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Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

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Concepts of the future for the way we live our lives have been expressed in forms of art, design, movies, comics, and even cartoons. For many decades before man even landed on the Moon, people have been fascinated with space and the endless possibilities it could bring. The future is not only about being in space, though it has a major influence, it lies within your innovative minds and skills as the designer and artist. So, whether you go back into the past or here in the present, the future is all that we envision.

It wasn’t too many years ago when amazing tools such as 3ds Max, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or even Corel Draw weren’t around. Illustrations were drawn by hand using chalks, colored pencils, paints, and pens. With typography, you could find artists/ designers also using fountain pens or calligraphy pens with a large variety of nibs, along with bottles of colored ink. Even today, you will still find designers and architects who use tools such as the t-square, triangular scales, triangle, french curve, and of course, your basic compass.

Times do change and so do the concepts of what to expect in the future. We would like to share with you a collection of retro futuristic designs and tutorials that will inspire you for your future creations. If you like the designs, please take the time to visit the sites of the artist/ designer by clicking on the illustration or title.

Beautiful Retro Futuristic Artworks

Omega Code

Omega in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retrofuturistic cityscape

Rak in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Rak2 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Rak4 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

USS – a portfolio of probabilities

Prob1 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Prob2 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Prob3 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Prob5 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retro Futurism II

Mon in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retro in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Geometry Serie

Geo in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Vintage DHARMA ads
Incredible vintage Dharma Initiative posters created by Adam Campbell.

Dh in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

The Apple Store That Almost Was
Before there was the Apple Store that we know and love today, there was the Apple Cafe — well, almost. On November 12, 1996, Apple announced plans to open a chain of cybercafes around the globe. State-of-the-art, even by today’s standards, Apple Cafes promised health-conscious food (served up via a high-tech ordering system), video conferencing with neighboring diners, and on-demand access of movies and music videos. A screenshot from an old promo gives us a few clues as to how some of this might have worked.

Apple in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Apple2 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Play

Rt in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Rt2 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Zac Blake

Zac in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Andy Gilmore

Sec in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Future Cities

Future Cities in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Master Pyramid

Master Pyramid in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Flux

Re in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Kitchen

Kitchen in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retro Futuristic City

Retro Futuristic City 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Sexy Robot

Sexy in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Concepts

Concepts 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retro Future Cars

Retro Magazines 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Bridging The Gap

Bridge The Gap in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Frank R. Paul City

Frank R Paul City in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Das Neue Universum

Das Neue Universum in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Scripto Satellite

Scripto Satellite in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Tocame

Tocame in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Triobelisk

Tr in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Triorelisk in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Bloom

Bloom in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

“P” is for Possibilities of the Future

P For Possibilities in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Striking Spaceship Squadron

Striking Spaceship Squadron in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Popular Electronics 1958

Hi in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Hi2 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Exterior Double Cylinder Colony

Exterior Double Cylinder Colony in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Cylinder Colony in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Space Settlement 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Rocketeer Adventure Magazine

Rocketeer Adventure Magazine in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Bohn 1947

Bohn 47 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Futuristic Train

Futuristic Train in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retro Futurism

Retro Futurismus Flickr 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Le Femme

Le Femme in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Robert Rock

Robert Rock in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Space Race

Space Race 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

If I Only Had Wings, I’d Fly

If I Only Had Wings 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retro Futurism Artworks by Klaus Bürgle

Lh in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Lh2 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Klaus in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Retro Futurism

Retro Futurism 40 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Gates to Elysium

Tiager 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

The Jetson’s

Jetsons in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Tutorials

Futuristic Athlete design and tutorial
Using multiple layers and brushes, this tutorial will show you how to create a futuristic athlete.

Futuristic Athlete Tutorial in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Creating The New Retro
Graphic designer James White shows you how to give retro-style graphics your own modern-day spin.

Creating A New Retro Tutorial in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Speed Lightning Effect
This tutorial will show you how to manipulate natural lighting to fill a motion filled scene. Use masks to blend the effect over a car image to make the car appear to be in motion.

Speed Lightning Effect Tutorial in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Design a retro futurism space scene
In this tutorial, you will learn how to design a retro-futuristic space scene, using a variety of lighting effects and photo manipulation.

Retro Futurism Tutorial in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

How to Make Retro Futuristic Curves in 10 Steps
In this tutorial, you will learn how to achieve the space like scenery with the glowing lines. Using Illustrator and Photoshop you?ll learn how to add subtle effects using textures and different blending modes.

