So what have I prepared for you today? First, I’m gonna talk a little about our new website design, and in the next paragraph there will be more talk on the illusion itself. Inpatient ones may simply skip this, and head directly to the next paragraph. As you see, I’ve already implemented some of your logical suggestions. I’ve added the slightly darker background, and made the share buttons stop following you, as you scroll down the page. I’m aware we need a new logo (more professional one), but am simply to occupied to do this. Anyone volunteers to redesign our logo? You may attach your works via images for comments option, and showcase your skills! I still need the idea for our header, though. How can we make it better?

And for the illusion… well, you’ll quickly realize it yourself! It’s definitely not what you first thought. I’ve received this one from Julie, who said she was a little scared when she first saw this, but made her all warm and happy when she understood the illusion. Can you see why is that?

Most of our Windows users have downloaded the free “Optical Illusion of The Day” gadget, which is then positioned in corner of their desktops, and shows new optical illusion each day (or two). I’m proud to say by now we have had more than 390,000 downloads of our gadget, and have almost surpassed famous Dilbert! Rest of you who still haven’t tried this widget, be sure to check it out, and by doing so you’ll greatly help us increase our downloads counter. You can also vote by giving it deserved number of the stars, the ratings system similar to our own. Anyways, those of you still interested, but not preferring Windows operating system, be sure to check what else we have prepared for you here. Concerning the illusion for today, no needed to explain – supposedly coffee kills (still not convinced, though).

So, what have I been up to lately? Not much to be sincere… I’ve added some new illusions to our Facebook group (you can join our group via the badge located in the sidebar), but what has really been occupying me lately is my diploma white paper. I’m writing about Web Analytics, and feel pretty much stuck deciding towards which direction to head next. If you have any material on the subject, or know some experts in this field be sure to drop me a line!

Anyway, not to distract you from our newest illusion, let’s see what Wyatt Crouse sent in the other day. What you see on your right is the cover of Ray Bradbury’s  book The Halloween Tree. If you have trouble seeing the illusion, try squinting your eyes!

I’ve received my brand new iPad 3G from USA today (thx Vernon!), and will try and post more details about my experience with it soon. In short, I never saw any value in all those eReaders and tablets at first. But when I noticed I spend almost 2 hours each night reading books off of my iPhone, I decided it’s time to re-think. Am specially interested whether it’s possible to properly update this site solely using iPad or not. I had the same thoughts when I got my first iPhone, yet it didn’t turn out as I expected. BTW, are there any professional photo editing tools available for iPad? Also, if anyone did the same as I did (imported 3G version from States), please report will I be able to use my local telecommunications provider’s micro SIM card, or is it locked to AT&T exclusively? Not much more to say, as I’m too excited to brainstorm right now, but be sure to join our Facebook group (there is a box for it in the sidebar) for few more illusions we missed showing on this site in the last few days! Also, don’t forget to check those scary illusions below!

Apologizes for skipping Tuesday (illusion wise)! Something technical came up, which asked for immediate attention. No need to go into much detail, but it was an issue I believe had something to do with our bandwidth. Anyway, let me share these two posters to make up for it. When I first saw them, I remember they both managed to trick me. Now that some time has gone, I can’t recall what was their original intention. Dunno, were popcorns only intended to resemble a skull pile, or was it the other way around. Similar goes for the second photo. Be sure to share your opinion. Anyone knows what was this campaign for?

I’m a big fan of Dali, but not because of his classic artworks that can be seen on dorm room posters in college campuses across America. No, what I admire about Salvador Dali was his ability to see things in an entirely different manner from those around him. All of his paintings reflect this brilliance, but none show just how fantastic his mind worked better than those that incorporate anamorphism.

Anamorphic art requires the viewer look at the piece from a specific viewpoint or using a special tool in order to actually see the artwork in its proper display form. By the end of his career, Dali was a master of this skill, creating paintings like the one above that required cylindrical mirrors to see the work in its true form, and by painting spectroscopic images that required 3D glasses to take in the full effect.

