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Nonpareil Pet Portrait. One Sweet Beagle Made of 221,184 Colored Sprinkles.





What began as a university fine arts project on Pointillism and Georges Seurat by student Joel Brochu, evolved into a remarkable artistic idea.



What looks like an image of a beagle getting a bath (above) is actually a 4’ by 1 ½’ high definition photograph covered in 221,184 nonpareil sprinkles, each placed painstakingly by hand.



At a distance of 16 feet, the sprinkles blur, tricking the human eye into believing that it is looking at a large photograph. Only when you closely examine the work do you realize that it has been created entirely with tiny spheres of rainbow nonpareils.







Meticulously placed by hand using jewelry tweezers, the sprinkles adhere to the board with the help of double sided tape and a thin layer of glue.




Using only 6 colors of sprinkles (Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Black, and White), a myriad of hues was created.




Joel used a customized computer program, in which a template was created from the original image which guided the placement of each sprinkle. Taking just under 8 months to complete, once finished, it was permanently preserved with a clear acrylic resin.

Sweet, huh?

A big shoutout to Betsy Wills and her wonderful blog, Artstormer, for bringing this unique piece to my attention. Most images courtesy of Joel Brochu

Wendy Legro's graduation project, a modern Hot Water Bottle, gets produced by Droog.



A hit at 2010 design shows in Milan and the Netherlands, Wendy Legro’s graduation project for the Design Academy Eindhoven, Hot Water Bottle, is being mass produced by Droog.

Oh Lord! Five Fun Items Inspired By Jesus.



Nothing like a few blasphemous products to get people's ire stirred up on a Sunday morning. Here are five functional items inspired by the Savior.

eBay & Toys for Tots use QR Codes to Window Shop for "Good" this Holiday.






Created by eBay's ad agency, Venables Bell & Partners, eBay and Toys for Tots have launched the GIVE-A-TOY STORE.



An interactive window display in New York (at 35th and Broadway) and San Francisco (at 117 Post St.) lets you donate a toy by scanning its tag (a QR code) with the eBay mobile app.





Once scanned, the animated toys come to life, encouraging passers-by to get into the holiday giving spirit.



It's a clever, engaging and cute way to be charitable this holiday season and to make many a child happy.

And, for those of you who can’t stop by in-person, you can donate some joy at ebay.com/giveatoystore.com

There is also a Facebook application called "Build a Toy."



Users donate by customizing one of the classic, virtual toys at Facebook.com/eBay. eBay will donate $1 for every toy customized, up to $50,000.

Toys for Tots
Ebay Give A Toy Store
Facebook.com/Ebay Build A Toy

CREDITS:

Client Name: eBay
Name of Ad: eBay Give-A-Toy Store
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Live Date: 11.11.11
Executive Creative Director: Paul Venables and Will McGinness
Creative Directors: Lee Einhorn, Tyler Hampton
Art Director: Brad Kayal
Copywriter: Kelly Diaz
Director of Interactive Production: Heather Wischmann
Interactive Producer: Elissa Polls
Print Producer: Jacqueline Fodor
Account Director: Anne Cummings
Account Supervisor: Lindsay Cole
Account Manager: Kim Claytor

(OUT-SOURCED BELOW)
Interactive Production: Brand New School East
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Interactive Director: Justin Bakse
Developer: Brian Tobin
Producer: Jeanette Etchebehere
Associate Producer: Joe Balint
Post Production: Brand New School West
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Director: Robert Bisi

Designers: Andy Bernet, Sakona Kong, Ed Laag, Angela Li, Waka Ichinose
CG Lead/VFX Supervisor: Marco Maldonado
3D Modeling: Andy Kim, Derrick Sesson
3D Animation: Hao Cui, Max Keane, Alfredo Ramirez, Derrick Sesson
2D Animation: Maithy Tran
3D Artists: Martin Furness, Andy Kim, Ryan Kirkwood
Storyboard Artist: Max Forward
Compositor: Ryan Kirkwood, Maithy Tran
Executive Producer: Jason Cohon
Producer: Jeanette Etchebehere

Media Company: Monster Media
Creative Producer: Radhames Almanzar
VP of Marketing & Client Services: Natalie Brokaw
Client Services Coordinator: Lindsey Fuller
Project Manager: Sloan Jenkins
SVP of Sales & Marketing: Tim O’Brien
Original Music: Jingle Punks
Sound Design: Brad Kayal, Chris Konovaliv

Eye Popping Pill Portraits of Celebrities Amy Winehouse, Heath Ledger & More.




Get a load of Jason Mecier's portraits of celebrities Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Courtney Love and Kelly Osbourne made with actual pills. While it's true that some of these subject's undoing was the medium itself, others, like Kelly Osbourne have successfully kicked the habit. Either way, these are interesting homages to them.






