Greatest fonts countdown: 91 - Triplex

FontShop AG, the renowned type foundry, conducted a survey based on historical relevance, sales at FontShop.com, and aesthetic quality. With a few additions from the experts at Creative Bloq and Computer Arts magazine, the best fonts ever were selected for the new book, 100 Best Typefaces Ever.

Here we are counting down the 100 greatest fonts, but you can read interviews with some of the typefaces' creators, a brief history of type, the anatomy of a font, and much, much more in the book – find out how to get your copy in print or digital formats at the foot of this post.

But without further ado, here is the 91st best typeface…

91. Triplex

A specimen of Triplex Sans Light OT. The OpenType version, released in 2006, features fractions, ligatures, oldstyle figures and much more

Triplex was Zuzana Licko's (co-founder of Emigre) first sans-serif typeface. It's based on geometric forms and bears some similarities to her slightly earlier design, Citizen. At the time of its release in 1989, Triplex was among the first nine typefaces of the digital era. This claim was highlighted by its stark geometry. After its release, the typeface was steadily expanded, with John Downer contributing a whimsical italic and Licko herself adding OpenType versions of the fonts in 2006.

Triplex was based on grid-based pixel shapes, as you can see from this development sketch

The 100 Best Typefaces Ever

This is an extract from The 100 Best Typefaces Ever, the definitive guide to the greatest fonts ever created, in association with FontShop AG. Over 180 premium pages, the book dissects the world's greatest typefaces, bringing you some insightful background on each and interviews with their creators.

You can pick up the book at all good newsagents today or order it online. Or you can download a digital edition directly to your iPad from the Computer Arts app on iTunes.

23 flyer templates that will grab their attention

Flyers are essential advertising tools - use any of these templates to promote your product or event effectively. The key to making a flyer serve its purpose is to design it in such a way that makes it stand out. But sometimes time is tight, and you just don't have hours to spare to work up a wholly original design.

To help you out, we've gathered together a selection of cool flyer templates that can help you create a great looking flyer in half the time. You never know when you'll need them, so bookmark this page now! And check out our article if you need flyer design inspiration.

01. Roots reggae night template

Mash it up with this hard design

Get back to your roots with this reggae-styled club night flyer. Made by AreacodezeroCreatives, this print-ready 300dpi CMYK flyer comes as a layered PSD and includes a help file so that you can get it out quickly and easily.

02. Geometric concert template

If you're not keen on the colours, this design features multiple palette options

This minimal geometric flyer features multiple colour options to help you set exactly the tone you want for your event. Included in the package is a layered PSD, a help file and a reference image. The flyer uses the Champagne & Limousines font which is free for personal use; if you wish to use it commercially you should make a donation to the author.

03. Light Colorface template

This flyer would be just the thing for your next dubstep night

Featuring a light theme and warm colours, this design by CrealabSK is suitable for an electronic music event or club party. It uses Nexa free font and Couture, which is donationware for commercial use, and the full package contains two flyer designs and a Facebook event cover.

04. Bold typography flyer template

Grab attention with one of the more font-focused flyer templates on our list

A flyer and poster template combination, this design will enable you to let your font skills speak for themselves. Bold, vibrant, colorful and fun, this is one of those handy flyer templates that can be used and applied for just about any purpose. The layers are specified into groups, so you'll have no problem editing this one.

05. Retro flyer template

There are six retro styled flyer templates to choose from in this download

One for the vintage lovers of design, these six retro-style and unique flyers templates are perfect for your next party or corporate event. The final package you download includes a fully layered, renamed, grouped PSD files and download links for free fonts in *.txt file.

06. Geometric flyer templates

These flyer templates use the BebasNeue font, which is totally free

Check out these modern and unique flyer templates for your next project. The final package you download includes nine flyer styles and nine business card styles. They're easy to modify and include bleeds, trims and guidelines.

07. Chill Out flyer template

The wood texture is included in the download

Originally designed to promote a music event, this wood-textured flyer template can also be used for a new album promotion or other advertising purposes. It's print ready, simple to customise with well organised layers. The photos aren't included, but the effects and textures will be applied to any photo you use - the wood texture is also included. A gorgeous design and certainly worthy of inclusion on our list of the best flyer templates.