His most famous work of this type is the Mae West Room in his Theater Museum that was based on his famous painting, The Face Of Mae West. As you can see in the pictures below, the stage appears to be nothing more special than a lip-shaped sofa with a strange fire place and two paintings. When you step up to the viewing platform and look through the lens though, everything comes together into a bizarre portrait of the legendary actress.

The first two photos are my own, but the final image is courtesy of Flickr user asirap.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love top ten lists. When Vurdlak asked me if i could do one, I was really excited and a little surprised to see that there are only two top-tens on the site already. Well, rest assured that if you like posts like this, I’ll be happy to contribute plenty of them to the site -in fact, if you have any ideas for lists you’d like to see, feel free to leave your ideas in the comments here and if Vurdlak and I both like them, you just might see them in an upcoming post!

As for this first top ten list, I thought tattoos would make a great topic -after all, you have to really love an illusion to get one tattooed on you. This first tattoo is my personal favorite because it’s such a classic illusion subject -multiple meaning one. These work really well as arm  tattoos because you never know if someone will view it while your arm is raised or not, making it the ideal location for such a piece. This specific design was done by David Page. On the left, you have a queen, but when you flip her upside down, you have a king.

Next, the skull illusion tattoo involves one of my favorite types of illusions. What’s so great about skull illusions?  Let’s face it, they’re just so cool! It’s also a great idea for a tattoo since skulls are one of the most classic tattoo designs, but this interpretation brings the concept from cliche to chic.

Here’s another excellent skull illusion tattoo, this one involving two clowns holding hands while drinking. The tattoo, by Kate Hoogland, just might contain the most romantic skull illusion I have ever seen.

On the right, we have a brilliant rendition of M.C. Escher’s Drawing Hands illusion. The piece, done by Cheryl Volling, has some absolutely stunning shading, giving it the life-like appearance of the original Escher drawing.

This ambigram tattoo is great in that it incorporates some of the most important aspects of philosophy into an ambigram. It’s also particularly nice in that it is easy to read and doesn’t look strange from either direction, which is one of the hardest aspects in making an ambigram.

This saint/sinner ambigram is also easy to read, but rather than focusing on the arts and sciences, it focuses on religion. I think it really seems to denote the true duality of man.

Here’s another cool religious optical illusion, albeit in a a totally different style. If you don’t see the illusion, just back up a few more inches and then you’ll see that the image comes together to make the face and beard of Jesus.

On the right is another Escher tattoo, this one is on Flickr user’s alan.maia profile and features fish transforming into birds (and vice-versa) artwork. Maybe it’s just me, but I really love how worried that last fish in the tattoo looks.

We’ve featured a few of Del-Prete’s illusions before, but this impossible object tattooed on Flickr user bonstance and seen in the book Masters of Deception is still new.

Here’s a great tattoo with a double meaning. Is it a face or a cartoonish man playing saxophone?

Bonus: While it’s little anamorphic, this one might not technically be an illusion. Even so, the details are amazing enough to make it looks completely realistic.

Now, before I sign off, I thought I’d ask you guys about your own tattoos. After all, if you’re a regular reader of Moillusions.com, you just might be the type of person who’s willing to get an illusion tattoo. So, do any of you have illusion tattoos? And if you do, do you have any links to the pictures online? I know I’m not the only one who’d love to see them.

Also, I’m a big fan of giving credit where it’s due, so if you know who did any of the tattoos that aren’t labeled, please leave their names in the comments. Thanks guys!

Each time I post another item to our skull illusions section, I pledge myself it was the last time I did so (as they usually work in pretty much the same way). I fear if I over-bomb you with similar illusions you’ll soon grow tired of them, thus stop visiting this monumental website. However, running a decent “Skull Illusions” category wouldn’t be it without including this beautiful series of charcoal drawings by Tom French, an artist who has been greatly inspired by Charles Allan Gilbert’s optical illusion entitled All Is Vanity (1892). I promise,  there will be no more skull illusions for some time now ;D Be sure to check Tom’s homepage for more awesome pencil drawings!

