Daring newcomer Ragnar Kjartansson made his first major splash in the art industry when he became the youngest Icelandic artist at the Venice Biennale. There Kjartonsson made "The End (Venice)," a six month performance piece, both homage and satire of Venice's rich artistic and cultural history. For the exhibition...

Good's recent contest to create the best infographic about New Orleans resulted in this winner, as well as the above clever examination of Gumbo as a representation of the cultural and linguistic mixing of French, Spanish, African and Choctaw peoples in the historic city. The ingenious "Gumbo" looks at...

Seizing on the DIY phenomenon of recent years, "We Are Paper Toys: Print-Cut-Fold-Glue-Fun" takes an investigative look at 32 masters of paper toy design and their intricate creations. Editor Louis Bou details their personal techniques, while the included CD demonstrates how you can create your own with printable PDF...

Preeminent advertising firm Wieden & Kennedy's "studio" recently released a new line of t-shirts, Moleskine notebooks, onesies and tote bags with an indie bent. The simple illustrations gracing the American Apparel tees span the quirky—Bear On Bike or Beardo—to neo-inspirational messages such as "The Work Comes First" and "It...

For the city's second annual winter celebration, Vivid Sydney tapped the immensely talented and ultra creative performance artist Laurie Anderson to transform the famed Sydney Opera House. "Lighting The Sails" does just that, turning the shell-like rooftops into a slideshow of vibrant images, projecting everything from leopard-print patterns to...

Breaking down the deleteriously toothsome Twinkie, photographer Dwight Eschliman documents the Hostess confection by exposing all of its ingredients in a simple format. From mundane sugar to the alien Red 40 (above), the petri-dish-style portraits offer a concerning view of that old adage, "you are what you eat." Highlighted...

For budding esthetes, the new children's book from L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art attempts to distill the extensive roster of major modern talent into a clear, easy-to-read format. "Breaking the Rules: What is Contemporary Art?," describes each chosen artwork—such as "Delicious" (Felix Gonzalez-Torres' candied installation above), "Lovable Horror" (Victor...

Winner of the Sunlight Foundation's Design For America challenge, the colorful infographic "How Our Laws Are Made" offers clarity on the actions of the U.S. government. Using an enticing rainbow flow chart, the graphic simplifies the process while still showing the numerous steps (or missteps) for a bill to...

The new book "Toilets of the World" examines the various approaches that different cultures take for relieving themselves. Authors Mona E. Gregory and Sian James write, "Toilets are bay windows with a view on to a given population." They begin with a brief history of the toilet, from Middle...

From artist Stanford Kay, this exhaustive infographic (click here for full size) shows the sticky situations many nations face with their high dependence on oil and limited resources for getting it. Created in response to the recent BP oil spill as an increasing omnipresent reminder of the dark side...

The onset of summer means vacation plans—or at least daydreams about them—abound. Whether you're looking for seclusion or are simply ready for a change in beach venues, these islands offer lesser-known ways to get your seaside fix. The Outer Hebrides Known for its ruggedly mythic terrain, the Outer Hebrides are...

This year's Rooftop Films—an ode to film and the New York skyline in its 14th year—kicked off with "This is Short Film," a compilation of short films at New Design High School in the Lower East Side. Culled from over 3,000 submissions, the shorts were played after a set...

"Drainspotting" puts Remo Camerota's popular blog of Japanese manholes into a square-shaped book of amazing construction and bizarre imagery. As the title suggests, Drainspotting requires an eye for the odd bursts of color along city streets. Camerota transformed his obsession into a startling gallery of funny, strange and delicately...

As an essential accessory to luxury lifestyles, the Hermès scarf has symbolized twentieth century beauty, wealth and fantasy since its creation in 1937. The new book "The Hermès Scarf: History and Mystique" documents the rise of this fashion institution through essays about the company's inception as well as in-depth...

Transforming their dormitory building into a light show extravaganza, the students at Poland's Wroclaw University of Technology demonstrated their tech-savvy skills with this large-scale installation of pixel-like flashes set to an equally animated soundtrack. Called "Projekt P.I.W.O.," (the acronym means "beer" in Polish), it's simultaneously humorous and beautiful—particularly the...

Famed skate store and cult brand Supreme has been the subject of many a skater's wet, sneaker-fueled dreams since James Jebbia founded it in 1994. What first began as an ode to the laid-back urban sport's apathetic but angry crowd has spawned artist-designed boards, videos directed by the likes...

