Minimalistic Illustrations Of Iconic Nintendo Games

San Francisco-based director of experience design at Adobe, Ty Lettau—who previously created ‘Star Wars’ Mega-Man Boss Battles—has simplified several iconic Nintendo games—reducing them to mere pixels to find out ‘how little detail can still be recognizable’.



Are you able to identify all the Nintendo games below?



















































































[via Ty Lettau]

Satellite Images That Make The Earth’s Surface Look Like Abstract Art

The longest-operating Earth-observing satellite Landsat 5 is finally ending its mission after 29 years out in space—a career that consists of more than 150,000 orbits, during which it took 2.5 million images.



Outlasting its planned three year operation by almost 10 times, Landsat 5 is returning to earth at last due to a permanently damaged part and would no longer be able to keep an eye on the planet.



To celebrate its great contribution to our understanding of the Earth, Wired magazine has compiled a collection of stunning pictures that Landsat 5 has taken over its nearly three decade in space.



Featuring vivid shades of blue, green, pink, purple and yellow, these images look more like pieces of abstract art than photographs taken by an orbiting satellite.



Find out more about the Landsat project at its official website.







































[via Wired Magazine]

Instagram Shows How Users From All Over The World Ring In The New Year

Social photo-sharing app Instagram has launched a microsite that shows how users from all over the world ushered in the New Year.



From ball drops and fireworks, to parties and spending time with loved ones, the feed found at Instagram.com/nye gives a glimpse into how various countries commemorate the start of 2013.



Instagram.com/nye categorizes the images based on time-zones—viewers can click the images to open it up in a new window, and like or comment on the photo.

















[via Instagram.com/nye]

WiFi-Enabled Doorbell Lets You See Who’s At Your Door From Anywhere

[Click here to view the video in this article]







Los Angeles, California-based Edison Junior Design Laboratory has created a ‘smart’ doorbell that connects to smartphones—so that users can see who’s at their door, whether they’re at home or not.



Called ‘DoorBot’, the WiFi-enabled camera doorbell lets users video chat with visitors via their mobile device.



The device can also be paired up with the Lockitron (a lock that you can control from anywhere in the world), for users to unlock the door to allow visitors to enter—even when they’re in another part of the world.



Currently, DoorBot is seeking funding on ChristieStreet.





























[via ChristieStreet]

Stunning Cityscapes Shot From The Top Of Skyscrapers

For her “Above” series, photographer Aurelie Curie has scaled some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers to capture stunning images of glittering cities in the night, giving viewers a beautiful perspective from the top.



Climbing to the top of buildings and bridges, the photographer also enlisted the help of models—who are seemingly either fearless or immune to vertigo—who were often positioned precariously at the edges and corners of rooftops.



According to Curie, she has wandered “the hidden places and find beauty in infrastructure”.



Head over to her website for more of these spectacular photographs.















































[via Aurelie Curie]

Website Helps Homeless People Through Online Shopping

‘Homepage for the Homeless’ is a website created by independent non-profit organization Ladder that aims to help homeless people through online shopping.



Upon entering the website, visitors are presented with several keyholes—each representing a different web store—such as iTunes, Amazon and The Book Depository.



Each time a visitor ‘shops’ through a keyhole, a percentage of their purchase will be donated by the relevant web store to help homeless people in Australia.



According to the website, the various web stores offer a ‘finder’s fee’ to anyone who refers customers to them—and by shopping through Homepage for the Homeless, this finder’s fee will go to charity, at no extra cost to the customer.



[via Homepage for the Homeless]

Japanese Designer Creates Marshmallow-Like Sofa

“What shape will naturally invite a person?” Japanese designer Kei Harada asked himself before commencing on a sofa design.



After much thought, he created the “O’keeffe” sofa—a furniture piece made up of marshmallow-like orbs.



Each orb is made of Styrofoam covered with two types of urethane foam and stretchable cloth, and joined with wooden frames.



O’keeffe lets users explore various sitting positions, and its soft rock-like bulging parts combine to form an almost-climbable structure that looks a bit too welcoming to be left alone.





























[via designboom]