Customer Reviews

Into a pixel-perfect future - By: Robin Benson, 15 Nov 2008
Very impressive! I haven't seen future concepts as good as this since I bought a copy of Syd Mead's 'Sentinel'in the late seventies. Interestingly, on page 126, Daniel Simon credits Mead as the inspiration for the staging & vehicle concepts of his work & on page 127 there is a concept car with romantic princess & a tiger on a leash: pure Mead.

Any future fan will love this book. Based around the mythical Cosmic Motors Company locatedin the middle of the Galaxion Galaxy. The companies nine vehicles are presentedin stunning colour digital reality & you really have to see this work to appreciate the love & control Simon has put into each image. He says all his work is produced using Autodesk AliasStudio software. As well as the colour imagery each unit has plenty of concept artin sepia & black.

The thing that really grabbed me about the images is the used look. This is tech that has been used out therein the galaxies, dirt, scratches, wisps of smoke or dirty exhausts suggests hard working units. Another thing that gives everything a cool look is all the bits of lettering & graphics that seem to pepper racing cars, jets & other bits of high technology. Syd Mead's art used some of this material but had to hand-letter the stuff, now software makes it much easier, precise & credible.

The book is a handsome design job with 175 screen on art paper. All the art has captions & a sort of running story involving the vehicles & their usein the future. Fans of virtual reality art will love it & this raises the obvious question: when will the second edition be out!

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.