Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Artwork by Joel Thomas Ransley.

Set in the radioactive and deserted post-apocalyptic world of a future San Francisco, Philip K. Dick’s 1968 science fiction noir novel investigates themes of humanity, empathy, and entropy; what does it mean to be human, or for that matter, alive? The story follows that of bounty hunter Rick Deckard who is tasked with tracking down and retiring six escaped androids, who have escaped from the off-world colonies. Dick’s novel would inspire the generation of science fiction writers with its scope and pace and was the inspiration behind the 1982 cult classic Blade Runner and its recent 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049.

The illustrations presented aim to visually interpret aspects of Androids and deconstruct not only its rich and dynamic setting, but its capture the influence it has had on the wave of mid-century science fiction storytelling as a global phenomenon. Each of the three images have been composed with the influence of genre cover art found during the 1960s-1980s.

The first, showing the book’s iconic police hovercar flying over the apocalyptic ruins of San Francisco, has been composed of photography of the planet of Mars and the war-stricken capital city, Damascus of Syria. Dick’s anti-war commentary on the effects of a world post-nuclear war were, and remain apt, having been penned during a period of great tension between two hostile military superpowers. One of our generation’s most destructive conflicts, the ongoing Syrian War, here serves as a relevant visual image.

The second cover seeks to reimagine the art most closely associated with classic science fiction literature and pays homage to Blade Runner, which put into visual media the characters and world of the book. Japanese language text has been used to demonstrate not only the wider global success of the book, but as reference to the Japanese typography used as a powerful and memorable graphic element throughout its film adaptation.

Finally, the third cover takes a more minimalist approach, with two hand-drawn images on a pattern. Russian typography has been used for dramatic effect, and in reference to the presence of the Soviet Union in the fictional world of the book. The character Isidore, framed in the empty corridors of his abandoned apartment block is portrayed as Edvard Munch’s The Scream, a piece of art specifically mentioned in Chapter 12 of the book. The figure reacts to the spider, four of its legs sliced off, as done by the empathy-less androids of the novel, a scene which serves as a larger metaphor for the values that differentiate man from machine.