Here are some notes about Tom French:

His works are predominantly figurative. He carefully combines detailed photorealism with strong elements of abstraction and surrealism, focusing on the reflection of the conscious and subconscious mind. French’s work often treads the fine line between the beautiful and unsettling, combining technically tight, classical charcoal drawings with carefree, loose and ostensibly unfinished abstract forms. By fusing the technical with lively abstraction French brings life and movement to his compositions. His work seamlessly merges the use of academic tradition with contemporary urban realism.

Karl Kwasny is an Australian illustrator, currently based in Manhattan, New York. Few days ago one of our readers (thanks Neli!) sent me this illustration Karl made, followed by a poem which can be found immediately after the picture. I tend not to post skull illusions that often, probably cause we’ve seen so many, but occasionally such a nice item appears it would be shame had we left it aside. The illusion it hides is quite easy to see, and the story it holds is for you to imagine!

Deep in the forest, where heavy feet sink,
you mightn’t be quite as alone as you think!

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Poster

Last summer I’ve showed you an early teaser for the upcoming Hollywood Batman sequel, titled “The Dark Knight Rises“. Now that we’re just few months from the movie being released, let me show you another illusory poster I’ve stumbled upon lately. Those of you familiar with the plot will probably see the illusion faster than the rest, but either way it works great.

Am not 100% certain whether this poster is part of the official campaign, or just some cool fan-art homage to the franchise. Still, you should be able to see both the main character and the villain present somewhere in it. I just hope you like it!

Oh, and need I mention that we’re just couple of fans away from our 30,000th Facebook fan? If you like this site, please help us share the buzz. You can contribute by mentioning us to your friends and family, as well as sharing our channel on FB!

When I stumble across skull optical illusions, I’m very picky when deciding which ones deserve to be featured on Mighty Optical Illusions homepage. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that I think the motive is a bit over-exploited, and rarely innovative nowadays. Most of the things that were there to be said about these, I think we already mentioned. Check the #Skulls category to see what I mean.

On the other hand, #Billboard illusions are my favorite type of illusions. When an agency produces a professional poster using a well known illusion motive, there is a great chance the results will be eye-captivating.

Skull motive is just what these agencies had in mind when they were asked to produce captivating campaigns for public service announcements. AIDS, smoking, drug use.. these are just some of the issues for which such posters were crafted.

Check the featured gallery below, and see what I have prepared for you today. Hope you like them all, and hopefully you’ll learn something from them! My personal favorite was the helmet one immediately below.

SUVA – Accident Prevention

Suva, Switzerland’s independent, non-profit company opened its doors as the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund way back in 1918. This add was done for them by Ruf Lanz ad agency. I saw the horrific Scream mask prior to bicycle helmet, which is probably what the agency intended in the first place.

Don’t let accidents end up in a nightmare: Wear a Helmet

AIDS Kills

The poster image plays with a series of paradoxes to capture the viewer’s curiosity and interest. There is a classic sign of danger, the skull, which depicts the perils of the AIDS and HIV virus. The paradox is in the series of nudes positioned to form the image of the skull. The aesthetics of the nude figures draws the attention of the viewer while the skull symbolizes the consequences of unprotected love making. This poster was done by an agency TBWA/Paris, and was inspired by a photograph made by Philippe Halsman in 1951.

Protect Yourself: The Only Way to Stop AIDS Is You

Cocaine Kills

When you see this ad for the first time, your eyes probably automatically see a skull covered in blood first. After studying the image for a bit longer, you realize the “skull” was actually a nose, and that there is a person present in the image as well. By using a skull motive, this ad smartly indicates that the consequence of drug use will be death. By using black as a background, agency achieves the effect of making the poster look dark and evil.

MADD – Stop drunk driving

The mission of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is to stop drunk driving and support the victims of this violent crime. They usually come up with smart looking posters, just like this optical illusion skull ad below.

Saying goodbye once is hard enough

Smoking Kills

Just another skull-ash-motive optical illusion done by an unknown artist. This motive is very popular among public service ads, when smoking issues are brought up.

