Zen Bound

Zen Bound 2 is a simple, relaxing and gorgeous game for the PC, Mac, iPod and iPad. Anyone can play it.

The concept is really simple; rotate an object in space to cover it in string. That might not sound like much, but the games solid mechanics and striking presentation make it something definitely worth checking out.







Grab it from the App Store for your iPhone/iPad, or on Steam for PC/Mac.

Alan Powdrill

Celebrate the holidays with Alan Powdrill! His photo series Greasy Christmas catalogs some pretty sorry attempts at holiday cheer.

Kevin Nelson

More concept art! This time by Kevin Nelson, an artist at Disney. He just started blogging, posting some person stuff and some concept art from Tangled.











Hopefully he'll keep posting because I'd love to see more!

Epic Mickey

Disney Epic Mickey was recently released on the Nintendo Wii. The project was led by Warren Spector, one of the industry's most respected creators who also happens to be a huge Disney fanatic and collector.

The final result was a strange and unique take on the Disney universe. The concept art is something to behold although I have the a feeling that it might be a bit more apocalyptic than the final game.









Now that the game is out, artists are probably a bit more comfortable posting concept artwork they did for the game. They first I've seen is Sam Nielson's super-cool Prototype Pete.



Hopefully more artists will follow suit, because I'm sure there's a library of amazing stuff waiting to be seen.

Here's one more to grow on.


EDIT: A bit more has trickled out! Enjoy!

A couple from Billy George.





And something by A.J. Trahan, who also did some storyboard concepts.

American Cupcake

I'm visiting San Fransisco this week; I came for a meeting and I'm actually only here for a day and a half. I don't have a lot of time for fun... (sad emoticon)

But as soon as I landed I ran out to explore and I stumbled upon American Cupcake.

I don't know a ton about them since their website is basically MIA, but I know this; Lindsay would freak-out if she ever set foot inside.











Daaaaang that a lot of toppings!

KIOSK store

If you're scraping for ideas of things to buy as holiday presents, why not try the KIOSK store? It's hard to say what you'll find there, except that it'll be an odd assortment from all over the world.


Here's a cute Persimmon Ink Stamp from Japan.



And a lock from Finland.

Holiday Gifts: Plush Toys

To add to the holiday list-making, here are a few stuffed animals with extra special, one-of-a-kind charm. Jennifer Murphy's website is also a great place to see a menagerie of old-fashioned animals.

A.
White Christmas Reindeer
$50.00
by FantasticToys

B.
Handmade Cardinal
$15.00
by bubbletime

C.
Millie the Hot Pink Mouse
$37.00
by violetpi

D.
Penguins
N/A
by Jennifer Murphy

E.
Miniature Ooak Teddy
$24.50
by knittingdreams

F.
Handmade Wool Felted Polar Bear
$43.00
by BinneBear

Alex Roman

This is a pretty cool commercial. But there's something unexpected about it:



If you didn't guess (and your probably didn't), it's 100% CG. Alex Roman is some kind of super... CG artist... dude. Just check out his previous work, The Third & The Seventh.

Wizz

Here's a very cool animation created by Wizz, a french production, design and motion graphics house.



There's tons of crazy awesome work on Wizz site... oh what the heck. Here's another one I flipped out over a year or so ago.

Pistacia Vera - Parisian Macarons in Columbus

Pistachia Vera's cute storefront!

On the last day of our Columbus visit, we stopped at an adorable little dessert boutique called Pistacia Vera.
It was absolutely gorgeous in there - it was like what a high-end salon feels like, except it was the cutest, most adorable store filled with tasty goodies.


Cute Take-away packs for my friends back home in Minneapolis! (Vanilla Bean, Black Raspberry, Nutella, Pistachio)

Everything inside was really clean and orderly, like a spread out of Martha Stewart Magazine - and the food was beautiful! I tested a couple delicious cookies while we were there and grabbed a few more for the road (and for some awesome friends!)


Black Raspberry and Nutella... Mmmm

I've only ever seen Parisian Macarons online - If Minneapolis has them, I haven't found them yet. Pistacia Vera had 12 different flavors, all of which were proudly displayed in their old-school bakery case, in a rainbow of colors.


A Whole case of goodies! - look at all those flavors of macarons!


