I’m sorry to report that Fanboy.com is now on hiatus: We’re currently thinking of relaunching the site in the future, but for now no new stories will appear. We will still be posting links we love on a regular basis on our Facebook page so please keep in touch with us there.
I first registered this site on a lark in the 90s, but then started blogging almost 9 years ago in 2006 and found it to be a very rewarding experience. However after about 3,000 or so posts I got a bit burned out, however I was very lucky in that I found a few folks who were willing to put in the work to keep the site alive (namely Ben Huber, Bob Muir and Tim Sheehy) and to them I owe a great deal of thanks. I also would like to thank you the readers of this website for coming back to us over the past few years. In the meantime we’ll keep this site up for anyone who would like to see our old stories until further notice.
I recently had the chance to get a look at Zage Gage’s (who you might know from Ridiculous Fishing) newest little project: #Fortune. It’s an app based off of his art installation of the same name that took public Tweets and modified them into fortunes that it would print out on tiny sheets of paper. He eventually made it into an app so that everyone could experience getting a fortune from the internet. Sometimes they’re nonsensical, sometimes they’re funny, and often they’ll be more profound than you’d expect. It’s a really neat little experience and I’ve found myself eagerly starting it up each morning to see what it said. It’s free, check it out on the iOS app store! Read more…
Florey has been doing some really cool art recently, but I simply had to mention these great Transformers shirts that he made from 80sTees.com. Available in Autobot and Decepticon varieties (of course), it features a multitude of Transformers in vehicle form. It has enough of them to satisfy any fan, I would imagine. These are screen printed, too, and look pretty awesome as far as quality goes. They’re available now and you can pick it up in Autobots flavor here, and Decpticon flavor here. Then check out Florey’s blog for more cool pop culture art!
I’m a big Daft Punk fan, but I rarely get to write about them because they don’t always cross over with Fanboy-style content. However, these retro ads that have been put together to promote their new merchandise are pretty awesome. From the typography to the hair, it all screams 70’s and 80’s disco. Some of the merch is pretty awesome too — I might have to pick up that Drew Struzan-styled poster. I’m actually surprised that it took so long for them to release t-shirts, given that Get Lucky’s popularity peaked last summer. Still, these are some great ads. Check them out below or on the Daft Punk site here. Read more…
Hey look, it’s another sweet show from the Bottleneck Art Gallery in Brooklyn! “It Came From 1984” is a tribute to all the amazing movies that came out that year, from Ghostbusters to Gremlins to The Terminator. It features a variety of artists and pieces, curated by Chogrin. The gallery will have an online store where you can buy pieces, as well as visiting the gallery in person to see everything live! It opens today, Friday Feb. 7th, from 7-10pm. The gallery also has regular hours if you can’t make it to the opening. Check out a few pieces below! (Also, full disclosure, I have one piece in the show. But it’s nothing compared to the work everyone else has contributed — holy crap!) Read more…
You’ve probably seen some of those Photoshop videos that reveal how much retouching goes on in a typical model’s photoshoot. It’s made to show that we shouldn’t rely on ads and magazines for the body image to strive for, as it’s completely artificial. Well, Victor & Spoils has done a great little video about the dangers of Photoshop, except this time they’ve put a holiday twist on it. I won’t spoil it for you, but suffice to say, if you’re looking at Photoshopped models, you should be prepared to see some skin. It just might surprise what you’re seeing though! Read more…
The Bottleneck Gallery has done a great job putting together an impressive lineup of artists and designers. With a new topic or focus each month, there’s always something new to look forward to, and their latest show is no exception. Where Is My Mind? is a new gallery covering anything in pop culture that messed with your head, tickled your brain, or pulled mental gymnastics. While you can visit the gallery itself in New York, if you can’t make it, their online store let’s you see all the pieces as well as order them. Many are very limited in number. There’s a little something for everyone! Check out more images below. Read more…
Jason Allemann has been making some crazy stuff – and all out of LEGO. His latest piece combines cool looks along with some clever functionality: a Steampunk Walking Ship, a boat made for land. Using a remote control and LEGO motors, it crawls its way across the ground ready to deliver or unload cargo. Jason says it’s inspired by Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest, and I can definitely see the resemblance. In the YouTube video, he also provides instructions on how to make the contraption yourself – provided you have the right parts. Check it out below! Read more…
