Tim Flach

Tim Flach photographs animals. His gorgeous book Equus was dedicated entirely to horses. He just recently released Dogs, filled with a ton of amazing images of... dogs. Which (as you might know) is a subject very close to Paper Bicycle's heart.













Again, check out his site because it's absolutely loaded with brilliant photographs. Picking only six photos to share was difficult, I could have just as easily picked sixty.

Rogue Chocolatier

I almost can't believe how long it took me to realize I should post about this. Rogue Chocolatier is an award-winning, Minneapolis-based gourmet Chocolate company, and you will not often taste chocolate as magnificent as this.

Did I mention the packaging is beautiful, too?
One of the few ways you can try these delectable bars is by ordering online, though if you're in town, I'm also heavily in favor of visiting one of our favorite teahouses, Infinitea, and buying a bar there. Otherwise, at the moment, they're pretty hard to come by! (My favorite so far is the Rio Caribe)

Oops.

In the short film Oops, Chris Beckman's uses found video clips that all feature a camea being accidentally dropped. The videos are seamlessly stitched together, and it creates a strange experience that's both funny and filled with a surprising amount of tension.

It recently placed first in the Vimeo Awards' Experimental category. You cans see what Beckman has to say about the video here.

oops from Chris Beckman on Vimeo.

Marcel the Shell.

Marcel the Shell is directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp, and it's the cutest little animation. The real star of the show, however, is the voicework by Jenny Slate.

Apparently it's not enhanced in any way and so gosh-darn cute!

Andrew Hem

Andrew Hem works in gouache, oils and acrylics to create some great paintings.

Younger than Springtime- That's you.

I went on a vintage greeting card buying spree again (this is the second one this year) where I bought quite a few fun old greeting cards.







These are fantastic bright pieces from "A Sunshine Card" - where there is no limit to the retina burning neon awesomeness. Sometimes I wonder why design culture doesn't revisit some of this amazing stuff more often. - like - revive this sweet, sweet party-time amazingness, PLEASE!

I'm incredibly inspired by 50s - 70s illustration, particularly on wrapping paper and greeting cards. The only thing better than this is what they say inside.

"Younger than springtime - that's you. Happy Birthday"

Die Antwoord

You can finally buy $o$, the first full-length album from Die Antwoord. If you love bizarre, catchy, vaguely shocking (?) music and don't mind a heavy dose of absurdity they're definitely worth checking out.

Lindsay should really be writing this post, since she's been a little infatuated with them for about a year or so. If she had the chance, I think she would run off with the group's frontman, Ninja. And maybe I have a tiny crush on the group's (also tiny) female lead, Yo-Landi Vi$$er. Maybe.

I could post videos all day, but I think this one sums it up nicely:



Die Antwoord is a sexy and strangely lovable team.

Clever Tea Packaging

Two of the three of us adore tea. So - when I saw this post about all the amazing ways that people have dressed up my favorite drink, I just about died.


Natalia Ponomareva


Maum Tea Bags

If you want to see more ... head over
here

Rain Dance

Paper Bicycle, as a studio, loves to get down. When we come to a party we come to dance, no questions asked.

But these guys are so awesome it kind of makes me want to never try to dance again. Because I will always think about this video and realize I could never be so dope.

Hollis Brown Thornton

I remember when everything was VHS. It feels like it only lasted for five years (did it?), but during that time the recorded tapes my family had looked like they had been through several wars.
Hollis Brown Thornton has a number of intricate permanent marker drawings depicting VHS and video game cartridges. The specificity of these drawings is really great, and definitely does a great job depicting the well-used, hand-crafted look of a recorded VHS tape.


He's also on flickr, which might be the best way to keep up with his work.

Andrew Myers

Andrew B Myers is a Toronto-based photographer. Combining analog and digital techniques, he carefully crafts scenes that can be both complex and serene. Some of his photos could almost be painted pastel patterns.

8BITS

SuperCopter! See who made it here.

Green Box

Green Box is pretty clever.



I hate washing dishes and I hate unwieldy pizza boxes, so I like this.

Levi van Veluw

Here are some surreal and striking images from Levi van Veluw. He actually has quite a few projects featured on his site that show his face covered in various materials. Some of which are downright creepy, others, more textural. I love the ball-point pen photos as well.
There's something really neat about the marks all over his face. Especially the smudged images.

