This may be said a lot at the moment and i’m sure these images will pop up a lot too but there is no denying how much we designers/illustrators and certainly any of those of us who’ve done any concept illustration, owe to Ralph Mcquarrie.

To have even been involved at an even miniscule level in what was to become Star Wars (in fact this goes for numerous film projects that RM was involved in) would have been every boys dream in the 70′s/80′s, but to have come up with the concept look for iconic characters such as Darth Vader is pure genius.
Lets give him a round of applause boys and girls (probably a few more boys) nerds and geeks for a life that helped make our lives, certainly mine, more enjoyable and more full of exciting and imaginitive images that are positively burned into our memories and imagination.
May the force be with him (ahem).