Every geeky room needs some pixel art on the wall. But rather than just have some static image, why not go with something a bit more interactive? The Pixel Art Shop has got you covered.
This Super Mario Bros. 2 wall art has a wide open spot in the middle of its canvas, allowing you to select the character you want to play with, just like the original game. Each character is handmade using fused perler beads and has a magnet on the back.
The set includes all four playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad – and a backdrop populated with other objects from the classic 1988 NES game. It measures in at 16″ x 20″ so it should fill out that big blank spot on your wall nicely. It’s $120 over on The Pixel Art Shop’s Etsy page, where you can find all sorts of other cool perler bead creations.
Chess is a fun and challenging game that really makes you use your brain. So too are lots of video games. If you like both of these pastimes as much as I do, then check out this sweet chess set which features pieces that look like 8-bit video game pixel art.
Created by Induku Designs, the set comes with everything you need to play a game on the go, including a folding board, and pieces that hold in place using cut-out notches.
Each board is made from laser-cut and engraved baltic birch plywood, and held together with leather hinges and straps. All the pieces store neatly inside for travel, so you have no excuse for losing any pieces. I really love the laser-engraved pixel patterns on the board and pieces, which give them a nice sense of depth too.
A while back, I told you about the awesome video game inspired 3D shadowboxes that Glitch Artwork makes. Well, since then, they’ve continued to step up their game with new and even better pieces of wall art for fans of classic video games. Now I think I’ve spotted my favorite one yet, a sweet piece of art that looks just like the classic first level of Donkey Kong.
Everything is simply perfect with this meticulously crafted cutout pixel art creation, from the wonky steel girders and broken ladders, to the flaming barrel of oil and Jumpman as he races to the top to rescue his princess from that giant ape. I especially love how they created a border inspired by the one around the screen on classic arcade machine – that really brings it all together.
The only thing I would love is if this were bigger – this shadowbox measures just 5″ x 7″. That makes the craftsmanship even more impressive, but I’d love to hang one on my wall that’s closer to the size of the actual arcade screen. Though I suppose if you buy a bunch of their artwork, you can pack a ton of arcade goodness into a small space.
If you’re game for some sweet arcade artwork, be sure to stop by Glitch Artwork’s Etsy shop and check out their entire collection. It’s a paradise for game geeks.
If you’re looking for something cool to add to your collection of geeky toys, look no further than these pixel art sculptures from Pixel Visions. I first spotted these at the Midwest Gaming Classic a couple of months back, but am just now getting around to writing about them.
Each one of these sculptures is made from numerous plastic blocks, fused together to form a 3D figure. Some of the figures are fully dimensional, while others are designed to be viewed only from the front. Some of my favorites are Big Daddy from BioShock,Bowser from Super Mario Bros. and Bub and Bob from Bubble Bobble. I need those guys for my desk. Psyduck is pretty awesome too.
They have a big selection of cool 3D pixel art figures on their website, with prices starting at just $20. They also will do custom work, so if you’re just dying for a 3D pixel art version of the TARDIS or a Magikarp, I’m betting they can make you one too.
Do you like pixel art? Did you know that when pixels are turned into their 3-dimensional equivalents, they’re called “voxels?” Well now you do. Pretty soon, you’ll have a fun new way to build your own personal voxel art sculptures, thanks to PIXIO.
Like LEGO and other building blocks tiny, colorful plastic cubes are designed for building all kinds of figures and structures. But what makes PIXIO bricks different is that they’ve got magnets inside of them, which means they snap right into place when they get near each other.
You can build all kinds of cool stuff with them, and if for some reason you can’t come up with your own designs, PIXIO will be creating a smartphone app, loaded up with easy, color-coded designs for you to follow.
Each cube measures 8 x 8 x 8mm, or about 1/3″ cubed. There are six tiny neodymium magnets inside, so each side can stick to another cube. To start, they’ll come in 16 different colors, but hopefully they’ll become so popular that we’ll get more colors down the road. At least they’ve been kind enough to include some skin tones in the first batch of colors.
Check out the gallery below for a bunch of ideas of things you could create with PIXIO blocks, then head over to Kickstarter to place your order now. A starter set of 50 assorted blocks will cost you $19(USD), with 100 going for $35, 200 for $55, 400 for $85, 800 for $149, 1600 for $290, or whopping 3200 blocks for $550.
Do you love classic arcade games, but don’t have the room (or the cash) for an arcade cabinet in your living room? These fantastic pieces of arcade-inspired wall art are the next best thing.
Each one of Glitch Arwork’s 3D shadow boxes uses a combination of authentic arcade graphics, along with some artistic license to make the scenes more dynamic and for the sake of composition. Thanks to the way they’re cut out, they really pop, and look amazing.
