Office of Robots

Robots, Robots, Robots

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From the Drawings Unit

Last Friday I delivered the last 9 pages of the comic to my colorist, and wrapped up the art duties on the book!

I'm So happy with how it's looking. I sent the pages off to a few friends of mine who make comics and the feedback I'm getting is that it's my best work yet. 🙏

To celebrate, here's a hot plate of new robots to feast your eyes on:

Get a front row seat of the ROBOTS book creation on Patreon: LINK​

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PATREON:

I'm posting my process for all my art on the patreon. If you'd love getting more behind the scenes content and learn a little more how I approach creativiy, project management, and business strategies I post over there at least one a week. Consider signing up!

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK

Emerson Tung's Tankhead

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From the Illustrators Division

Kindred spirit and formidable hard surface artist Emerson Tung has just launched his new book: TANKHEAD.

I've been watching Emerosn post these tank mech designs for close to a decasde now and it's exciting to see them collected in a world building book.

You can order the book here: LINK​

Check out the rest of Emerson's work here:

Website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Artstation: LINK

-Jake

The ROBOX BASIC

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From the Office of Robots

Cool robot designed by the late Kim Jun Gi and made by 1000Toys. These came out about 5 years ago I believe, but I just found out about them recently. Love the tranformability of them, and the utilitarian design.

More images here: LINK

-Jake

The 10 Greatest Robot Designs in Pop Culture

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The following list is what I consider the 10 best robot designs ever. I base this according to 3 factors:

  • Aesthetics. Is the design visually appealing?

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  • Functionality. Is the design mechanically sound, or does it look mechanically sound?

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  • Cultural significance. Has the design influenced other mech designs, or pop culture to a significant degree? Or is the design the pinnacle of other mech designs before it?

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There's a lot of robots that didn't quite make the cut that I love dearly. What it came down to is how much I felt they exemplified those three criteria. And if any of them scored a little lower in one area I had to sideline them for a better robot. With that, let's get to the list, starting with number 10!

10) Johnny 5

Designed by Syd Mead this was the first truly functional looking robot I remember seeing as a kid, and not just some guy in a suit. He's so iconic, Pixar couldn't help but make a smaller, cuter version for their Wall-e design.

9) The Iron Giant

I love this design because it takes all of the robot designs from the golden age of Sci-fi and makes a perfect symbol of them all. Plus it's incredible how much expression and character they were able to achieve with so few moving parts.

The Iron Giant was designed by filmmaker Joe Johnston, which was refined by production designer Mark Whiting and Steve Markowski, head animator for the Giant.

8) District 9 Exosuit

I love this design because it's got alien vibes, but made with familiar looking technology, though it's weapon systems are anything but terrestrial.

Designed for the District 9 movie by Weta Designer Greg Broadmore.

7) Eva Unit 01

Designed by Ikuto Yamashita this thing wrinkled my brain when I first saw it. It was like a perfect evolutionary jump from the Japanese mech designs of the 80s.

6) Canti from FLCL

Canti's retro futuristic design so aligned with my sensibilities when I first saw FLCL in the early 2000s that I thought, this is the most beautiful robot ever designed. I think he's my favorite of the bunch here...but I couldn't move him farther up the list because he's scores lower on the influential scale.

Not sure who designed him, so I'll credit FLCLs creator: Kazuya Tsurumaki​

5) AT-ST

Between the AT-AT and the AT-ST I thin this design is just better. We caught a glimpse of it in Empire Strikes Back, but would not get to see it in full action until three years later when Return of the Jedi came out. This is hands down, the best walker robot design ever made.

Designed by ILM and Nilo Rodis Jamero​

4) K2SO​

Standing on the shoulders of giants, the artists at ILM created a new classic with K2SO. A droid design that I think captures all the essence of previous Star Wars droids, imbues it with some contemporary shapes and proportions, and makes it what I think is the best robot in Star Wars.

Designed by the ILM art Department. Too many contributors to list here.

3) VF-1 Valkyrie

The VF-1 Valkyrie from Macross/Robotech was Designed by Shōji Kawamori and if this design doesn't reserve him a spot in heaven...then I don't know what to say.

I could write a novel about this design, but I'll just say this: It's a futuristic F-14 that transforms into not one, but two robots.

