Playboy: Holiday Issue, Jan 1986. While the adage 'for the articles' remains true, there are few better resources for 80s reference than these old issues of Playboy. Inside you'll find countless examples graphic design, illustration, photography, film, music and technology; all shown through the lens of peak 80s consumerism.

Jason Edmiston is an artist who understands the fun of Friday night horror films and the pop culture art that surrounds it. Whether he's painting a portrait of the Bride of Frankenstein, posters for the films of John Carpenter, packaging for He-Man figures or prints of Khaleesi's Dragon Babies, his work wears the badge of fandom…

Take a nostalgic trip to the golden-age of video game art with Tim Lapetino and The Art of Atari.  In the earliest days of video games when bouncing coloured squares around a low-res screen was all you could expect from the experience, artists and marketeers like those at Atari worked to fill in the gaps, creating…

Press Release: Custom Lettering of the 20s and 30s is a celebration of the stunning and stylistically varied headline lettering that existed before the advent of phototypesetting or the computer. This unique publication collects over 4500 examples of custom lettering from the heyday of Art Deco and the experimental modernity of the Futurists - from…

Ivan Castro offers the perfect guide for teaching yourself how to create those cool hand-drawn scripts. In The ABC of Custom Lettering, Ivan Castro has provided students with the definitive textbook on drawing their own letters. Doing for graphic writing what Andrew Loomis did for illustration with his renowned series, this is the perfect for…

The twisted tale of Ron English and the futile attempt to cheat death. Mix Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald with classical surrealists such as Dali, Magritte and Picasso and you’re close the candy-coloured vision of hell as depicted in Death and the Eternal Forever by Ron English. A study of the belief that all art is the futile…

A long-awaited collection from an illustrator synonymous with fashion, David Downton offers classical glamour with portraits of the world’s most stylish women. Often imitated, but never equalled, it’s amazing to learn that the career of fashion illustrator David Downton only really started in the late 1990s with his first official portrait of the model Marie…

Stunning concept drawings, character designs and unused ideas reveal the epic production design of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now that The Force Awakens has been out for a few weeks I feel safe in my judgement, away from all the hype and hyperbole, to declare that it’s actually pretty good. It's by no means…

The Collected DC Universe Illustrated by a Master of Comics As someone who studies the work of Darwyn Cooke believing him to be an artistic genius, I believe a proper coffee table book covering the work of this incredible comic book artist is long overdue. Graphic Ink: The DC Comics Art of Darwyn Cooke very…

40 Designers Discuss the Global Resurgence in Hand-Made Packaging Through interviews with forty designers, illustrators and letterers, Gail Anderson offers an detailed look at the trend in hand-drawn packaging. Largely considered to be associated with the boutique, independent crafter and sign of a more personal touch, a global resurgence in artisan style is combined today…

Inspirational Lettering from the World’s Most Romantic City. From the Art Nouveau entrance of the Paris Metro to the evocative neon lettering of the Moulin Rouge, Louise Fili’s new book Graphic de la Rue: The Signs of Paris does for the city of romance what her previous book Grafica della Strada did for Italian style. Captured…

Concept Sketches from Four Pioneers of Disney's Golden Age In researching the Disney Animation Studio Library, author Dider Ghez uncovers previously unseen concept drawings and sketches from four pioneering artists of the 1930s; Albert Hunter, Ferdinand Horvarth, Gustav Tenggren, and Bianca Majolica. Including concept artwork from The Old Mill and many other early Disney shorts, They Drew as…

Maly Siri take's you on a tour of the good and bad girls of classic Hollywood.  Maly Sari is a French pin-up artist who’s work i’ve been following for while, ever since I was introduced to to her stunning portraits of the vintage screen icons Hedy Lamarr, Bette Davis and Greta Garbo. We both clearly…

England… The year is 1985… A new technology has infiltrated the homes of normal, god fearing families, resulting in an addiction to a new form of entertainment. They demand more content while governments are desperate to control it…This is VHS.

