Here’s some of the coolest wedding invitations I’ve ever seen. Artist and graphic designer Larry Quach recently crafted these one-of-a-kind invitations for his friend’s wedding. Seeing as the entire wedding was Super Mario Brothers-themed, he went out of his way to include everything from the actual invitations to the party favors and even threw together a custom seating chart for the occasion. I’m incredibly impressed with the amount of work that must have went into it, but Larry did a bang up job, and it really shows.

Each invitation also came with RSVP cards to mail back, but some guests loved them so much that they called or e-mailed their response in order to keep their cards intact. If they all looked this great, who wouldn’t, right?  If you’d like a closer look at everything Larry pieced together for the event, check out his blog for more.

Wait a second — who that’s peering at us behind Hatsune Miku? Oh noes it’s her father and he doesn’t seem to happy about the situation:

Photo by Christian Liendo from New York Comic Con 2011.

A few months back, Chronicle Books published The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010, a collection of Al Jaffee’s award-winning fold-ins featured on the back of MAD Magazine over the past four decades. For those of us who grew up reading MAD, this special collection is an absolute must-buy. Though I haven’t personally subscribed to the publication in recent years, I have fond memories of purchasing issues and immediately flipping them over to see what Jaffee had in store for us. His brilliant designs are not only humorous and satirical, but constantly remain topical and are often thought-provoking.

The collection contains a total of 410 individual fold-ins with each fold-in presented in its original form while a second, pre-folded copy, is digitally printed on the next page so you won’t have to fold it yourself. In case you’re a collector, this will be a blessing as it saves you the hassle of having to crease your pages. But, perhaps the most amazing thing about this comprehensive collection is that it doubles as an accurate timeline of American political and popular culture, albeit an entertaining one. This four volume set retails for $125, but if you purchase it directly from the Chronicle Books website, you can get a special limited edition gift pack containing a bookplate designed and signed by Al Jaffee himself at no additional cost.

I love Star Wars as much as anyone, but I’ve never really given much thought to the actual work that went into building its universe. I know the films like the back of my hand, but I really couldn’t tell you how to construct your own droid or build a sand palace. I simply wouldn’t know where to start. That’s where a copy of Star Wars: The Blueprints comes in hand. Literally 336 pages of content with over 500 photos,  and illustrations detailing over 250 designs unique to the Star Wars universe. With a limited run of only 5000 copies at $500 a pop — the first 125 actually come signed and hand-numbered for $1000 each — I probably won’t be able to score a copy for myself but serious collectors will want to take note. The book itself comes hand-crafted with a special dyed-cloth case, along with the certificate of authenticity included as well. I can’t imagine many of you wanting invest in a copy, but if you’re crazy enough to buy one, here’s a link to the order form.

The other week I stumbled across the works of Damon Bard. While many of you might not recognize his name, you’ll definitely recognize his work. Damon’s been involved with a number of Hollywood productions over the course of his career, with his sculptures and character designs having graced such films Revenge of the Sith, How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek 2, and more. While his website might seem a tad unassuming, his online portfolio is filled with a plethora of beautiful sculptures, Marquettes and models he’s crafted over the years. While he might not be responsible for bringing these models to life on the big screen, Bards creations have likely fueled the creativity of animators who have. To find out more about Damon and his craft, check out his official website, portfolio and blog.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, several outlets he’s written for include the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator, and the collectible toy culture site Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

While many of you may recognize some of her work from around the net, you probably don’t know the name behind some of these nerdy Art Nouveau-inspired character portraits. Her name is Megan Lara, a 22 year-old aspiring artist and self-proclaimed fangirl and her art’s been turning quite a few heads as of late. Her art isn’t limited to these portraits either. Megan’s portfolio also includes fine art, general prints, and more. Currently, a large portion of her works are available on t-shirts via Level Up Studios, but her designs can be found everywhere from RedBubble to, most recently, ThinkGeek. If you’d like to check out more of her work, you can visit her official site or browse on over to her Deviant Art.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

Beautiful isn’t it? This deadly insect was crafted by English designer, and steampunk enthusiast Tom Hardwidge. It’s one of many he’s created over the years – an interesting hobby to say the least. The components he uses to craft these wonders are merely used parts from pocket watches, a nut, bolt, or a piece of copper here and there — oh, and old ammunition.  I’m sure something could be said for creating art so beautiful from something so deadly.

If you’re wondering, the ammunition isn’t live seeing as Tom is apparently a proponent of recycling used parts. Hopefully his creations will serve to encourage others to do the same. Of course, I don’t expect anybody to go out and start crafting models like these on their own, but I’m sure there are some of you out there who may have the talent for just that. Hardwidge, for his part, spends quite a bit of time planning each piece as evidenced by his sketches below. If you’d like to learn more about Tom’s works, check 1800recycling.com for some additional info and pics.  

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

I’m not sure why it bothers me so much to see those vans with those family decals stuck on their rear-view windows. Something about having to advertise the fact that your family shares a mini-van just seems a little much. If, on the other hand, your family owns the Millennium Falcon, I think I’d be okay with it. That’s why I love this design by artist Steve Thomas. I don’t think you’ll be able to find the sticker, but you can head over to TeeFury and pick up this nifty design on a custom tee of your own. Like every other design that gets featured on the site, it’ll only be available for 24 hours, or until it sells out — whichever comes first.  

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

Check out this fantastic little mash-up by writer & graphic designer Ben Huber. Anyone who’s a fan of Baccano! will recognize the characters but the image is quite clearly paying homage to a certain poster from Christopher Nolan’s  box office hit, Inception. On top of that, you’ll really appreciate the attention to detail, as while you may be unable to see the text without enlarging the image, those credits are completely accurate. It sort of blows my mind that he had time to do that, but it’s certainly cool that he did.

While Ben’s probably more known for his writing over at Japanator — a site I admittedly write for — what most people may not know is that he’s actually quite an amazing graphic designer. In addition to being a good friend, and fellow anime fanboy, Ben likes to make a spare buck on the side designing these fantastic art prints, many of which you can actually order from his Society6 store. Not every work is available as a simple poster print. For example, the Baccano! poster is sold as an art canvas and can cost you $85 to $95 depending on the size. That said, the quality is superb, so it’s not like you’re wasting your money. No doubt he’ll be making more of these, so keep an eye on that store for upcoming designs.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

It’s never easy crafting your own props, let alone attempting to recreate one from scratch. That said, artist Josh Jay did a fantastic job sculpting his very own Brotherhood of Steel power helmet from Fallout 3. That much is impressive, but what’s more is that he actually took the time to document the process through photos, posting several galleries detailing the techniques he used while constructing it. Had he actually taken the time to write out some instructions along with his photos, they’d make a fantastic visual aid. For more photos check out his galleries here and here. 

superpunch via rampaged reality

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

I love alt-art, but I love parodies even more. Recently, a friend showed me oldredjalopy.com – a site that specializes in alt-art posters for our favorite films. What’s more, many of these alternatives are parodies of some of the more iconic posters from years past. For example, the fantastic Star Wars Episode IV poster, shown above, is actually a parody of the poster from Stanley Kubrick’s classic Full Metal Jacket. I’ve went ahead and thrown a few more Star Wars posters below, but you really need to check out their site. They have everything from Superman II to more recent works like Oldboy – and best yet, you can actually order prints for some of these while supplies last.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

I’m not entirely sure it was Keita Takahashi’s intent to revolutionize the game industry when he created Katamari Damacy, but somehow a concept as simple as rolling a ball managed to do just that. In fact, many often label his work as art — contrary to what Roger Ebert would have us believe — so it doesn’t surprise me that others would take notice. Having parted with his former employer, Namco Bandai, Takahashi has been forced move on to bigger and better things. Whether or not we see another title on par with Katamari’s success remains to be seen, but until then, Takahashi will be hard at work creating something a little bit different.

Recently, Takahashi was commissioned to design a playground for Nottingham’s Woodthorpe Grange Park in England. I can’t even imagine what he would design for it, but I’m certain it would be absolutely amazing given his aesthetic. But why a playground? Apparently he was asked to do it in conjunction with an event that promotes awareness of independent game developers held annually within the city limits. If you ask me, they probably couldn’t have made a better choice.

hyperallergic via hragv.com

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

I actually didn’t think anyone would ever take the time to build a 1:1 scale replica of Star Trek’s Enterprise 1701-D, but it looks as though someone decided to go for it. The video above depicts his attempt thus far, using the Minecraft development tools available here. It’s hard not to point out how enormous the vessel truly is — which seems like it would be obvious, but seeing it on television and seeing it from this perspective can be quite different. It blows my mind that he’s managed to get this far on his own, but I’m sure the process might speed up considerably once he has more people assisting him with the project. If you’re interested, he’s left details on the video’s YouTube page in case you want to contact him and offer your support.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