Missed Connections NY

I am not sure how I stumbled across this blog, but it is fantastic! Missed Connections NYis a cute illustration blog that features great watercolor paintings of the missed connections sections of various sites & papers.




These are super cute - and upon further investigation, it looks like the artist, Sophie Blackall, is coming out with a book of all these great illustrations!

The Walking Dead

The comic series The Walking Dead is one of the best things I've ever read. It's unrelentingly bleak and heartbreakingly painful, and I can't get enough.

When AMC announced they were doing a TV series based on the comic, I was curious. When they started releasing promo shots of their gruesome zombie makeup, I wondered if it was on the right path? After all, the series is very much a human drama that just coincidentally has zombies in the background.



But seeing the first trailer has made me pretty hopeful. It seems to have the somber tone and tension of the books, so I'm pretty excited to see what they do with it.

Big Cats and Catnip.

This video was able to grind all productivity in the studio to a dead stop, so I figured it was worth sharing.



EDIT: This may be even better.

The Animal Print Shop

Sharon Montrose takes awesome photos of animals. Her photos are so irresistible, she decided to set up The Animal Print Shop to offer super affordable prints for anyone who wants one.

It's 25 bucks for a 7"x9" print of any animal, but you can also snag a limited edition version at a variety of larger sizes (for quite a bit more, of course).







I'm thinking about getting a set for the studio, but trying to pick just a few is hard. I feel like I'm hurting the feelings of all the rest!

Tiny houses

I've always thought dollhouses and miniatures were fascinating, but stumbling across this set of images gave me an even greater appreciation for the art of making tiny homes.



Some of the dollhouses in the image gallery are really old, dating back to the early 1700s. I really enjoyed this interpretation of Leonardo DaVinci's studio:



and this room full of tiny musical instruments:



The rest of the images are equally as impressive, including a giant Japanese-styled house and many detailed views of the furniture and accessories.

Andrea Joseph

Andrea Joseph's work is not quite Trompe L'Oeil, but the part that brings it back to being a drawing–insane amounts of pencil and pen texture– just makes the pieces even better.

I think her work is especially lovely when her textured use of materials melds so closely to what she's drawing that it's hard not to imagine what the objects would feel like.

Beautiful Books : Folio Society

The Folio Society has some of the most gorgeous books I've ever seen.
My Father is a member and has been collecting their books for sometime - most of his books are classics with reproductions of the original plates in the first editions.
All of the covers and dust jackets are amazingly detailed, embossed and foiled in some cases.






I think some day I'll have a huge library of fantastic books I've read, with one of those large library ladders that reach to the ceiling, so I can climb around the walls and choose a book at my leisure.

I understand that this makes me seem like I think I'll be living in a castle where I have a giant library like that. Let's hope that's where I'm headed.

Ei Ka

I am totally taken by this watercolor painting.



I don't know much about Ei Ka, other than she's from Mowscow, and she creates some amazing art. Paintings, drawing, photography, jewelry and more can be found at her Flickr or Behance.

Delicious, Delicious Chocolate Packaging

So we're currently working for one of MN's best candy companies and have recently found out that their past designs have been featured in a million and one different design blogs, books and magazines. (Thanks for the info, Francesca!) Since we happen to know that there is quite a bit of good chocolate packaging out there, I've taken the time to put up some of my absolute favorites.



Divine Chocolate



Co Couture




B.T. McElrath


Vere Goods




Seattle Chocolates

I might have to order one of each and invite everyone over for a taste test...

Tooth Art

We all need to take care of our chompers. After my trip to the dentist this month, I was thinking this might be a good way to draw attention away from my tea stained teeth!
Here, I could have any number of celebrities tattooed on my teeth if I'd like, although I'd probably just ask them to cover all my front teeth with portraits of all of my cats.

Thinking of following suit?
Check out the toothartist.

Pictionary

Here at Paper Bicycle, we believe in communicating our ideas as clearly as possible. Sometimes we need to communicate those ideas to each other, and of course we know that the best way to communicate ideas is with a visual.

Here's a sneak peek into the minds of greatness:

(A lot of the diagrams are pet story visuals. And the rest...well...you know.)