Early January 2014 I was contacted by members of TimeOut London Magazine to do the cover art for an upcoming issue. The theme/cover article was "Next Stop: The Future!" A feature on what's in store for London in the later part of the 21st century. The aesthetic they were looking for was the "retro-future" approach, which encompasses flying cars, art-deco style architecture, jet-packs and more "Jetson-eqsue" decor.
Above is the final image/layout for the magazine issue. Below is what I had submitted to the editors. Things that were requested by the TimeOut London staff to appear in the cover image were: flying taxi cab, a gentleman with bowler hat flying by on a jetpack, Big Ben to be displayed in digital, the London Tube and then a retro-futuristic London cityscape.
The images below display the progression and evolution of the concept art that went into making the final magazine cover image. The silhouette style mixed with minimal colors were used in the first round.
After some discussions and feedback, the more "painted" look of old retro pulp style book covers came into play. Then it was a matter of properly placing the city skyline, the positioning of Big Ben and what exactly was going to be in the sky. Then the final image came to be.
Here is the cover article shown on TimeOut London's website.
And the issues seen in public.
