OK, as promised, I’m very proud to present an exclusive Sci-Fi-O-Rama feature, this time with Swedish Design and Illustration superstar Kilian Eng. Here we have a total tour de force of the imagination, gloriously twisted, washed in 80′s technicolor and blending only the very finest Sci-Fi and Fantasy references…

I’m quite sure you’ll be familiar with Kilian’s work, he’s built a considerable following since first proliferating through the major design/illustration blogs. Interestingly it was in fact Dan McPharlin that first put me onto Kilian with a post over at But Does it Float, and I’d put these two in the same bracket, pretty much the finest contemporary Science Fiction Illustrators on the planet. Another totally enviable fact is just how prolific Kilian is, check his primary portfolio site at behance.net/KilianEng for a vast array of interstellar work, amassed in just a few years.

So then, in the tradition of the Sci-Fi-O-Rama interview I have set the post up as follows, firstly a selection of Kilian’s work with my notes, then the interview we traded via email, before finishing on a selection of links and further reading. Lets start then with the notes:

Above: This wonderfully surrealistic illustration typifies Kilian’s portfolio, it’s a truly beautiful style that obviously pays homage to French masters such as Moebius and Enki Bilal. For me what really sets this work apart from others is just how hardcore the imaginative elements are – totally out there – a fusion of the surreal, the psychedelic and the technological, re-birthed with just the slickest style. The fact that the above image could easily work as a fashion illustration serves to underline that.

Above: This example highlights several of Kilian’s clever design traits. Firstly we have a lovingly balanced colour palette, subtly and carefully diffused to give a sense of depth. Next up, edginess – this work is the Sci-Fi definition of it – often tinged with darkness as above, but brought back with a wry sense of humour with nods to the 80′s cartoons that thrilled a generation. Ultimately though, the defining ingredient is the otherworldly factor, totally unforced, it’s the product of a powerful, wandering mind.

Above: Love this! A more graphical element is deployed here in one of the most striking examples from Kilian’s portfolio, thus one of my absolute faves.

Above: A follow up to the prior Illustration, indeed this is actually part of a set of four, check the other two here: behance.net/gallery/Various-work-05/1134721 …what to say, wonderful stuff!

Above: This frenzied, sinister illustration shows Kilian at his most detailed and linear, note the carefully selected tones, only 5 or so colours to define the background – cloud or cave?  – there is something of a feel of Fighting Fantasy’s Russ Nicholson here.

Above: We move once more onto the surreal tip here, this fabulous, dreamlike image forms part of a small series called ‘The Statue’ check the rest here: http://bit.ly/vFW9Ae

Above: This image is just one of many, fantastical environments Kilian is able to – seemingly – effortlessly create.

Above: In addition to his linear drawing and the graphical facets, Kilian also is capable of working in this quintessentially 80′s ‘Robo’ mode – note the much heavier diffusing and neon glows. It’s a style that looks almost effortless (though trust me it isn’t!) and again mixing in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy creates something truly haunting.

Above: Another rendering in the aforementioned ‘Robo’ mode. As usual it’s mind bending stuff, suffice to say it’s another personal fave, would love to see this entity in motion.

So that brings to a close my small selection (bonus after the interview). As I alluded to earlier I’ve barely scratched the surface so if it’s more imagery you seek, head directly to behance.net/KilianEng

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INTERVIEW

Hi Kilian, tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a 29 year old illustrator and live in Stockholm/Sweden. My commercial work as an illustrator began around 4 years ago when I started to do record covers for bands in the electronic music scene. However I had been drawing on my own stories long before and exploring different sides in my work. My education was at Konstfack, University of Arts Craft & Design in Stockholm at the graphic Design & Illustration department which is also called storytelling at Master’s level. From there I graduated in 2010 with an animated short film and I have continued to work on this afterwards so its soon to be completed.

You have a very distinctive style, how would you best describe your work?
Well its perhaps easier for others to put a label on it but I would say something like “often rich in colour with a surreal sci-fi approach with alot of focus on environments and architecture”. Perhaps not exactly what I would say if someone asked me on the street, but I hope it explains something of what I do.

Your portfolio oozes Sci-Fi and Fantasy references, but is there a visual style/genre you identify with more than others? (ie Cyberpunk, Post Apocalyptic, Surrealist?)
I would say that all those themes visit my work from time to time. Its always hard and certainly not necessary to sort out exactly what takes place in the pictures but I would say that a rather surrealistic approach often comes back, both in motive and the way that some work is being created. Surrealism is of course a huge area with limitless approach, but for me some of the best moments in the work process is when the subconscious is allowed to take part. It doesn’t happen too often but from time to time things just go almost by themselves and you can create like 5 pieces without thinking or analysing the process. Afterwards you start to put in the meaning and you try to understand what it is you have in front of you. At that point you can start to see explanations and the meaning or at least hopefully something that can be interesting to look at. When I do commissioned work I plan it much more and think about what kind of themes/genre I want to include, there you have to respect and be aware of the expectations from others on the outcome.