Rx nation that we are, Good presents an infographic (click for full size) featuring how many and what kind of prescribed meds were downed in 2009 in the U.S. (Click image for detail.) Depression, anxiety and panic round out the dark side of modern life for Americans. Xanax gets...

New York interior designer and Apartment Therapy co-founder Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan shows real-world solutions when square footage isn't on your side in the new book "Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces," which documents his travels through every type of ingeniously designed, spaciously challenged home. Maxwell explains, "This book...

Whether trekking miles in the Grand Canyon with a six-pack or adventuring in the backyard, these coolers offer as many ways to enjoy a cool drink as there are places to sip them. The Cool Bottle ($35), a simple frosted decanter, comes in perfect for keeping beverages chill for...

What happens when you ask people what they think about race? Who they are and their dreams? What happens when you ask them to write it down? Photographer Wing Young Huie did just that, wandering a six-mile-long stretch of University Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota to create his newest...

If you're interested in biking to work, but not interested in arriving covered in sweat, posits Good, the electric bike might be for you. Electric bikes use batteries to ease the pedaling and give you that extra kick, much like biking downhill everywhere. They're just the thing for a...

In an effort to bridge gaps between two neighborhoods of Boston, digital media artist John Ewing created the public art project Virtual Street Corners. The project, set to unveil June 2010, uses live video feeds between Boston locales Brookline and Roxbury to encourage neighborly affection between the predominantly African-American...

In the age of ubiquitous information, The Thing Quarterly brings back the element of surprise with a subscriber-powered publication kept under lock and key until delivery. Edited by Jonn Herschend and Will Rogan, The Thing is "a periodical in the form of an everyday object," inviting artists, writers, filmmakers,...

Practically an encyclopedia, Classic and Modern Fabrics provides a complete guide to the world of textiles with 834 high quality color scans of over 600 fabrics, each accompanied by a brief history and detailed description of its uses. Authored by textile designer Janet Wilson, this heavy tome seemingly documents...

The pet project of paint company Dulux, Let's Colour is an international outreach project in which volunteers travel to drab and dreary corners of the world and enliven them with a fresh coat of paint. "Color your world" is the tagline for the program that hopes to transform communities...

What do the old water tower, gutted apartment building and eclectic bar have in common? Good Magazine recently asked photo narrative fanatic Pictory to sort through their expansive library of images for a visual walkabout of an ideal neighborhood. We've picked our some of our favorites, showing the variety...

The video exhibit "Ouroboros" at ISE Cultural Foundation explores the creation and history of the universe, using the iconic image of a snake eating itself as center to the work. The piece consists of six projections in 3-D, using geometric shapes and imagery to transform the space. This compellingly...

Bringing new bands to light, NYC clothiers Barking Irons' recently launched an acoustic video series The Collect, created in partnership with creative production agency Phearcreative. The resulting videos capture musicians as they write, perform and discuss their music. So far, the Collect has illuminated the work of eight artists,...

Which countries munch Doritos over Kale, and which stockpile canned beans over the bulk variety? Good posits the question in this infographic from The New York Times, which compares global eating habits. It comes as no surprise the U.S. is package-happy, from individually wrapped chocolates to styrofoam-ensconced takeout, while...

Beautiful/Decay's new book "The Underdogs" shows off the talents of the hundreds of artists the collective collaborated with, and is the third in their limited edition series. The creative powerhouse has made its mark as a revolutionary fashion and arts supporter with the thrice-yearly books, merchandise and website. "The...

Famed street artist Banksy stars in this new documentary, a collaboration with Terry Guetta (aka Mr. Brain Wash), called "Exit Through The Gift Shop." We had the chance to check out the film, a result of unprecedented access to the artist over the last ten years, and loved the...

In their new book " Cartographies of Time," Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton dissect and track the methods people used when attempting to record the passage of time. These timelines, lists and antiquated infographics reveal particular attitudes and novel approaches to documenting history. Rosenberg and Grafton organize Cartographies, naturally,...

Painter Jeff Canham and woodworker Luke Bartels stumbled upon the idea to make birdhouses while sharing a studio space together in San Francisco. Now on view at local boutique The Curiosity Shoppe, their show "For the Birds" shows the mix of complimentary skills born of this friendship, a collection...

Modern parents know that today's children's books, while often overlooked as serious literature, can convey rich, complex worlds that appeal to more than just the elementary school set. We looked around to find the latest that expand the genre best, picking "Puff" and "The Monster at the End of...