08. Alternative flyer template

The effects and textures will be applied to any photo that you use

Here's another of our flyer templates that's perfect for any gig, album or concert promotion.  Simple to customise, the effects and textures will be applied to any photo that you chose to include in the design. All the fonts used are free so you won't have any problems there!

09. Indie vintage flyer

Promote special events with this cool indie vintage flyer template from Moodboy

This cool indie vintage flyer template, created by Moodboy, was designed to promote music events but would work well for any special occasion. The A4-size template will set you back just $6 for a regular license and is fully customiseable, with organized layers and paper textures included and free fonts used.

10. Photography services flyer

Showcase your photography and design skills with this free flyer template from FlyerHeroes

This free photography flyer template, offered by FlyerHeroes, is perfect for advertising photography and design services. With 20 predefined photo spots, this template is easily customiseable to quickly create an eye-catching flyer design. And, best of all, it's free! But be sure to check the file license for full details before use.

11. '80s flyer template

Create your own retro flyer designs with this template from Roberto Perrino

Looking for a retro flyer template? Look no further than this design, originally designed to promote an '80s revival party. From the colour palette to font choice, freelance graphic designer Roberto Perrino captures the style of the '80s perfectly. The design is a steal at $6 for a regular license and is fully customiseable.

12. Typography gig flyer

This cool typogaphy flyer template is perfect for music festivals and gigs

Designed like a gig poster, we love this typography flyer template from Romanian artist Augustin of ZiaroGraphics. At just $6 for a regular licence for the design, this flyer template is perfect for music festivals and concerts. The template features more than eight fonts and a grunge look, suitable for alternative, rock, indie, britpop and punk bands.

13. Newspaper flyer

Spread around the hottest news in town with this cool newspaper flyer template

Planning a special event? Why not advertise it with this brilliant newspaper flyer template. Be the hottest news in town by fully customising the design with your own images and text. The download costs $6 for a regular licence and comes complete with two colour versions, well organised layers and more.

14. Vintage flyer

Make your flyer design stand out from the crowd with this vintage-inspired design

If you're after a retro design for your event, then this cool vintage flyer template may be just the ticket. Designed by itscroma, the artist was inspired by psychedelic music when creating the piece. Featuring bright, vibrant colours, this template includes four PSD files in blue, blue 2, green-blue and red-green to choose from.

15. Event instruction template

Create a custom infographic for your special occasion with this flyer template from AgenceMe

This brilliant flyer template, designed by AgenceMe, lets the illustrations do all the talking. The retro style design is perfect for any special occasion and includes three different colour versions, red, blue and orange, and 14 icons for you to customise the design.

16. Gig flyer template

Customise this brilliant flyer template by Moodboy to suit your design needs

Are you organising a gig or festival? Or want to design a flyer to promote one? Then this cool vintage-style flyer template is a great place to start. Created by Moodboy, this free design is perfect for album promotions and advertising purposes too. 

17. Corporate flyer template

Choose from five different flyer designs with in this bundle by Tony Huynh

If you're looking for a more corporate design, then this flyer template bundle by Tony Huynh is just the ticket. There are five different layout variations and all elements can be edited easily using Adobe InDesign or Illustrator. At just $8 for a regular license, they're a total bargain.

18. Sky flyer template

This minimal flyer template comes in five different colours for you to choose from

This minimal, clean flyer template would act as a great starting point to promote an upcoming summer event. It comes in five different colours as a layered PSD file, so is easily editable. This design can also double as a voucher or invitation. Download the flyer from Graphic River, where a regular license for it will set you back just $6.

19. Contemporary flyer template

Add your own background and text to this contemporary flyer design

If you like to work with big, bold type then this contemporary flyer template is the one for you. It costs just $6 and comes as a layered PSD file, so you can easily change the the background and text. The example here showcases a music event but it can be adapted for many other purposes.

20. Photography flyer template

This simple, elegant flyer design is perfect for showcasing gorgeous photography

Photographers: why not put your work all over this simple, elegant photography flyer template? Created by designer Mike Bradshaw, the design is completely customisable, with the text, shape and images all easily modified. And it's a bargain at just $5.

21. Sketchbook flyer template

Go for a more hand crafted design with this sketchbook-inspired flyer design

Check out this sketchbook flyer template, created initially to promote a music event but perfect for all kinds of advertising purposes. It comes as a PSD file, layers are well organised and with quick photo replacement, the design is easy to customise. A steal at just $6.