Do you work straight to screen (via Wacom) or does part of your workflow still involve pen and paper?
At the moment almost all of my work is drawn with the Wacom board, some exceptions are black and white outline illustrations that i scan and the color in the computer. Then I draw a lot of rough ideas in the sketchbook offcourse.

And following on from that, which part of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
I love to create shapes and plan the composition and space in images so I would say to build the environment where everything takes place. If you look at a lot of my work your can see that many times it puts focus on the room, often the surroundings are dominating the image and the character’s just passing trough or standing there without really doing anything, just taking in whats around them.

What are you working on at the moment? anything exciting coming up?
I’m just finishing a commission as concept designer for a sci-fi short film, the details around this project is still top secret but I have a very good feeling about the whole thing.  Other than that I’m doing some cover artwork and trying to develop and improve my work with animation. Then there wil be a little book with my work in preparation. It will hopefully be available in december this year. (Sci-Fi-O-Rama says, more on this soon!)

**A couple Sci-Fi-O-Rama generic question’s

What’s the best piece of Sci-Fi related material you’ve come across and been impressed by recently (book, film, artist)
As many others I’m really into H.P Lovecraft and just found out that in the 80′s a great Swedish Actor called Ernst Hugo Järegård read Lovecraft stories to tape and they are available as audiobooks. So far I have just been listening to a short preview of the reading but it sounds fantastic. What makes this so great is that I can’t think of any other actor here in Sweden who would fit better to read Lovecraft for an audience. This is of course very local as its only in my native language but it made me very happy to find out about!

Finally a follow on to the last question, any classic Sci-Fi material (book, film, artist) you could recommend think reader’s might not know of or have overlooked?
Some time ago i watched two short movies by Saul Bass and Elaine Bass called Phase IV and Quest, amazing and visually very strong films.

Many thanks Kilian!

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Final Notes:

Before we finish up here’s a essential follow up links, Kilian’s portfolio site behance.net/KilianEng his Tumblr: http://dwdesign.tumblr.com/ and a link here to his Facebook Page.

Finally Kilian has very kindly took his own visual spin to our Sci-Fi-O-Rama logo! here it is, with the artist at work!

More from Kilian soon…

It’s been a couple of months since my last article so time to unplug the cryogenics, thaw out and get writing. A few special features lined up this month, including an exclusive interview with a certain Swedish Sci-Fi Illustrator, but to start with here’s a close up on the super slick work of Peruvian Designer and Illustrator Gianmarco Magnani, better known by his monicker Silence Television.

Before compiling this post I did attempt to get in touch with Gianmarco to help contextualize this article and get an insight into his inspired, idiosyncratic approach, also no response as of yet, but hopefully we can hook something up in the future. in the mean time here’s a run down on this stunning artwork with my thoughts.

Above: Browse Gianmarco’s portfolio (www.silencetv.com) and you’ll notice several recurring themes; glamorous biker chicks, rock paraphernalia, deconstructed retro motor vehicles and bikes. What really stands the style apart is not just the ultra tight rendering, or the faultless craftsmanship but a real meticulous eye for detail that binds beautifully – a rare pedigree that almost looks effortless. This image shows up all those traits, and with such confidence, one could get lost just studying her enveloping tattoo.

Above: This one uses several graphic tricks, notably rendering in negative for extra graphical punch. Also note that, not only has Gianmarco perfectly fashioned the splintering guitar, he’s also adorned it with a balanced selection of logotypes, nods of course to his influence and driving inspirations…

Above: This one is pure class, the perfect poise and composition, again great attention paid to the details such as the subtle texture on the skirt and it’s geometric hem. Also really like the ruffled sleeves, emphasizing the girl’s model-type svelteness.

Above: A definite feel of Katsuhiro Otomo here, and probably the most Sci-fi orientated material of this post (like that matters!). Worth noting that Otomo is another bike fan, there must be a shared connection between these two!

Above: Another superior detailed composition with a subtle but effective overlayed gradient, again you get a feeling a real sense of gleeful joy is harnessed when Gianmarco applies his finishing touches, perhaps here seen with the retro Vavoline and Texaco stickers.

Above: We finish up here with one final bike rendering – this one in negative profile – A lovely balance of hard graphics, and technical Illustration. Superb stuff!

Further Reading: Head straight to http://silencetv.com for the full portfolio. There’s also a chance to buy prints here: http://society6.com/silencetv/prints and depending on how au fait your Spanish is you might also want to check out the Silence Televsion blog http://silencetv.com/blog/ remember Google Chrome will has a translation option. Finally is you want to show some Facebook love, go to http://www.facebook.com/SilenceTV

*Edit November 15 2001* Happy to say that Gianmarco has been back in touch, so hopefully we’ll run a interview soon.