Be sure to check out the Red Vine, Candy and Junk mosaic portraits by this same artist, Jason Mecier and the self portrait comprised of Ecstacy tablets by bar code artist Scott Blake.

Tattoos and Tentacles. Julian Murray Captures Inked People with Things That Squirt Ink.



Tattoos and Tentacles is a new coffee table book featuring a collection of photographs of inked people, wearing very little except their body art, and draped in cephalopods that squirt ink (that's a fancy way of saying octopus and squid).

Wicked New Dominos. The Skin & Bones Set with Hinged Box and Original Artwork by Jeremy Fish.





The new Skin & Bones Domino Set by illustrator and artist Jeremy Fish of Superfishal is a wicked looking 28 piece set of dominoes in its own cool case.



Each domino is glossy black with metallic gold dots and Jeremy's artwork featured on the back.



The Skin & Bones Domino Set comes in a glossy black magnetic locking hinged box measuring 8 x 5 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches with Jeremy Fish's custom image printed in metallic gold on the top:


The video below, "Skin & Bones Domino Rally," was shot by Sean Desmond to promote the new Skin & Bones Domino Set for Tott Global.

buy the Dominoes here at Upper Playground. ($38.99)
or here at Tools of The Trade ($39.99)

For those of you in the San Francisco area, there will be an official Skin & Bones Release Party tonight ( Thursday Nov 17th) at Txoko.

Racing-Inspired Watches. Autodromo Motoring Timepieces Are Just Your Speed.




Inspired by automotive instruments such as speedometers and tachometers, Autodromo Motoring Watches are a new collection of Swiss made wristwatches whose faces are minimal in design and reminiscent of vintage Italian racing-inspired style.

Just launched, the collection consists of three models, two available in two different finishes; the Brescia, the Vallelunga, with a white or black dial, and the Veloce in a black or stainless finish.

Brescia:



Vallelunga (white face):



Vallelunga (black face):



Veloce (stainless case):



Veloce (black case):



With quartz movements, sapphire coated crystals and leather straps, the watch cases measure 42mm in diameter and 10 mm in thickness and are designed for both men and women.




And the come beautifully packed in individual cases:


The Autodromo Story (courtesy of Autodromo)

INSTRUMENTS FOR MOTORING

Officine Autodromo was founded to recapture a romantic era of motoring. It was a time of Gran Turismo when driving from city to city wasn't just a matter of hopping onto an expressway. It meant slipping on your driving gloves for a high speed jaunt through the great roads of Europe with a powerful, sweet-sounding engine propelling you into new adventure, and maybe even a little danger. You can’t be out every day, blasting through alpine passes and winding country roads, but with an Autodromo timepiece on your wrist, your mind can be motoring, even when you are in the dullest of Monday meetings.


VINTAGE-INSPIRED MINIMALIST DESIGN

Autodromo watches and accessories draw aesthetic inspiration from the world of mid-century auto racing. Our products have a vintage feel, alloyed with a clean, uncluttered modernist design philosophy. Each new product is conceived as an artifact that might have existed in the past, but is equally at home in the world of today.

SWISS MADE MOVEMENTS – BATCH MADE QUALITY

Only the finest quality materials and the best Swiss Made movements are deemed suitable to go into an Autodromo motoring watch. And because we keep our batches small, we can ensure that each piece that goes out the door meets our exacting standards of excellence. Our goal is to offer beautiful design, attention to detail, and exquisite craftsmanship at prices that represent a smart allocation of resources. With Autodromo, you can live well and drive well.

PROUDLY INDEPENDENT – OBSESSIVELY DRIVEN

Everything we do, from our motoring watches to the custom wrapping paper we ship each purchase in are designed in-house by our small, passionate team. We build products we are passionate about, and approach each and every new project with the goal of crafting a special and memorable experience for the discerning customer. That’s our obsession.- Autodromo

Each stylish watch retails for $425 and can be purchased at their website.

A special shout-out to Brian Jones for bringing these to my attention.

Marcel The Shell Sequel, Book, Activity Kit and Mobile Apps Continue The Cuteness.




I was thrilled to learn that director/writer Dean Fleischer-Camp and commedienne, writer (and Marcel's voice) Jenny Slate have produced another short film starring the lovable and quirky Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.



Along with the release of this sequel, Penguin has published a book for children (and enjoyable for adults, too) about the impish stop-motion shell named Marcel called Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me



To learn about how Marcel The Shell came to life and see the first video, go here.

Now there's even a Marcel the Shell mobile app for both the iPhone and iPad:



And a downloadable PDF Activity kit with a maze, a word puzzle and coloring pages (art for the kit by Amy Lind):


Download the Marcel the Shell Activity Kit

Buy the new Marcel The Shell With Shoes On book here.

See who voices Marcel the Shell and how he came to life here.

Please donate

C'mon people, it's only a dollar.