In the 1970s and 1980s, the sci-fi art of Japanese illustrator Shusei Nagaoka graced numerous album covers and appeared in a variety of advertisements, magazines, and movie posters. Here is a small sample of his fantastic work. (Click the "+" under each image to enlarge.)



Munich Machine (album cover), 1977 [+]



Midnight Star: "The Beginning" (album cover) 1980 [+]



ELO: "Out of the Blue" (album cover), 1977 [+]



The Humanoid (movie poster), 1979 [+]



Close Encounter of the Fifth Kind [+]



Star Trek [+]



Conceive [+]



Airplanes are not as safe as you might think (magazine announcement) [+]



Earth, Wind & Fire: "I Am" (album cover inside), 1979 [+]



The Skyliners: "The Love Bug" (album cover), 1978 [+]



Station (illustration for Tsukuba Expo '85), 1984 [+]



Space Flower (illustration for Tsukuba Expo '85), 1984 [+]



Nuclear explosion over Tokyo (for NHK's "Earth After Nuclear War"), 1984 [+]



Monster Bird, 1972 [+]



Deep Purple: "When We Rock, We Rock..." (album cover), 1977 [+]



Sun: "Destination Sun" (album cover), 1977 [+]



The Sylvers: "New Horizons" (album cover), 1977 [+]



Hovercraft for leisure use, 1975 [+]



Humanoid (magazine cover), 1982 [+]



Bridge (poster for Mitsubishi Cordia XG), 1984 [+]



Station (poster for Mitsubishi Cordia XP), 1984 [+]



Birth (poster for Mitsubishi Starion GSR-X), 1984 [+]



Caldera: "Sky Island" (album cover), 1970 [+]

[Images from "The Works of Shusei Nagaoka" Part 1 (1981) and Part 2 (1985), NHK Publications]