There’s not exactly a shortage of Star Trek fan art out there, but Juan Ortiz came up with a fresh and fascinating angle for his new book Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz (out today from Titan Books). Ortiz, a longtime Trek enthusiast and gifted graphic artist, designed a movie-style poster for every single episode of the original series. Drawing inspiration from pulp book covers, advertisements, comic books, and ‘60s movie posters, the achievement is impressive to Trekkies and ‘60s design fans alike. After the jump, check out just a few of Ortiz’s original posters, along with (exclusive to Flavorwire) his own comments on the episodes and his inspirations for the images.
Artist Credit: Juan Ortiz
What Are Little Girls Made Of? (Season 1, Episode 7)
“I thought a bit about Frankenstein while working on this one. I like how Ruk and Andrea create a singular silhouette.”
Artist Credit: Juan Ortiz
Space Seed (Season 1, Episode 22)
This poster was inspired by the work of Saul Bass, the graphic artist who designed the posters for Vertigo and Anatomy of a Murder, among many others. It depicts the seed of terror grasping out at the Enterprise.
Artist Credit: Juan Ortiz
The City On The Edge Of Forever (Season 1, Episode 28)
For this poster, I wanted to illustrate Edith Keeler’s vision of the future, as described by her in the episode.
Artist Credit: Juan Ortiz
Journey to Babel (Season 2, Episode 10)
I cropped in on the Enterprise hoping to evoke the sails of a tall ship. This had been my favorite episode for decades.
Artist Credit: Juan Ortiz
Is There In Truth No Beauty? (Season 3, Episode 5) I toyed with giving Spock the visor that he wore in the episode, but it covered up too much of his face. The end result is a poster for anyone that just wants Spock on their wall.
Artist Credit: Juan Ortiz
The Empath (Season 3, Episode 12)
Inspired by Joaquin Pertierra. This episode is up there as one of my all time favorites. A story about friendship and sacrifice.
Artist Credit: Juan Ortiz
The Lights of Zetar (Season 3, Episode 18)
I found it interesting that one of the co-writers for the episode was Shari Lewis, the lady with “Lamb Chop”, the sock- puppet.
Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz is out today.