Once again apologies for the long delay between posting, and responding to email. I’ve finally freed up some time and space to start posting again, so lets jump right then…

Above sits a wonderful cross section of art, illustration and design, not the work of an agency, collective or duo but in fact products of just one individual, Sydney based artist and designer Johnathan Zawada. I first came across Jonathan’s work whilst perusing the phenomenal inspiration repository that is butdoesitfloat.com (macro mode). As you will know the quality of the curation there is exceedingly high, each feature generally astonishing, however I was particularly drawn to the spectacular, otherworldly iridescence of Jonathan’s ‘Over Time’ series. This lead me back to his home site Exhibition and Commercial portfolios, where I researched and selected samples for presentation here.

Top & 2nd top: ‘Notes n Tokes’ and ‘Populations’. An exhibition of large scale drawings and oil paintings at Prism Gallery, Los Angeles from December 16, 2010 – February 28, 2011. The landscape topographies were derived from graph data (displayed as printed mirrors on accompanying plinths), modeled in 3D and then oil paintings created from those 3D renders. To see more check: http://zawada.com.au/2010/12/over-time/

3rd top: From Johnathan’s commercial portfolio a cover illustration on the the theme of ‘purple’ for Japanese creative magazine Brain.

4th top ‘Vallery 2011′ a photograph of part of Jonathan’s ‘Free Dumb’ exhibition, more on that here: http://zawada.com.au/2011/05/free-dumb/. I think the twisted jet is an F16 Falcon by the way…

5th top: A poster design to celebrate the premiere of Jean-Baptiste de Laubier’s film ‘It Was On Earth That I Knew Joy’, a 35 min science fiction film. Watch it on vimeo http://vimeo.com/9183277

6th top: An optical illusion rendered in a retro-tech fashion. Another inspired design, this time for the French clothing label Six Pack http://www.sixpack.fr/

Bottom: Signing off with this cheeky Disney adaption ‘Gunboat Willy’ an Identity design for a mens’ shoe label. Love it!

For further reading, if you haven’t already do visit Johnathan’s home site http://zawada.com.au or follow him through Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanzawada/.

Time once again to electroshock Sci-Fi-O-Rama from it’s semi-dormant state, here with a selection of work from the late Scottish sculptor and artist Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005).

Paolozzi has always been a favourite of mine, particularly his beautifully composed, ultra-vibrant graphic screenprints. This post was sparked when I recently picked up a copy of “Paolozzi” a 1999 paperback publication that gives a chronological overview of Eduardo’s work. Here is the back page synopsis, note that I’ve embellished this slightly, altering present to past tense.

Eduardo Paolozzi (of Italian descent) was one of the major figures of postwar British art: A father of Pop Art a creator of key icons of the nuclear age, a brilliant manipulator of the images produced by the media, an iconoclast and traditionalist, an outsider and academican.

Onto the notes, I’ll keep it simple and won’t attempt a heavy analysis. If you would like to read more about Paolozzi, his methods, motivations and technique then the best place to start is his in-depth wikipedia page. One (patronising!) point I will make is when viewing, remember that all of these images hail from the 60′s or 70′s, long before the age of Photoshop. An obvious point for sure, but for me something that underlines just how sophisticated and forward leaning this work was at the time.

Top: “Hollywood Wax Museum from Zero Energy Experimental Pile (Z.E.E.P)” 1969-70 Screenprint on paper. We kick off here with a real trademark pieces, and I’m actually referring to the title not just the artwork, every bit as out there! A real diverse mix of elements features here, Sputnik, attitude indicators, giant Mecha robots, Marylin Monroe and the uneasy focal point of a NASA space monkey (Sam?).

2nd top:“B.A.S.H”1971 Screenprinted on paper. A flat colour, more geometric offering, this one gives clues as to Paolozzi’s background in surrealism.

3rd top: “Silken World of Michelangelo from Moonstrips Empire News” 1967 Screenprint on paper. Another great example of the way that Poalozzi used repeated patterns, to layer up composistions, at no point here does the eye rest easily. Also of note; the deconstructed Disney image worked down to mosiac form, something that appears in other screenprints.

4th top:“Print from Mein Kolner Dom: Blueprints for a New Museum” 1980-81lithograph and screenprint. Another playful and innovative composition; a giant blue bottle, Skylab (remember that?), Albert Einstein, jet packs and more, all playfully juxtaposed over the inners of a grand gothic cathedral.

5th top: “Part One, Frozen Terror… Part Two, Fangs of Death”1965 screenprint. This piece and the subsequent lower two are taken from http://www.paolozziprints.comand are available to buy, signed by the artist with the edition number. Another fab title, this mixes familiar pattern geometrics with pin girls and a strange alien type crusader creature, printed with a typically vivid contrasting colour palette.

6th top: “Cover for a Journal” Screenprint. This more abstract piece features a slick example of overprinting.

7th top: “Why children commit suicide…read next month’s issue” Signed and numbered photolithograph 1965-70. Another crazy title!

