At 33rd Square we take our futurism pretty seriously. That said, we love a good laugh too. (If you don't believe that, don't check out our spin off humor blog.)  The art of Bruce McCall is so wonderful for us, because it combines a look at the future, from the vantage of 'Retro Futurism,' with a tongue-in-cheek humorous approach.


Born and raised in Canada, where he was a high-school dropout, McCall is a largely self-taught artist and writer who returned to his first love, humor and satire, after careers in commercial art, journalism, and advertising.  A longtime contributor to the New Yorker, McCall's best-known work draws on the big-shouldered hubris of the middle 1920s and the early 1950s to create future paradises where the skies are fllled with zeppelins and every car has wings. He's a wry observer of contemporary life and a witty writer.

 McCall began his career as an illustrator for car ads -- by his own account not a very good illustrator. He'd left the field and became a copywriter when, on a whim, he and a friend sent some humorous drawings to Playboy (at that time, 1970, it was a legit career move). He soon connected with the founders of the National Lampoon, a pioneering humor magazine, and went on to create some of their most enduring images -- finding in the 1970s countercultural media a rich audience for his satirical take on the Atomic Age. He's now working the same magic at the New Yorker. His latest book is called Marveltown , and is exactly what it sounds like. McCall's latest book is called 50 Things to Do with a Book.

Here is a sampling of McCall's work, and don't miss his TED presentation embedded below.