2) Voltron

Voltron was my FIRST robot crush. I watched the tv show faithfully. What makes this so awesome is that if it was just a team of FIVE giant robot lions that fought space beasts, I would've been completely satisfied...but no. Those lion bots combine to form a giant humanoid robot WITH a sword.

Perfection.

Designed by Takayuki Masuo, Yoshiro Harada

1) RX-78-2 Gundam

And this is it, the number one greatest robot design. I'll admit I'm not a huge Gundam Fan, I like it just as much as the next guy...but I can not deny its cultural impact, it's aesthetic appeal, and the care taken to fully flesh out the engineering of these things to the point of building an ACTUAL 1 to 1 size Gundam.

Designed by Kunio Okawara.

That’s my list. Of course, just as important as what was put on the list is why certain robots were left off the list. A few close runners up were Optimus Prime, Cherno Alpha, and the AT-AT. If there’s any that you think definitely should’ve been on this list, let me know which ones and why!

-Jake

The Stormtrooper Mechs of nohkunho

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From the Office of Robots

Who knew Stormtroopers and Gundams would mix so well? Like peanut butter and chocolate these two things just seem to compliment and enhance each other.

Japanese model maker nohkunho does some incredible work. He sticks to the Gundam genre mostly, but remixes them with other iconic figures. There's a ton more to see on his Twitter account: LINK​

and Website: LINK

-Jake​

Insanely Detailed Gundam Render

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From the Office of Robots

This video is just beautiful. I can't imagine how many hours went into this. Made by Chinese artist "PHOENIX0093" in Blender, rendered with EEVee.

The thing I love about Gundam is how thought through the design is from the inside out. Underneath each panel and plate is a complex array of struts, wires, and machinery. Hats off to this guy for lovingly modeling each component and putting it together in such a striking tribute to the design.

Watch the original video here: LINK​

More work here: LINK

-Jake

Sleek Animal Bots

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From the Office of Robots

Russian based concept artist Anton Valishin creates these stylish robot animals in 3d. It's a beautiful mix of contemporary industrial design and animal forms and I'd absolutely want one for a pet if they were real.

Behance: LINK​

Artstation: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

-Jake

Edo Era Giant Mech Battle

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From the Film and Animation Division

This is fun. You know I love robots right? I think I can trace some of that love back to this 80's anime anthology of robot stories called "Robot Carnival." I didn't see this until it somehow made it's way to my friend's house in the form of a bootleg vhs when I was in highschool. I was blown away at the inginuity and creativity of all the stories.

One that stuck out the most to me was "A Tale of Two Robots." It features a giant steampunk japanese robot battle inthe middle of a Edo period city. So fun!

You can watch the short here on YouTube: LINK​

Or if you have Prime you can watch the entire anthology here: LINK

-Jake

The Robots of @surume0407

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From the Office of Robots in cooperation with the Office of Scale Models

I found a great scratch builder of robots on twitter. He's based in Japan and goes by スエキチ(ケロッグ) or @surume0407. As far as I can tell he only posts on twitter. There's no website, gallery, or art account for his work, so you're stuck scrolling through his twitter feed to find all of his amazing works.

These are all cobbled together from other kits and some custon sculpted components he makes himself. Really incredible and inspiring.

More here: LINK​

-Jake

A Cool Boxy Robot Toy

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From the Office of Robots in partnership with the Office of Toy Acquisitions

Cool new toy announced by 52Toys is a die cast box that turns into a robot. This is totally something I would've designed and I love seeing that it actually exists! More info here: LINK

Cardboard Robots!

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From the Incredible Projects Division in cooperation with the Office of Robots

Melbourne based cardboard modeler Greg Olijnyk is currently hard at work BLOWING MY MIND. There's something going on down under because not even a few weeks ago I shared the cardboard airships of Daniel Agdag, also in Australia (LINK).

Olijnyk's work is more focused on a future that could be instead of the past that never was vibe I get from Agdag's pieces. He designs articulated robots, bug vehicles, and sophisticated devices complete with LED lights and glass for emphasis.

More images on his Instagram: LINK​

And on Colossal: LINK​

This one was submitted by friend of the newsletter Matt Connery. Thanks for the tip Matt!