While we do a lot of skull illusions, few seem as romantic and touching as these three. In fact, Vurdlak already posted one by artist Karl Kwasny, who did the first and last ones in this post. I have to admit, I am attracted to Kwasny’s art for the very same reason Vurdlak is – the clean lines with sweet imagery make them hard to ignore, especially when paired with a spooky poem, like the one accompanying Karl’s Sisters illusion:

You’d better watch your footing
as the ground’s like thickened cream
there’s an awful secret
waiting down beside the stream

This next illusion was done by DeviantArt user MelloLover. While it might not come with a lovely poem like the one above, the artwork itself, adorned with the title Some of Us Change is simply beautiful. Everything about this work seems to invoke a story of dying love and a heartache…

Lastly, another impressive work by Karl Kwasny, even though not having a poem attached to it, is still beautiful and tragic as it shows the two boys kids back to back against a full moon.

Update: Thanks to everyone who pointed out the one on the left is a girl, I should have caught that and didn’t. My apologies for the mistake.

What do you guys think? Do these works make you feel for lost loves and deceased loved ones? Or are they too sugary-sweet and tragic to swallow?

Why is it that romance and death go so well together in art? Perhaps it’s the idea that true love is eternal, which means that even in death the lovers will stay together. Or, maybe it’s because death will eventually conquer any romance, no matter how powerful. Maybe it’s that true love will lead us to do anything for our partner – even dying for them, just like Romeo and Juliet did. Or, perhaps it’s the simple contrast of something so dark with something so beautiful.

Whatever the reason, artist Tom French is a master of mixing the macabre with the saccharine, depicting romance after romance all blended in seamlessly with skull illusions.

While not all of his illusions focus on romance and a few aren’t even skulls, but are, instead, faces, they all manage to stir up emotions from the viewer. Also, they are all wonderful works of art. For proof, just check out this gallery featuring some of his most impressive works of illusion and don’t miss this  earlier post featuring his work as well.

Tom French: Skull Gallery

I think you were right regarding my last post – on a second look, those photos really do seem manipulated. Sorry for overseeing this fact before blogging about it! Still, you have to admit they would make one awesome post if they were for real, agree? But let’s forget this little mistake I made, and move on to see what I have prepared for you today:

Sven Sauer is a German designer responsible for developing illusion-based posters for the horror event titled “Halloween Castle Frankenstein”. In it, 30 000 people try to find their way, and “survive” in a real dark castle.

Before Sven explained this to me, I never knew that Mary Shelly’s Novel was named after this site in Germany! How awesome is that? Anyway, for the last 2 years Sven has been responsible for developing posters, trying to catch “fear” in the best visual way he can.

I think he is very talented from the examples below. What’s your opinion? We’ve already seen many #Skull illusions, trying to show both worlds at once – the real monsters… and your own fear! If you’re having trouble seeing the second part of the deal, try shrinking the images, or see them inside your “Optical Illusion of The Day” widgets!

Even though I can’t remember whether I found this photo myself, or if it was sent to us as another user-submissions, I perfectly remember how amazed I was when I first saw it. As explained earlier, #pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus being perceived as significant. To put it simple, it happens when you see faces or animals in clouds, Jesus imprints on toasts, etc. In general, such “sightings” are usually too vague or subjective for effect to be decent, yet every now and then something of general interest pops-out. Below example is something I couldn’t omit sharing with you guys… Hope you like it as much as I do!

A butterfly perches in the eye socket of a human skull, creating the illusion of an eye. This once in a lifetime photograph made by #Marko Popadic, titled “Oko” (meaning eye in Croatian) shows a perfectly posed butterfly sitting in the eye socket of a human skull. The big spot on the butterfly’s wing creates the impression of an eye, making it appear that the skull is watching you. In art, skulls are a symbol of death and finality, while butterflies are a symbol of birth, change and new beginnings. This photograph shows beautifully the juxtaposition between the two most important elements of nature – life and death. Very artistic, isn’t it?

Wouldn’t want to recycle my old posts, but it seems to me we haven’t properly featured this famous #skull illusion dating back to 1860. It’s called “Blossom and Decay” and was painted by an unknown artist. It depicts a young couple in an ambient, altogether forming a silhouette of a human skull.

