There are many types of geeks out there, but I believe design enthusiasts create one of the more unique niches in the nerdsphere. I mean, c’mon, what kind of person chooses to obsess (and stress) over the space between letters as both a career AND hobby? A geek does. So, needless to say, Typography and Letterform Design are two of the nerdiest art forms ever. Also, did I mention, they are two of my favorite?

I present to you Heldentica. I suddenly appreciate the ADA!

Yes, that is a typeface hand-made with toothpaste. I wish I could say I made it, but the folks over at authobahn.nl did. Every article I’ve found on it is in a foreign language, but what I’ve gathered from English captions is that they developed a series of typefaces to show at a Pecha Kucha Night, all made from squeezable mediums. The only ones making into processed type form (and ultimately becoming .ttf files) were Heldentica, Gelvetica and Tomatica, which were made of toothpaste, gel and ketchup, respectively.

Make sure you scroll through the page here and see the design process and animations!

I must say I am super inspired. It’s nice to know that my bathroom door and some tracing paper may be the only things between me and a new set of glyphs. It may have also crossed my mind to leave my landlord cryptic messages in mustard on my hardwood floor, but I think I will settle for an email. This time.

With less than a week until the release of Watchmen, geeks are foaming at the mouth in anticipation…and as if we all didn’t need any more promotional imagery to convince us of how ridiculously awesome this movie will be, here’s a Flickr collection by a user named thenewfrontiersman.

If you’re a fan, the name will ring a bell, and if you click through to check out his gallery you’d see it has the potential to be one helluva scrapbook.  Vintage photograph of the Vietcong surrendering to Dr. Manhattan?  Yes, please.

via Iwatchstuff

As an advocate for video games as art, I love gorgeous creations like this. Amy Leigh Davis of Radiance Art is the creator of this beautiful stained glass Super Mario Bros mushroom, and brings up some deep, penetrating questions about our favorite fungi in the Mushroom Kingdom.

The classic Mario Bros. Super Mushroom–available by bashing your head into the nearest floating brick. Sure, you grow twice your natural height, but what about the headache? And how does one go about consuming any item of food the same size you are?

She’s right about everything… except questioning how to eat food that’s the same size as yourself. Give me an Eric Smith sized Wendy’s chicken nugget any day, and I’ll show you how it’s done. Nomnomnom.

But I digress.

Have a look at the Super Mushroom, which “pays homage to early Nintendo with its 8-bit styling. Look close–the red and the clear glasses both have subtle textures, and the white is wispy.” It’ll run you $175 on Etsy.

Stained Glass Mushroom via Sprite Stitch

Aw, come on, could this little guy honestly bring about the end of the world? I don’t think so.

This is what happens when you cross everyone’s favourite cute gaming hero with a super-strong half-demon: meet HellSackBoy!

Also, if you’re actually crafty enough to create something like this, Crafty Crafty TV have provided a tutorial on how to knit your very own Sackboy. The page’s address stops at “Knit Your Own Sac” and that makes me giggle quite a bit. What can I say? I’m actually 11.

Hellboy Sackboy Mashup (Hellsack!) via Wonderland

Hee hee!

Check out Oliver Barrett’s awesome Mega Man as Michael Jackson over on his Flickr page. Totally emailing this guy about getting a print. And while you’re at it, check out his portfolio on Go Media. Seriously, that’s some impressive stuff there Oliver.

For those of you who don’t get the Splash Woman reference, she’s the first female villain to appear in a Mega Man game. Which game? The incredibly hard and downloadable #9, baby. So good. So good.

Michael Jackson as Mega Man via Super Punch

Wow. Well, this here papercraft project takes Paper Mario to a whole other level. After you’ve built it, you can rotate the level, causing Mario to jump and a coin to pop out of the box. Outstanding!

This great piece of engineering is, as designer ddi7i4d puts it, “more a ‘tech demo’ than a real model, to test if it works.

And according to the folks at the Nintendo Papercraft site, it does. You can download the template for this moving Mario papercraft over on their official website. Happy crafting!

Mario Papercraft via ALBOTAS

Toronto based artist Cameron Stewart’s Sin Titulo, is an interesting webcomic I’ve come across.  Stewart’s combination of great artwork and writing creates a very suspenseful and dramatic read.  Each page ends on the type of cliffhanger that has been a staple of the television show Lost. It always leaves more questions to be answered, and I do find myself waiting in anticipation for the next page.

