Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

illustration

Halloween Special – Sex and Horror
Written by Baron von Swankenstein in Readable

Halloween Special – Sex and Horror

I love Halloween. Ever since I was a kid, Halloween has meant an exploration of my most personal Jungian archetypes wrapped in a gloomy shroud of adventure. All the tropes of gothic horror and Halloween – haunted houses, gothic cemeteries, werewolves, ghosts, vampires – have tapped my subconscious in ways I’ll probably never fully understand. Of course, I didn’t know that when I was eight....

Modern Retro Futuristic Illustrations

Matthew Lyons is a talented British born designer with a love for simplistic retro futuristic designs that pays tribute to the mid century illustrations of artists such as Charles Schridde. Along with the illustrations, Matthew have also worked on a handful of faux movie title screens from the past that looks intriguing. His work would no doubt work very well as prints for any retro styled...

In Praise of Pulp – The Art of Mort Kunstler

The magazine rack at the local drugstore. Memories from my childhood in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Illustrated covers on the lower shelves. Screaming titles in bold, bawdy, blazing headlines. MALE… MAN’S LIFE… SAGA!!! Were these a kind of grown-up comic book? But this was much better! Silly, costumed caricatures talking in word balloons was little kid stuff. This was about real life. These...

We Go to the Moon! – The Art of Robert McCall

“We choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard!” John F. Kennedy, Sept. 12, 1962. Rice University, Texas. Huh! What did he say? President Kennedy’s speech, kicking off the Space Race, was inspired words. But everyone knows the real reason we went to the moon. We went because it was COOL! What showed us how cool it really was...

Saul Bass – Title Designer
Written by Katharine Miller in Film

Saul Bass – Title Designer

When the opening credits for an Alfred Hitchcock film start rolling, it’s impossible to not be instantly captivated. The simple concept, bold graphics, and dynamic animations are all evidence of Saul Bass’s genius at work. Saul Bass began his career by designing print ads for movies. His first collaboration with director Otto Preminger was the film poster for Carmen Jones. From there, it seemed a...

Monte – King of Atom Age Monster Decals
Written by Baron von Swankenstein in Readable

Monte – King of Atom Age Monster Decals

In America, the 1950s and 60s spawned The Monster Kids. These were kids, mostly pre-adolescent boys, who assembled Aurora model kits of Frankenstein or Dracula after school; read Tales From The Crypt comics with a flashlight under the covers at bed time; and sneaked downstairs on Saturdays to watch the late-night horror movie show on TV with spooky hosts like Zacherle, Chilly Billy, or Ghoulardi....

Our Friend the Atom – Part 3
Written by James Vaughan in Science

Our Friend the Atom – Part 3

The religion of The Atom died with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. With that fall from grace came the end of many of our utopian dreams. A responsible future of conservation and organic carrots just wasn’t very exciting. Although widespread use of the atom remains controversial; 436 reactors remain the source of 15 per cent of the world’s electricity. In some European countries atomic power...

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