Retro Futuristic Tutorial 10 in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Futuristic Abstract Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a futuristic abstract poster design using layer styles, shapes and ’space’ effects.

Futuristic Abstract Tutorial in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Steampunk Style Illustration
In this tutorial, you will be using light sources, shadows, and image grading to go back in time with this design.

Steampunk Style Illustration in Retro Futurism At Its Best: Designs and Tutorials

Further Resources


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  1. 1
    DKumar M.
    June 8th, 2009 2:46 pm

    Nice Inspirational article sharon!! Now if only a lot of the older eastern block science fiction movies would become more readily available I would be happy.

    Also found this link which holds more great example of Retro Futuristic Artwork. http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/11/retro-future-to-stars.html

    DKumar M.
    @instantshift

  2. 2
    meks
    June 8th, 2009 3:21 pm

    The best retro-futurist design I’ve seen lately was the entire Fallout 3 video game.

  3. 3
    Mugros
    June 8th, 2009 3:29 pm

    I like many of the design. I really miss the older SciFi novel book covers.

  4. 4
    Adrian A.
    June 8th, 2009 3:30 pm

    Excellent! My fav is the Dharma Initiative poster. Good one :)

  5. 5
    Anrkist
    June 8th, 2009 4:35 pm

    Very nice… rare to see a theme like this. The Fudgegraphics tutorial looks great.

  6. 6
    Darwin Santos
    June 8th, 2009 5:56 pm

    Awesome. all of this reminds me back when i was a kid, the transformers were supposed to arrive in the year 2005 and it seemed so far back then, i even remember having arguments with my friends about which brand of car will start selling flying cars first. Great article.

  7. 7
    Trevor Henry
    June 8th, 2009 6:20 pm

    As much as I love all of Scott Hansen’s work (and I definitely love it), that’s Andy Gilmore you’ve posted. Scott featured him in a blog post a few days ago.

    The Dharma ads are absolutely awesome though.

  8. 8
    Anwar Bendaoud Andersson
    June 8th, 2009 6:20 pm

    I agree with the above comment regarding Fallout 3. That game is simply amazing in terms of both interface design and the graphics. Well deserving of a mention.

  9. 9
    Creamy CSS
    June 8th, 2009 10:52 pm

    Fantastic! Really retro futurism,.. great post! Thanks!

  10. 10
    irka
    June 8th, 2009 11:00 pm

    guys, this is best SM article ever! I love s-fi and retro futurism.. and this is my subject for my next school project. You read in my mind, again :)

  11. 11
    Lichtathlet
    June 8th, 2009 11:05 pm

    Amazing!

  12. 12
    moabi
    June 8th, 2009 11:33 pm

    wow…amazing !!!

  13. 13
    Line of Design
    June 8th, 2009 11:42 pm

    Very inspiring collection… :)
    Thanks

  14. 14
    AnneFG
    June 9th, 2009 12:05 am

    Really enjoyed this, one of my favourite features yet! Cheers!

  15. 15
    Stryker
    June 9th, 2009 12:15 am

    Great collection. Also you could look more artworks here: http://www.splashnology.com/blog/inspiration/44.html

    Thanks!

  16. 16
    Tanaka13 - Créations du Net
    June 9th, 2009 12:32 am

    very nice collection!

  17. 17
    Jay
    June 9th, 2009 12:44 am

    + 1 for Fallout (for all the series).

  18. 18
    matt
    June 9th, 2009 12:46 am

    I remember the sexy cyber girl from the 80’s – I’m sure it was used in a computer magazine @ the time, “Amstrad Action”..

    This post makes me think of the film “Gattaca” Futurism meets Art Deco.

  19. 19
    solemone
    June 9th, 2009 12:58 am

    Isnt it Robot Rock and not Robert Rock ;)

  20. 20
    Quakeulf
    June 9th, 2009 1:03 am

    Holy smokes it’s like I’m growing up again! Nostalgia-goggles are on and they are thick and they heavily obscure my vision. :’3

  21. 21
    STPo
    June 9th, 2009 1:12 am

    Nice selection!
    What about Bioshock ?

  22. 22
    federico
    June 9th, 2009 1:18 am

    thank u guys , u made my day!!! i f£$%ing love retro futurism!!!!

  23. 23
    Gerd Wippich
    June 9th, 2009 1:54 am

    Cool stuff. I want a robot for christmas.

  24. 24
    kadaffy
    June 9th, 2009 1:58 am

    how cool is this, very~! Amazing art and emotion…Thanks very much for this article, is really inspired for me.

