Don Hertzfeldt Does The Simpsons

Vitra goes to Africa, the Indienet, a people's history of coffee and more in our look at the web this week

To open their 26th season, Simpson’s creator Matt Groening invited Oscar-nominated independent animator Don Hertzfeldt to tackle their introductory couch sequence, something anyone familiar with The Simpsons knows changes with new each episode. And Hertzfeldt provided something beyond eerie and unsettling, in the most wonderful way possible. The two-minute intro envisions what The Simpsons would look like in its 800th season. It’s a weird, sci-fi …

A People’s History of Coffee

Vitra goes to Africa, the Indienet, a people's history of coffee and more in our look at the web this week

Though many of us enjoy a cup of Joe every morning, the history of coffee is a nebulous one. Few of us know the rich history of how an Ethiopian goat herder stumbled upon what would become one of the world’s most beloved beverages. In Dark Rye’s “People’s History of Coffee,” the full tale is told tongue-in-cheek through storybook graphics and a timeline that even …

Ghostly GIFs

Vitra goes to Africa, the Indienet, a people's history of coffee and more in our look at the web this week

The dead come alive again, thanks to New York-based designer Kevin Weir’s artistic prowess (and hours and hours on Photoshop). Through his project The Flux Machine, he transforms old photos found in the Library of Congress into animated GIFs with a dark twist. These “shortest of stories” have careful pauses for a suspenseful effect—which isn’t commonly found among this medium.