The Wave of the Future Rare Original Lithograph Poster 1982 Weird Science (2025)

Save to favorites

Please login to save your item as a favorite.

  • Home > Price Guide > Fine Art

Pricing & History

  • Sold for

    Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.

  • Sold Date
  • Source eBay

The Wave of the Future- out of distribution very rare poster.This poster is from the original printing in 1982Measures 23" x 36"Please look closely at the pictures and message me with any questions.AboutThe year was 1981. We had a brand new software company as a client—VM Software, and they needed a poster to attract visibility at a trade show. The 80's were a tumultuous time in the technology space. Mainframes were king, and it would be the mid to late part of the decade before we would even own a Macintosh which we leased along with a 10" (maybe 12") monitor, keyboard and mouse, for the princely sum of $15,000.Along with my former partner, Alex Berry, we conceived a poster that would take the famous Hokusai wave and morph it into a new format—representing the transition from analog to digital and is reflective of where the software/hardware industry was starting to move. Mainframe technology and legacy systems were on their way out, and a new order was in its infancy. The internet was still just an experiment and would not be available to the public for many years to come.Getting an image of the Hokusai wave was easy. I then contacted an illustrator that I had worked with and asked him if he would be able to create a digitized section of the map. Brad Pomeroy labored on creating hundreds of tiny little squares by overlaying an acetate sheet over a copy of the original lithograph and coloring each and every one by hand using Prismacolor pencils. While Brad was working on the digital version, we tried to figure out how to attack the line work. While this might be easy today using Illustrator or Photoshop—back then those programs did not exist. Instead, I had two designers laboriously ink each line on another vellum overlap using rapidographs and ink. Since the line work had to be precise, each artist could only work on it for 1/2 hour at a time—so three of us spent untold hours switching off.Then we had to figure out a way to blend the digitized portion with the original and the line work to the digitized portion. That involved two more overlays and yet another one for where the black would appear. With a total of six overlays—there was really no way to be certain how the final piece would turn out. I handled all of the transitions, hand coloring odd shapes, carefully adding squares that would blend into the line work and supervising the colors that would peak out from the line work. Then we had to turn the entire set over to the printer, Virginia Lithograph, and trust that it would work out on press.As a young designer, I was nervous that my brainchild poster would flop and untold hours of time and expense would not be successful. Plus, I had a client that was growing impatient and needed this poster for the upcoming tradeshow. I remember the butterflies in my stomach as I watched the poster emerge on press—I was terrified and almost could not look at it. Luckily, the owner of Virgina Lithograph, master printer Roger Chavez took over and made sure everything went well.The poster was a huge success for VM Software—and was reprinted many times. It went into commercial printing in 1983 and was actually part of a divorce settlement between my former partner and his third wife. After that, I lost track of how many times it was reprinted. I have seen the poster on TV, in movies, and I even have a jigsaw puzzle that was made from the poster. I still get requests for copies of the poster and people often want to know what program I used to create it and what filters I used. I get a chuckle out of that thinking that this poster really did portend the wave of the future. Oh, and one last hidden clue that I have never revealed—the Japanese calligraphy in the top left hand corner—it means “Grafik.” read more

The Wave of the Future Rare Original Lithograph Poster 1982 Weird Science (10)

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.

Similar Items

The Wave Of The Future Original Poster Gourmet Grafiks 1982 Framed 23 X
THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE 1982 Digital Artwork Print Lithograph Poster Hoku
"Wave Of The Future" Rare 1982 Lithograph Poster
"wave Of The Future" Lithograph Poster
The Wave Of The Future Original Lithograph Rare Poster 1982 Gourmet Graf
Vtg THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE 1982 POSTER Depicts Analog To Digital Era Hok
The Wave Of The Future Rare Original Lithograph Poster 1982 Weird Scienc
Vintage VM Software IBM "THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE" 1982 POSTER Gourmet Gra
The Wave Of The Future Rare VIntage Poster 1982 Weird Science
The "wave Of The Future" Rare Original Lithograph Poster 1982 Digital Ar

More Items From eBay

Vintage Santa Poster Art Print Wall Merry Christmas Holiday Litho Large
MINIATURE : PORTRAIT Of The COUNTESS Of GRIGNAN Born De Sévigné - 19th C
PORSCHE 930 TURBO SPORTS CAR ART POSTER PRINT – 18” X 24" Giclee 911
Game Of Thrones -antique Map 24x36 Poster Tv Series John Snow Film Wall
Lake Placid 1980 Figure Skating Poster Olympics Vintage
R. De Hooghe Original Bible Engraving Jacob Dream Ladder - 1721
Cosmic Fantasy Psychedelic Blacklight Poster 24x36
BLACK PANTHER Jungle Cat Velva Print Flocked Blacklight Poster 1973 AA S
PORSCHE 914 MARATHON De La ROUTE 1970 RACE ART POSTER PRINT – 18” X 24"
Original Art,nude,modern,lot 8 Aceo/oil Hand Painted, Discount Sale,erot

Live Lots

Discover and Bid on Current Inventory Available from Our Industry Partners
(results based on your current search)

Relevant Fine Art Articles

January 24, 2025 by Brenda Kelley Kim California Fires Claim Warhol Art
January 20, 2025 by Will Seippel Insights on Auction Sales: January 18, 2025
by Daniel Kobialka Great Discoveries: Painting by John Lennon’s Art Teacher Found

Similar Books

XVIII-XIX Century Portraits, Landscapes And Marines
Choice Oil Paintings, Examples Of The Finest Work Of Hassam, Metcalf, Bl
XCatalogue De La Superbe Collection D'estampes Anciennes, Laissee Par Fe
Catalogue Of Historical Portraits And Views, XVIIIth And XIXth Century L
Catalogue Of Modern And Antique Oil Paintings And Water Colors Of The La
Catalogue Of Oil Paintings, Water Color Drawings And Pastels By Mr. Will
A Choice Little Collection, Paintings By The American Masters And A Numb
Illustrated Catalogue Of Notable Colored Mezzotints By S. Arlent Edwards
Huxford’s Fine Art Value Guide Volume 3

Activate Membership

Click below to begin your paid subscription.

Your credit card or PayPal account will be charged.

Cancel

The Wave of the Future Rare Original Lithograph Poster 1982 Weird Science (2025)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Twana Towne Ret

Last Updated:

Views: 6513

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (44 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Twana Towne Ret

Birthday: 1994-03-19

Address: Apt. 990 97439 Corwin Motorway, Port Eliseoburgh, NM 99144-2618

Phone: +5958753152963

Job: National Specialist

Hobby: Kayaking, Photography, Skydiving, Embroidery, Leather crafting, Orienteering, Cooking

Introduction: My name is Twana Towne Ret, I am a famous, talented, joyous, perfect, powerful, inquisitive, lovely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.