Star Trek has inspired generations of people. From the design and development of technical devices, fan fiction covering books, comics and movies and so much more. Juan Ortiz found so much inspiration in Trek that he designed film posters for all episodes of the original series.
Ortiz has worked for both Disney and Warner Bros. Furthermore he pencilled covers for DC Comics’ Looney Toons and Zinytpons magazine as well as publishing his own comic book series, Silver Comics.
Tired of having to meet the art director’s visions, Ortiz wanted to create something without having to meet anyone’s expectations except his own. The result is an astounding series of retro-style “film” posters, representing the core values of Star Trek, the hope for a better future without war, famine or disease.
Published in September 2013 by Titanbooks, the book itself is really beautiful. The hardcover and the large format (365mm x 260mm) make the posters a pleasure to look at. The introduction gives an insight into the artist’s motivation as well as his career, telling the story from the first picture to the licensing by CBS. The posters are sorted by seasons. At the end there’s a catalogue of all pictures with a summary of the episode’s content, a key quote from the episode and the artist’s comment.
I just love Ortiz’ style. Each picture is loaded with detail. Look at this picture for example. At first sight there’s “just” a sword but a second glance reveals that the grip is a Klingon Bird of Prey. Different influences – like Russian military propaganda, Jimi Hendrix and many more – make each poster a very unique piece.
This book is a must-have for every Star Trek Fan out there. The posters are inspiring pieces of art that made me want to re-watch quite a few episodes.
