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Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss

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( 239 ratings, 24 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss celebrates the groundbreaking science fiction art of Chris Foss, whose visionary designs revolutionised paperback covers in the 1970s and 80s. Featuring his iconic battle-worn spacecraft, alien landscapes, and brutalist architecture, this volume showcases rare and classic images created for renowned authors like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, as well as film designs for Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick. This comprehensive retrospective reveals Foss's unique blend of realism and wonder that has profoundly influenced sci-fi art and cinema.
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Format: Hardback
$8900

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for fans of science fiction, art lovers, graphic design enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the visual history and evolution of sci-fi aesthetics. It will particularly appeal to those fascinated by retro-futurism, spacecraft design, and the work of iconic illustrators from the 20th century.

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With his colourful spaceships, intricate machines and futuristic cities, Chris Foss revolutionised the science fiction book covers of the 1970s and the 1980s. This is a collection of covers Chris Foss created for modern science fiction, including for Isaac Asimov's "Foundation trilogy", "EE 'Doc' Smith's Lensman series", and others works.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Foss's groundbreaking and distinctive science fiction art revolutionised paperback covers in the 1970s and 80s. Dramatically raising the bar for realism and invention, his trademark battle-weary spacecraft, dramatic alien landscapes, and crumbling brutalist architecture irrevocably changed the aesthetic of science fiction art and cinema.

Featuring work for books by Isaac Asimov, E. E. 'Doc' Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, A. E. Van Vogt, and Philip K. Dick, and film design for Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick, this volume brings together many rare and classic images that have never been seen or reprinted before. The first comprehensive retrospective of Chris Foss' science fiction career.

Chris Foss' name has become pre-eminent among science fiction artists... He is in love with the monstrous, with angular momentum, with inertia-free projectiles and irresistible objects." - Brian Aldiss

"[Foss'] creations are real machines, not just an artist's dreams. They combine the two elements so essential to science fiction: realism and a sense of wonder... A medieval goldsmith of future eons." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

Rian Hughes is an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator, font designer, and comics artist, noted for his work on 2000AD, and Dan Dare. His illustration work is highly distinctive, wearing its design influences on its sleeve. Clients include Virgin Airways, Penguin Books, DC Comics (for whom he has designed numerous logos), Eurostar, the BBC, and a range of magazines and newspapers. He is the editor and designer of several books including Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s and the recently released Cult-ure.

"One of the most successful and prolific designer/illustrators of the past 20 years" - Roger Sabin, Eye magazine

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as "an incredible selection of Foss' work" by io9, and "an indispensable collection of out-there space art" by SciFi Bulletin, the book has been hailed for inspiring a strong sense of wonder. The Trades describes it as "highly, highly recommended," while Never Not a Nerd calls it a must-have art book worthy of the coffee table. Reviewers admire Foss's ability to create authentic and believable futuristic designs full of imaginative detail, with Very Aware noting its grounded, reality-like quality. Fans are encouraged to dive into this compelling collection, as noted by enthusiastic endorsements from We Love Cult and Topless Robot.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781848566989

Publisher: Titan Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 22 July 2011

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Titan Books Ltd

Contributors:

  • Designed by Rian Hughes

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 246.0mm

Height: 318.0mm

Weight: 1780g

Pages: 240

About the Author

Foss's evocative science fiction book covers pioneered a much-imitated style featuring vast, colourful spaceships, machines and cities. He also illustrated the original black and white edition of The Joy of Sex. He produced the UK pb covers for Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, worked with H.R. Geiger on concepts for the unrealised Jodorowsky Dune movie and on Alien, as well as on Superman.

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