Over the next week or two, I will include some of my favorite designers from ID Magazine’s “ID 40″ list of top designers of 2006. It’s a pretty amazing list, so I urge you to pick up a copy of this magazine.

Nel is a Mexican design collective started in 2005 with a focus on exploring material applications in new ways. My favorite work expressing their ability to transform a seemingly un-artistic material is the exhibit for Galería Mexicana de Diseño. The idea was to create a very temporary landscape that explored silhouettes. The material is Styrofoam cut with a hot wire. The outcome is pretty spectacular, especially some of the Styrofoam birds that require a very steady hand to make.