22. Minimal flyer template

Customsie this cool, minimal design courtesy of Michele Angoloro

This simple yet stylish minimal flyer template comes from designer Michele Angoloro. For just $6, you can access this PSD or AI file, which is completely customisable. Change the colors, positions and typefaces to suit your own design brief.

23. Cutout flyer template

Use these creative flyer templates to develop a stand-out design

This cutout flyer template is sure to grab people's attention. It sports bright colours and bold type, both of which you can edit to fully customise your design. Created in Adobe Photoshop, there are two layered PSD files in sizes 4x6 or A4, all for a mere $6.

Have you seen any awesome flyer templates? Let us know about it in the comments box below...

Words: Kerrie Hughes

Kerrie Hughes is channel editor at Creative Bloq.

Talking Sass with the co-founder of Dribbble

Co-founder of Dribbble Dan Cederholm is a busy man. Soon, the author of five books on web building will deliver a keynote Q&A session, hosted by Meagan Fisher, at net magazine's Generate London conference on 26 September. As co-founder of the popular portfolio site, Cederholm will also be attending the first official Dribbble meetup in London, held the evening before. 

Around this busy schedule, Cederholm also finds time to be a leading figure in the web design industry, and has some unique achievements under his belt. With Sass for Web Designers, Cederholm is the first person ever to have two books published by industry tastemakers A Book Apart. Which is perhaps surprising for someone who describes himself as a "reluctant convert" to the joys of CSS preprocessors.

"I was very reluctant to use Sass," Cederholm tells us over a Skype connection from his home in Salem, Massachusetts. "I've been building sites by hand for years, and I take pride in the way the code is presented. That's one of the things that bugged me about it, at least initially: it can output various styles, but none of them matched my own."

The joy of Sass

It was Cederholm's Dribbble co-founder, Rich Thornett, who eventually convinced him to give Sass a try. Quickly realising the benefits of the preprocessor – and that web inspectors have changed the way that frontend developers look at one another's code – Cederholm was a convert.

"Once I started using Sass, a lot of misconceptions I had disappeared," he says. "That's one reason the book came about. There are probably a lot more people like me out there who aren't using it for reasons that don't make much sense."

Among the myths that Cederholm debunks in Sass for Web Designers is that the preprocessor requires frontend developers to master backend tools. "It's written in Ruby, but you don't need to know Ruby at all," he says. "Or much command-line: that's another one. In the book, I talk about all the commands you need to know in a few pages."

According to Cederholm, other non-reasons for not using Sass include the misconception that it produces bloated code – "Sass isn't to blame there: you can write bloated CSS by hand. Just pay attention to the output" – or, another reason, that it requires a radical change in workflow.

"It can completely change the way you write CSS, but at the same time, if you're using the SCSS syntax, converting an existing style sheet to Sass is incredibly simple," he says. "When the time came to convert [Dribbble], the way we started was literally by changing the file extension to .scss. Over time, I've slowly ported over portions of the style sheet, using variables and mixins, but it's been a gradual process. We didn't have to throw away the whole site design and start over."

For Cederholm, the "big wins" of using Sass included being able to use variables to handle repetitive tasks like assigning Dribbble's brand colours to page elements, and being able to use mixins to 'Retinize' the site for modern high-resolution displays: "Being able to write a couple of lines of Sass that will [generate] a large media query that knows when to serve a high-res image has been incredibly helpful."

Cederholm points to the benefits Sass has in responsive design work: notably, the option to nest media queries and to use variables for breakpoints. But in his own work, its main role has been to speed up small, but repetitive, tasks – things like "the simple act of nesting to build selectors, rather than writing out the entire selector each time to give context and show the hierarchy."

And as he points out, what goes for Sass today may well go for hand-built CSS tomorrow. "Another reason I like Sass is that you could see it as a sandbox for future CSS specifications," he says. "It's going to take a long time before browsers start supporting [the extend directive or mixins], but you can get a leg up by supporting Sass."

Not that Cederholm can envisage going back to building CSS purely by hand. "I've got so used to using Sass while working on Dribbble that when I'm outside of it – when I'm skinning a blog template or a shopping cart system, say – and Sass isn't available, it's frustrating. I miss it immensely, even for small things like that."