8th top: A photo of the artist, taken at a Hamburg ship breakers yard in 1961.

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Images taken from paolozziprints.com scanned from Paolozzi (Fiona Pearson 1999) http://amzn.to/mwl61i

Another slight delay on Sci-Fi-O-Rama updates, I was going to run this post to coincide with aprils royal wedding, no real reason other than the pomp and circumstance of that day was nicely mirrored by the splender of the four examples of pre-Bolshevik uniforms featured above. Didn’t quite happen in time, so here it is 2 and a bit weeks late…

So then, what connects this selection of Imperialist Russian Military dress to George Lucas’s original Star Wars and Ridley Scott’s Alien? Well thats actually a slight trick question as the answer is not what but who, Oscar winning British costume designer and author John Mollo.

I first became aware of and interested in John Mollo’s work several years back when, in order to satisfy nerd curiosity I purchased several ‘official’ embodied patches from that were worn by the various Nostromo crew members in Alien. Ordered via ebay they arrived with an unexpected bonus, an 8 sided, folding A4 pamphlet detailing (amongst other production notes) Mollo’s original sketches and design thoughts, such as where inspiration was drawn from. The pamphlet also makes reference to ‘Military Fashion’ a book written by Mollo described as a “definitive work”, I added this too my Amazon wish list and finally made the effort to pick up a copy earlier this year. It’s with that book that I start this post, but before diving into the detail here’s a little more information on Mollo himself.

John Mollo’s path to becoming a double academy award winning costume designer (Starwars 1978, Ghandi 1983) was born out of a devoted love of European and American military uniforms, something he’d developed from a young age and a passion that lead him to become and avid collector, author and subsequent authority on the subject. His first work within the movie industry occurred 1966 when he was recruited to act as a military advisor on the Crimean war epic ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’. Later he would work with Stanley Kubrick on his cult 1975 period drama “Barry Lyndon’ before linking up with George Lucas, Ralph Mcquarrie and crew as the costume designer for Starwars IV “A New Hope” creating probably the the most iconic and recognisable Sci-Fi garb ever…

Here’s a breakdown on the selected imagery, I realise the post jumps about a tad as first we have actual historical dress and then it’s re-imagining. The key thing in trying to compare the two is too really study the detail, every tiny nuance means something.

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Top Image: (Military Fashion) Russia, Officer’s ‘Attila’, Life Guard Hussar Regiment, His Majesty’s 1881-94. Mollo Collection.

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2nd Top: (Military Fashion) Russia, Officer’s khaki service dress jacket and ‘Sam Browne’ belt. Guard and line infantry regiments, 1908-17. Mollo Collection.

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3rd Top: (Military Fashion) Russia, Officers tunic or ‘mundir’, Artillery of the Guard, 1908-14. Mollo Collection.

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4th Top: (Military Fashion) Russia, Officers cuirass and helmet, Life Guard Horse Guard Regiment, c. 1860. A similar pattern was in use from 1846-1914. Mollo Collection.

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5th Top: (Starwars) Character ‘Grand Moff Tarkin’ played by Peter Cushing. I know this image is a little small but pose really sets up a specific comparison to the Officer’s khaki service jacket (2nd top). Very similar in terms of cut, though the green is a lot more washed out and drab.

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6th Top: (Starwars) Characters ‘Grand Moff Tarkin’ and ‘Commander #1′ more Peter Cushing this time with another Brit baddie, Leslie Schofield, image via imdb.com.

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7th Top: (Empire Strikes Back) View from the bridge of the AT-AT, note the detailing on the drivers helmets, essentially these were just modified Tie Fighter pilot helmets from the original film sprayed snow grey. Image via the amazing starwarshelmets.com more on that site in a moment…

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8th Top: (Starwars) A great movie still of everyones favourite slightly overweight and doomed X-Wing pilot ‘Red Six’, played by the late William Hootkins, image once again via imdb.com. John Mollo used a US APH-6B Helmet as the base on which to create the rebel helmets, love the graphical language of the helmets symbols, which leads me on to…

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9th Top (Alien) Pin lapel details from a set available to buy on ebay, I should actually point out that I think these might of been created by another Alien production designer – Ron Cobb. These pins were are seen in the movie either worn on the collar or jacket breast, and in the case of Dallas even glued onto a belt buckle. From clockwise and top left we have “Navigation Officer” as worn by Lambert, top left “Science Officer” as warn by Ash, Bottom Right is “Engineering” as is warn by Parker and Brett and finally bottom left indicates “Executive Officer” and is warn by Ripley, Dallas and Kane.

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10th/11th Top (Alien) The Nostromo main patch is warn by all the crew members at all times, visible on jackets and t-shirts on the shoulder and on Brett’s cap. The design (definitely by Mollo) is based upon military uniform buttons from the French Restoration Period, see the sketch below. The patch carries the ships name and serial number

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12th Top(Alien) A sketch for the Weyland Yutani logo, the infamous Anglo-Japanese corporation who crop up again in the subsequent sequels and (awful) spin offs. Note that the Weyland Yutani logo in Alien (a simple egyptian wing) is completely different to the one that features prominently in 1986 sequal Aliens.