A picture-book behind-the-scenes look at Disney's latest feature, Inside Out. In a commercially brave move away from the fairy tale world of Frozen, Disney and Pixar have explored the unusually abstract concept of the human mind for their latest film Inside Out - the story of a 12-year-old girl named Riley and the emotions that live inside…

Playboy cartoonist, political satirist, screenwriter and children's book author - this is the amazing art of Jules Feiffer. While his art style might not have been immediately attractive to me, i’m glad to have read Out of Line: The Art of Jules Feiffer, because it's introduced me to an artist and writer that I found extremely…

With a brilliant cast of characters boasting furry pants and spring-action waists, The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe reveals fond memories with every page. With a finger running over a double-page spread which displays packaging illustrations for those great, now vintage He-Man action figures, I could have been heard counting to myself, “Had that one, had that one…oh yeah, my brother had…

A stunning collection of work that celebrates America's golden age of illustration. Daniel Zimmer, editor and publisher of Illustration Magazine, takes advantage of a vast image archive for The Golden Age: Masterworks from the Golden Age of Illustration. A celebration of the period between 1880 and 1920 where illustration dominated American entertainment, and it's artists enjoyed fame, wealth and demand. Featuring full-page…

Completing an epic look at the life and work of comics legend Alex Toth, this third book in the series Genius, Animated focuses on his revered and influential work on our favourite Saturday morning cartoons.

A testament to the power of film to inspire visual artists, Criterion Designs is an essential collection of artwork and cover designs from the company’s stunning back catalogue.

Chronicling an ever-changing design aesthetic, The Poster Art of Disney Parks is an entertaining trip down memory lane for some and a masterclass in poster design for others.

With an unmistakable design aesthetic that set standards for everything from furniture to film, Mid-Century Modern Complete offers rich territory for creative inspiration.

Depicting a rough and tough man’s world of adventure, James Bama paints with a skill equaling the best of America’s great illustrators.

An artist who added colour to the classic horror of a black and white era, Basil Gogos is the true King of Monsters.

Regarded as one of the leading illustrators of the mid-twentieth century, Al Parker has left an artistic legacy that continues to inspire, and provides one of the first ‘must have’ art books of 2015.

The perfect sourcebook for graphic designers, Grafica Della Strada: The Signs of Italy exudes a classical deco style.

Nintendo, Action-Figures and Street Fighter II. Star Wars, Batman and Universal Monsters. Get ready for Geek-Art: An Anthology.

Featuring the most iconic images produced for the Star Wars universe, Star Wars: Posters offers a definitive visual history of this classic saga.

Philip Brotherton offers readers a look behind the scenes at LAIKA studios with the Making of the new animated film The Box Trolls.

For the first time ever in print, Titan Books completes the renowned instructional art series by Andrew Loomis with ‘I’d Love to Draw!’

How Tiki Became An American Dream Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Quai Branly museum in Paris, Sven A. Kirsten's Tiki Pop traces the history of America's most colorful cultural trend - a manufactured Polynesian paradise of hula girls, rum cocktails and the leisurely sounds of steel guitar. So seductive was its influence on the American…

Herman Schultheis and the The lost Notebook Reading through The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis and the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic, John Canemaker paints a picture of a rather curious man. A self-aggrandizing and maybe even delusional character, Schultheis was undoubtably enthusiastic and keen to get involved with the burgeoning film industry of the 1930s. Through countless…

With All-American Ads of the 40s, TASCHEN Books continues their tradition of packaging together essential examples of vintage advertising ephemera, this time focusing on a period both gripped by World War II and the subsequent wave of consumerism.

A fun collection of soda pop recipes featuring the cool retro art of Derek Yaniger. If you're the type of person that likes nothing more of an evening than to fix yourself a drink at your novelty cruise ship-shaped bar, kick back and drift away to the tropical sounds of Arthur Lyman (in hi-fi stereo no less) then…

Film Noir: 100 All-Time Favorites from TASCHEN is an essential introduction to the seductive and cinematic delights of film noir.

From the surprisingly violent opening sequence of A New Hope, to the early concept designs of now familiar characters, there's an uncanny feeling attached to viewing these storyboards. It's the original Star Wars trilogy that we all know and love, but with countless subtle differences that effectively describe an ongoing filmmaking process. What appears to be…

To peruse my bookshelf is to witness the dominance of one particular publisher, TASCHEN. Their continued brilliance in presenting both high and low culture ephemera via beautiful coffee table books makes them my go-to source for that ever-essential creative inspiration.

