http://picocool.com The daily pulse of cool. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:11:09 -0500 en http://picocool.com/art/beyond-burton-art-inspired-by-alice-in-wonderland/ http://picocool.com/art/beyond-burton-art-inspired-by-alice-in-wonderland/ Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:11:09 -0500 brainpicker art http://picocool.com/art/beyond-burton-art-inspired-by-alice-in-wonderland/

Spotlighting three artists' work inspired by Alice In Wonderland, from photography to illustration to digital design

5 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/creative-derivatives-of-the-london-tube-map/ http://picocool.com/design/creative-derivatives-of-the-london-tube-map/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:26:13 -0500 brainpicker design http://picocool.com/design/creative-derivatives-of-the-london-tube-map/

The London Tube Map is an iconic design literacy meme - here are five brilliant derivatives inspired by it.

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/project-documerica-1/ http://picocool.com/culture/project-documerica-1/ Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:19:14 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/project-documerica-1/

In 1971, the EPA hired 81 freelance photographers to document the environmental issues and everyday life of the 70's. The result is Project Documerica, a fascinating collection of 15,000 recently digitized photographs that capture the essence of one of the most influential decades in modern history.

4 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/web/refresh-everything/ http://picocool.com/web/refresh-everything/ Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:10:01 -0500 baruag web http://picocool.com/web/refresh-everything/

In 2010, Pepsi will give millions of dollars to fund good ideas, big and small, that make the world a better place. What's a good idea? Who gets a Refresh Grant? You decide.As Pepsi says "We're looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Look around your community and think about how you want to change it."

4 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/art/strange-worlds-miniature-condiment-landscapes/ http://picocool.com/art/strange-worlds-miniature-condiment-landscapes/ Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:41:22 -0500 brainpicker art http://picocool.com/art/strange-worlds-miniature-condiment-landscapes/

Matthew Alabanese's incredible photorealistic landscapes, made out of condiments and spices

1 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/fresh-stuff-from-michel-gondry/ http://picocool.com/culture/fresh-stuff-from-michel-gondry/ Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:56:36 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/fresh-stuff-from-michel-gondry/

The iconic director's latest gem, for Mia Doi Todd's "Open Your Heart"

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/title-sequence-for-dutch-science-show-het-kolkhuis/ http://picocool.com/design/title-sequence-for-dutch-science-show-het-kolkhuis/ Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:53:59 -0500 brainpicker design http://picocool.com/design/title-sequence-for-dutch-science-show-het-kolkhuis/

Brilliant stop-frame opening sequence and end titles animation for Dutch science show Het Kolkhuis (The Apple Core)

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/eco/handspun-recycled-newspaper-yarn/ http://picocool.com/eco/handspun-recycled-newspaper-yarn/ Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:50:00 -0500 Stilsucht eco http://picocool.com/eco/handspun-recycled-newspaper-yarn/

Spin your old newspapers to yarn and start being creative! Great idea and for every DIY-lover.

5 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/the-corners-project-1/ http://picocool.com/culture/the-corners-project-1/ Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:50:49 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/the-corners-project-1/

3 years, 5 corners, 100's of candid photographs of strangers and passers-by - a brilliant portrait of NYC

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/we-live-now/ http://picocool.com/design/we-live-now/ Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:53:22 -0500 brainpicker design http://picocool.com/design/we-live-now/

Inspired by one designer's battle with cancer, a lovely project uses typography & illustration to make our lives better

6 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/technology/ipad/ http://picocool.com/technology/ipad/ Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:13:43 -0500 emilychang technology http://picocool.com/technology/ipad/

Apple's new tablet. Can run iPhone apps, email, video, photos, calendar, contacts, etc. 9.7 inch screen.

12 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/eco/one-cubic-foot/ http://picocool.com/eco/one-cubic-foot/ Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:46:00 -0500 brainpicker eco http://picocool.com/eco/one-cubic-foot/

How much life can you fit into one cubic foot? Photographer David Liittschwager investigates across 5 fascinating and disparate habitats around the world

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/lifestyle/tea-submarine/ http://picocool.com/lifestyle/tea-submarine/ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:04:15 -0500 garyd lifestyle http://picocool.com/lifestyle/tea-submarine/

Sink this tiny yellow submarine into a cup of hot water for tea. For best results, listen to Beatles. Unarmed, sonar not included.

