Inflatable tents are not new, necessarily, but they haven’t ever been perfected enough for them to make sense in the wild. Now, a German firm named Heimplanet wants to change that with their tent called “the Cave”. With a setup time of one minute, this could be a great, if expensive ($650) option for those nights you arrive at your campsite and its already dark.
Some excellent aerodynamic cars throughout many different eras. Starting way back in 1914 with the Alfa Romeo Aerodinamica “Siluro Ricotti”, the Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet Xenia, The Norman E. Timbs Buick Streamliner, the Pink Panther car, Ford Probe Concept, VW L1 Concept, Bertone Nuccio, and finishing with the thoroughly futuristic Toyota Fun Vii.
Some really neat paper birds by Colombian designer Diana Beltran Herrera.
Via Inhabitat. Tropical birds, birds of prey, and even hummingbirds — name a bird, and chances are that Colombian industrial designer Diana Beltran Herrera has made it out of paper. Herrera’s ‘Mathematics For Reality’ collection is a gorgeous flock of biodegradable birds made from layers of colorful paper. Expressive and impressive, Beltran Herrera’s work recreates nature in extreme detail.
Colossal has a peek at some awesome birds made of LEGOs. These birds found in Britain include Puffin on a Cliff, Billy Blue Tit, Kingsley Kingfisher, Bobby Robin, Gloria Goldfinch, and Woody Woodpecker.
Via Colossal: I just stumbled onto this expertly crafted series of birds found in Britain by Thomas Poulsom. His use of color and perfect selection of bricks really bring these animals to life. You can see the entire series of six birds here, and apparently there are many more to come. (via lustik)
Update: Thomas mentions that if enough people vote for his designs, they might become actual sets.
🛒 Shop This LEGO Set on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, Moss and Fog earns from qualifying purchases.
Some fantastic hot air balloons, via The Cool Hunter and Life in the Fast Lane:
There’s something about hot air balloons that makes us all smile. Perhaps it’s the colors, the roundness, the weightlessness? Or maybe it is our eternal desire to fly, to be weightless, to float happily in the air?
At home, colorful balloons have been used to decorate parties, and maybe that is one of the reasons why we associate all balloons with fun and happy times from early childhood on.
Outside the home, massive inflatables often decorate celebratory parades, with Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade the best known and oldest (since 1924).
Balloons are part of store openings and sale events, and they create brand awareness in TV commercials and crowd gatherings. Blimps float above baseball stadiums and inside hockey arenas, sometimes towing banners with commercial messages.
Balloons have also been a part of movies, from Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg’s stylish voyage in Around the world in 80 days in the 1956 movie, to Karl Fredricksen’s trip to Paradise Falls in his house lifted by thousands of balloons in Disney/Pixar’s Up (2009).
At country fairs and all kinds of festivals, hot air balloon rides are a big draw and a once-in-a lifetime experience for many.
Interestingly, hot air balloons – like so many technological inventions including the internet – have their beginnings in the military. Unmanned balloons were used in China for military signaling and other purposes more than 2000 years ago.
Via Colossal, a nice collection of hand-painted bugs on old book covers. Artist Rose Sanderson has a great skill with a brush, and the textured and weathered book covers lend a historical and Darwin-esque historical feel to her artwork.
Russian photographer Alexander Semenov creates photographs of marine life that just burst with color and energy. You may have understood, on some intellectual level, that the ocean depths are an ecosystem, teeming with life and all connected. But looking at these stunning photos will make you seeit in a new way.
Semenov is a diver and project manager at the White Sea Biological Station in Russia, and he studied zoology (particularly squid brains) as a college student. Semenov writes:
When I first began to experiment with sea life photography I tried shooting small invertebrates for fun with my own old camera and without any professional lights or lenses. I collected the invertebrates under water and then I’ve shot them in the lab. After two or three months of failure after failure I ended up with a few good pictures, which I’ve showed to the crew. It has inspired us to buy a semi-professional camera complete with underwater housing and strobes. Thus I’ve spent the following field season trying to shoot the same creatures, but this time in their environment. It was much more difficult, and I spent another two months without any significant results. But when you’re working at something every day, you inevitably get a lot of experience. Eventually I began to get interesting photos – one or two from each dive. Now after four years of practice I get a few good shots almost every time I dive but I still have a lot of things that need to be mastered in underwater photography.
Unlike most industries, automotive design arguably already hit it’s zenith years ago. Though the features available in cars today are mind boggling, their pure forms are, frankly, pretty lame compared to some of the designs that erupted out of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.
The Portland Art Museum is currently showing a traveling exhibit called The Allure of the Automobile, which showcases some of the very rarest, most exquisite cars ever designed. From PAM’s own website:
June 11 – September 11, 2011
The Allure of the Automobile is the first exhibition to consider the stylistic development of cars in the context of prominent design movements such as Art Moderne and Postwar Modernity. Visitors will learn about the contrasts between European and American design, the influence of decorative arts, and the significant changes in automotive styling and engineering before and after World War II.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an array of programs and opportunities to learn more about these remarkable automobiles, the technology behind them, and their historical and cultural context.
Though the exhibition is small at only 16 cars, they’re very much one-of-a-kind models, all in pristine shape, all positively glowing in the art museum setting. I visited the exhibit knowing I’d be appreciative of the artfulness of these cars. But I was blown away at the utter beauty of these vehicles. More sculpture than cars, the collection holds extremely rare, unusual models like the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT racecar, 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante, and the show-stopping 1937 Hispano Suiza H-6C “Xenia” Coupe. The Xenia is one of those designs destined to go down as one of the most gorgeous of all time. I didn’t expect it to be gargantuan, which it is. Everything down to the exhaust pipe is exquisite, and at the time, it was an extremely futuristic design. It still is, 75 years later.
Here are just a few photos I took on my brief tour of the exhibit. For anyone interested in industrial design, sculpture or craftsmanship, I highly recommend a visit.
Watches are cool. The wristwatch has been around for over 100 years, and in that time, as evolved into much more than just a way to check the time. Indeed, wristwatches are an integral part of modern day attire, serving as status symbols, fashion accents and aspects of personality.
I thought this particular watch broke the mold in a stylish and unusual way. From the design duo 666 Barcelona, the ‘John’ model is striking, for sure. Described as a woman’s watch, I think it could look cool on anyone. And Watchismo lists the watch at $149, which is pretty cheap, considering how unique it is.