The power of Dribbble

But what of Dribbble itself? When we last spoke to Cederholm, the site was in its infancy, with just 3,000 'Players' with the power to post as well as view images: many of them Cederholm's friends and colleagues. Three years later, there are 50,000, and the total site membership is over 400,000.

As well providing a snapshot of current design trends, Cederholm describes it as an "efficient lens" through which to view the industry – the site supplies a daily dose of creative inspiration that many designers now find invaluable. But while the site has grown in size and influence, many of the criticisms levelled at it in those early days persist.

"One of the things that Dribbble gets dinged on a lot is that if you only pay attention to the popular page, it appears that everything on the site is a particular style, depending on what day it is: everything is flat, or everything is skeuomorphic – or now, everything is long shadows, " says Cederholm. "I actually think it's fun to watch that kind of thing – the popular page is popular for a reason, right? – but people sometimes take it too seriously. I'm looking at my feed from this morning, and it's got all sorts of stuff in it," he continues. "Someone's working on a typeface; someone's working on an iPhone app; and someone else is drawing Disney characters. There's a whole variety of work, and it depends on who you follow."

Another historical criticism of Dribbble is that it's elitist. Its invite-only membership strategy (to become a Player, you have to be 'drafted' by an existing member) may have come about by accident, to minimise the administrative load on Cederholm and Thornett, who were then running Dribbble as a spare-time concern, but it had unexpected consequences for the prestige of the site.

"People coveted invitations because they were so rare; they were careful about who they invited, and that affected the community" says Cederholm. "That's been great, but the challenge now is how to grow the designer base – because we want to, obviously; it was never meant to be an exclusive thing – and at the same time not disrupt the experience for our existing members."

The key to this process, Cederholm believes, will be tools that make it possible to 'curate' your own Dribbble experience; to choose who to follow on the site, in the same way as you would on Twitter. But for now, Dribbble has hired a part-time staff writer to post weekly 'replays' on its blog: roundups of exciting new work reflecting the diversity of projects showcased on the site.

Even with a writer on board, the Dribbble team consists of just six people: a tiny fraction of the development resources available to other social networks. Cederholm says that he doesn't expect staff levels to change radically in the future, but points out that steady growth has its benefits. "We've taken a slow approach to just about everything to do with Dribbble because we're bootstrapped, and we haven't taken funding," he says. "One of the advantages of that was that the features we added were directed by our observations of how people were actually using the site. Rebounding [in which one user posts work in response to another], for example: that's just something people started doing, so we built a feature around it."

One recent extension of this is the site's new Teams feature. "We saw [project managers] creating Dribbble accounts. Their designers were also on Dribbble, but the two weren't connected, so they weren't getting the same amount of attention," Cederholm says. "We wanted to create themes to bring attention to individual designers within companies."

The growth in Dribbble's membership may have been steady, but the growth in its influence has been exponential.

"One of the best things for me is going to a [user] meetup and hearing, 'I got a job because of Dribbble,'" he says. "Or even, 'I met my business partner on Dribbble because we're the only two designers in Paraguay, and now we've been working together for three years.'"

Hold on. Dribbble shaped an entire country's web design industry? "That's a true example," laughs Cederholm. "It's someone I just met at BubbleConf: Juan Teixidó, a brilliant designer. He was there with a friend, and they'd met on Dribbble. Now they're building a business together."

But if exposure on Dribbble can land designers jobs, lack of it can lose them jobs, too. With that great power – if not great responsibility – comes, at the very least, great pressure.

"The hard part for me – and I'm growing a thicker skin every day – is the negativity," admits Cederholm. "There are plenty of people who don't like Dribbble, or what it does, or who think that it's affecting the design world negatively. Sometimes, they're people I respect and admire, and that's tough. I know deep down that we aren't ruining the design world, but I guess if someone's writing about Dribbble, either negatively or positively, we are affecting their perception of it."

The perils of chefs

Whether you value or resent Dribbble's power to shape designers' perceptions of the industry in which they work, it's impossible to deny that it feels like a community endeavour, rather than the result of a corporate masterplan. As well as the site's slow, organic growth, Cederholm attributes Dribbble's community spirit to the fact that it's run from outside traditional business hotspots.

"Living in Salem has its benefits in that we're insulated from [that] world, " he says. That helps us keep our heads down and focus on just building something good. I'm not knocking San Francisco, or New York, or London, but for me, it's better not to be distracted by the noise: where we should be steering Dribbble, what kind of investment we need to take now, [or how] to compete with all those other startups who are also in town."