7 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/andrew-zuckermans-wisdom-project/ http://picocool.com/culture/andrew-zuckermans-wisdom-project/ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:32:45 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/andrew-zuckermans-wisdom-project/

Inspired by the insight that wisdom is a generation's greatest heritage, photographer Andrew Zuckerman interviews 50 of our time's biggest thinkers and doers

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/the-red-book/ http://picocool.com/culture/the-red-book/ Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:03:24 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/the-red-book/

Extraordinary insight into one of the 20th century's most celebrated minds, Carl Jung, father of modern psychology

1 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/charting-the-beatles/ http://picocool.com/design/charting-the-beatles/ Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:53:01 -0500 brainpicker design http://picocool.com/design/charting-the-beatles/

Brilliant infographic exploration of the life and music of the iconic rockers, from sales statistics to personal biographies to songwriting contributions within the band

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/art/curation-with-a-conscience-the-working-proof/ http://picocool.com/art/curation-with-a-conscience-the-working-proof/ Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:02:10 -0500 brainpicker art http://picocool.com/art/curation-with-a-conscience-the-working-proof/

New online gallery and print shop offers limited-edition artwork, donates to charities the artists select

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/technology/facesense-mind-reading-from-mit/ http://picocool.com/technology/facesense-mind-reading-from-mit/ Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:37:50 -0500 brainpicker technology http://picocool.com/technology/facesense-mind-reading-from-mit/

New software analyzes face gestures in real time, deducing information about emotional disposition and mental state

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/art/hand-drawn-map-association-notebook/ http://picocool.com/art/hand-drawn-map-association-notebook/ Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:53:21 -0500 skyfloat art http://picocool.com/art/hand-drawn-map-association-notebook/

The Hand Drawn Map Association is giving away free hand-made, gocco printed notebooks to all contributors during the month of January.

4 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/far-out-the-real-space-odyssey/ http://picocool.com/culture/far-out-the-real-space-odyssey/ Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:52:55 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/far-out-the-real-space-odyssey/

Fascinating, viscerally gripping anthology of remarkable astronomy images from observatories around the world and in space, telling the story of time and space in a way that intrigues, illuminates, and inspires.

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/short-circuit-shelf-holds-your-books-elegantly/ http://picocool.com/design/short-circuit-shelf-holds-your-books-elegantly/ Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:25:25 -0500 sara design http://picocool.com/design/short-circuit-shelf-holds-your-books-elegantly/

Anyone who is associated with the electricity one way or the other, surely knows where do the inventive bookshelf by Alexandra DiCairano takes inspiration from. Yups, it's a short circuit design and that's where it gets the name too from. The beautifully efficient pattern of the circuit board indeed doesn't ask for any introduction for one glimpse at it coerces the spectator to praise it.

7 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/art/50-artworks-50-albums-1/ http://picocool.com/art/50-artworks-50-albums-1/ Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:13:53 -0500 brainpicker art http://picocool.com/art/50-artworks-50-albums-1/

Hype Machine invite 50 visual artists to create original artworks depicting the 50 best musicians of 2009

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/death-by-design/ http://picocool.com/design/death-by-design/ Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:49:30 -0500 brainpicker design http://picocool.com/design/death-by-design/

3 designers' innovative, sustainable approaches to death & its rituals - something we hardly think about in the framework of design

1 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/eco/100-places-to-remember-before-they-disappear/ http://picocool.com/eco/100-places-to-remember-before-they-disappear/ Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:54:55 -0500 brainpicker eco http://picocool.com/eco/100-places-to-remember-before-they-disappear/

100 photographs of 100 environmentally endangered places around the world, taken by 100 of the world's greatest living photographers

6 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/art/the-best--bizarre-youtube-videos-catured-as-art/ http://picocool.com/art/the-best--bizarre-youtube-videos-catured-as-art/ Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:38:31 -0500 laurasweet art http://picocool.com/art/the-best--bizarre-youtube-videos-catured-as-art/

Artists Comenius Roethlisberger and Admir Jahic's Without You Baby, There Ain't No Us exhibit consists of still frames from YouTube videos rendered as illustrations on handmade paper. They've immortalized images from bizarre and/or popular youtube videos such as Evolution of Dance and a drunk David Hasselhoff.

4 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/the-moment-jars-1/ http://picocool.com/culture/the-moment-jars-1/ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:08:21 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/the-moment-jars-1/

Lovely - a digital repository for those human moments that matter most

4 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/music-meets-philosophy-the-happiness-project/ http://picocool.com/culture/music-meets-philosophy-the-happiness-project/ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:23:54 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/music-meets-philosophy-the-happiness-project/

Broken Social Scene's Charles Spearin deconstructs the natural melodies of human speech

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/a-bit-of-africa/ http://picocool.com/culture/a-bit-of-africa/ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:31:55 -0500 Nalden culture http://picocool.com/culture/a-bit-of-africa/

A BIT OF AFRICA is Paolo Novelli's return to exploring the great diversity of Africa, adapting and developing the technique that I have applied so far to western urban scenes.

