a.i) 20th October 2016, I started to wonder if this unused Alien logo done
around the early stages of the Alien production was a starting point for
Alien monster IV, inspired by
production artwork.
Michael Doret designed and drew the forms based on
the bio-mechanical forms that he saw in some publicity stills from the
production.
It's as if elements of Delville's Treasures of Satan had
somehow become absorbed in to the logo.
a.ii) The tendrils coming from the top
of the devils wings have perhaps transformed into the row of tab like
blades
running along the top of the wing features on the top left that perhaps
might actually be the octopus suckers at the end of the tentacle like
wings moved to the front.
a.iii) The
devil's zigzagging tail has transformed into the caduceus below the A in
Alien.
a.iv) Since Michael Doret claims that he had never seen Treasures of Satan until I showed it to him, he obviously must be a talented man who just managed to conjure the right shapes to fit the general pattern, and well that's perhaps okay.
He didn't think that it was likely that Giger had seen his work, and then we don't know that should be so either way.
b) One might assume that Giger appears to have been inspired by the
wings above the letter A , and transformed them into the complicated
wings of his creature.
The logo's wing where the end becomes reduced to a
jagged thorn becomes transformed into insect like parts with
mandibles, the curve of this letter becomes the curve of the Alien
monster's body.
c) The bottom of the L of Alien has transformed into a stag
beetle like mandible, and perhaps has been transformed into the L
shaped limb coming from the left of Giger's painting ending in a blade
tip staff like form from which a glow worm appears
- Michael Doret: The title treatment I designed for Ridley Scott’s Alien never made it into the public arena. It had some small promotional uses before it was run over by the Bill Gold Advertising machine and relegated to the back burner. At any rate, this was great fun to have worked on—the more so since I was able to work on it with my friend (the now famous “pop-surrealist”) Todd Schorr. I designed and drew the forms based on the “bio-mechanical” forms I saw in some publicity stills from the production, and Todd painted the absolutely gorgeous finished art. Perhaps we went too far with this piece? I’ll probably never know what really happened. (http://alphabetsoupblog.com/?p=1264)October 24, 2016)
- Wmmvrrvrrmm: I’m just wondering when during the Alien production you actually worked on the illustration. October 20, 2016
Michael Doret: Actually it was at the very early stages of production. The only thing I had as reference was a contact sheet of black and white photos from the set. I had to extrapolate a lot. (http://alphabetsoupblog.com/?p=1264, October 20th, 2016) - Wmmvrrvrrmm: Do you think that Jean Delville’s Treasures of Satan from the 19th Century might have been another source of reference behind the Alien logo design? The square blades on the wings on the left and the Caduceus like tendrils below the “A” make me wonder, and other elements of the design seem to roughly echo the painting. I’m starting to wonder if Giger took interest in the logo and used it as a starting point for his Alien Monster IV done somewhere around the end of 1978, so your logo would have possibly been a starting point for Giger. I’m having a theory that Giger’s painting referenced or absorbed about a dozen different works, a few others of which were connected with Delville’s painting. I’ve linked my page about this on my blog about the Giger painting
(November 24, 2016 ##)
Michael Doret: Dear Wmmvrrvrrmm, I have never seen Jean Delville’s Treasures of Satan (until now). Any resemblance between that work and my design for the Alien title treatment is purely coincidental. In all likelihood Giger never saw what I did.
Comment by Michael — January 27, 2017 # (http://alphabetsoupblog.com/?p=1264, )
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