So we won't be seeing any traditional Silicon Valley perks, like personal chefs, at Dribbble any time soon, then?

"Oh, don't get me wrong: I'd love a personal chef, " laughs Cederholm. "But when Dribbble has one, I'll know that either we've made it – or that we've lost all hope of humanity, and that it's time to get out and buy a farm."

Words: Jim Thacker

For more information on and to get a ticket to Generate London, visit the Generate website.

This article originally appeared in net magazine issue 249.

You'll be mesmerised by these looping animal GIFs

IllustrationShowcase

The animals are placed in rather strange surroundings

GIFs have been taking over the internet for quite some time now and it's easy to see why; showcasing illustrations, artworks and photography in a quick, animated succession is packed full of fun and inspiration. These animated GIFs from Berlin based designer Rafael Varona put animals in 'fake nature'.

"Since I'm obsessed with loops, I decided to challenge myself to put lots of them into one animation," he explains. "It's part of a series, with much more to come!" The project features sharks, birds and more placed in a rather unusual setting.

The colours and intricate animations are a wonderful creation and we can't wait to see more of the animated GIFs that will be featured in the series in the coming weeks. Take a look at the beginnings of what will be a very inspiring project. 

Have you seen any inspiring GIFs? Let us know in the comments box below!

Words: Sammy Maine

Sammy Maine is a reporter at Creative Bloq.

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Lego art: 43 designs that will blow your mind

Whilst most of us pack away our beloved bricks by the time we reach adulthood, some designers have carried on their love affair with design toys and have created the most spectacular sculptures that truly deserve the title Lego art. Here, we take a look at the best Lego art from both the likes of Certified Lego Professionals and some amateurs with real flair. It certainly had us reaching for those bricks again!

01. The Simpsons town of Springfield

You only get The Simpsons house in the official set, so Matt De Lanoy built the whole town

Everyone loves the Simpsons, but veteran Lego artist Matt De Lanoy clearly loves them more than most. Just a few months after the release of the official Simpsons Lego set, he's recreated the entire town of Springfield in coloured bricks, including the Kwik-E-Mart, Moe's, Krusty Burger, the nuclear power plant and more. This image only shows one corner of his creation - see more on his Flickr page.

02. Warren Elsmore

Warren Elsmore attracted the most visitors ever to Paisley Museum and Art Galleries

Professional Lego artist Warren Elsmore broke records in March, with an exhibition of 72 Lego models. Attracting over 50,000 visitors, with 2,000 on the busiest day, the likes of the Olympic Park and St Pancras Station in London and the Forth Bridge were on show. His Las Vegas strip also proved hugely popular.

03. Jin Kei

A Lego steampunk creation from Lego artist Jin Kei

Korean Lego artist Jin Kei has given life to one of the giant four-legged mammals from Salvador Dali’s painting 'The Elephants'. At 32 inches, the artist added his own steampunk twist with mechanical accessories, making for a seriously impressive piece of Lego art.

[via In Habitat]

04. Back to the Future train

Great Scott! Back to the Future Lego is, at last, a thing!

Last month, the Creative Bloq team were extremely excited to learn that Back to the Future Lego was a thing. Our excitement then prompting us to then search for BTTF Lego fan art, which is when we came across this 19th century train by G Russo.

Currently featured on the Lego Cuusoo website, Russo is keen to get his design developed into an actual Lego set. And he's gone all out to try and ensure that happens, adding fine details including two side panels that fold open to reveal an overhead door, some foldout steps, and various controls, levers, pipes, and wheels for controlling the train.

05. Pixel Kiss

This custom mosaic was based on the Pop Art style of Roy Lichtenstein

The talented team at Brickworkz create the most amazing custom Lego art work. One such example is this piece, modelled based on the Pop Art style of Roy Lichtenstein's Kiss V 1969.

Composed of over 20,000 Lego bricks, the cool mosaic currently resides at legal office of William Ellyson in Richmond, Virginia.

06. Lego aircraft carrier

This epic Lego sculpture is composed of 200,000 bricks, stands at 4.5m long and weighs over 350 pounds

This Lego aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman has got to be one of the most impressive creations on our list, in terms of size and detail. The 200,000 brick, 4.5m long, 350-pound aircraft carrier comes complete with electrical lights as well as moving elevators and radar dishes.

