Rajasthan, the largest state in India, is mostly made of up desert, and the largest city in that desert, Bikaner, hosts a yearly Camel Festival every January which features the familiar desert beast. There is camel racing, camel parades, and even camel contests, and the best part of all this is the way the native Rajputs have decked out their camels with elaborate draping, buckles, saddles, and more.

The Rajputs are so serious about their camel decor that contests for camel design are held– this doesn’t mean just judging the mirrored trappings on the camels, but the actual patterns that have been carefully shaved, trimmed, dyed, and styled in the camel’s coat. I’ve sourced the photos below from two different Flickr accounts, and they each do a great job succinctly describing the festival and its camels. From Flickr user Osakabe Yasuo:

The job takes about 3 years to make an engraved tatoo for an individual camels. First 2 years, there is just growing the hair and starts trimming. Inhabitant of desert does not use the iron engraved for the camels. They just cut and dye the camel hair. I have never seen such a beautiful works in the world.

From Flickr user Steve Hoge:

Though co-sponsored by the tourist authorities, this is very much a traditional local festival, and we were privileged to be among the few foreigners attending.

The first day of the festival consisted of a parade and other activities held in the city stadium; the 2nd day’s festivities took place near the desert town of Ladera, where a camel racing track was laid out and stages set up for music and dance performances. The images here are from both days of the festival.

The camels don’t look the least nonplussed about their fancy, bright trappings– if anything, they have rather dignified looks on their faces, despite their awkward gait and extravagant clothes. Bikaner is now on my wishlist of places to go! [Via Neatorama.]

These shapes and lines that appear to be floating actually ARE suspended in mid air, because they are made of nothing but a single beam of light. Artist James Nizam drilled holes into his studio wall, and with some clever mirror manipulation, he bounces the light in precise angles to create these images.

What’s even more amazing is the fact that these photos use the sun as the light source, rather than a manmade one. I half-assumed that this effect was achieved with a well-placed flashlight, but Nizam apparently calculated exactly when the sun would come up at the correct time for the correct angle to project the light beam to the mirrors.

That last photo is simply the effect of drilling these holes in an enormous cluster, rather than the intentional shape-making of the previous photos. I’d like to see a photoshoot with a model or different objects placed between the light beams– I could imagine this being a fascinating play on depth perception, etc. [Via Illusion.]

In the States, we don’t give a second thought to the plain-jane, utilitarian manhole covers that appear on our streets, but apparently nearly 95% of the 1,780 municipalities in Japan have their very own manhole covers that bear designs unique to the location! In a tradition that started in the 1980s, each manhole cover is a brand of civic pride and ownership, a small badge that represents the community’s flora, fauna, traditions, or cultural identity.

I’ve included some of my favorite colored manhole covers from this amazing Flickr set by MRSY, but click through his gallery to see some ornate manhole covers in the familiar iron-wrought sheen that also appear on Japanese streets.

When you realize how design permeates every aspect of Japanese culture, even in the most mundane objects, it reveals so much about how their meticulous approach to design has evolved into a natural expression. To us, the diligence, cost, and creativity you must invest in beautifying something like manhole covers is very superfluous and bizarre. To them, however, it must be absolutely normal, if not necessary, for their manhole covers to be well-designed. [Via Buzzfeed.]

This is one of those designs where I’m astonished that no one came up with it sooner. Designed by the Barcelona-based Company & Company design studio, the Corner Ladder is a beautifully constructed wooden ladder that easily folds into itself for slim storage. I love the rounded corners and smooth surface of the ladder sides that make it much easier to hold without hurting yourself. From the Company & Company website:

Our homes are getting smaller and we have less storing space. This project comes from the need to simplify an everyday object to a minimum.

A ladder is a domestic standard tool that is rarely used . The idea was to be able to fit it in any corner, so as to simplify and increase its use and basic operation.

You can see the ladder in action below. It looks so easy to use, and even in its unfolded state is a thing of beauty:

Shooting still life is no easy matter, especially when taking photos of typically overlooked everyday objects like office supplies. Swedish design trio Kontor Kontur are masters at arranging, styling, and shooting their studio office goods in artful compositions– their Color Chart print, which is the combination of all their styled supplies in a single shot, is something I’d love to hang on my own office/studio wall one day, as a colorful reminder to keep my space tidy.

Beyond the neat and color-coded set-up, take a closer look at the individual objects on the table. There are some really beautifully designed items there, whether its a compact little red stapler or a lovely sea-green bound book on freshwater fishes. From their interview with Co.Design:

We used things we found around us in our everyday life, a mishmash of ordinary but beautiful things that describe the craftsmanship behind graphic and office work.

Sometimes lining things up neatly is really all it takes to make a great visual impact. [Via Present & Correct.]

GIFs are great at capturing moments in film and video, but they often depend on repurposing an outside source (taking a clip from a TV show, for example, or layering movie stills.) Original GIFs are still a rarity, and Matthew Divito (aka Mr. Div in the Tumblrverse) has brought it to the next level by using his eye for design to create these amazing snippets of motion graphics work.

