Book Review: Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz
If you possess cursory knowledge of the original Star Trek series, Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz is simply a cool collection of retro posters inspired by the television show. Its clever designs mimicking propaganda, film, and concert placard styles, might even convince you to watch the program for yourself. However if you’re a Trekker who’s seen the series, Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz will engage you on a deeper level, because you can interact more freely with artist Juan Ortiz’s unique interpretations of the show’s characters and themes.
This coffee table piece from publisher Titan Books delves into all three seasons of the ‘60s Star Trek, with posters for each episode, similar to ones you’d see in the halls of a movie theater. Every placard designed by Ortiz teases the viewer with an episode’s title and main stars in print, while entertaining depict themes that the story explores. Sometimes Ortiz surprises you by using his posters to address subtext that the show’s writers intended or by including elements that Star Trek’s creators wanted to explore, but didn’t have the budget for at the time.
Why did Ortiz embark on this ambitious project to recreate the entire Star Trek series via posters? An interview with Ortiz conducted by Christopher Cooper at the start of the book explains the artist’s background in comics and his inspiration for this project. For fun, Ortiz started making placards for other science fiction properties that he loved, and once he crafted some Star Trek ones, he couldn’t stop. His desire to do the entire show was born from those initial pieces and this book is the fruit of his labors.
As you flip through Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz, you’ll notice that Ortiz starts conservatively in the first season’s posters, gaining a lot more confidence with seasons two and three. Ortiz’s designs for the second and third seasons are vibrant, so bold and full of color. Each one has life and energy as if it’s moving right off the page. Season three represents his most fully realized vision with incredibly brave use of fonts and shades that are almost psychedelic. What’s very neat about this book though, is that you can actually read Ortiz’s intentions behind each work.
Conveniently the book’s back section includes an index of every poster, along with a short summary of each episode, a quote, and Ortiz’s explanation on why did what he did. Sometimes it’s just a sentence, other times it’s almost a paragraph, but every time it’s an exciting window inside the artist’s mind. The thrill of the artist’s perspective isn’t something we normally get when interacting with art, since we mostly rely on our own impressions to interpret it.
For the average person Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz is a book that will look good on your coffee table, however for the true Trekker it’s a necessary addition to your Star Trek collection. Its slick designs will be a great conversation piece with friends and provide you with hours of amusement as you try to decode Ortiz’s subtext together.
Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz is available in stores and online at www.titanbooks.com.
