Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi was briefly called "Revenge of the Jedi." Apparently screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan had told Lucas that "Return of the Jedi" was a "weak title." In December 1982 though, Lucas went back to his original title but not before promotional posters had already been released, such as the one above that is currently up for auction at Sotheby's with an expected hammer price of 1,400 - 2,600 GBP ($1800 - $3200 USD).
From Wikipedia:
In December 1982, Lucas decided that "Revenge" was not appropriate as Jedi should not seek revenge and returned to his original title. By that time thousands of "Revenge" teaser posters (with artwork by Drew Struzan) had been printed and distributed. Lucasfilm stopped the shipping of the posters and sold the remaining stock of 6,800 posters to Star Wars fan club members for $9.50.
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Heinz Edelmann (1934-2009) was the German illustrator and designer best known for art directing the Beatles' 1968 animation Yellow Submarine. In 1970, he created this magnificent opening animation for the ZDF broadcast movie series "Der Phantastische Film."
(r/ObscureMedia, thanks UPSO!)
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From the apt metaphor department, Romanian illustrator Andrei Lacatusu's series titled "Social Decay" renders 3D images of logos for social media giants as rusting derelict signs. Read the rest
Chet Phillips (creator of the Monster Zen book, the Steampunk Monkey Coloring Book and the Steampunk Monkey Cigarette Cards) sends us his Fantasy Travel Poster Series, "Paying tribute to vintage railway posters, this series re-imagines landscapes with fantasy elements such as giants, dragons, trolls and more."
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Andrey Avgust's speculative redesign for America's heroically ugly paper money reimagines greenbacks as modern plastic banknotes, similar to the more daring bills in Australian and UK currency, with UV-readable serials that are repeated in QR codes with PGP-signed hashes.
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Counter the creeping resurgence of genuine, non-metaphorical Naziism in gamer culture with Fernando Reza's kick-ass WWII style Zelda propaganda posters! $40 each, 18" x 24", printed on archival paper.
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Polish artist Dawid Planeta created his "mini people in the jungle" series to include gentle gargantuan animals which appear before silhouetted humans. Read the rest
Illustrator Ksenia Kopalova and ceramic artist Natalia Savinova combined their talents to make a mashup they call illustramics. Read the rest
Artist Kathleen Darby takes viewers through her step-by-step process of drawing a colorful bird on black paper. Start at the beginning for more details. It's interesting as well as relaxing, as there are some important differences when starting from negative space. Read the rest
Sara Varon is co-creator, with Cecil Castellucci, of
Odd Duck, the 2013 outstanding kids' picture book, and her latest solo venture,
New Shoes is a brilliant reprisal of the themes from Odd Duck: camaraderie among eccentric animals, charming small-town life, fascinating technical details, humor, and beautiful, engaging illustrations.
Nayan and Vaishali originally planned to make one piece of miniature art daily for 30 days, but following a great response for the first month, they decided to go for a full year. Lucky us! Above: a Baya Weaver Bird. Read the rest
I
love Jen Wang's work: her
debut graphic novel Koko Be Good was thought-provoking and challenging and beautiful; "In Real Life," her
adaptation of my story Anda's Game took the tale to places that delighted and surprised me -- today, Firstsecond publishes
The Prince and the Dressmaker, which I believe will be her breakout graphic novel.
Hungarian illustrator Sándor Vámos is a master of anamorphic illusions, 3D drawings that emerge from the paper. Don't miss his time-lapse videos either.
(via Laughing Squid)
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The University of Texas's Ransom Center (previously) has posted a gorgeous selection of digitized movie posters from its Movie Poster Collection, from the 1920s to the 1970s.
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University of Western Australia Law professor Camilla Baasch Andersen has helped businesspeople draft legally binding contracts that take the form of simple comic-strips, arguing that their simplicity not only promotes understanding, but also insulates companies from the risk of courts finding their contracts unenforceable because they were too confusing (an Australian court has forced insurers Suncorp and Allianz to refund AUD60m paid for insurance that was of "little or no value," but which Australians purchased thanks to confusing fine-print that made it hard to assess).
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Secret Headquarters, Los Angeles's best comics shop (previously, has published "Monster Manual," a limited-run, 64-page zine collecting the art from their show of the same name, in which artists were challenged to create their own rue and satirical entries for a notional Dungeons and Dragons bestiary from an alternate timeline.
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Martin Salisbury's The Illustrated Dust Jacket, 1920-1970 is a wonderful overview of the innovative illustrators who prompted many a book purchase with their lovely design work. Read the rest