  25. 25
    Bernat
    June 9th, 2009 2:27 am

    Tho I’m a big follower of Scott Hansen I have to say that his entry on this list is not his… It’s on a post about Andy Gilmore. I think you should change itl.

  26. 26
    Valuchin
    June 9th, 2009 2:56 am

    Genial!!!

  27. 27
    Lars
    June 9th, 2009 3:03 am

    so damn inspiring!
    More plz!

  28. 28
    Cathedral Graphic Design
    June 9th, 2009 4:58 am

    Dharma Initiative poster wins… I wonder if it’s possible to acquire a print of that! Nice post, some interesting stuff in there, thanks Smashing!

  29. 29
    gamma-normids
    June 9th, 2009 5:11 am

    OH, the Jetsons :D I looooved that movie when I was a kid.

    The sexy robot poster looks so familiar, but can’t remember why.

  30. 30
    Richard
    June 9th, 2009 5:40 am

    Soooo inspring!

  31. 31
    Robin Cannon
    June 9th, 2009 6:42 am

    Adore this collection. It’s a genre that I love, and it has great design potential. What’s more, it’s a genuinely fun genre to design in. I think this, along with steampunk, are my favorite kind of designs to play with (retro futuristic tends to work better in a web medium).

  32. 32
    chris
    June 9th, 2009 7:21 am

    this is kinda retro futuristic

  33. 33
    Dusan Vlahovic
    June 9th, 2009 8:15 am

    Love me some Retro Futurism! Thanks!

  34. 34
    johnny5
    June 9th, 2009 10:37 am

    COOL STUFF MAN!

    You should def check this out… Called an
    electronic cigarette Tobacco companies are trying to keep it shush shush….

  35. 35
    Echilon
    June 9th, 2009 12:05 pm

    Tigaer (author of Gates to Elysium) has some really great work on deviantArt which is similar.

  36. 36
    Dain
    June 9th, 2009 12:57 pm

    A very nice collection. I see quite a few Syd Mead works throughout. Every artist can learn much from this man.

  37. 37
    Jehzeel Laurente
    June 9th, 2009 2:49 pm

    Wow! I love the Dharma ad. I’m a big fan of Dharma Initiative since I fell in love with LOST. Weeeeeeeee!

  38. 38
    Gizelle
    June 9th, 2009 7:33 pm

    I love retro! Good job..

  39. 39
    Ashely Adams : Sticker Printing
    June 10th, 2009 3:37 am

    Science meets art. What a nice walk down memory lane. I felt a sudden rush of nostalgia to see all those lovely retro posts. I remember reading that book “Future Cities” too sometime in my childhood. It came in a set of 3, the other titles being, (as far as I remember), “Robots” and “Future Travel”. I used to adore them.

  40. 40
    roderic
    June 10th, 2009 4:53 am

    Check this designer out! His work is stunning and pure retro futurism
    http://www.myspace.com/elmorales

  41. 41
    Peter Nudo
    June 10th, 2009 10:43 am

    I really love this post. I’m really into Retro Futurism as well right now and have been inspired greatly by James White, Chuck Anderson and the great up-and-coming Sakke Soini.

    My approach is a little bit different than theres, but a combination of each. I try and kick out a new project each month, some are good, some aren’t: http://www.behance.net/peternudo

  42. 42
    DJ
    June 11th, 2009 12:17 am

    It’s always nice to see one of my early books onscreen!

    I conceived ‘Future Cities’ as part of a ‘World of the Future’ trilogy, with my sadly late collaborator, Ken Gatland, who had been President of the renowned BIS British Interplanetary Society.

    The illustrator of this cover, the talented Brian Lewis, is also gone – he painted covers for the scifi mag ‘New Worlds’ (1960s-era) for several years.

    Best wishes to all you futures enthusiasts out there.

  43. 43
    Mark L.
    June 13th, 2009 1:12 pm

    The funny thing is that when those drawings were made people just knew that we’d be in flying cars and living on the moon by now. 2009 just “sounded” futuristic in the 60’s. Meanwhile one of the biggest advancements in the world is something no one saw coming: Twitter.

  44. 44
    Shan
    June 30th, 2009 11:45 am

    There’s plenty of designs like these here: One On One Tutorials Truly inspiring website.

  45. 45
    Khoi Nguyen
    September 14th, 2009 9:46 am

    I always love a little bit of inspiration in my day!

  1. 00

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