It's amazing yet somewhat creepy at the same time.
Face masks have become one of the year’s most important fashion and health accessories, and people have worn everything from a basic mask or face scarf to some highly creative and innovative ideas. But one woman has taken the creative facemask game to a whole new level with face masks that look like ... a person’s actual face.
Designer Danielle Baskin works and lives in San Francisco and designs products for a living, so when facemasks became a necessary part of life, she got to work on designing some very unique masks. Baskin has come up with a way to print human faces on face masks, including on N95 masks, allowing for facial recognition technology to work—even with a mask on! She took that same technology and has applied it to cloth facemasks, and let us tell you, the results are both amazing and kind of spooky.
Baskin shared her creations on her Twitter feed:
When I go outside I put on my second face. 👃👄 pic.twitter.com/ys5pisuY1A
— Danielle Baskin (@djbaskin) June 12, 2020
Here’s my demo. pic.twitter.com/BIVA0B53NJ
— Danielle Baskin (@djbaskin) June 13, 2020
And the responses from the Twitterverse are hysterical!
Well this is terrifying. I need one immediately - GIVE ME YOUR FACE
— Daniel Tuesday (@tuesday_daniel) June 13, 2020
It's genuinely almost unsettling. A realization of "uncanny" if I've ever seen one. It looks too real. Also, the thought of you being angry and screaming at someone with a huge smile on your face is hysterical to me.
— In a State of Inebriation (@InebriateState) June 18, 2020
M-I pic.twitter.com/Vw5wwLhmnh
— E Muziek (@Emuziek) June 13, 2020
“Underneath my outside face
— Rogue Photo (@amolitor99) June 15, 2020
There's a face that none can see.
A little less smiley,
A little less sure,
But a whole lot more like me.”
- Shel Silvertstein
what if you get mad at someone while wearing the mask and need to scowl instead of smile?
— Venkatesh Rao (@vgr) June 13, 2020
For the masks, Baskin takes uploaded images of faces then uses computational mapping to print the faces on the masks without distortion. The dyes used are non-toxic and do not affect breathability. Baskin admits the concept started as a bit of a joke but has become a full-fledged reality as the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The best news is that you can get your hands on one yourself. There is a waitlist, though, but you can sign up at maskalike.com. Currently, the site is sold out of Baskin’s popular "Hide the Pain Harold" masks, which sports the face of the guy from the popular meme.
I made a Hide The Pain Harold face mask. pic.twitter.com/Q1E4qU4X9m
— Danielle Baskin (@djbaskin) May 1, 2020
Baskin describes her work as a blend of humor and practical—these masks are exactly that, and more!
To make sure nobody shares a photo of you, put a GettyImages® watermark on your face mask. pic.twitter.com/zSCkyic3LV
— Danielle Baskin (@djbaskin) June 14, 2020
This is one amazing and pretty creative way to get away from a boring or plain mask and is a surefire way to get people talking.
Baskin is also the creator of Dialup, a voice-based social network, and created the company Branded Fruit, the first company to print logos on clementine oranges and avocados.