The epic sculpture, built by German Lego fan Malle Hawking, also includes a half submarine and a mini gunboat on the side.

07. Lego framed rainbow

This gorgeous Lego rainbow took designer Simon C. Page six hours to piece together

After discovering the Lego Factory and latest Lego Digital Designer software recently, artist Simon C Page was become hooked on Lego art design. And this Lego framed rainbow is his first creation.

Created out of 3,029 bricks, there are over 200 1x1 pieces of each of the 16 colours used throughout. Page comments on his website: "It has took me over six hours to put together and wasn't easy - stacking nearly 50 1 x 1 piece end to end nearly 50 times across, all the time keeping to a strick colouring pattern."

08. A futuristic Japan

School children in Japan created this amazing futuristic Japan using 1.8 million bricks

Project 'Build Up Japan' was sponsored and curated by the legendary toy brick makers and encouraged school children to build imaginary structures - with the result of a Japan that they wanted to see.

With a little help from their parents and a few Lego officials, children across Japan were able to create their country the way they wanted it. The total number of Lego bricks used was a jaw-dropping 1.8 million!

09. Life-size LEGO forest

This life-size LEGO forest is made up of 15 pine trees and 15 flower sets, all 66 times bigger than their design toys counterpart

How cool is this? This isn’t a child-sized toy set: it’s actually a life-sized LEGO forest in the Australian Outback! It’s made up of 15 pine trees, and 15 flower sets, all 66 times bigger than their design toys counterpart – making the trees a whopping 4m high.

The iconic toy brick company built this amazing creation in Living Desert State Park, a 2400ha reserve more than 700 miles west of Sydney, as part of its 50-year anniversary celebration.

10. LEGO advent

The calendar was made out of an astonishing 600,000 Lego bricks

Last year, the UK's only certified LEGO technician Duncan Titchmarsh built this huge advent calendar sculpture. Made up of approximately 600,000 bricks, the installation was unveiled in central London's Covent Garden shopping area.

Each door was opened at 4pm every day in the lead up to Xmas day. The presents behind each were also cool Lego creations. An awesome way to celebrate the festive season. 

11. Sea Monster

Brickley is made up of 170,000 Lego bricks and stretches a whopping 30 feet!

Take a trip to Disney World in Florida and you'll find this awesome Lego sea monster, Brickley. The cool character is made out of 170,000 LEGO bricks, stretches a whopping 30 feet and weighs half a ton!

The brilliant sculpture is one of many found in Downtown Disney at the LEGO Imagination centre. Other models include a Transformer, giant models of Woody and Buzz Lightyear and the Seven Dwarves.

12. Sandstone block

The ability to print in 3D has opened up avenues for many design disciplines - and Greg Petchkovsky has utilised 3D printing to create an amazing piece of LEGO art-related sculpture.

Petchkovsky combined 3D scanning, 3D digital modelling, and 3D printing to achieve a dramatic effect. He chose a sandstone block with a chipped off corner, so that the 3D print could fit into the remaining space.

13. Poseidon

Poseidon was built for Vancouver Lego Club‘s Mythology exhibit

Paul Hetherington - known in the Lego world as BrickBaron - had already given a sneak peek to this incredible creation, by showing off the lower structure full of mermaids, oceans and ships. Little did we know that it would actually play as part of a much larger sculpture featuring the God of the sea.

Poseidon was built for the Vancouver Lego Club's Mythology exhibit at the Surrey Museum; taking place from July until September 15th. The attention to detail is astonishing: we don't know if we'd have the patience to build something as impressive as this! You can see more photos of Poseidon, as well as Paul's other work on his Flickr page.

14. Woman

This stunning piece was created using LSculpt

This stunning sculpture was created by Bram Lambrecht using LSculpt - a program which converts a triangle mesh into an LDraw file. Like the sphere generator, the generated model consists of a surface of 1×1 plates oriented in whichever direction provides the best detail.

We love that Bram has taken the time to create not only the body and branch but the shadow too. It's these details that make certain Lego sculptures stand out from the rest. You can see more of Bram's work on his official website.

15. Biggest ever Mario

Although created in 2009, this huge Mario sculpture still deserves a mention. Crafted by brick layer Dirk Van Haesbroeck, it took him just over two weeks to finalise the plumber. Mario is comprised of 30,000 LEGO bricks with the pedestal containing another 12,000. This video showcases the 160 hours of work in just over a minute.