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/free-gifts-a-curated-gift-guide-to-the-priceless-1/ http://picocool.com/culture/free-gifts-a-curated-gift-guide-to-the-priceless-1/ Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:50:15 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/free-gifts-a-curated-gift-guide-to-the-priceless-1/

Celebrating thrift and last-minuteness with priceless yet free gifts that show off your creative connoisseurship while sparing your wallet

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/mobile-mobile/ http://picocool.com/design/mobile-mobile/ Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:37:32 -0500 brainpicker design http://picocool.com/design/mobile-mobile/

Amazing giant interactive chandelier, made of old phones each wired to play a different note of a Christmas carol

8 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/bbc-radio-1-meet-the-listeners-animation/ http://picocool.com/culture/bbc-radio-1-meet-the-listeners-animation/ Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:55:12 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/bbc-radio-1-meet-the-listeners-animation/

Lovely stop-motion mosaic collage for BBC Radio 1 made out of 42,000 listener photos

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/eco/dogooder-do-nothing-change-everything/ http://picocool.com/eco/dogooder-do-nothing-change-everything/ Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:47:22 -0500 brainpicker eco http://picocool.com/eco/dogooder-do-nothing-change-everything/

Brilliant new browser plugin swaps out ads for green tips & ideas, donates to charities -at no cost to you.

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/brand-logos-as-alphabet-poster-can-you-name-them-all/ http://picocool.com/design/brand-logos-as-alphabet-poster-can-you-name-them-all/ Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:36:03 -0500 laurasweet design http://picocool.com/design/brand-logos-as-alphabet-poster-can-you-name-them-all/

Designer Jason Dean has made a foil stamped embossed poster with the alphabet comprised of partial or complete brand logos. Available in silver on black or gold on white. Limited to 500.

7 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/design/the-bookshelf-rethought-5-innovative-designs-1/ http://picocool.com/design/the-bookshelf-rethought-5-innovative-designs-1/ Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:45:32 -0500 brainpicker design http://picocool.com/design/the-bookshelf-rethought-5-innovative-designs-1/

Five brilliantly innovative bookshelf designs that put a twist on the home library with quirk and ingenuity

10 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/eco/the-story-of-cap--trade/ http://picocool.com/eco/the-story-of-cap--trade/ Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:17:50 -0500 brainpicker eco http://picocool.com/eco/the-story-of-cap--trade/

Brilliantly animated sustainability eye-opener from the team behind The Story of Stuff

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/the-exquisite-corpse-of-science/ http://picocool.com/culture/the-exquisite-corpse-of-science/ Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:33:08 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/the-exquisite-corpse-of-science/

Science communicator Tim Jones explores the subjective understanding of science by asking scientists, journalists, students, and other thinkers to illustrate what it means to them.

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/the-pink-and-blue-projects-1/ http://picocool.com/culture/the-pink-and-blue-projects-1/ Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:59:38 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/the-pink-and-blue-projects-1/

Korean artist JeongMee Yoon explores the sociology of color as gender identity in superb photographic project

3 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/coolhaus--music--food/ http://picocool.com/culture/coolhaus--music--food/ Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:51:14 -0500 coolhaus culture http://picocool.com/culture/coolhaus--music--food/

CoolHaus is a food truck based in Los Angeles. Although they sell gourmet ice cream sandwiches, they are influencing a culture in bringing awareness about architecture, music, and enjoying life.

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/culture/moving-minimalism-solitary-confinement-1/ http://picocool.com/culture/moving-minimalism-solitary-confinement-1/ Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:28:07 -0500 brainpicker culture http://picocool.com/culture/moving-minimalism-solitary-confinement-1/

Superb animation for BBC capturing in abstract form the 10 years Iraqi oil minister Hussain Al-Shahristani spent in solitary confinement

2 Vote(s) ]]> http://picocool.com/art/12-misunderstood-monsters---travis-louie/ http://picocool.com/art/12-misunderstood-monsters---travis-louie/ Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:16:30 -0500 mymodernmet art http://picocool.com/art/12-misunderstood-monsters---travis-louie/

Set in Victorian and Edwardian times, Travis Louie's paintings are hauntingly beautiful. This imaginary world is filled with strange humans, mythical beings and misunderstood monsters. I love how Travis displays each character - it's as if they're sitting for a formal portrait. Why? As Travis explains, "to mark their existence and place in society."

6 Vote(s) ]]>