The Crisis of Credit Visualized

As part of his thesis work, at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, artist Jonathan Jarvis has made this animation to explain the credit crisis. His work tries to give form to complex ideas and make them easily understood by the unfamiliar.

Honda on Mobility in 80 Years

This is an incredible video made by Honda, in which they ask designers, sociologists, directors, etc, what they think mobility will be like in 2088. Definitely worth watching.

Sebastian's Voodoo

This short animation is great. It was the Grand Winner of the aniBoom 2008 animation awards. 

Robotic Logging Equipment

This video of a new piece of logging equipment shows how a tree can be cut down, stripped, and cut into logs in only 20 seconds. It's fascinating to watch. By the way, the trees look like they're farmed.

Arthur Ganson's Machine With Chair

If you saw my earlier post of artist Arthur Ganson speaking at TED, then you've seen this piece before. I'm not usually one brought to tears by an art piece, but this one really does it for me. Worth seeing again.

15 Cool Examples of Biomimicry

Brainz has compiled a list of what they think are the 15 coolest examples of biomimicry. I dropped the word 'coolest' as I have seen others that aren't on this list. Still it's a good list.

David Carson at TED

David Carson is a "grunge typographer" with a background in sociology. This amazing, and funny, presentation is inspiring and shows the depths of Carson's observations of the world.

Cantilevered Bridge Design

Yanko Design has some images of a drawbridge in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. It's a unique design for a small bridge.

The Places We Live

Artist Jonas Beniksen, along with the Nobel Peace Center, has created an interactive website meant to document and bring attention to the slums of the world. These case studies of families, from around the world, are a fascinating look into the everyday conditions for many of the world's inhabitants. 

Light Pipe Architecture

Oobject has a listing of various architectural projects that contain light pipes and/or heliostats. Using large mirrors and other reflective materials, sunlight is redirected into subways, art galleries, and even entire towns.

The Making of Barbie

Design Boom has a neat slideshow about the design effort that goes into making the Barbie Doll. Now representing more than 50 nationalities and ethnicities, a great deal of thought must go into the skin, makeup, and hair of these dolls.

Where Old Planes Go to Die

This is a Google Map of the Davis Monthan Air Force Base outside Tucson Arizona. This is where decommissioned military planes are disassembled and stripped of parts. Zoom in to see all the detail.

16 Spiral Staircases

Dornob posted a list of 16 spectacular spiral staircases as seen from above. Anyone who's ever been in a large apartment building with stairs you can look down between knows that thrilling sense of vertigo. Some of these designs are almost Escheresque. 

Umbrella Art Installations

Toxel has images of several art installations made from umbrellas. Very creative.

A Scooter for Dandies

Yanko Design has conceptual images of an electric scooter design by Miguel Ángel Iranzo. I really love the styling. The innovative design includes a suitcase that contains the battery, so you can take it into your home or office to charge.

Le Wrath Di Khan

For those of you who don't get to watch Robot Chicken on the tube, here's a wonderful example of their work. An opera based on Star Trek, the Wrath of Khan. 

Rob High Fives Over 2000 Commuters

Another great project by some members of Improv Everywhere. This time, Rob stands at the top of a NY subway escalator, and high fives the commuters conveying by. It seems that most peoples mornings were brightened.

The Trader Joe's Song

If you've shopped at TJ's before, then you'll appreciate this customer made song and video.

1950's Cold Cream Commercial

Dorthy Gray used independent scientific testing to prove that her brand of cold cream, removed more particles from the skin that did the competition. How? By adding radioactive isotopes to makeup, then using a geiger counter to see how well her product removed it.

100 Abandoned Houses

Photographer Kevin Bauman specializes in architectural photography. He has scoured his region to find houses that have been left to crumble, and photographed them. Some of these houses are just beautiful and it's a shame to see them wasted.

The Future of Automobiles is Nearly Here

Inhabitat tells us that Aptera, a new company making electric cars, has rolled out its' first pre-production model called the 2e. While many car companies are showing off their "green" and "futuristic" designs, Aptera is nearly ready to go into full assembly line production. Don't be surprised when you see one of these on the street.

The Incredible Story of the President's Desk

Metafilter has the story of where the desk in the oval office came from. The story includes the search for the Northwest Passage, several ships trapped in ice, one that sank, whalers, and the Queen of England. An amazing story; worth the read.

Recycled Object Lamps

Green Upgrader has the work of Gilles Eichenbaum, a Parisian designer who creates absolutely gorgeous lamps from recycled household items. Make sure you view both pages of content. Really really great!

Earthen Buildings

Web Ecoist, a sister site of Web Urbanist, has a list of "The 15 Dirtiest Buildings"; structures made from mud and/or mud brick. Some are very old, like the Great Mosque of Djenne shown above, while others are demonstrating the benefits of earthen construction in todays world.

More of London From Above

Boston.com's Big Picture has another set of stunning aerial photographs of London at night. All by jason Hawkes, the long exposure shots give a real sense of the enormity of the city and its' mixture of ancient and futuristic architecture.

Japanese Factories

Bouncing Red Ball has a dozen beautifully exposed photographs of factories in Japan. They're really interesting to see; all the colors, the cool lighting, and they're so clean!