Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78276 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-01
• Original language: English, German
• Binding: Hardcover
• 171 pages

Customer Reviews

Into a pixel-perfect future
Very impressive! I haven't seen future concepts as good as this since I bought a copy of Syd Mead's 'Sentinel' in the late seventies. Interestingly, on page 126, Daniel Simon credits Mead as the inspiration for the staging and vehicle concepts of his work and on page 127 there is a concept car with romantic princess and a tiger on a leash: pure Mead.

Any future fan will love this book. Based around the mythical Cosmic Motors Company located in the middle of the Galaxion Galaxy. The companies nine vehicles are presented in stunning colour digital reality and you really have to see this work to appreciate the love and control Simon has put into each image. He says all his work is produced using Autodesk AliasStudio software. As well as the colour imagery each unit has plenty of concept art in sepia and black.

The thing that really grabbed me about the images is the used look. This is tech that has been used out there in the galaxies, dirt, scratches, wisps of smoke or dirty exhausts suggests hard working units. Another thing that gives everything a cool look is all the bits of lettering and graphics that seem to pepper racing cars, jets and other bits of high technology. Syd Mead's art used some of this material but had to hand-letter the stuff, now software makes it much easier, precise and credible.

The book is a handsome design job with 175 screen on art paper. All the art has captions and a sort of running story involving the vehicles and their use in the future. Fans of virtual reality art will love it and this raises the obvious question: when will the second edition be out!

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Likely to become a classiv
When it finally reached my door step, this book made my day.

If your a big fan of future/alternative history, concept art work or cars, you'll love this book, 170 luscious pages of art work and lore, usually reserved for the likes of hard sci-fi books.

Beyond the obviously technical quality of the designs looms a new aesthetic that I doubt would remain purely conceptual for long...

Either way, if you landed on this page via looking at books in similar vain, chances are you'd love this book.

Compulsive purchase!
I was aware of the design work of Daniel Simon via his website, which gave a taster of what was to follow in Cosmic Motors.

As a fellow Industrial Designer, Daniel's work is supremely impressive: his design work is fresh and inspiring to newcomers, the skill of his artworks and imaging is dazzling by any standard - blurring the boundaries between design, CG Imaging and film..

I've spent a long time looking to find definitive and inspirational books which encompass new ideas and a fresh perspective on design. Daniel's work is a pure joy - total fantasy, but rooted in good design principles. ~I recommend his work most highly, and for the money I've yet to find a more satisfying and genuinely enjoyable book to keep returning to..

If you're even vaguely tempted to buy this book, just get on and do it. I doubt you'll ever regret it, and have something on the shelf which'll reveal fresh new details and subtleties with each viewing.