The story so far is of Alex Mackay, who goes to visit his grandfather at an elderly home, only to discover he has been dead for a month. If that isn’t enough to handle, while going through his late grandfather’s belongings, he finds a photo of his grandfather with a young, attractive woman. His questions regarding this woman leads to a whole mess of problems that only lead to more problems.

The artwork reminds me of a great combination of Alex Toth and Darwyn Cooke.  Very clean lines, expressive characters, and great visual storytelling. In some cases, the images read and feel more like storyboards. We’re given just enough information to understand the situation. While the characters and environments may look simple, I know that making something look that simple and clean does take tons of practice.

The comic panels never change in size or shape, which keeps the same rhythm. The strip has a  cinematic feel without resorting to a widescreen format, giving each panel a claustrophobic effect.  We’re always close in on the action, a conversation, a dream, or a memory. Sometimes it feels uncomfortable because Alex may see or experience something unsettling. For example an assault of an elderly person by an extremely creepy orderly, or when Alex recounts a childhood memory of a violent confrontation with his father. This gives the feeling that there’s nowhere Alex or the reader can go at this point, either in his dreams or the present, and not have drama follow him. In case you haven’t realized by now, this comic is not for the younger readers.

I think I’ve said as much as I can without spoiling the experience of this comic for the rest of you. Needless to say I am a fan of Sin Titulo and I wait in anticipation for what the next page reveals.  Hopefully a printed form of this story will become available. It’s one of the few comics around that I’d most certainly pay for.

[via Cameron Stewart and Sintitulocomic.com]

Capcom’s Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop for Nintendo Wii shipped yesterday, February 24, and should be in stores today so you can fight the good fight against legions of undead… mall goers? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Capcom’s next cadaver-cleaving franchise (first seen on Xbox 360 with Dead Rising) revisits the story of freelance journalist Frank West as he ventures into a suburban town on assignment only to find it’s ridden with brain-hungry republicans suburbanites.

This Xbox 360 port plays much like its predecessor, but differs slightly in that it uses Capcom’s tried-and-true Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition engine as well as utilizes the Wii’s signature motion control. The premise of the game remains: After taking refuge in a shopping mall, which happens to already be overrun with the undead horde (go figure), you have only a few days to rescue as many survivors as possible before salvation arrives. Now if only there were celebrity zombies included in this rendition.

(Image via Sleepy Gamer)

Today was an exceptionally dull and painfully boring Tuesday, but thankfully OMGPosters came through with a very good find and what turned out to be my favorite Fairey parody ever.

“Comprehensive Health Coverage is the Right of all Sentient Beings”

It’s an 18″x24″ screenprint of Optimus Prime in the style of  Obama’s 2008 Presidential Campaign posters, and it’s part of a limited edition of 80 pieces.  $30 buys you one of the 70 they’re selling, and it’s available at the Nakatomi store.

Edit: there’s an additional glow-in-the-dark variant with an edition of 10, if you’re interested!

Edit (again): These are now sold out, but the artist is now offering 4″x6″ Stickers at $5 for a pack of 2, at the Nakatomi store.

Tim Doyle’s CHANGE Into A Truck via OMGPosters

This one is for you, Brian and Alexis.

According to Studio Creations, this Steampunk-inspired Abe Lincoln costume was made for last year’s Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA. The costume took a little over 35 hours to make.

SC based it off this awesome print of Abe Lincoln as a steampunk character. Neat.

Steampunk Lincoln via Super Punch

Wow. How have I not come across this yet?!

This fantastic and rather well done Watchmen game plays a lot like classic brawlers like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, and Golden Axe. Great classic sound effects and pixelated cut scenes.

Now, go play and kill some time before the Watchmen movie comes out.

Minutemen via ALBOTAS

By now, dear readers, you’ve learned that I will take any excuse to post a cute animal on here. Even if it involves writing about… ugh, Nintendo games.

Behold, a bandana featuring the Legend of Zelda hyrulian seal… for your pets! Available in several different sizes and colors from Etsy seller Deezyne.

Ben, shall I order one of these for your kitty?

Zelda Pet Bandana via Sprite Stitch