November 30, 2014

Travel the Solar System! See Distant Worlds!

Mars – Valles Marineris © Ron Guyatt Sol System – Meteor Shower © Ron Guyatt In an explosion of heroic art deco design, illustrator and designer Ron Guyatt has created a massive series of posters making our own solar system fascinating again.

By Glendon Mellow

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Sun - Solar Flare © Ron Guyatt

Mars - Valles Marineris © Ron Guyatt

Sol System - Meteor Shower © Ron Guyatt

In an explosion of heroic art deco design, illustrator and designer Ron Guyatt has created a massive series of posters making our own solar system fascinating again. After 60 posters in the style of the ones we are sharing above, I found myself craving more. How about the mysterious Sedna? Or even Earth itself? Anyone for the Philae mission?

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But before I put Mr Guyatt to work mapping the rest of the solar system, let's take a good look at these. Each poster is a marvel of geometry and bold architectural composition. Saturated with colour, you won't find any full whites or blacks here, these posters are brimming with atmosphere. We have can have intense reactions to colours and simple shapes. The rich Indian yellow of the Sun - Solar Flare already appears warm against the black, but the vertical stripes in the background seem to emanate heat from the center of the image, dissipating into the dark of space at the border. The broken symmetry heightens the intrigue.

The challenge with artworks like these is in manipulating only a few simple elements in a crucial balance. At first glance they are deceptively simple. The reward comes from having some understanding of astronomy and being interested in learning more about the planetary features you don't know about. The simple shapes and colours pop into place and suddenly describe Saturn's polar cap, Jupiter's magnetic field or our bright light tucked behind a cloud of comets.

To the solar system!

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You can also sign up to receive a newsletter and info about Ron Guyatt and artist Indy Lytle's new studio, Fabled Creative, here.

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