Tag Archives: Christmas

A Christmas Tree Made from 5,000 Donated Ceramic Dishes and Cups in Belgium

A Christmas Tree Made from 5,000 Donated Ceramic Dishes and Cups in Belgium trees recycling installation Christmas ceramics

I’m a huge fan of alternative Christmas trees in urban centers, from last year’s plastic bottle tree in Lithuania to the abstract tree currently up in Brussels, any idea seems better than heading out to the local forest and hacking down a pine tree older than my grandparents. This year in Hasselt, Belgium a pair from the design firm Mooz created this concept of an enormous tree covered in 5,000 pieces of ceramic donated from local residents. Called the “Taste Tree” the piece was meant to be a sort of communal celebration as residents were invited to contribute unused dishes to the tree that now stands nearly 30 ft. tall in Hassel’s main square. (via designboom)

Christmas Card to Friends: An Origami Snow Globe

Christmas Card to Friends: An Origami Snow Globe video art paper origami holidays fantasy Christmas animation

It’s so rare that I encounter motion graphic work that I find compelling these days, I don’t think that has anything to do with the industry, it’s just my personal taste. This clip is really special though. Created by Stephen Fitzgerald and Nathan De Ceasar and set to the music of Grant Harold, Christmas Card to Friends was inspired by the accomplished origami works of Robert Lang, Stephen Weiss, Yusuke Muroya, Petr Stuchly, and Beth Johnson. It’s fun to see all that paper goodness in motion, breaking the constraints of a tiny glass snow globe.

By Christopher on December 29, 2011 • animation Christmas fantasy holidays origami paper video art

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays trees sculpture home holidays Christmas

Things will be quiet around here for a bit, but have an awesome holiday and we’ll see you back here in a few days. The installation above entitled Merry Mirror is by Michael Johansson. (via lustik)

By Christopher on December 24, 2011 • Christmas holidays home sculpture trees

To Give a Present

To Give a Present video art holidays claymation Christmas animation

Animator Kirsten Lepore (previously) was asked by children’s TV show Yo Gabba Gabba to create a stop motion short on the theme of gift giving. This could have easily been done quickly and predictably, but in Lepore’s capable hands it became something wholly more amazing. Adorbs. (via vimeo)

By Christopher on December 20, 2011 • animation Christmas claymation holidays video art

A Frugal Town in Lithuania Erects a Christmas Tree Made from 40,000 Recycled Plastic Bottles

A Frugal Town in Lithuania Erects a Christmas Tree Made from 40,000 Recycled Plastic Bottles trees recycling Lithuania Christmas

Okay municipalities of the world, pay attention. For a third consecutive year the city of Kaunas, Lithuania approached artist Jolanta Šmidtienė to assist with their annual holiday decorating. Recognizing the city’s somewhat dire financial state the artist challenged herself to build something that wouldn’t rely on any administrative funds set aside for the event. The result: an enormous 13-meter tall Christmas tree made from nearly 40,000 recycled green bottles and zip ties. At night the tree is lit from the inside resulting in a glowing, translucent, emerald green spruce that’s making headlines across the country. I would love it if Chicago had the ambition to do something like this. (via design you trust, delfi, lrytas.lt)

By Christopher on December 5, 2011 • Christmas Lithuania recycling trees

2011 Holiday Video Extravaganza

I was going to post 2-3 of these between now and Christmas but the list started getting too long, so I figure let’s just do it. These are the best holiday videos I’ve seen floating around the past week or two … did I miss any?

By Christopher on December 22, 2010 • Christmas e-cards holidays stop motion video art

The 600 stockings were hung by the chimney with care

The 600 stockings were hung by the chimney with care recycling installation funiture Christmas

A giant Christmas stocking installation by Paprika for the window of furniture retailer Domison in Motreal. Domison required the materials for the installation to be recyclable, so all 300 pairs of socks will be unpinned and donated to a local shelter after the holidays. (via mocoloco)

By Christopher on December 17, 2010 • Christmas funiture installation recycling

The PNC Christmas Price Index

The PNC Christmas Price Index website infographics economics Christmas books 3d

It’s been weeks if not months since I’ve seen a truly engaging Flash-based website that I’ve felt the desire to explore as the designers intended. So this crazy interactive site for the 27th PNC Christmas Index completely blew me away and goes to show that Flash definitely has its place for some online experiences. So just what is the PNC Christmas Index?

PNC is the third largest bank in the US and each year, for the last 27 years, they have compared the prices of the gifts in the song “12 days of Christmas” and compared them to the years before.

The brief was to make a pop-up book out of the price index. A straightforward brief with a lot of room to be creative. The solution we opted for was a full 3D render with a linear but very much interactive storyline. We wanted to give a very simple interaction but give full control and therefore possibility to see the book fold in and out.

The result is a funny mix of a childish and very lifelike pop-up book filled with highly valuable financial information.

Check out the full experience PNC Christmas Index site. The creative director behind the project was Pelle Martin, and you can see lots of sketches and behind the scenes work in his portfolio. Very nice work.