Ever since Curiosity touched down on Mars, I’ve been anxiously waiting to see the new hi-res images from the surface. Curiosity’s hi-res camera certainly did not disappoint. The images are beautiful, and they oddly look like what you would see here on Earth. You can see more images on the JPL site.

Music can be found almost anywhere. Even in a gamma-ray burst, the most energetic explosions in the universe. From the help of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), NASA was able to convert this amazing event into music. Made by Sylvia Zhu (music) and Judy Racusin (animation). Check out the full info here.

Born: August 5, 1930
First Moon Walk: July 21, 1969
Time in Space: 8 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds 

Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand. — Neil Armstrong

Creative agency Newisnew have some fantastic ideas on how to Redefine Wikipedia. We all would have to agree that Wikipedia is somewhat stuck in the dark ages when it comes to web design, so it’s refreshing to see designers take the time to share their ideas.

Check out this cool video about logo design, it features some words of logo inspiration from some of the best in the field.

Nuts.com has to be one of my favorite identity re-brands so far this year. Michael Bierut and his team at Pentagram did an amazing job with the new look. Christoph Niemann redrew the cartoon nuts to complement Michael Bierut’s hand-drawn typeface for the identity. Niemann’s characters and the vibrant colors work together so well on the packaging. I’m suddenly craving nuts.

Lotta Nieminen recently launched a new website with some fantastic new work. I’ve always been a big fan of her illustration style, but her minimal design work is just phenomenal. More below the fold.

I remember when I had my very own tree house as a kid. Actually, it wasn’t in a tree, so I guess it was a club house of sorts. Although, I always pretended it was in a tree. Today I came across some real tree houses that absolutely blew my mind. I would defiantly live in any one of them. You can check out all of them here.

Via Dwell

Earlier this month I visited the Hammer Museum for the first time to see Made In L.A. This exhibition includes work by 60 Los Angeles based artists shown at three locations across the city. I only attended the Hammer location, but there is additional work at LA >< ART in the Culver City art district, and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz.

The Hammer is such a serene location, and the art was pretty damn interesting. It was a bit of a scavenger hunt to find the various featured artists throughout the museum, but that just made it more fun for me. It was most exciting and refreshing to see a very unique tone emerge from these rising L.A. artists. This show definitely shed some new light on the expansion and evolution of the L.A. art scene. If you’re in the area, I suggest checking it out.

Earlier this month I came across this fantastic remix video of Mister Rogers by Symphony of Science’s, John D. Boswell. Since then it’s gone viral, and now has about five million views on YouTube. Boswell has an amazing talent for blending video mash-ups, and I’ve come to love all his work.

The other day I came across these fantastic sketches by Dieter Rams from the 50s and 60s. I was blown away by how similar these sketches are to the final design of the products.

Via Domus

MWM Graphics collaborated with Attik and Coca Cola on the new campaign for the London 2012 Olympics. They did a fantastic job with creating a dynamic, energetic, and vibrant graphic system that will be used on coke cans to uniforms. I’ll defiantly be collecting the cans for sure.

H&FJ recently released Idlewild, a new sleek sans serif designed to pair with and enhance other typefaces. Idlewild has curves in all the right places, and is definitely fit for any task or mood.

I love this little video that tells the story of the forty years of Pentagram in a charming way.

I love minimal desktop lamps just as much as the next person, but what really puts it over the top for me is when there’s some type of personality injected into them. I enjoy seeing objects come to life through their fun and unique design, but how do you do that with desk lamps without creating the ubiquitous ‘lampy‘ shape? Here are a few lamps that caught my eye that are minimal, fun, and have loads of character.

GIFU by María del Pilar Velasco & Pau Stephens

Plug Lamp by Form Us With Love for Ateljé Lyktan

After Image by Monocomplex

I’m really enjoying these neon text-based installations by photographer Lee Jung. She really captures a nice balance between both neon light and it’s natural surrounding, it almost seems like they’ve always been there.

Via Colossal

The new Quantic & Alice Russell album has been a favorite of mine so far this year. Quantic never seems to disappoint with his blend of jazzy-soulful goodness. Look Around the Corner and I’ll Keep My Light In My Window are the definite highlights on the album. On a side note, the intimate filming of this video really allows you to appreciate the beauty of the music and it’s creators.

Hand-lettering seems to always add so much personality to a project. New York-based designer Joel Holland has definitely mastered the art of incorporating that special human element to his designs. His fantastic hand-lettering mixed with his clean illustrations complement each other perfectly.

Earlier this week we lost another great legend. Maurice Sendak was a man that created stories that inspired all of us to stay young and creative inside. I will defiantly pass his stories on to my children. There’s a great write-up about his work and life over at the New York Times. You will be missed Maurice Sendak.

I’ve been really into collage lately, and these mixed-media collages by Virginia Echeverria Whipple are just phenomenal. They’re bright, whimsical, organic, and are all kinds of fun. More below the fold.