This image is the result of spontaneous arrangement of polymer-covered spherical nanoparticles (i.e. ostensibly isotropic materials) into anisotropic sheets and rods upon adding bridging polymers to connect the nanoparticles. We took this image to understand how polymer-covered spherical nanoparticles assemble once bridging polymers were added to connect the nanoparticles. This image proves that we can engineer spherical nanoparticles to arrange in these remarkably anisotropic sheet/rod like structures, which in turn can be used as motifs to design hydrogels with anisotropic building blocks for use in biomedical and structural applications.