Concept Design 2: Works from Seven Los Angeles Entertainment Designers and Seventeen Guest Artists [Hardcover]

Harald Belker (Author), Steve Burg (Author), Scott Robertson (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1933492031 | ISBN-13: 978-1933492032 | Publication Date: June 1, 2006 | Edition: 1

In this second volume of Concept Design, seventeen guest artists are featured along with the original seven Los Angeles Entertainment Designers from Concept Design 1 to show us worlds, vehicles, monsters and creations beyond the wildest imagination! Even more astounding and jam-packed than the first volume, Concept Design 2 takes you on a journey into the minds of the talented and successful concept design professionals who create for the sake of creation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In the fall of 2001, seven concept designers began work on Concept Design 1, which became the first book published by Design Studio Press. Since that time, they have continued to explore their personal artwork, which fills this new book. During the development of Concept Design 2, they each invited several of their friends to join in the experience of creating this edition. The subject matter varies within the concept design spectrum, but the one constant is the high level of imagination and visual communication expressed by this fine group of concept designers.

With credits on feature films such as Star Wars: Episodes I, II and III, War of the Worlds, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Spider-Man, X-Men United, Alien vs. Predator, Minority Report, and Terminator 2 & 3, these talented and prominent entertainment concept designers have joined together to create Concept Design 2. Featured within the pages of this book, you will find personal works from this talented group: Harald Belker, Steve Burg, James Clyne, Mark Goerner, Neville Page, Nick Pugh, Scott Robertson, Ryan Church, Dylan Cole, Kasra Farahani, Sean Hargreaves, Khang Le, Stephan Martiniere, Ed Natividad, Rick O'Brien, Dan Quarnstrom, Christian L. Scheurer, Oliver Scholl, Sparth, Farzad Varahramyan, Warren Wanser, Mike Yamada, Felix Yoon, Feng Zhu.

From the Back Cover

The original group of seven concept designers from Concept Design 1 has returned AND this time they have invited 17 of their talented friends to join them! Concept Design 2 is an indispensable addition to the library of anyone who appreciates entertainment design artwork. A must-have for those interested in the creative process, Concept Design 2 will take you on an imaginative and personal journey through the minds of 24 world renowned and fabulously skilled artists.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Design Studio Press; 1 edition (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933492031
• ISBN-13: 978-1933492032
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great variety of artistic style and nice concepts, March 1, 2009

By 

Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Concept Design 2: Works from Seven Los Angeles Entertainment Designers and Seventeen Guest Artists (Paperback)

Length:: 0:23 Mins

This book is filled with beautiful prints from professional illustrators. There are concept designs for creatures, vehicles, environment (sci-fi and fantasy) and a few sketches. Each illustration is explained by the respective artist the concept behind and sometimes the workflow. The technical quality of work is great, as one can guess by the names of artists included.

This is actually a portfolio art book and not one that teaches concept design. The variety of style is great and ideas amazing.

The book is hardcover and the illustrations are printed on semi gloss paper. A lot of illustrations are given full page treatment. Some are printed a double-page pull out. They look really great printed big.

In terms of focus, the 17 guest artists are given over 30 pages compared to the 120 pages for the featured concept designers. If you like to see more of their artwork, the short biography pages at the back contains their website addresses.

Here's the list of 7 concept designers and guest artists:

* Mark Goerner
* Nick Pugh
* Scott Robertson
* James Clyne
* Steve Burg
* Neville Page
* Harald Belker

* Nicolas Bouvier
* Ryan Church
* Dylan Cole
* Kasra Farahani
* Sean Hargreaves
* Khang Le
* Ed Natividad
* Warren Manser
* Stephan Martiniere
* Rick O'Brien
* Dan Quarnstrom
* Christian Lorenz
* Scheurer
* Oliver Scholl
* Farzad Varahramyan
* Mike Yamada
* Felix Yoon
* Feng Zhu

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good addition to any digital artist's collection., September 6, 2006

By 

Crow (Salem, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concept Design 2: Works from Seven Los Angeles Entertainment Designers and Seventeen Guest Artists (Hardcover)

I bought this book on a wim. The title and the size of the book led me to believe it would have some descent sized pictures and would be a good collection of original ideas. I wanted something that would inspire me to work harder on my own work. And that is exactly what I got.

I am quite pleased with this book. It is worth the price. There is a good variety of subjects, some that impress me, some that don't. But all the work is skillfully done. There is little in the way of artist comments or direction on how to achieve the effects they achieve, but that is the way I like it. This is more about the work. More text would mean less space for artwork. The artwork is mostly digital, however, there is an appropriate amount of sketches, too. The last few pages have information on the artists and their websites(if an artist has one).

I am disappointed there aren't more sketches or character designs. Most of the work is mechanical or environmental. It needed more character designs to balance it out, in my opinion.
There are some artists I didn't care for, subject matter I didn't care for(the concept cars for one), but nothing irritating or offensive.

The wide range of subject matter means there is something for everyone in this book. I gave it four stars, mainly because it doesn't contain more of the type of work I'm interested in. But if I could give it 4.5 stars, I would. It works great as reference material and is a good addition to any digital artists collection.

19 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Putting the vanity in "vanity press"..., March 20, 2007

By 

jaw line (baltimore, md) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concept Design 2: Works from Seven Los Angeles Entertainment Designers and Seventeen Guest Artists (Hardcover)

You should definitely get this book if you want to learn how far self-promotion can take you. Or alternately, you could save your 30-some-odd bucks and just take this review to heart.

I bought the book to keep around as inspiration--printed out jpeg's just don't cut it and they don't last, right? I also bought it to check out what my competition was doing out on the Left Coast, sort of to light the fire under me.

Well.

The book is printed nicely, and I felt that a lot of the text was pertinent and interesting. The images, though?

Well.

The bulk of the book (the first part) is the seven LA guys showing off their work, and a lot of it. Some were pretty ok, but there are several guys who may be experienced, commercially viable pros, but whose work blows. I mainly found the best images to be in the "and friends" part, which is the second half of the book where various other guys get an image or two displayed.

There are some nice visual pauses that come from z-brush and sculpy images, but there are just too many instances of very high-tech high school art. There were no Craig Mullins, Dussos or Syd Meads in the bunch, it's safe to say.

So, take the tip: even if you suck or are abysmally average...promote, promote, promote--and one day, you too can get seen!