We interviewed creature designers Wayne Barlowe and Neville Page, plus concept artists James Clyne, Ryan Church and Daphne Yap, about creating a whole new universe from scratch. Plus we've got some stunning concept art, from the new book The Art Of Avatar. In a year that's seen some amazing books of movie concept art, The Art Of Avatar features 106 pages of lush full-color paintings, interspersed with the industry's greatest design minds geeking out about every little aspect of Avatar's creation.

So here are a few things you didn't know about the design of James Cameron's Avatar:

Avatar Started As A Four-Month, Late-Night Jam Session At James Cameron's House

"[We'd be] working late at Jim's house, and having him come back after a three week spell of being down at the freaking Titanic, and having him tell us a story [about being on the ocean floor]." Read the rest of the story.

Pandora's creatures were partly based on cars

Early on in the process, James Cameron "mentioned the core idea" of having Pandora's creatures be "superslick and aerodynamic, and be like a race car with racing stripes," says creature designer Neville Page. Read the rest of the story.

Those crazy color schemes are from the ocean floor — and Art Nouveau

"In the real world, we didn't invent these colors. They exist on animals today. We didn't invent a whole new palette. I think the problem is — the challenge is — you don't often see large creatures with this much color on them." Read the rest of the story.

The human hardware, including those crazy battlesuits, is all based on real stuff

"One thing I worked on big interior for the mech suits, and the whole interior had to have a reason and function for why the suits were lined up the way they were, and how they could work on them like a pit-stop at an F1 race. It had to have that functionality." Read the rest of the story.

Avatar concept art from The Art Of Avatar (Abrams 2009)

Where do I start? I love the different version of the planet Vulcan, with more craggy spires and a redder tinge to it — and you can see the gathering storm clouds in the distance, as if Nero's attack is about to happen. It's great to see a better look at how the Narada was conceptualized, and exactly how it works. And of course, you get a nicer look at Spock's ship, the Jellyfish, under construction. The debris field full of starship wreckage is breathtaking and desolate, and the skydiving sequence looks superb.

I'm not sure if that bridge is supposed to be the Enterprise bridge, or the bridge where Kirk cheats on the Kobayashi Maru. (It says "Iowa Bridge," which makes me think the latter.) In some ways, I wouldn't have minded if the Enterprise bridge had looked like this — it's a bit grittier and dirtier looking than the gleaming version in Abrams' actual movie. But at the same time, it might look a little too similar to Scott Bakula's bridge, in Enterprise. What do you think?

Tons more images at the link. [James Clyne]

[Tim Flattery via TFW2005]

Everybody worships Syd (Blade Runner) Mead, or Ralph McQuarrie, who gave the original Star Wars trilogy much of its eyepopping vastness. But some of the designers and artists working today are doing work that's every bit as mindblowing and sensational. (We had a list of about 20 designers we wanted to feature in this post, and had to end up whittling it down. But maybe we'll feature some of the others soon.) A million, million thanks to Lauren Davis for the incredible research help.

Warren Manser (A.I., Spider-Man, Army Of Darkness, Serenity, Speed Racer)

James Clyne (A.I., Minority Report, Galaxy Quest, X-Men 3, Titan A.E., The Fountain, Transformers, Star Trek, Avatar, Battle Angel)

Miles Teves (Men In Black, Terminator III and IV, Iron Man, Outlander)

Nathan Crowley (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Mystery Men, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight)

Guy Hendrix Dyas (Indiana Jones IV, Superman Returns, Galaxy Quest, X-2: X-Men United, Brave New World)

Ryan Church (Star Wars Episode II and III, Avatar, Outlander, Star Trek, John Carter Of Mars)

Alex McDowell (Minority Report, Watchmen)

Jeannine C. Oppewall (Cat People, Pleasantville, The Happening, Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Richard Hudolin (Battlestar Galactica, Stargate: SG-1, Doctor Who)

Daren Dochterman (X-Men 3, Chronicles Of Riddick, Sky High, Get Smart, Dragonball, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Creature From The Black Lagoon)

What he's working on: J.J. Abrams' Star Trek and James Cameron's Avatar, plus Battle Angel.

After several failed attempts, scientists now believe that by withdrawing water from deep within the moon's inner core of newly discovered ice caverns, their terraforming operation will at last prove successful. Once the water is brought up to the surface and pumped through the eight mile wide transforming spheres, it will then be dispersed as new oxygen-rich compounds, which eventually will create a livable lunar atmosphere. The surrounding city has grown twofold in the last several months and its inhabitants anxiously await the momentous outcome.

That is, unless it's a crashed spaceship, and the hapless pilot is desperately trying to figure out how to get the thing upright again before he freezes his ass off. Or maybe it's something he bought 50 years in the future at IKEA, and those are the instructions which haven't become any more readable with the passage of time. At least it looks like the power is still on inside.

What we like about this image is that it could be any, or even all of the above. Who's to say it isn't a futuristic flying ice research station from IKEA that's been turned sideways? Conceptual artist James Clyne manages to marry future tech with the desolate feeling of a distant icy landscape in the middle of nowhere, and keep us guessing at the same time.

You can check out more of his concept artwork at his website, but be sure to bundle up and drink warm beverages as you browse.