All of the GIFs from Mr. Div are absolutely mesmerizing to watch– there’s a sense of symmetry and balance to a lot of his work, with a heavy thematic emphasis on abstract objects transforming. The shapes gyrate, pulse, shatter, and morph, and they look almost alien and futuristic. From Matthew Divito’s email to Buzzfeed:

I’ve been doing motion graphics for a while now, but about a year ago I got into the habit of doing really short animations as a way to experiment with new styles and techniques. A few months ago, this practice sort of evolved (or devolved?) into making gifs simply because I thought it would be fun to try.

Like the animations themselves, making gifs was just an experiment – but one day, pretty much out of nowhere, a couple of my gifs started getting really popular on tumblr. Well, obviously this was a sign that I had found my true calling in life, so I’ve been doing a few gifs a week ever since.

Some of the GIFs are actually quite complex despite their short length– I could watch the expanding grid cube/sphere for hours. [Via Buzzfeed.]

Brooklyn-based illustrator Sasha Prood has mastered and mixed the precise lines of typography with the warmth of watercolor illustrations to create flawless work. The colors flow naturally from one gradient to another, and the rich hues jump out crisply from the paper. It’s organic yet perfect, bringing a human touch to the typography. From Sasha Prood’s website:

I create typography, illustrations, patterns and graphics using pencil, pen and watercolor with the computer.

Thematically my works lean toward the organic, natural and scientific with vintage, utilitarian and childhood influences. Animals, vegetables and minerals of all kinds are commonly found in my illustrations, creating anything from logos to posters to apparel graphics.

[Via Doobybrain.]

Present & Correct is one of my favorite online shops– based in the UK, they are famous for their limited runs of vintage, graphic stationery, some of which is sourced from all over the world, and some of which are designed in-house. Mark, who is one half of the Present & Correct team, created these beautiful paper pieces titled Jar No. 1, Jar No. 2, and Jar No. 3, each of which are beautifully encased in glass bell jars.

There are only three paper sculptures as of now, but I’m hoping he’ll continue making more and more of these. Each jar is filled with stacked and elevated geometric shapes, and they feature a variety of shapes, colors, and even gradients for a simple and stunning presentation. From the Present & Correct blog:

Jar No. 1: Mark has been experimenting with geometric shapes in bell jars. Here is Jar No.1 which uses pianola paper structures. Super nice!

Jar No. 2: Mark’s second jar full of geometric shapes in satisfying colours.

Jar No. 3: The colour shift, on an angle, was no mean feat & the bronze to cream gradient is particularly nice.

I’ve been unable to post all week, but I’ll pepper today and tomorrow with a series of short posts to make up for the missing days. This particular papercraft was so pristine that I couldn’t resist putting it up as soon as I could. [Via Design Crush.]

I know there’s been an influx of street art on here lately, but this was too amazing to ignore– Montreal artist Shelley Miller puts up these pieces of sugar street art that are incredibly detailed. From afar, it resembles the blue and white finesse of Delft ceramic ware, but in reality all of these outdoor murals are made entirely out of frosting and sugar.

Inspired by azulejos, which is form of painted ceramic tilework from Portugal and Spain, Miller paints, assembles, and installs these sugar murals out in the open air. The sugar naturally becomes worn away by the weather over time, and she also documents this disintegration. While documenting the creation of one of her more elaborate murals, Miller poignantly wrote this on her blog:

As I was applying the tiles, realizing how quickly this mural might decompose, I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t much different than a very elaborate wedding cake, where the decorator spends days or weeks planning and preparing, and then it all gets eaten in a single night.

I’ve put in almost 130 hours just for the painting, and soon I’m going to put it outside and let it wash away in the rain. Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my brain around that. But I trust that it’ll be worth it. I’ve done this enough times to know that this is the route I must take to get the results I want. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will prove to be true.

A lot of this is work dating from 2009, or even earlier– I hope she keeps producing these pieces, as they look absolutely fascinating especially in the closer shots. This wouldn’t last a day in New York, though, especially if its within the reach of all the city dogs. [Via My Modern Met.]

I’m completely taken in by these porcelain penguins: these ceramic table toppers are part of the Pinguin Rei tableware series by Luiz Pellanda & Aleverson Ecker. Each sleek little penguin can be either a vinegar or oil dispenser, and their accompanying icebergs hold salt and pepper.

I can’t decide what I love most about these– the simple and clean shape, the glossy whiteness of their bodies, or the little gold crown atop their heads. They look quizzical but willing to help, and would fit in perfectly with a variety of kitchen decor. You can buy them from Holaria here.

Luiz Pellandra is actually a cofounder and designer in Holaria, and there’s this fascinating video below about how they use 3D prototyping and mass manufacturing while still keeping a very human touch to the designs and production: