I am just learning about Michael Wesley and his long – I mean super long – I’m talking 2-3 years long – exposure photographs.

A combination of a filter and an extremely low aperture is set on a large format camera to make this happen – capturing moments of change, ghostly and magical, in urban environments.

Read a little more about Michael Wesley and the details of some of his works here and here.

I’m loving the ‘Oyster‘ project by Stefan Diez for German jeweler, Biegel.  Plus, I just like the thought of ‘laser cut sheets of pure gold’!

By modifying the size and shape of the cut-outs we create rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and so on.

It’s patterns, it’s graphics, it’s CHOCOLATE!  There’s been a lot more food + design projects going on and I love it!  How awesome is this?

Studio Wieki Somers teamed up with chocolatier Rafael Mutter to create the ‘CHOCOLATE MILL,’ a large cylindrical block of chocolate from which delicate rosettes can be shaved off with a crank-turned blade.  Various patterns of Bobo masks are integrated into the block using different types of chocolate, creating a flipbook effect as the layers are scraped off.

More images, text, and video at the Wieki Somers’ site!

The Dunk Light by Karl Zahn would be prefect for the home office/office – for those late nighters.  Or when you have insomnia?  Missing the shots would put me to sleep, for sure.  Does it come with a white nerf ball?

The monsoon season just passed (I think) here in Korea.  If this is what’s really happening up in the sky (I knew it!  There IS a flying cloud-ship up in the sky!), then all is well.  Now when it’s POURING outside, I can just imagine a week-long rager-party happening up in the fluffy clouds – with lots of bouncing and giggles?  Yes!

via SLAMXHYPE

Kata Mónus is a young Hungarian designer – interested in “traditional textile techniques, structures, patterns, graphic design, furniture, recycling” – the experimental/hybrid furniture is her graduation project.  I say, A+.

I had to pick out some faux wood-panel vinyl flooring recently – not a big fan.  Then I came across these great vinyl laser cut rugs by Arzu Firuz.  It’s so simple – it’s all about taking a material, common and standard (definitely the most basic here in Korea), and doing something different – rethinking it without going overboard.  I’m more drawn to the solid colored (red and black) vinyl rugs, but the “wood” ones definitely fall in the slick-category, too.  Firuz has also designed some smaller scale vinyl table-top accessories as well.

Top to bottom: Eden, Babylone, Rosace 190, and the Red Collections

A self-watering planter?  Yes.  Thank you, Joey Roth for this lovely creation.  I will never kill a plant again.

The planter’s naturally porous earthenware allows water in the central chamber to seep into the surrounding soil.

Inspired by the Olla, an ancient irrigation tool that farmers still use to conserve water in arid climates.

Object A (top) – I can see several of them lined up against a wall to create a nice seating and storage space.  Object C – I think it’s safe to say I’m not the only one that throws a pile of clothes on that one chair in the bedroom.  Although, I would probably have clothes hanging from the rack above AND on the chair itself.  These are definitely some fun, cool concepts from SY Design!

Ben Fiess takes porcelain, stoneware, felts, and beautiful glazes to create ceramic constructs, or “compositions,” all the while taking these different combinations and documenting them in a pretty extensive, and growing, clay and glaze database.  He explores exciting shapes and finishes (check out all of the close-up detail images), but I really appreciate the more architectural compositions.  Reminds me of a mash up of, say, massing models and watercolor renderings.  I also love the fact that he takes advantage of digital fabrication methods to take ceramic crafts to another level.

Be sure to check out the paintings and drawings, also, because they go beyond the traditional pencil-on-paper, or pigment-on-canvas.