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Bottom (Alien) Sketches produced by Mollo or Cobb on a draft of the original script.

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That pretty much wraps it all up, but before I finish I’ll point one amazingly useful resource for further reading. Starwars fans you definitely need to check out this site, it’s just superb http://www.starwarshelmets.com and there’s actually an interview with Mollo on there too http://www.starwarshelmets.com/john-mollo-interview.htm

Here’s a continuation of one of the more popular features I ran last year ‘The Art of the Arcade Marque‘ with a further selection of 12 primary coloured beauties. First of all a quick refresh on what an Arcade Marquee actually is, basically it’s the flat, often illuminated panel at the top of an Arcade Cabinet. The above examples date from the late 70′s through to the early 90′s, essentially this was the golden age of Arcade / Coin-op games, this era faded quickly as the power and playability of Home Console/PC gaming began to catch up and supersede the majority of the arcade experience. When you think back even the full on 3D Games of the Mid 90′s such as Sega Rally or Ridge Racer are now well into their respective teens, an eon in terms graphics and processing technology.

Fast forward to 2011 and the ‘Age of the App Icon’. With potentially 100′s of games on just your phone alone the concept of giant power hungry cabinet capable of playing just one game over and over seems pretty antiquated, leaving most cabinets to exist today as retro curiosities, often long forgotten. But though the bright neon days of the 80′s may have dimmed, retro culture plus legions of devoted fans and collectors empower that the magic still lives on. As a total ex-arcade nerd myself I’m doing my bit here to bring a bit of past graphical wizardry back to the fore.

Right then, before I start with the run down of each of the featured examples I’ll just point out a couple of valuable resources and where I’ve actually collected the artwork from. First up is KLOV or ‘Killer List Of Video Games’ essentially this is Wikipedia for Coin-Op’s, it’s amazing. Secondly I’ve also heavily referenced Emdkay.net who specialise in ‘Authentic & Reproduction Arcade Artwork, Arcade & Mame Marquees, and Home Arcade Bartop Cabinets’. If your after purchasing any of this artwork then Emdkay might be the best place to start.

Here’s the notes on the images, from top to bottom.

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Space Odyssey (Sega/Gremlin) 1981.
An early vertical Shoot-Em’-Up that looks like it alternates and also plays horizontally, for the time probably something of a novelty. KLOV ranks is it as scare, and I confess that I’ve never heard nor seen it… The monochrome red marquee with it’s spindly space ship and black hole is fab though, so It gets a special mention here!

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9675

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Space Invaders (Taito / Bally-Midway) 1978.
From a rarity to the game the started it all, Tomihiro Nishikado’s Space Invaders caused a temporary shortage of 100-yen coins upon it’s release in Japan and Guiness World Records still ranks it as the top arcade game ever. This marquee, from the US Bally Midway version will surely jog you memory as to what the cabinet looks like, I’ve never been too sure where exactly the Yeti type alien appears exactly in the actual game but as it’s earned Taito over $500 million dollars in the last 32 years or so, it’s hardly my place to be picking holes!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders

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Super Qix (Taito) 1987
A fairly common fantasy themed puzzle game from 1987, not one I’ve seen myself but the graphic is certainly striking and slots in here’s nicely next to the other dragon themed marquees.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9933

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King of Dragons (Capcom) 1991
This scrolling swords &s ocery beat-em-up is one I do remember playing, basically a more sophisticated Golden Axe type game which supported up to 3 players. Another lovely graphic, reminiscent of Gauntlet but sadly missing a scantily clad, amazonian type warrior babe.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8313

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Castle of Dragon (Seta) 1989.
A side scrolling platform fighter, this is another one I’d not heard of till researching this post, and judging by the scarcity rating on KLOV, It’s not just me that missed it. In truth it looks pretty average, and I wonder if it even made it’s way to distant British Shores. Marquee’s cool though.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7292

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Bubble Bobble (Taito) 1986
Another massive Taito classic that was ported across the board to pretty much all systems of the time. Bub & Bob (as featured here) are actually twin ‘Bubble Dragons’ there in game mission; to save there girlfriends from monsters… Is it me or does that sound somewhat familiar?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_Bobble

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Outrun (Sega) 1986
Whilst 1986 saw the release of the immensely playable Bubble Bobble amongst others, nothing made jaws drop like Outrun, an Audio/Visual feast delivered with the help of pioneering sprite scaling technology that gives a real sense of speed. Despite now being 25 years old IMHO even today it’s a driving game that still looks and plays fantastic. Quick note on the marquee itself, whilst it’s obviously an instantly recognizable classic, but I’m wondering, is the perspective ever so slightly out? the truck looks a little too elongated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_Run

