Where Do I Sign Up?
I want one of these… remember Tom Cruise manipulating graphics in The Minority Report?
The Paleo-Future is Here (or not)
There’s a certain class of design I’ve always been attracted to; I find it fascinating to see how the past saw the future, either the one that has come and gone, or is still yet to be (or not to be). My favorite sci fi reads are those heavy with scientific speculation on the big questions… faster-than-light travel, moving stars, encountering bewilderingly advanced species. But I also enjoy classic sci fi like Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. More than just the plots, I love to see how the greatest scientific imaginations of their time saw the future. It often comes out as a mix of new ideas blended with now outdated ones; like a man traveling home from work in his self-driving car only to be greeted by his wife who meets him at the door with a cocktail, a back rub and dinner on the table.
I also love to explore design from yesteryear looking forward. Interestingly, this often comes back to Disney’s Imagineering. But thanks to great finds like Paleo-Future, I can finally get my fill of this odd attraction. And what an apt name for something I’ve been unable to easily define.
So here’s to the Paleo-Future and the future that never was! And to commemorate the occasion, here’s a great sample, “Transportation Exhibits at the New York World’s Fair (1964)”
Funny Bones
PK at BibliOdyssey has shared a series of great illustrations by Louis Crucious, a St. Louis printer’s apprentice, pharmacist and finally physician. While studying and working in a pharmacy, he began creating the illustrations and displaying them in the store window. He sold several of the drawings to Antikamnia Chemical Company who used some in calendars.
Be sure to check out the entire series and the article.