Mauritania's Nouadhibou Bay, the largest ship graveyard in the world, is where fishermen and captains go to abandon their dying vessels. Photographer Jan Smith spent considerable time and effort attempting to gain access, although the Mauritanian Army barred his way before he was able to convince them of his...

Dutch artist Ron van der Ende beautifully transforms pieces of found wood into inventive examples of bas-relief, creating sculptures that span the traditional church to a Nascar Charger. Van der Ende displays his labor-intensive works in a new solo show, "A Shallow Wade," currently on exhibit at Seattle's Ambach...

Photographer Ross Evertson's 2007 trip to The Great Western Alpaca Show highlights the strangely fuzzy annual springtime exhibition, recently featured by Good Magazine. From shearing contests to best in show, the livestock-friendly fair finds a little something for every Alpaca lover. Featuring their famous long hair, the Alpaca photo...

Gallery and design store Moss recently reminded us of the exciting and beguiling art toy Toroflux. Created in 2000 by German brothers Jochen and Conrad Valett of Valett Design, the simple tools and construction for the kinetic sculpture consists of a large plastic ring with a slinky-like metal coil...

Conceived around three readymade objects—a pulley, clamp or caster—design shop The Future Perfect is curating a show to take place during ICFF called "Lift Hold Roll." They're currently taking submissions of ideas that incorporate one (or multiples of one) of the useful devices in a piece. The boutique will...

Drawn with careful, scientific precision, Laura Zindel's insect imagery adds a creepy Victorian-era touch to her expertly-crafted ceramics. The highly detailed, all-black renderings of spiders on dinner plates and scarab beetle on saucers show her gifts for illustration and well-made tableware alike. Incorporating an array of animals and plants,...

Providing a fresh take on Stephen King's classically twisted words and worlds, graphic designer Nick Tassone evokes the spirit of the disturbing films with a set of movie posters that perfectly illustrate each daunting plot. Tassone cuts out the gore and reduces each image down to an essential stylized...

by Tacita Vero Already having put their name to olive oil and a Fiat, as well as backing Miami's Pelican Hotel, Italian fashion magnate Diesel launched their sexy, rock 'n' roll-tinged Designed by Diesel collection at the 2009 Salone del Mobile, and the home furnishings collection will finally hits stores...

When the prospects of digitization seem endless, design studio Jess3 recently stepped in to lend some clarity to the subject with an amusing infographic video illustrating the meteoric rise of the Internet. With 1.73 billion users, 243 million websites, 200 billion spam emails, and at least one new social...

Good Magazine highlights a new illustration from Sam Loman that incorporates subway design into a map of the human body. The body shows urinary, digestive, arterial and respiratory lines, among many others, with stops at the liver, kidneys and more. The biggest transfer point is, of course, the heart....

Kelpie Seaweed Ale This Scottish brew uses fresh bladder rack seaweed in their mash tun to infuse the barley with a peculiar hint of briny plant goodness. The seaweed provides background hints of salt and peat that play with dark chocolate in this full roast, dark malt. Kelpie Seaweed...

In celebration of their third anniversary, art and design site Super Punch paired selected artists with a deck of tarot cards for a creative spin on the typically mystical illustrations featured on the average deck. The collection runs the style gamut—from anime-saturated Six of Cups to the Art-Deco Tower,...

Breaking out of the conventional mold for successful athletes, snowboarder Travis Rice opened the online art gallery Asymbol early this year with a program of fine art featuring extra love for action sports. One of the most renowned and talented shredders around, Rice pushes the edge of possibility and...

Wellness-focused organization Xango creates healthy products to enhance and balance the modern lifestyle. Their nutritional mangosteen juice taps into the benefits of the fabled Asian mangosteen, an antioxidant-rich tropical fruit. Unlike many fruits, the mangosteen retains a majority of its healthy benefits in the pericarp (its skin). Full of...

While the vibrator was invented just shortly after Edison created the electric light, it's only recently that adult toys have begun to fully tap the power of technology. From vibrators that sync with iPods to toys purposefully designed for using in water, the industry is challenging both the way sex...

With their delicious chocolate ganache bars and bonbons, Derry Church Artisan Chocolates mix chocolate mastery and intense flavor, making each creative combination as palatable as the next. The bars, their newest sweets, do not disappoint. Standing out among the Pennsylvania-based chocolatiers' collection, The Burlington bar pairs a flavorful blend...