Editor’s Gold Award Pick: As much as I love toys I live with the guilt that so many of them are filling the landfills of the world with toxic plastics and who knows what else. So when I met the robot shown above it was love at first sight. Now what’s interesting about this robot is that most of the parts that you see aren’t included! In fact 90% of what you’re looking at in this toy is made out of recycled items that we throw away every day — which is what makes this hobby kit so ingenious. The Makedo Find & Make a Robot Kit includes a easy-to-use cutting device to hack cardboard and a series of fasteners to hold objects together — and thus by applying the age old toy concepts that you see in Tinker Toys or Lego combined with the idea of recycling you get an amazingly creative activity for your kids.

What I also loved about this toy is that like Lego you can scale it with ease and also build almost anything that you can imagine. Here’s are a few examples that I found on their website which are quite inspiring to say the least:

The other two nice things about this activity is that it encourages kids to use their own imaginations — I can see many a future engineer and designer harkening back to playing with these connectors at the dawn of the 21st Century. In addition with a world gripped by a recession it’s nice to see a toy that can be fun on a low budget!

Editor’s Silver Award Pick: When I was first shown this crafts kit I have to admit that on the face of it I was unimpressed — it was just a collection of beads on a string made into a bracelet. But that’s what makes this crafts kit so brilliant! It turns out that every bead in this kit is assigned a secret letter — so kids can put secret messages on the bracelets to give to their friends who can then decode them. Essentially this is a crafters version of a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring! In a show filled with slick gimmicks and dazzling packaging I was impressed with how something so simple could be so engaging. And thus the Bead the Message crafts kit earns my silver award for Toy Fait 2010.

As someone who went to art school it’s very easy to find creative toys for kids, but there are certain categories of playthings like dollhouses that always seem so old fashioned. So it was with joy that I discovered the brinca dada line at this year’s Toy Fair: They have an amazing line of modernist dollhouses and matching furniture! Their toy furniture line looks like a miniature version of what you might see in the windows of Design Within Reach — and better yet the dollhouse solar panels to power the lights inside:

We’ve all grown up with the Bazooka Joe gimmick: Half the fun of opening the single package of gun was to read the comic tucked inside. And of course the Cracker Jacks version is to give you a secret surprise inside the box — a technique that cereal companies turned into a fine art (not to forget McDonald’s Happy Meals as well). However today I leaned a twist on this old marketing hook thanks to an imported Japanese pack of Doraemon gum. Upon opening my gum I discovered that each individual wrapper had a unique design based on the well known anime cat:

It’s amazing to me just how much variety that was put into this package design. The design lesson here is that when you go the extra mile, people will will appreciate it.

I had such high hopes for the Meiji Poporon Strawberry Cookie but alas even with my sweet tooth I couldn’t eat more than just a few of these bite sized saccharine treats. They have puffy wheat outside and a super sweet strawberry filling on the inside as shown in the packaging. And as for the packaging it was slick, but I was a bit let down at the lack of cute illustrations that would have given it that extra something:

The food photography was nice, but the only standout design element on the package was the strawberry themed tartan motif:

This tartan motif is picked up on the inside of the box as well (apologies for the tear in the corner):

Sadly I wouldn’t count this as one of my prized finds in the Asian grocery store: I think I could forgive a bad product with cool packaging or vise versa — but these cookies don’t quite cut it.

On this day in 1933 visual futurist Syd Mead was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He started his career in 1959 working for Ford Motor Company, but for us fanboys our love affair with his work really starts 70s when he started to make the jump from slick looking industrial design to science fiction. His early film work in Hollywood includes credits on the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 2010, Tron, Aliens and even the comedy Short Circuit (yes that was his robot design!). However his triumph for me was his preproduction work on Blade Runner:

Over the years Mead’s work hasn’t been limited to Hollywood, he’s done for concept work on the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Cruiser Yamato — and even worked on a videogame or two. On the surface it would be easy to say that Syd Mead has a knack for industrial design, but that would overlook his other devastating skills like dramatic layout, delicious draftsmanship and his powerful use of color on the page:

At my local Korean food mart I came across these devastatingly sour and sweet candies from Japan called Shigekikkusu (シゲキックス) which are produced by UHA Mikakuto. I picked up two flavors, the first (shown above) was soda flavored and the second was cola flavored (shown below). The candies were small but packed a punch — the outside was coated with a light dusting of super sour dust, after a few seconds this wears off and you can taste the very sweet inside of of jelly like candy.