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Galaxy Force (Sega) 1988.
Another Sega game to employ Outrun’s sprite scaling technology was Galaxy Force, a pseudo 3d space shoot-em-up very similar to Afterburner, though far less common. This is one that used to fascinate me, not because of amazing playability (in retrospect it was more of a tech demo) but rather just because of the sheer size of the moving cabinet! have a look over at at KLOV…

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7891

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Warp Warp (Rock-Ola Mfg Corp) 1981
One more game I was completely unfamiliar with till composing this article, Warp Warp looks as if it plays as a hybrid of the more popular game types of it’s time, though since I don’t have Mame installed I can’t confirm. The marquee is interesting in that it kinda reminds me of the work of Ian Anderson’s Designer’s Republic though it predates there formation by at least 5 years, still I wonder if Ian ever saw this?

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10407

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Nemesis (Konami) 1985
Nemesis was an immensly playable side scrolling shoot-em-up which featured (for it’s time) a revolutionairy weapon’s power up system, again as with Outrun it’s something that still plays great today. A further note on something that’s always slightly confused me, the game is better known ‘Gradius’ not quite sure why the name swap happened for different regions, anyone know why?

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8842

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Life Force (Konami) 1986
More name swapping trickery here from Konami, Life Force is also known as Salamader it’s an indirect sequal to Gradius/Nemesis apperently set in ‘the same universe’. The game features one of those great lost in translation arcade moments, the second playable craft is known as “Lord British” but due to ambiguity of Japanese-to-English romanization is often referred to as “Road British”.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8427

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Splatterhouse (Namco) 1988
Though predating by approximately 8 years ‘Splatterhourse’ is undoubtedly a spiritual precursor to the Resident Evil series, It’s a horror themed linear side scrolling beat-em-up featuring some fairly gory graphics and somewhat questionable content. When ported to home consoles the game featured a ‘parental advisory warning’ on the box art. The marque itself is rendered in a classic B-Movie esque style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splatterhouse

Here’s my 3rd Spotify playlist and this time I thought I’d go for something of a theme, that being “Alternate 80′s”. Therefore then all tracks I’ve featured hark from that era. Ok so maybe there not all alternate, and actually one isn’t from the 80′s at all (although in spirit is) but once again there all pretty much synth driven.So a couple of notes on this selection:

We kick off with an obscure Eurythmics B-Side from 1982 before moving into several familiar cuts from some of the UK’s seminal acts of the time. Then moving uptempo swoop into a more club oritentated angle with offerings from Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks) & Depeche Mode before swerving southbound into Italo Disco mode with Aeroplane’s ( They’re better than Daft Punk) recent remix of Sebastian Tellier and then Peter Richards “Walking in the Neon”. The last segment moves to electro-pop with Tim Simenon’s Bomb The Bass Project, followed by some early Moroder-esque-euro-disco from Belgium. The selection ends with, for me, one of the greatest pieces of electronic music ever produced, the totally timeless and therefore completely amazing “Dead Eyes Opened” composed by Aussie industrialists and synth pioneers, Severed Heads.

Here’s the full tracklist:

1. Eurythmics – Monkey Monkey (1982)
2. Talk Talk – Such a Shame (1984)
3. Brian Ferry – Don’t stop the Dance (Special 12″ Mix -1985*)
4. Japan – Quite Life (1979/1980)
5. Sharpe & Numan – Change Your Mind (1984)
6. Pete Shelley – I don’t know what it is (1981)
7. Depeche Mode – Get the Balance Right (Combination Mix – 1983)
8. Sébastien Tellier – Kilometer (Aeroplane “Italo 84″ Remix – 2009)
9. Peter Richard – Walking in the Neon (Dub Version – 1986)
10. Bomb the Bass – Don’t Make Me Wait (7″ Mix – 1988)
11: Sue Ann – My Baby My (1981)
12: Severed Heads – Dead Eyes Opened (1984)

Here then is the link for the playlist: http://bit.ly/h9rZFX hope you enjoy!

*Note that you must have the Spotify App installed, and of course be signed up to the premium service to dodge the Adverts. Artwork once again – as is custom – from Eric Carl’s fabulous Flickr Photostream: http://bit.ly/e18NTx

*Quick note on “Don’t stop the Dance” – John Daly (fave producer of mine) has done an excellent re-edit that’s not too hard to find …

Here’s an expansion on something I tweeted last week, apologies to those who’ve already seen this set. If you didn’t see the thread and in particular are a Starwars fan, then your in for a bit of treat!

Now then, here’s a selection of three posters lifted from a larger crop over at a www.chelloveck.sfblogs.net. Chelloveck is an Hungarian Sci-Fi website, so if your a backward monolingual speaker like me and/or your Hungarian’s somewhat limited then try viewing the site in Chrome, as it’ll attempt auto-translation for you. Before I start with some ramblings on my selection be sure to check out the full post over at Chelloveck http://bit.ly/gfN5fz. Onto the notes:

Top: “Guerre Stellari” – This is a rendering for the Italian market, as with the others presumably used to promote the cinema release of the film. A slick, pretty camp graphic style that wouldn’t look out of place splashed over a pinball table or retro arcade machine. Art by Michelangelo Papuzza.