Watch out Daft Punk, your rusty, built-from-scrap arch-nemesis is here, and he’s made from GameBoy parts. THUNDERBOX had a cool art show going on and one of the standout pieces was a life-size and wearable mask made from a GameBoy and other electronics. Along with that there was also a GameBoy-inspired jacket, in which you are the cartridge. The whole combination of fashion and gaming typically isn’t too “savvy,” but THUNDERBOX has some really fantastic and creative stuff, so take a look at more images below of the show, and then visit their site to get some THUNDERBOX in your life. Read more…
I love behind-the-scenes articles and seeing how things were made for the movies we enjoy, so this great interview by Inventing Interactive with Jorge Almeida about the UI design process in Star Trek Into Darkness is right up my alley. Jorge goes into detail about how he and his team worked on the UI and graphics that the Enterprise crew would be interacting with. My favorite bit it when they talk about the space jump sequence, and the heads-up display used there. If you love those kinds of details this is a fun read. Check out some more concepts below and read the interview here. Read more…
Designboom had an early look at Hartmut Esslinger’s new book Design Forward, and inside were some of the many old designs made by Hartmut for Apple Computers. There’s a plentiful pile of neat photos to look over here, from an early Apple phone/tablet design, to a “baby Mac” computer that’s one of the most adorable-looking designs I’ve ever seen for a desktop. There’s another in there that even appears to have two screens, if i’m not mistaken. I love seeing behind-the-scenes work like this, and even a small peek into the prototypes that Apple has is a rare occurrence, so check out the images below and the full article here! Read more…
Aw, what a cute little firewall, going out on a limb and following his true passion: music. Rather than protect your PC, this “firewall”( a spandex membrane combined with a Kinect and other tech) reacts to touch and depth, creating audio and visuals that match your movements. It’s a really vivid piece of tech! And while this art installation might ultimately not be useful in the traditional sense, it’s really cool to see what new and unique things creative people like Aaron Sherwood can come up with. Plus, is it just me, or is the Kinect getting way more use as a “neat PC modding device” than an actual Xbox controller? Hey – I’m plenty fine with it! Read more…
Want to look like you just jumped out of 2020? Have a bunch of money to spare? Need something to carry all of your stuff? Then I have found the perfect backpack for you: Solid Gray. It’s a plastic shell backpack, made very thin but highly durable. It’s geometric design and material is supposed to make it stronger and last longer. Plus, that hard shell is great for protecting whatever you keep inside (yes, there is interior padding). While it all looks very cool, the downside is you’ll need to be ready to drop about €139.00 on this bad boy. So, how badly do you want to look like a time-traveller? Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 11, 2012 in Design, Science
I must say, Mr. Greg Petchkovsky, you’ve got a creative mind. A while back Instructables had a contest called “Make it Real,” in which participants had to use some computer-made objects or materials to make a physical object. While most people just completed the bare minimum in requirements, Greg went the whole way: he created digital models of real objects, then modified them with “unreal” aspects, like the edge of a brick melting or LEGO bricks poking out from inside a chipped cement block. The process behind the whole project is pretty impressive too, maybe more impressive than the final result, so check out the video below to see everything! Read more…
Ready for some zombies in your life, with Halloween coming up? The Bottleneck Gallery in Brooklyn, New York has just opened their latest show, called “Can’t Beat Em, Join Em: The Zombie Show” and has a great lineup of artists, art, and prints available. If you can’t go in person to see all the impressive work, you can still see many of them online and purchase prints. Check out some of the art below, then be sure to visit their site and check out their online store! The show runs from now until October 28th. Read more…
Dr. Seuss and Star Wars… who knew they could fit together so well? Jason Peltz, former Disney animator and freelance artist, made these awesome mashups featuring our favorite Star Wars characters as Dr. Seuss book covers, and they’re incredibly well done. He already had the featured pieces go up on Steal This Art a while ago, and the next one will show up October 4th, so pay attention to that site if you want a print for yourself! He also says the fifth piece is almost finished. Good stuff! Click through for more! Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Sep 17, 2012 in Design, Tech