One of the nice touches of the package design was that in addition to the cute front of the pack on the back was a cute mascot to go with each flavor:

There are other flavors like lemon, pineapple, strawberry and grape, I would have sampled more but I couldn’t get too far without fearing the wrath of my dentist. But i will say that if you’re on a diet the advantage of these candies is that you can just blindly start to swallow them — it forces you to focus on what you’re eating.

Recently I was wandering through a Korean food mart and I came across this very cute package design for Japanese animal crackers: Aside from the captivating colorful characters the first thing that blew me away was that the crackers are actually teaching kids to understand English, not Japanese! I started to suspect that this was something just done for the American market, but the package actually comes from Japan (produced by Ginbis). The back of the box even had a cute mini-dictionary of animal names (my favorite touch are the cartoons of each creature next to the name):

This is the top of the box — this alligator looks mighty friendly:

This is a panda on the side of the box who is giving cake decorating tips:

This cute creatures were on a side panel as well — even though the designs are simple the artist packed in a great deal of expression in them:

Extra bonus: I found this cute monkey that you could cut out on the inside of the box:

Saint Paul Police Detectives and Their Work was a public service color stop motion cartoon produced in 1940. The quality of the animation is itself quite crude and done on tabletop, although the design of each scene which represents a criminal activity is fascinating as each screen is well designed and uses everyday objects. The added touch of the art deco lettering gives you a Dick Tracy feeling offset by an almost surreal sounding soundtrack:

Editor’s Note: As a creative person I’ve been watching the urban toys scene in awe — and the first question that pops into my head is always “What’s the process of making these cool art objects into reality?” Long time artist David Foox has just introduced a line of toys called Organ Donors, so I asked him as a favor to write up an article giving his start-to-finish experience as a first time creative tackling the world of designer toys.

Step #1 Concept

The most important aspect of any custom vinyl toy is CONCEPT. “If your concept is solid, your toy is a success.” – Erick Scarecrow, friend. While this is the first step of the project, it is actually the most important step – and the one that is most often neglected. People are typically in a hurry to get to the other steps and fail to adequately delve into the concept that is being developed. In order to best develop a concept, I would advise people to first create an inhabitable environment, world, universe, or cause.

In the case of Organ Donors, this was done by developing out the notion and inspiration we have felt from seeing the benefit of organ donorship. So, on the one hand we wanted to remain true to the principles of the concept – to educate and bring about awareness of the importance of sharing organs when you no longer need them. (one human body can provide organs for 50 other people). And yet the concept had to also remain true to our notions on custom vinyl collectibles – ie: to be FUN, engaging, somewhat interactive, playful, etc. So with these very important aspects in mind we developed our first custom vinyl toy line and launched it this year at NY COMIC CON!

So developing a concept requires finding inspiration and really teasing out what that inspiration means to you or to society or whatever and then running with it.

Step #2: Sketching and Artwork

The next step is the actual drawing of what you have in mind. This is a fun but long process. Do not rush! You can do rough 1-5 minute sketches to begin with and try to incorporate as many views as possible early on. You want to get a really good overview of the size, dimensions, and bits and pieces. Start thinking of your favorite toys and how their arms and bodies interact and develop this within your sketches. For instance, Organ Donors has 5 points of articulation (arms, feet and head).

Think about standard sizing vs. custom sizing and think about the molds that will have to be created to fulfill your toy concept. Another thing to consider is taking real life inspiration in your sketches. So for instance, in Organ Donors I looked at photographs of real brains, real eyeballs, real blood cells, etc. The unique and rare colorways are developed out of a play on words (ie: Lionheart) and further bring about awareness and sympathy for these Organ Donors.

Step #3: Molds and Resins

Today there are many companies that are able to provide assistance in the creation of a 3D mold and then the subsequent resins. The key is getting the sketches translated into a nice tight and tidy 3D version. At this point colorways can be added and these colorways can include coding relevant for the printer or decals. This is an expensive part to the process because you HAVE to get the molds perfect and also consider flash lines etc. These molds are going to be producing thousands of toys before needing to be replaced and therefore very important. We were lucky enough to work with Erick Scarecrow over at ESC-toys. Seeing his big smile it is hard not to start smiling too – and I see he was sporting the Foox-U hat over at Comic Con.

