A co-worker sent out a link to The Eco Zoo, created by McCann Erickson Japan. Not exactly sure what it is, but it’s seriously cool.

A 3D environment where you interact with characters on different sections of what looks like the giant beanstalk (minus Jack). You can move around in the environment and click on the characters, which launch Pop-Up books that you can also move around (pretty cool when you spin them around to see the backs with their multi-faceted and layered views. I like that you can see the supports for the characters or the “backdrops” for the “stages.” Kids will eat this alive. Good stuff!

Maxim Zhestkov is a 22 year-old motion designer based in Russia, Ulyanovsk. His work has a detached, cosmic quality to it. The use of black and white gives it an ethereal art appeal that might not be present in a color version. Apparently, he also does toy design and packaging work as well.

It’s always good to get a jolt on some new work that sets your senses spinning. Bookmarked this awhile back, but it came up in a del.icio.us crawl and I got a fresh take on it tonight. Mr. Doob is a site from an anonymous wizard behind the scenes at Hi-Res who shares some joy in the form of Flash experiments.

Check out the particularly stunning pieces Bump, Depth of Field tests, Fake Materials Wierd, and try not to get dizzy in the full-screen version of Panorama Animated. And he also keeps a running blog, loaded with his “experimentizing” notes.