There is something especially satisfying about seeing an image that makes absolutely no sense at first glance, only to realize just how carefully every strange little detail has been put together. That is very much the territory of German creative Ingo Lindmeier, the mind behind Spiel-Sinn Design, whose surreal animal mashups turn everything from bananas and bell peppers to fruit, tape, and other creatures into wonderfully bizarre new species. We have featured Ingo’s imaginative Photoshop creations on Bored Panda before, including collections of his surreal object combinations and fantastical animals.
This time, however, we wanted to show more than just the finished results. Alongside each completed creature, you will also see several stages from Ingo’s editing process, revealing how separate photographs gradually become one convincing, and usually very peculiar, whole. That behind-the-scenes look feels particularly interesting today, when increasingly sophisticated AI tools can generate unusual imagery in seconds. Ingo’s work instead offers a glimpse at a very hands-on process in Photoshop, where parts of different photographs are carefully selected, reshaped, repositioned, recolored, and blended together. And if the step-by-step images below leave you curious about what happens between each stage, Ingo shares short timelapse versions of his creations on social media. You can also visit his YouTube channel for longer videos that take a closer look at how he builds these unusual creatures from start to finish.
Scroll down to see how Ingo’s latest mashups come together, and let us know in the comments which strange new species you think works best.
