be obsolete in a decade or so. But kudos to the courageous volunteers who are lending their body as a canvas to advertise their social awareness.




That said, the Social Tattoo Project is a quest to make empathy permanent by taking today's world problems, such as the recent tragedy in Norway, the earthquake in Haiti or Human Trafficking and emblazing them on your skin. The twist is that those who volunteer to be part of the Social Tattoo Project let Twitterers decide what the actual subject will be.



For each tattoo, they will post 4 trending topics on Twitter, and the most tweeted trend will be the subject of the tattoo. To vote, tweet #socialtattoo and your #favorite trend of the 4 to @social_tattoo. With your vote and their volunteers’ skin, they can make what the world empathizes with today, what you have to care about forever.

Mary gets a #Japan tatt:

Ulises gets a #Norway tatt:


A brave volunteer receives a #Haiti tattoo:



And another, a #Human Trafficking tattoo:



Learn more about the Social Tattoo Project

Kia uses Nail Art in a Stop-Motion Animation Film to Market the Picanto.

To market the new KIA Picanto, Kia Motors of Korea came up with a novel way to say "small." Using painted fingernails as stop motion animation to serve as a metaphor for packing things into a small vehicle.






The project took 25 days (and nights), 900 fingernails, 1200 bottles of nail polish and 2 hours to complete each piece of nail art.



The result is a video (cut as a :21 second teaser, a 1:13 second spot and a 2 minute director's cut)

Full version:


The director's cut, shown below, includes nails painted to call out features -like those shown below- as well as for the stop motion animation:


Images from the director's cut only:




Kia Picanto microsite