Middle: Moving on from the light ‘disco-esque’ Italian offering we have this slightly freaky example from Hungary. This is actually part of a set of three, check the other two here: http://bit.ly/eORlW2 I don’t remember the winged lizards either, but love the style. Artist responsible is Tibor Helényi (thanks Chelloveck).

Bottom: The final part of my selection hails from Poland, a real design gem this one with a wonderful diffused look, similar in vain to this Roman Cieslewicz piece I posted back in 2008. This piece dates from 1983 and is the work of Miroslaw Lakomski, see more of his work, and other far out design here: http://www.eatbrie.com/Polish.htm no one does Movie posters quite like the Poles – superb!

Here’s a special feature I had planned to run before my break, but managed to trash a bunch of email and thus the interview! all I can say is an extremely big thumbs up for Jobs and krew for OSX’s Time Machine – without doubt it’s greatest asset…

So then for this piece I’ve grabbed just a taster selection from the Mondo back catalog, I’ll add some notes on those in a moment, then run the Q&A kindly supplied by Mondo’s creative director Justin Ishmael. First up though here’s some background information….

Mondo is the collectible art boutique of the Alamo Drafthouse. If you’re not familiar with the theater, it’s a world-renowned cinema eatery and has been named the “best theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly. The Alamo Drafthouse is based in Austin, TX and there are currently 10 theaters in Texas and Virginia, with plans to expand nationwide. The Alamo Drafthouse derives its reputation from it’s incredible programming. Mondo creates the poster artwork for special Alamo Drafthouse events (see the examples from the nationwide Rolling Roadshow tour, a yearly event where Alamo Drafthouse goes on the road to show famous movies in famous places — http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/events/rollingroadshow/). And in addition to creating posters for Alamo Drafthouse screenings/events, Mondo also has acquired licenses for properties like Star Wars, Star Trek and Universal Monsters. They work with artists across the world to create original works of art that are screen printed, hand numbered and limited to small quantities for collectors.

See more (and buy) at www.mondotees.com or for all the latest news check their excellent, regularly updated blog.mondotees.com

Some quick notes then on the featured posters here; 3 of the greatest Sci-Fi Movies ever made and one the strangest (no prizes for guessing which that is!).

Top: “The Empire Strikes Back” 1980, Directed by Irvin Kershner. Without doubt the greatest of the Starwars Trilogy, absolutely love this interpretation by Tyler Stout so cool it actually includes Boba Fett not once but three times, superb!.

2nd top: “The Holy Mountain”. This beautifully rendered screen print by Florian Bertmer perfectly captures (or suggests) the tone of this  nightmarish, psychedelic extravaganza, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1973.

3rd top: “The Thing” By John Carpenter 1982. More astonishing artwork from Tyler Stout this time for perhaps my favourite ever Sci-Fi Movie, well it’s this or Aliens. Love the composition here, featuring every member of the films all male cast, would absolutley love a copy of this, but alas, it’s long since sold out!

Bottom: “Alien” an extremely sinister interpretation of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece, this poster lovingly crafted by Australian Ken Taylor, also available in glow in the dark inks!

** Interview **

Q: How longs Mondo been going and when/How did you get involved?

We’ve been going for about 5 years or so. I took over at the beginning of 2009. There are three of us that run the company creatively. Myself, Rob Jones and Mitch Putnam. We all come from different backgrounds so it really helps with deciding what projects we take, what artists we get, etc.

• What’s your day to day role with Mondo involve?

My day to day is pretty time consuming. I am technically the creative director, but I run the backend and all of the social networking stuff, number all of the posters, negotiate all of the deals, talk to studios, etc. We all wear many hats at Mondo as we’re a relatively small company.

• What’s been the highlights of 2010 for Mondo? any favourite pieces?

Well, 2010 has been a breakout year for us. We really got on some good projects like Universal Monsters, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. We also go to work on some big movies like IRON MAN 2 and SCOTT PILGRIM. Personally, I think it’s cool when we get to spotlight smaller movies like THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE or MONSTERS. Most of the general public doesn’t know what those movies are because they’re not getting advertised during commercials of TWO AND A HALF MEN or whatever, so I like to think that we can help spread the word by doing a poster for them. I also really love the Universal Monsters series. I have a DEEP love for those films, so it’s really cool to open your inbox and see an image you’ve never seen before for something that is so iconic and recognizable.

•  And what’s lined up  for 2011

Well, 2011 as it stands right now looks like it will be bigger than 2010. We have A LOT of projects lined up right now and a lot of things pending. One of the most exciting things is the Director Series we just started with Guillermo Del Toro. We have about two or three other big name directors lined up right now, so it will be a fun thing to do every once in a while for 2011. Plus, we’ve signed some new contracts for licenses…it’s just a lot of secret things that I can’t share. haha

•  Any particular type of SciFi/Horror/Fantasy that you feel particulary drawn too or aligned too (personally)?

