In November 2011, artist Juan Ortiz “felt as though the year had been a waste, creatively.” After working for Disney, Warner Bros., Disney a second time, and Cartoon Network, Ortiz “wanted to end the year with work that I could call my own, without any other person’s vision.” He got the idea to design a movie-style poster for TV’s Lost in Space . . .
. . . and then one for Star Wars (sorry, I can’t find an image to share), and then he turned to the original Star Trek series, and decided to create a poster for the second season episode “Amok Time.” He had so much fun that he made two more posters based on two other episodes, and he decided to keep going on, with a goal of finishing a poster a day during December 2011. Ortiz ended up creating 33, and now Titan Books has come out with the complete collection of his unique Trek posters, covering every episode of Star Trek‘s 3-year span.
In Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz, Ortiz took inspiration from many sources:retro-’60s, ’80s eastern European movie design, even drawing inspiration from covers of the ’60s Dell Star Trek comic book.
The introduction details how Ortiz starts the creative process with simple pencil sketches and doodles. When he decides which design to use, he moves to Illustrator and completes the piece with text and coloring. My favorite part: he adds in faux creases to show that the posters have been previously folded, just like movie posters were shipped up until the ’80s.
Some posters share themes, while many are unique. “Miri” resembles a horror movie poster from the late ‘60s. “Mirror Mirror” is based on USSR design work. The Ripper-inspired episode “Wolf in the Fold” is represented by a thriller-type movie poster from the ‘40s. “Tomorrow is Yesterday” has a hybrid look of a ‘40s pulp magazine and Action Comics, while “The Trouble with Tribbles” and “Who Mourns for Adonis?” appear based on Jack Kirby/Stan Lee Marvel comics from the early ‘60s, especially Fantastic Four.
This is a fun book that deserves more exposure. Even more, I hope it inspires others to create art from shows, movies–whatever–that moves them. This book is a great example of how the fantastic in the arts has positively influenced our popular culture, and we need more. Go here and see for yourself how good even fan-created Trek art can be.
Star Trek + incredible art and design = an instant collectible.
Rus Wornom 