Cute Display + a funny picture of Ryan

We just had to take a couple pictures of their cute displays and the great nooks and crannies of their shop! There were only a few tables and after waiting 15 minutes for a little table to sit at, we relaxed and enjoyed some sweets and the company of our good friend Ryan.


Sugared Paté de Fruit!

I highly recommend visiting if you're ever in the area! They also have a great website if you're curious to see more of this cute shop!


Home-made marshmallows!

Design Sponge - Student Scholarship Competition!

Rules & Details Here

Have you heard about Design Sponge's Scholarship Competition?

For some reason this slipped past me! I know the deadline is coming up, but since I know quite a few students that would be fantastic at this sort of thing, I wanted to post it here incase anyone would have the time to enter!

Design Sponge is offering (and i quote)

The 2010 Design*Sponge Scholarship is intended to assist art and design students in the pursuit of their creative endeavors through financial support.

This year, thanks to Glos and Room & Board, Design*Sponge will be awarding $10,000 in financial awards, to be divided between four winners in amounts of:

Undergraduate Student Awards: 1st Place ($2,500), 2nd Place ($1,500), 3rd Place ($750), and 4th Place ($250)

Graduate Student Awards: 1st Place ($2,500) 2nd Place ($1,500) 3rd Place ($750) 4th Place ($250)

In addition, Glos will be giving all finalists (undergraduate and graduate) the opportunity to develop a collection of creative surface coverings to be sold through Glos! (Any students participating in these collections will retain ownership of their work and will be paid for the licensing of their designs).


Read more at Design*Sponge http://www.designspongeonline.com/scholarship#ixzz16wIQC7E5

Please please enter, you guys!!!

Vintage Goodies from Columbus OHIO

One of the days that Chris and I were in Columbus was our Shopping Day.
We happened upon a really cute little vintage shop that was absolutely encrusted with old-timey Christmas Decorations.

Besides that, we found a couple jems amongst the piles and piles of things from the days of olde.

Doll Chandelier Anyone?


Me Burried amongst a million vintage toys


Look what I found amongst all the vintage toys & books


This is what Chris found



A Fantastically Wonderful Mushroom Serving Bowl - mushrooms to die for!


Ryan and Jenny amongst a million vintage coats


Ryan's new hat


Ryan and Urkel


I really wish we would have taken some more photos of all the other sweet things in the shop. I always get nervous when taking pictures in stores. I remember my retail days when we used to bust people taking photos all the time! At least we got a couple gems!
I can't get enough of the nostalgic stuff in places like these!!

Chronicle Books - Pitch for Charity

It's late and I'm up working on our submission to a very special event.
Chronicle books (one of the best publishers of my favorite books EVER) is hosting an event in San Francisco called "Chronicle Books' Pitch For Charity.

You head to their corporate office, stand in line, and you pay $10 for ten minutes of an Editor's time. You Pitch your book idea for five minutes and they give you five minutes of feedback. The ten dollars goes to Habitat for Humanity, so whatever happens, you've done good.

We're flying Chris down there to pitch our new book idea. Everyone in the office has worked on this project at one point or another. Robin and Mary have been HUGE helps in scanning, ordering, filing, placing, making, doing... almost everything up to this point. (Thank you so much, ladies!!)

Next Wednesday is the day we see how it goes!

If you happen to be in the area - or if you have a book and feel the need to fly out and try your luck at the publishing lottery, you should!

I feel like these chances don't happen enough, so we're going to give it all we've got and see what happens! Wish us luck!

(Images to follow after our meeting!)

Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic

Here's an incredibly painstaking, ridiculously intricate piece of art.
The Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech republic is probably one of the weirdest, most insane works of art. Imagine one part sculpture, and one part mausoleum.


Built from the skeletons of between 40,000 to 70,000 people, the arrangements within the Sedlec Ossuary defy imagination. A Woodcarver named Frantisek Rint, was hired to give order to the massive amount of human remains that had been exhumed after a push to reconstruct the holy ground around a Gothic church in the town of Sedlec.


The bones used in this fantastic macabre wonder had once been the property of hundreds of thousands of people that had died in the mid 14th century due to the Black Death.




These awesome original photos came from Curious Expeditions Photoset on Flickr.
There are more amazing photos
here if you'd like to see more!
There are 33 great ones in total in the set.


And, if you'd like to know more history behind this place, more images and content can be found at
SedlecOssuary.com