Saving The Sci-Fi
It’s no surprise to anyone that knows me how massive of a science fiction fan I am. From an early age, I’ve loved traveling to different worlds, be it by book, video game or film and television.
This has me excited to announce that I’m going to be helping with a very special sci-fi related project. Last week, a Kickstarter was brought to my attention called “Singularity & Co. - Save The Sci-Fi!”. The group of passionate sci-fi fans running the project were determined to preserve out of print science fiction novels any way they could, primarily by obtaining the copyrights and publishing them as ebooks. Not only is that an amazingly exciting thing for sci-fi fans, but it’s a pretty important and exciting historical venture. Preserving the past is important, especially when it involves our (fictional) future!
Immediately upon finding and backing this project, I sent them a message with an idea: Wouldn’t it be cool to feature unique interpretations and fresh renditions of each novel’s cover art? Some books might be missing covers, have badly damaged covers, or have covers that are protected under separate copyrights and impossible to reproduce. This seemed like a perfect opportunity for artists like myself to contribute original cover art designs to a wealth of retro sci-fi books. Luckily they were keen to the idea. After talking about it more in depth, I designed my first cover to show them.
And that brings us to now. They were so impressed with my work that they asked me to assist with the art side of things for the entire project, whether it be designing new covers, or helping to find guests to contribute along with me. I couldn’t be more excited to work with Singularity & Co. to deliver creative and enjoyable supplementals inspired by these classic stories. The covers I design will be included in the eBook releases, and will probably include other downloads like wallpapers for various devices. The possibilities are endless, and I think we could see some really unique stuff come out of this.
If you’re interested in backing this project, there’s still time! Don’t get left in the space dust. Back the project now and you’ll be primed to receive tons of awesome sci-fi classics to read and some nifty art to look at too. (If you look below the post, you can see a special preview of an upcoming cover!)
Thanks for reading!
StarCraft 2 iPad Wallpaper
I’ve created a nifty StarCraft 2 iPad wallpaper for your consumption. Since we’re only a week away I figured it’s never too soon to celebrate.
This looks particularly cool as a home screen wallpaper. It compliments the icons quite well and makes the iPad look decidedly more sci-fi.
Enjoy!
Download (Zip File)
iPad friendly links:
Wallpaper 1 (PNG)
Wallpaper 2 (PNG)
My MOON Complexities
The following contains slight allusions to events in the film and may be a bit more knowledge than you’d like if you haven’t seen it yet. Proceed with caution!
I’m a huge science fiction buff, and not just in cinema standards, but in technology, genetic enhancement, scientific evolution, etc. I’ve always had an “open-book” point of view on this stuff, that the moral repercussions were worth it and that it was all in the name of evolutionary advancement, science, etc. Cloning is obviously one of these things, and I’ve always felt the ends would justify the means, and it’d be a fantastic step in a new scientific direction.
This film managed to make me rethink that point of view. Never before has a film made me consider my stance on something I stood so strongly for. It’s an impressive feat, and the credit shouldn’t only go to Jones, but to Rockwell for the incredible humanization of the role. I left the film truly moved, and feeling that the things I’ve dreamt about could actually be wrong to do, and not a morally just way to pursue scientific advancement.
Turning something like that on its head is a weird experience for me, as I still feel how I did before, but now with a view of the other side of the argument, and I can’t figure out what stance I truly want to take.
Glorious film, nearly my favorite of the year. Between this and District 9, we had a brilliant year for science fiction. The fact Sony isn’t getting behind MOON for Oscar consideration is an absolute travesty; as Jones and Rockwell are MORE than deserving of nominations.
