*Enjoy Handplanes turns bodysurfing into art

*Enjoy handplanes set themselves apart in the bodysurfing industry by turning their creations into one-of-a-kind art. It is amazing, the creativity and beauty they put into these little planes, with everything from DIY craft to pure artist illustrations, simple coloring and classic lines. Of course, one has to mention that all of these handplanes are made …

History of Olympic Pictograms overcoming the language barrier

  Of all the instances in which graphic communication is necessary to transcend language barriers, the Olympic Games are, if not the most important, probably the most visible. We take the little icons of swimmers and sprinters as a given aspect of Olympic design, but the pictograms were a mid-20th Century invention—first employed, in fact, …

Jane Austen’s beautiful 200 year-old ring goes up for auction

A ring once owned by author Jane Austen will be auctioned by Sotheby’s later this month. Austen, the author of the much-loved novels “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility” and “Emma,” never married or had children, but the ring has remained in the possession of her family since her death in 1817. Scholars had been unaware of …

6 dark and scary illustrations of Edgar Allen Poe short stories from 1919

When Poe’s 1908 collection of short stories, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, was reprinted in 1919, a copy of the “deluxe” edition would cost you 5 guineas (in today’s money, that’s about 300 USA Fun Tickets). The book was printed on handmade paper, bound in vellum, and lettered in gold. But its cost was mainly …

There are over 1,000 Google Doodles

Doodles are the fun changes made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists. How did the idea for doodles originate? In 1998, before the company was even incorporated, the concept of the doodle was born when Google founders Larry and Sergey played with the corporate …