Hawley F140 Racing Yacht

by Evan Orensten

The Hawley F140 Racing Yacht looks like a cross between a dolphin and stingray. With a smooth finish and rounded corners, it looks like it might easily roll over taking its crew with it. However, a hydraulically tilting keel acts as a counterbalance when cutting around corners. Taking inspiration from high-performance sports cars, it is built for flat-water speed and will easily go 20 knots. A self-draining cockpit and sloping deck from bow to stern help drainage keeping the boat light and balanced. The "bat wings" provide added surface area for the crew and help to distribute weight while adding to the speedy looking styling.

A prototype at the moment, designer Andrew Hawley has plans to include a below deck cabin with bespoke electronics. Visit his website for more info and images.

Superfund 365

by Jacob Resneck

Superfund365 is an innovative website that will, over the course of one year, profile 365 differrent man-made toxic catastrophes by featuring one superfund site per day. From Manhattan to Oahu there are many locales that are listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and run the gamut from former military installations to factories that leached such niceties as radioactive materials or PCBs into groundwater. Superfund sites present a very real and nasty health threat and the 365 on this list continue to expose its neighbors to poisons left over from industrial operations that were swept under the carpet rather than properly decommissioned.

The site is skillfully assembled with some Flash animation and provides interesting tidbits such as the history of the superfund site, the racial makeup and economic background of immediate neighbors. In fact, this past Tuesday I learned of a former chemical factory in New Jersey that's now 85-acres of toxic marsh within 10 miles of the New York City metropolitan area.

The project was conceived by New York City-based digital media artist Brooke Singer who was featured on Cool Hunting for 800 Steps. On Friday, 15 September 2007, Singer will give a multimedia presentation on this project. More info here.

Cranium Wow: Interview And Exclusive Giveaway

by Tim Yu

Combining Trivial Pursuit, charades, art and some varieties of calisthenics, Cranium is one of my all-time favorite board games. Cool Hunting has the exclusive on the new edition, Cranium Wow and we are giving one away before it hits stores. Details after the jump.

While staying true to the original Cranium game, Wow features an entirely revamped design with all new questions including everything from "The Hoff" to the White Stripes. The new playing pieces were inspired by the designer toy culture (pictured below). Each game comes with an assortment of four vinyl movers but collectors can get all 12 by purchasing them separately from Cranium.

After launching in 1998, the original game Cranium quickly became the fastest-selling independent board game in history. To learn more about it's success and the new Wow edition we asked Cranium's Creative Director, Michael Connell a few questions.

What is your opinion on the video gaming culture these days?
I think it's a representation of male youth culture. I'm looking forward to how it's going to evolve into touching a broader audience like young women and groups of adults. I like that you can play with people everywhere and I really appreciate the animation and technology being used in that area of gaming. I hope that there will be more emphasis on non-violent games in the future.

What are some of your favorite games other than Cranium?
Snowboarding is hands-down my favorite thing to do. I also enjoy surfing even though I'm not very good! I have three daughters, so I play a lot of see-see-o playmate, double dutch and hide and seek.

How did you get into the field of designing board games?
I'm actually not really in that field. At Cranium, we approach our packaging from a broad focus on design. I'm in the field of pop culture, design, music and fashion. I started my career as a fashion art director in Milan. In developing Cranium Wow, I was able to fuse my expertise and passions to help create what we're proud to call the first-ever designer board game. The style of Cranium Wow is really in a league of its own. There's nothing else like it out there in the board game category, and we think people are going to recognize and appreciate that.

Continue reading...here.

Balint Zsako

by Lost At E Minor

Hungarian-born illustrator and artist Balint Zsako creates beautiful images. Be sure to check out his incredible collages—they're otherworldly, hypnotic and compelling. Crafted from elements that skirt along the edges of the familiar, Zsako creates dreamlike vistas and interiors, as elements from western art history are carefully re-articulated into new mysterious forms. (Click image for detail.)