Stephen Cavalier’s The World History of Animation offers a definitive look at the diverse ranges of styles in animation.

The Art of DreamWorks Animation by Ramin Zahed offers a history of the studio founded in 1994 by Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen.

Of the many pleasures in running a design studio and writing these book reviews are the wonderful treats that often come through our doors. The best of these offer visual delights and fuel for our imaginations. A highlight of 2014 so far comes in the shape of Magic 1400s - 1950s from TASCHEN - an eye-popping…

Artists Who Made Crime Pay The general public's appetite for low-brow sleaze has long been a safe bet for publishers, and while tales of crime and grizzly murders might now feel more at home in a sophisticated prime-time TV series, it was once the mass market crime magazines that ruled the darker recesses of our…

Although essentially a re-formatting of previously released books, those unfamiliar with Dian Hanson's History of Pin-Up Magazines are well served by this new edition that collects all three volumes and presents them with a flair we now come to expect from publishers TASCHEN. My initial interest in this series were the countless examples of classic…

Along with Walt Disney, Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, Maurice Noble stands among a group of men who changed the business of animation forever. But unlike Disney's traditional approach to animation with realistic characters and highly detailed backgrounds, Maurice Noble applied his own sense of modern graphic design (often with creative partner Chuck Jones) to…

I count myself among a strange breed of pale thirtysomethings - over exposed to TV, horror films, video games and all those other bad things supposed to rot our brains - but specifically amazing film poster art. Born of the home video generation, with daily life coloured by films such as Blade Runner, Star Wars, Indiana Jones,…

While living and working in a remote part of the Somerset countryside has its advantages, suitable venus to acquire that all important art training via life-drawing are few and far between. Rian Hughes rubs this in with his new book, Soho Dives, Soho Divas: Rian Hughes Sketches London's Burlesque Artistes, a collection of sketches and more…

Through his many examples of beautiful vintage movie posters, film historian and collector Ira M. Resnick reveals the history of Hollywood and the leading men and screen goddesses of cinema's golden-age. From the biographies of silent-era stars such as Louise Brooks and Gloria Swanson, to the personal travel tales as a poster collector, his affection…

As a life-long animation fan, I fear that the Disney studio is currently stuck in some kind of creative lull. With each new feature I find myself less and less engaged, and have come to the conclusion that it's all the fault of the homogenizing effect of CGI. While films like Brave and Wreck It…

Countless editions of Hans Christian Andersen's popular fairy tales can be found in various forms, but few provide the lavish presentation offered by TASCHEN's latest collection, that continues the format set by last year's The Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm. With 23 timeless stories contained within it's hardback cover including, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New…

The award-winning director Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America) introduces Star Wars Art: Concept with an affectionate look back at his early career working as a storyboard artist on the original trilogy. An experimental time where Star Wars wasn't yet the cultural phenomenon we all now know and a fitting introduction to this new book…

The work of David Wright was unknown to me before it's introduction in the article by Peter Richardson in issue 2 of Illustrators Magazine. His pin-up paintings and comic book illustrations were immediately impressive, equalling that of more prominent artists such as Gil Elvgren and Harry Ekman, and left me firstly surprised that I hadn't seen…

Towering above all others in the land of the comic book gods stands Frank Frazetta, a powerhouse of science-fiction and fantasy art, sadly no longer with us, but whose work remains as popular and sought-after as ever. The Frazetta Sketchbook is a welcome addition to the collections of available work, offering a previously unseen look at the…

Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses – Roger Corman, King of the B-Movie – By Chris Nashawaty

Taschen provides an extensive reference catalogue of vintage typography and ornamental elements ranging from 1628 to 1938.

Sure, it's not the most modest move naming the book about yourself The World's Best Artist, but those looking for the class on subtlety in Mitch O'Connell's school of self-promotion won't find it. It's this tounge-in-cheek and unpretentious approach, backed up by stellar illustration work that makes me a fan, and the promise of that title and the book's…

Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s by Ryan Hughes is the long-awaited follow-up to his collection of vintage magazine illustration of the 60s

Star Wars Storyboards proves that the prequel trilogy wasn’t all bad and even had some good ideas, even if they didn’t make the final cut.