Those memorable moving panels from Portal 2 always seemed really clever to me. Reshaping and repairing the room as needed, all while looking cool! Now, as part of a promotion for Hyundai, a Korean artist called JônPaSang has created an art exhibit that reminds me a lot of those panels. It’s a complex matrix of styofoam cubes coordinated by machinery behind them moving them in and out as needed, like a gigantic piece of pixel art. The end result is Hyundai mindshare, but it’s a really cool exhibit nonetheless. Check out a video of the matrix below! Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Sep 7, 2012 in Design, Fandom
If I’m going to feature art on here, it’s got to be either really clever or just plain stunning. This falls into the ‘really clever’ category: the Avengers done as heroes in Japan’s warring states period. The Sengoku Avengers were drawn by Alex Mitchell (genesischant) who redid the entire cast as if they had sprung from ancient Japanese literature. Iron Man is really bold and colorful, while Nick Fury is a bit more faithful. I particularly like Agent Coulson as Fury’s owl – very cute. Alex needs to make these available as prints pronto! See more after the jump. Read more…
When designer Darrin Crescenzi got into A Song of Ice and Fire, aka Game of Thrones, he did what many of us did: look for awesome posters! Ok, maybe not many of us, but it’s what I did. Darrin found that there weren’t many compelling designs featuring the sigils of each house, so he made one himself – and it looks fantastic! It’s 18″ x 24″ with gold foil stamp, which gives it a little pop, and is available from his online store for $35. It’ll look right at home on your wall, and probably get a few Game of Thrones discussions going too! Read more…
Sometimes I see something both cool and bizarre – this is one of them. We seems to distance natural materials from our technology and gadgets (maybe all that wood panelling on our old cars turned us off from that for a long while) but this sandblasted wood grain overlaid on keyboard keys makes a lot of sense. Designed by Michael Roopenian, the tactile nature of it allows your fingers to more easily find the keys you’re looking for as you learn the layout. Although it’s just a prototype at this point, I’d love to see it become a real product someday. Read more…
Recently, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada caused a bit of controversy by openly admitting that the Final Fantasy franchise had failed to perform in recent years, having yet to top the seventh entry in the series — Final Fantasy VII. As Wada explained, it’s for this very reason that they’ve yet to remake it, despite countless requests from gamers. In truth, topping the game might be a bit much to ask. It came during a pivotal time in the industry. The game marked a change in physical mediums, and was the first Final Fantasy to feature 3D graphics. By virtue of those facts, the game will forever be credited as having broken new ground.
LEGO CUUSOO, where were you my whole life? I may not get the chance to build that many LEGO sets these days, but I can always count on others to provide innovative new designs worth checking out. Recently, a LEGO CUUSOO user Sheepo submitted this slick design for a fully functional remote-controlled LEGO Land Rover Defender 110. It’s got everything you’d expect — doors that open and close, full suspension, working motor, and even a removable chassis. I cant imagine how much they’d charge for the set if it were to actually be approved for full production, but if the model strikes you fancy, head over to LEGO CUUSOO and let them know. The sooner it hits 10,000 supporters, the sooner LEGO will actually consider licensing it.
If Vader’s trip to Bespin has taught us anything, it’s that not every station in the galaxy comes designed with Stormtroopers in mind. In response to recent increase in low-hanging-corridor-related concussions, the Imperial Safety Administration has launched a new campaign in an effort to improve occupational safety amongst its troops! Featuring a design by R-evolution GFX, this awesome shirt is currently available on TeeFury for the rest of the evening for just $10 plus shipping. If by chance you miss out but still want it at a later date, or, if you just want to browse some of R-Evolution GFX’s other designs, you can find more of their shirts available via Red Bubble.
I’m not entirely sure I’m responsible enough to own any real firearms, but I think I could settle for LEGO replicas. Introducing LEGO Heavy Weapons: Build Working Replicas of Four of the World’s Most Impressive Guns. Its17-year-oldauthor, Jack Streat, delivers a complete guide to building 1:1 scale replicas of several well-known firearms, such as a SPAS shotgun, or Desert Eagle handgun with realistic built-in blow-back. Despite the subtitle’s claim of allowing you to build “working” replicas, I seriously doubt you’ll ever get one of these to fire live ammunition. At least, I hope so. Also, isn’t it terrifying to know there’s a 17-year-old kid out there who can design a replica AKS-74U assault rifle using LEGO bricks?