Those are my favorite genres, which is weird because I was born in ’84 so I really grew up in the 90′s and watched nothing but action movies. My grandfather is the one that got me into sci fi movies. I remember the first time I watched PLANET OF THE APES so clearly. The scene where they catch Heston in the net and he says the “Get your paws off me” line I said “WOW” aloud. That was such a happy day for me.

I didn’t start watching horror until I was a junior in high school. Now it’s full blown. One of my favorite movies is a mixture of sci-fi/ horror and it’s called THE DEADLY SPAWN. I actually got a half sleeve tattoo of it a few years ago because I like it so much. I highly recommend that one.

Some of my faves are the POTA series (especially Conquest), DUNE, ALIEN PREDATOR, LOGAN’S RUN, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS ’78, GALAXY OF TERROR, EQUINOX, etc. I could go on and on. I have to say that some modern sci fi movies have been really amazing. MOON is one of my all time favorites now and I also really enjoyed DISTRICT 9 and MONSTERS.

I really like to follow movies because of who did the special effects or designed things. Rob Bottin (The Thing), Dennis Muren (Equinox, Dragonslayer) , Richard Edlund, Moebius, Giger, Rick Dunn, John Dykstra, Syd Mead, and on and on. They are some of the coolest people on the planet. These dudes are my rock stars. It’s kind of like how some people would’ve thought Axl Rose was an ultra badass back in the day, I think that way about Muren and these guys. If they had posters, they’d be up on my walls. I watched a live streaming conference with Dennis Muren one time online and it was like two hours long. I would LOVE to meet these guys some day.

Oh, and Harryhausen….but, that could take an interview up all by itself.

•  Do you have (or what would be your) a wish list of other artist you’d like to work with and why? (living or alive)

Nobody knows this, but we were talking to Frank Frazetta about a year ago. We were really close to making something happen. I was really sad when the word came through that he passed away. I really loved and respected his work. Actually, as I type this I have a Death Dealer ring on that I bought from his gallery. I also want to work with Moebius and Dan McPharlin. You’ve profiled Dan a lot on the site and also Moebius. We’ve got projects in mind for both of them, so it’s just a matter of getting ahold of them and pitching it. Moebius is legendary. Better writers have dissected his work, so I won’t go too deep, but I love Arzach. I found the paperback with all of them collected and also started buying the original Heavy Metal books. I think I have 1-10 right now. Someday, I’ll buy the Metal Hurlant versions, too. That art was so amazing and to this day still holds up. I would be blown away if the dudes doing the new HEAVY METAL movie did an Arzach story. How nuts would a Fincher directed Arzach movie be?

Dan McPharlin was a guy that I liked, but just figured it was some art from the 60′s or 70′s. Then, I downloaded THE SWORD’S album and saw the cover and made the connection. We have about three things off the bat that we would immediately put him on that he would be 100% perfect for. His landscapes are gorgeous and I love what he does with his characters. There is a piece in particular where it’s a spaceman riding a horse with a helmet on. It’s one of my favorite images of his.

• Finally can you point readers in the direction of obscure SF/Horror/Fantasy they might of missed?

So, the main movies I watch are sci-fi and horror and I highly recommend these seldom seen gems.

THE DEADLY SPAWN
FORBIDDEN WORLD aka MUTANT
GALAXY OF TERROR
LIFEFORCE
THE HIDDEN- Drop everything and watch this…now.
SORCERESS
FIRE AND ICE (Buy the Blue Undergound disc for the awesome Frank Frazetta doc called Frazetta: Painting With Fire)
TIME MASTERS
MOEBIUS: REDUX
EQUINOX (Directed by SFX god Dennis Muren)

If you’d like me to give more detailed little snippets of why I like these, I’d be happy to, but seriously….all of these movies are AMAZING!

** Many thanks Justin! oh and I totally agree there on The Hidden!

Just a quick Flickr round up here, hopefully followed tomorrow (or very soon) by a larger special feature, then I’m off to India till the 5th of Feb. To the notes then…

Top: “Energy Zero” Sci-Fi Book cover art dating from 1976. Love this trippy janus-head inspired design. Artist unknown, please post if you know, via (as always) Mystique_123_2000

2nd Top: “Lord of Light” Psychedelic graphics with a lovely colour palette. Published in 1967 by double day, once again Artist/Designer unknown. Via another Flicker fave Wolfwings

Bottom: “Merlins Ring” Some out and out fantasy from 1975 in the form of a classic Ballatine book cover, first time I’ve ever seen a fire breathing swan, so naturally a big thumbs up. Image by surrealist artist Gervasio Gallardo via Nick Pope.

** Note that I’ve finished tinkering with the site design, check the cheesy logo hover state.