Re-released this month from TASCHEN is Robert Nippoldt and Hans-Jürgen Schaal's hardback collection of biographies, facts and anecdotes from the earlest days of the Jazz revolution, Jazz: New York in the Roaring Twenties. Told through a series of portraits by Nippoldt (drawn in a similar style to R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country and William Stout's…

There are several books written on the subject of fashion illustration with many unfortunately proving to be little more than filler or catalogues of aspiring artists, but there are two in particular that stand out for me as recommended titles. The first being David Downton's Masters of Fashion Illustration and the second, Cally Blackman's 100 Years of…

First released in hardback last year, Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm was so popular that it quickly became hard to find a copy without spending upwards of £100. Thankfully, publishers Flesk now offer a more accessible paperback edition subtitled, The Big Pocket Edition. Although not much smaller in physical size…

In 2006 the ever popular comic book artist Robert Crumb introduced us via a book of portraits, profiles and accompanying music to his Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country. Following the same format, it's now William Stout's turn to present his Legends of the Blues. Again, another legendary comic book artist, Bill Stout is also…

It's something of a coincidence that just a few days before receiving a copy of World Tour from Abrams Books, i'd sat down to watch the classic 1932 film Grand Hotel. A film that couldn't match this book more perfectly, telling the story of the comings and goings inside this truly grand hotel. Starring Greta Garbo and…

This week sees the release of the next in Titan Books series of Andrew Loomis reprints, Fun with a Pencil. Actually dating as the first of the Loomis instructional art books (going all the way back to 1939) it inevitably shares some of its content with his later releases, but where Figure Drawing for all…

With the anticipated release of the new Superman movie, DC's status as a leader in the comic book industry remains as strong as ever, with its success only really comparable to that of Marvel. It's testament to the power and longevity of their characters that the very same Man of Steel started it all with…

With Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, IDW introduced it's range of high-end books for the comic collector, featuring reproductions of raw artwork from some of the worlds most renowned comic book artists. So acclaimed (and limited) was this first edition of Stevens' beloved creation that it sold-out within days, leaving die-hard fans (like myself)…

Swissted is the brain-child of Graphic Designer Mike Joyce, combining a love of punk rock, indie and grunge gig posters with his own Swiss inspired modernist aesthetic. Featuring great bands such as Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Beastie Boys and The Cramps, the result is an unlikely pairing of seemingly un-related pop-cultures, collected in a new release…

Alex Ross counts among the greatest and most prolific comic book artists working today and has consistently held my affections thanks to his Gouache and Watercolour style that harks back to the Golden Age of American Illustration. Clear influences coming from artists such as Norman Rockwell and Andrew Loomis, who have passed on a working…

In the same poster-book format as Gig Posters Vol 1 and 2, Quirk Books delivers this July, 100 Presidential Campaign Posters, a large paperback with ready-to-frame, pull-out pages offering a history of American politics shown through the visual propaganda, showboating and one-upmanship that either won or lost its candidates a place in the White House.…

I'm just about young enough to have missed the dubious mail-order opportunities presented in the back pages of comic books of old. Age, geography and plain old common sense has protected me from the ultimate disappointment resulting from the ads bold claims. "Have amazing X-ray vision instantly! Learn the world's deadliest fighting secrets! Own genuine…

Released this month by Abrams ComicArts in conjunction with The Oakland Museum exhibition of the same name is The Art of Daniel Clowes; Modern Cartoonist. A career retrospective on the artist, writer and creator of some of the worlds best-loved comic books including The Death Ray and Ghost World. The latter of which, under the…

Few other designers permeate the creative world quite like Saul Bass (1920-1996). Ask any Designer/Illustrator to name their influences (especially those among the new wave of minimalist movie posters) and you'll almost certainly hear his name. So it comes as a surprise that this is the first biography and career retrospective of this most prolific…

I've been trying to get my hands on one of IDW's coveted Artist's Editions ever since the series started with The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens (one of my all-time favourite comic book artists) and I'm still looking for a copy. But given the highly limited print run of only 300 copies, it demands a hefty…

1965 saw the release of Ugly Stickers. A series of grotesque creature creations from Topps, illustrated by the great American Artists Basil Wolverton, Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. Each popular for their work in venues such as Mad Magazine, Marvel Comics, Pulp Paperbacks and the Mars Attacks! series of trading cards. Later came Slob Stickers…