Once the sculpture was finished, it was auctioned off on eBay in aid of Ronald McDonald, a Dutch organisation that arranges proper housing for relatives of hospitalised children in the vicinity of clinics. It sold for an impressive $5100. You can see more of Dirk's Lego art on his Facebook page. 

16. Lego bridge

Megx creates a bright bridge for the locals

In October of last year street artist Megx converted a bridge in Wuppertal, Germany into a giant Lego structure using coloured panels that create the illusion of being the underside of Lego bricks. Although the panels aren't actually Lego bricks, this is an impressive piece of artwork that we think would fool anyone!

The bridge itself is part of the Wuppertal Bewegung e.V., an old train line that has been converted to a pedestrian and cycle path. What a lovely thing to witness on your ride to work. You can see more of Megx Lego art on his website.

17. Serenity

This Serenity sculpture is a must see for any Firefly fan

Despite its short run on television almost ten years ago, fans of Firefly and film Serenity still express an intense love and passion for the Joss Whedon series. One such fan decided to build the ultimate homage to the sci-fi show with a replica of the ship Serenity.

Adrian Drake used around 70,000 Lego pieces and the project took 475 hours over the course of 21 months. The ship itself weighs an incredible 135 pounds due to the intricate details Adrian has included. You can more of Adrian's stunning Lego art on his website.

18. Pop-up book Lego art

Nathan Sawaya's pop-up book

What can we say about Nathan? Well, first off he's one of the, if not the biggest Lego artist around. Counting himself as one of the world's certified Lego professionals, when he's not jetting off around the world showcasing his artwork in prestigious galleries, he's at his studio creating the next array of Lego art masterpieces.

Here, the pop-up book is a celebration of Waldo H. Hunt - ''the king of pop-up.'' It's created entirely out of Lego (which is handy for this list) and is based around a poem Nathan wrote himself. You can see the said poem across the pages of the book, which we think is a lovely touch.

See more of Nathan's incredible work at his personal website. Or just go to number 2!

19. Crowd

Nathan Sawaya's Crowd

We could compile this entire list with Nathan's creations but we'll treat you to just two. 'Crowd' has been trawling the United States for quite some time thanks to Nathan's popular exhibitions so you may have seen it before.

Inspired by the throngs of people walking the streets of New York, 'Crowd' also gives us a sense of George Orwell's 1984 with its watchful eye. The blending of the Lego colours is a perfect example of how talented Nathan is; combining art and toys has never looked so good.

Both 'Pop-up book' and 'Crowd' are currently on tour as part of Nathan's THE ART OF THE BRICK exhibition. Schedule information can be found on his website.

20. Cool robots

Anyone who can call themselves a 'professional kid' and can make money from building robots (and other such things) out of Lego, definitely deserves a mention. Sean Kenney is another certified Lego art professional and does just that and has been making waves on the sculpture scene for quite some time.

In this video, the short tutorial coincides with the release of his book 'Cool Robots.' He shows you how you too can become a Lego artist (who wouldn't want that?!) with the Lego pieces that you already own. Check out the rest of his work on his website.

21. The Love Boat Lego art

Ryan McNaught's Lego Love Boat

Australian designer Ryan McNaught is another artist who can claim 'Certified Lego Professional' to his C.V - pretty cool huh? The Love Boat is just one of his incredible works and this photo is merely the middle interior! You can see the rest of the pictures, along with his other work on his Flickr stream.

McNaught specialises in interactive models and has even made a Qantas Airbus A380 incorporating LEGO MINDSTORMS technology in the past. It's no wonder he has a stash of awards. You can contact Ryan via his website.

22. The Lego House

That's right, you heard us the first time. This is a house built entirely out of Lego and you can actually live in it! You'll have to watch the video to believe it, as James May walks around the finished product commenting on Lego carpets and striped Lego walls.

The project was started as part of 'James May's Toy Stories' broadcast on BBC2. Over 3.2 million Lego pieces were used to create this 2-storey house, with over 1000 volunteers all lending a hand. Sadly, the house was demolished in September 2009. James May is still searching for his lost Lego cat Fusker.

Words: Sammy Maine

Sammy Maine is a reporter at Creative Bloq.