Take a look at the picture again – it’s a young couple. Now back to the skull. Now back to the couple.

I’ve read somewhere that scientists may have found the part of the brain that switches between two interpretations of an image. Seems that people who switch faster between two options show differences in their superior parietal lobes. It is beleived the “switching” occurs because our brain re-evaluates what we see, to be sure it doesn’t get stuck on a wrong interpretation.

One of the things I love about optical illusions is the fact that they can always throw you for a loop. You never know what to expect or what you could see. Much like Transformers, they are more than meets the eye. Today, I have an optical illusion that will definitely catch your attention, because there are hidden images within this optical illusion. In other words, there’s more than meets the eyes. This is a popcorn optical illusion and if you were just scrolling by you would probably think it’s nothing more than a bowl full of popcorn, but look much closer and you’ll see the hidden images. Are you ready to check out this popcorn optical illusion? If so, scroll down and check it out!

If you need to, you can click on the image above to see the full version of this optical illusion. Did you spot the little hidden images in the picture? If not, I’m going to go ahead and tell you what you’re missing, so don’t read any further unless you want the answer. Go ahead and take one more last looking to see if you can figure it out real quick.

Didn’t get it? There are hidden skulls in the image above. If you look close, you can see there are some piece of popcorn that looks just like skulls. Do you think this is a natural image of some popcorn or do you think it’s been altered to give off an optical illusion? Leave a comment and let me know! I’d love to hear what you think. Also, if you like this post, you should click on one of the stars below and rate this post, so I know what you think.

The post Popcorn Optical Illusion appeared first on Mighty Optical Illusions.

How’s everyone doing today? It’s Monday, so I have a sneaking suspicion that all of you have probably had some better days. It’s always kind of tough to get back in to the swing of things when the work week starts back up. Either way, I have a new optical illusion that should definitely put you in a better mood. Today, I have a pretty creepy skull optical illusion. As you scroll down and check out the image, you’ll see that a skull has been made up out of VHS tapes. Personally, I think this should have been the logo for the horror film, V/H/S. Also, if you check out a small version of this image, which I’ll also post below, you’ll see that it doesn’t even look like a skull made up of VHS tapes. Instead, it just looks somewhat like a 3D skull image. Scroll down to check out this wild and somewhat spooky optical illusion.

Now, you can’t tell me that the image above isn’t some pretty cool stuff. Also, check out the little thumbnail below the big image. As you can see, like I said above, it doesn’t even look like the skull is comprised of VHS tapes. Instead, it looks like the 3D image of a skull. I hope you enjoyed this optical illusion that I’ve brought you today. If so, you should leave a rating for this post by clicking on one of the star images below. If you want to leave your opinion, you could leave a comment in the comments section below. I go over every single comment posted on the site, so I’ll definitely see it. Thanks and have a good day!

The post VHS Tapes Skull Optical Illusion appeared first on Mighty Optical Illusions.

How’s everyone out there doing today? I hope you’re doing good, because I’m about to scare the crap out of you with today’s new optical illusion. Okay, so probably not, but I at least think it’s a pretty cool illusion and I think all of you will appreciate it. This is another one of those illusions that look completely different when it’s in a smaller resolution, but as the image gets bigger, you can definitely see what the illusion is made up of. Today’s illusion is another skull optical illusion. First off, I’m going to show you the smaller version and then I’ll post the bigger version further down in this post. Are you ready to check it out? If so, you can start scrolling down right now.

As you can see, it looks like skull — right? Well, you can probably see that there’s something a bit different about this skull, but you can’t quite tell. Are you ready to see what this skull is made up of? Go ahead and scroll down for the full size version of this skull optical illusion.

…And there you have it! The skull is made up of a few beautiful women. Would you have guessed this when you were looking at the thumbnail version of the optical illusion? What did you think it was made up of? Leave your comment below in the comments section and let me know! I’d love to hear what you thought. Also, if you like this optical illusion, you can feel free to rate it by clicking on one of the star images below. I love receiving reader feedback, so you certainly shouldn’t be shy about leaving any.

The post Women in a Skull Optical Illusion appeared first on Mighty Optical Illusions.