They’ve got designs inspired by Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Zelda, Mario, Rampage!, Street Fighter II, Super Metroid, Pong, and many more. Every one of these is amazing. I so need the Bubble Bobble one for my wall. That game is awesome.
They’re each handmade by artists Jill and T-Bone Forest using layers of carefully cut color prints and foamboard, then framed. Unlike the ones in the photos here, they also come with a protective sheet of glass in front.
Check all the work that goes into making each one in the video below, then drop by GlitchArtwork’s Etsy shop to buy a bunch for your wall. With prices ranging from about $35 to $70, they’re really reasonably priced for original pieces of handmade art!
If you want to make a geeky pie for a special occasion, check this out. Jessica from Pies from Awesome is about to show us how to create a Super Mario pixel pie. It’s a me, Edible Mario!
Making a Mario pixel pie is actually easier than it sounds. Basically, you just map out your pixel art on a paper grid, and assign colors to each dot. Then, just use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into small squares, brush them with food coloring, and arrange them on top of your pie in the proper shape.
You can use this simple technique to make even more complicated pixel art designs if you are feeling bold. Follow these instructions and you will have a pie that Mario himself would be proud to eat.
Two of the most frustrating things that I played growing up were Super Mario Bros. and the Rubik’s Cube. As a kid in the ’80s you were guaranteed to get at least one Rubik’s Cube each Christmas or birthday. I always resorted to pulling the stickers off because only some kid on That’s Incredible could actually solve that thing back in the day. I was always frustrated by Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo because I could never beat the game. I’m still pretty sure it cheated on those higher levels.
The guys from Japanese juggling troupe Synchronicity must have spent a whole lot of time putting this together, even if they pulled the stickers off the cubes like I used to.
While we’re waiting in between Star Wars films, why not enjoy an alternative look on the series and the characters, like with this incredibly fun looking Star Wars Pixels art?
Raul Aguiar, an artist based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, gives Star Wars (and other pop culture characters) makes Star Wars look a lot more fun and cheerful than it actually is (not that I mind dark and brooding in the right amount).
There is a lot of Game of Thrones on his website, but his best work, in our opinion, has to do with Star Wars creations. It makes us wish someone would make an 8-Bit Star Wars game, with some humoristic twist on it. More than anything, his work reminds me of Sierra’s Space Quest games, probably their finest quest series, and they had a lot of good ones.
Actually, if you do enough digging, there are Star Wars games from the 8-bit era, but these ones by Aguiar do have a modern twist and slickness to them. It might not be one of Disney’s top priorities at the moment, but making a simple game, maybe even for phones and tablets, based on this kind of visual style, could rake them even more money, and we know that above all else, cash makes that giant company tick.
Who says that there is no room for creativity at modern offices? A company in the UK had a very special decoration based off of Star Wars that we are now sharing with you.
As if they were creating intricate and beautiful pixel art, a group of employees decided to decorate their office walls with a Star Wars theme in a very geeky fashion, using post-it notes. The company is Viking from the United Kingdom, who is in the office supplies business, and they decided to recreate some of the most well known characters from the series as giant posters made completely out of their supplies.
In the year of Star Wars we are seeing the franchise get stronger than ever, with many new releases in video game, comic book and movie format, with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens being the main driving force behind the entire experience. Yet, this is the first time we see such a loving tribute based off of doing something fun at the workplace, in true geek spirit and do-it-yourself fashion.
All in all, it took these guys some 3.597 post-its to recreate some of the most iconic characters in the series, with Darth Vader, R2-D2, a Stormtrooper and Yoda among them. All of these pictures were worked on by the team at Viking in a joyful community effort, which must have been way more fun than any motivational speech or activity than any boss could plan. In between planning and executing, this piece of art took some 5 hours of work, what with removing post-its and getting a better feel of the over-all picture. After the process was done, the walls of the office were then photographed and now we get to share them with you.
Being that each post-it us a perfect square, this style lends itself to pixel art and minimalist aesthetics, so each and everyone of the characters looks a bit simplified but still perfectly recognizable – this is a great way to remain faithful to the original depictions but also showcase some style and originality. We are particularly fond of the Yoda and Darth Vader posters, for they have the cutest eyes and happen to look great in this style too.
The team behind these posters also created a fantastic timelapse video where you can see them hard at work, putting each note on the wall by hand. The posters were created simultaneously, with all of them moving from one piece to the next one, and, well, we say the end result was worth all the hard work they put in. You can check out the video right below these lines. Which ones are your favorites? Let us know about them in the comments section.
