Speculative Evolution, or Spec-Evo is a thought concept for world building, art, and scientific concept where people (mostly those well versed in science) use the theory of Evolution to predict or make an educated guess as to how organisms can evolve and change in whatever scenario they can come up with. As someone who has a massive love for biology and paleontology I can say that evolution is a key part in understanding the two, and likewise Spec-Evo is a great exercise in not only learning more about evolution and other life sciences, but it's a genuinely fun and interesting exercise in science fiction world building.
If it's big, scaly(or feathery), and has a wicked cool design then it's definitely for me! Quite frankly it makes sense that the three are intertwined with each other if you think about it. Back in the ancient past people would tell stories about giant, sometimes fire breathing, reptiles that would be slain, worhsipped, or just generally feared by the people of that time. From there our ancestors slowly but surely discovered the remains of ancient animals that seemed to match those ancient descriptions of dragons, but soon they realized that these animals lived long ago in an even more ancient past than our ancestors, and were given the name, Dinosaurs, the terrible lizards. As people began to discover more and more about these ancient beasts, people from all over the world would be inspired to make their own films and stories of such creatures. Including a man named Ishiro Honda. Who, after being inspired by dinosaurs, movies, and comics, would decide to make his own film about not just an ancient beast, but a beast that embodied the horrors of war and nuclear annihilation itself, and that creature would be known as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! And from the day I could walk the three have, and will always, hold a special place in my heart.
I remeber my first Transformers show. It was Transformers: Animated. I would watch that show religiously when it came out. And when the show finally ended I was so sad for the longest time up until Transformers: Prime came into my life. Since then I've been a Transformers fan, and a fan of almost anything with robots in it, forever! I know not everyone can get into it, and that's perfectly fine, but the way I see it is what makes Transformers so special is that the frachise, a lot like Godzilla actually, has been changed, re-adapted, or rewritten to the point where there's a Transformers show, movie, comic, game, or whatever for basically everyone! Like do you want a classic saturday morning cartoon? Well there's the G1, Animated, Cyberverse, and so many more for you! Or maybe you crave something more dark and serious. Well you've got the live action movies, Transformers: Prime, Armada, and even the Cybertron games! Or maybe you want something in-between, well there's tons of comics and even more tv shows to choose from. I recommend the IDW comics for anyone that's interested! Now again I know it's not for everyone, but something about being able to interact with new and old fans to this day just feels inspirational. I want to be able to say that in the future that I would be proud to have a kid that loves to play with transformers toys and watch transformers shows just like I did. And that feels great!
I'm more of a Sci-Fi guy personally but I could see the appeal of fantasy series. I'm a huge nerd when it comes to things like lore, world-building, and especially creature and character designing and science fiction and fantasy media has that in spades. Some of my favorite include Star Wars, Warhammer 40k/Fantasy, Transformers(again), Attack on Titan, God of War, Halo, DOOM, Half-Life, Jurassic Park. I know a lot of these don't seem like science fiction or fantasy, but those two categories aren't necessarily what people assume them to be. So the next time someone tells you they don't like Sci-Fi or Fantasy, ask them what they like, and I guarantee that somewhere in the mix is a bit of science and a bit of fantasy in there.
Before I decided to be a Graphic Designer, or even an artist, I was fascinated with biology and nature as a whole. As a kid I would read, watch documentaries, and even watch tv shows that would teach me more about the natural world and how it worked. There were so many things that I learned about wildlife, anatomy, biology, astronomy, and so much more in that lifetime than I ever did in school. Even though I don't plan on having a career in a scientific field, I still feel fascinated by the world we live in, and any opportunity to learn something new is one that I welcome with open arms.
Even though I'm pursuing a career in Graphic Design, my real passion is in art. Almost any kind of art that I see from drawings, to paintings, sculpting, digital art, and even 3d art not only interests me but also gains my respect for the amount of effort and creativity it takes to make something with the upmost level of passion. Of course if I had to pick one thing about art that I love wholeheartedly, it would be animation! There are so many styles, forms, and mediums that animation could take that for me to list them all would take up a whole novel, yet I love them all equally. If I ever get the chance, I'm going to make my own animations, and maybe even my own animated series to show to the world in the hopes that I can inspire, move, and even entertain other people the same way my favorite movies and shows did when I was a kid.