Organ Donors worked with 9 molds and then each mold represented 3-4 colorways. By using this type of efficiency, we were able to extend the number of colorways (so more collectibles) while at the same time minimizing the number of molds needed. This is very important because it is a much needed cost savings and worthwhile to keep in mind. Organ Donors has 24 different characters and yet all of them came from only 9 molds!

The resins that get produced at this point in the process become very valuable. They are one of kind – they are the mold that created the entire line of toys. These are the most awesomest. I value our Organ Donors resin sets VERY VERY MUCH! We have 2 full sets – hand painted – and 1 half set -pure white.

Step #4: Tweaking Colorways and Second Set of Resins:

Getting it right! At this point you will also need to review carefully the colorways for each character. Does the skin look too yellow, too pale, too pink? Do you want more details and if so what will they add to the toy. Remember details are important only in conjunction with the overall concept. If a colorway detail distracts from the overall concept – be gone with it! Off with its head!

In Organ Donors we decided to change (ever so slightly) the colors of the skin and hospital gown. We also made an executive decision to make the plasma and stem cells clear (see through) plastic rather than the solid pieces originally planned. This change was based solely on coolness factor.

Step #5: Let it Roll

At this point the toy is on its way and production has started. Sit back, relax, and wait for the good news.

Things to Consider:

Other things that are very important to consider when working with agents or factories overseas.

1. Keep in mind that February is Chinese New Years. Everything shuts down – EVERYTHING!

2. If you want to set aside a certain selection of toys for yourself or special collectors – you better tell your factory this up front. and be firm about it.

Step #6: Reality!

ORGAN DONORS was recently released, to much critical acclaim, at New York Comic Con. David Foox, creator, and Fanboy boss, Michael Pinto exchanged ideas regarding this blind box concept and the overall feel of Comic Con 2009. You can find ORGAN DONORS online at http://www.foox-u.com and at any Kidrobot, Munky King stores.

David Foox is a professional artist, painter, and founding member of the Kung Foox Collective. You can see his work at kungfoox.com and his blog at kungfoox.typepad.com.

Back at Comic Con in 2008 Ralph Bakshi gave an amazing interview on how to survive in tough times. As a creative working person this inspires me a great deal, so I’d like to share some of my take away points from Bakshi’s insights.

But first you have to understand something about Ralph Bakshi: He started his career in the 60s after Disney had passed in both the physical and creative sense. The 30s and 40s were a golden age for theatrical animation, and in the 50s television killed all of that. Also Alfred Hitchcock killed the theatrical short by insisting that there be no cartoons before his film Psycho — the result killed an already pressured animation industry.

By the 60s opportunities looked bleak — the field was already packed with established artists who had payed their dues, and the big companies were in decline. Ralph Bakshi’s solution was brilliant: Instead of dreaming of the past he made his own films that were aimed at adults (example: Fritz the Cat). By doing this Bakshi created a career that lasted into the early 90s while Disney almost went under in the early 80s. So here’s what I’ve learned from Bakshi:

• Tough Times are a Chance to Reinvent an Industry

• Don’t Work for the Big Studios, Work For Yourself

• Technology Allows You To Take on the Big Guys

• Develop New Markets for Your Work

• Creatively Zig When Everyone is Still Zagging

• What’s Been Successful For Years Can Become Stale

And here’s the video for your inspiration:

By the way it should be noted that the animation industry itself hit a high point during the great depression. In the early days of the 20s the industry was crowded with many startup studios, but the 30s thinned the heard and forced the survivors to innovate. It’s out of this period that we see Snow White which was the first full length feature animated film — in a sense Disney reinvented the medium. What’s interesting is that Bakshi sort of acknowledges this when he’s putting down the Disney shorts of the early 30s which were quite dull (Mickey was a much more fun character in his black and white films).

This is THE best unintentional anti-drug commercial I’ve ever seen hands down! In this clip Andy Warhol interviews Steven Spielberg while Bianca Jagger pretends that everything is “just normal”. What’s odd is that Spielberg seems so off the wall — this must have been what it was like to hang out at Studio 54 back in the day:

Found via geektyrant.com.