A tale of Sci-Fi, Brand and Website Support

Science Fiction has been a part of my life since I can remember and today in my role at Modular it still creeps in.

Aged 4 my Dad took me and my brother to see Star Wars in the cinema and my relationship with Sci-Fi began. Apparently, I asked questions all the way through the film “who’s he?” “why are they doing that?”…but despite my chattiness, the tradition held and even as adults we would all troop out together to see the new Star Wars releases. 

Growing up, our house was always bursting with novels, comics and paraphernalia, full of future worlds, variant life forms, dystopian tales and rich imagery. I was deeply fascinated by the characters, the visuals, the battles, the friendships, fear, alliances, despair and hope that filled the screen and pages.

Later on in life, I met and married Adam Millington. Who it turned out, was also a fan of the Sci-Fi genre. Given he was a designer, I guess there was a 50/50 chance that he would have a touch of nerd about him and I just knew he would win my Dad over, when he casually flashed his Dan Dare books at him when they first met. 

A love of the SciFi genre remains strong

Love for the genre still burns bright. Especially the amazing illustrations and artwork that emerged in the 1950s, 60s and 70s that featured on posters, book covers, postcards, in comics and album sleeves. 

The visuals and imagery produced during that time are simply astounding. Given the big themes and ideas they were representing, it is no surprise the output was a psychedelic tapestry and explosion of colour and shapes, all beautifully topped off with futuristic fonts. Retro futurism is an art form we often pay homage to both in our personal and professional lives. It snuck onto our wedding invites in 2013… 

… and more recently the style found its way into our Modular imagery portfolio to illustrate our specific website support services on social media and at events. Each of the images below was chosen specifically to represent a core Modular website support service – managed website hosting, rapid response troubleshooting and website maintenance and to make what can be a dry, technical service more friendly and human.

The imagery has also crept onto Modular merchandise – tote bags, stickers, postcards – which you can now grab when you see us at events, like Building Brands Live in Exeter (November 2024) or pop by Modular HQ for a visit. 

Dad was always offering me advice for the business, even in his later days, gems would be shared. His last was “Emmy, you should get some water bottles, put your Modular company name on them and then clients can have them to drink when they come to visit you”. Whilst these are not water bottles, I think Dad would still have been proud.

So, if you ever see Modular out and about at events and spot a Sci-Fi lady riding in a spaceship or space men working together to look after a spaceship, you won’t just be looking at a piece of branding…

…you will be looking at a little bit of family legacy, a shared love of retro futurism illustration and a nod to a Dad, who whilst no longer is with us, is still present in so many ways.

At Modular we help organisations create human first brands and digital products. If you want your brand to feel more human, drop me an email emma@thisismodular.co.uk or give me a buzz on 07584 652285.