Like the old “picture worth 1,000 words” adage, these book covers use just a little language and as context for larger messages. Perhaps the more appropriate phrase would be some turn on: “what you don’t say speaks volumes.”

Designed by Johan Deckmann, an artist as well as psychotherapist, these self-help spoofs tackle existential issues most people can relate to, all using a combination of cover, color, layout and juxtaposition.

The various pieces address the difficulty of finding true love, the complexity of understanding ourselves and others, and the rarity of really good ideas (and propenderous of bad ones).

A final phrase to consider in light of these light-hearted works of art: “laughter is the best medicine.” The books are not his only message-based works along these lines, but they seem to say the most.

The Russian embassy has taken a hard line in Bulgaria where Soviet monuments have been spray-painted to become iconic American fictional characters from Superman and the Joker to Santa Claus and Ronald McDonald.

According to the Moscow Times, Russia has continued to demand that measures be stepped up to clean and protect the statues. They also want Bulgarian authorities to identify and punish the criminals and do more to prevent future attacks.

The monument at the center of the controversy was sprayed with red paint around the anniversary of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, but some artists have had other ideas over the years as well.

Previously, this same monument in Sofia was painted bright pink to recall the Prague Spring — it later got covered in Ukrainian colors to show solidarity. They have been covered with masks as well.

Of course, this is all a bit excessive in context — these are memorials to a defunct regime and situated in a foreign country over which Russia has no control. One solution would be to simply remove them from public view, as has happened in other countries over the years, but, in the end, it’s up to Bulgaria, not Russia.

Whether intentionally retro, as in Stranger Things, or overtly futuristic, as in RoboCop, the role of typography in a movie goes well past the title, subtly but powerfully shaping the world viewers are invited to experience.

Dave Addey, author and creator of Typeset in the Future, is as meticulous as he is obsessed, analyzing appearances of type in film line by line, providing insights, context and speculative answers to various uses (as well as typo corrections).

It started with Eurostile Bold Extended, which has made appearances from Star Trek to Wall-E. Since then, he has written about typography in Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Moon, and in anticipation of the sequel: Blade Runner.

With fonts you get a lot of context for free,” says Addey. “You’ve established the time frame for your movie in seconds without a lot of special effects or backstory.” It also tells you something about the world, like: when a single megacorp runs everything and its typeface is consequently found everywhere.

He watches films over and over again, taking notes then tracking down type, sometimes manually by searching through old books to find exact matches (in other cases: the typography is custom, making the process frustrating).

And type is just part of the equation: he looks at iconography and other design elements too, piecing together a larger picture of the various strategies in play and how they relate to the core narrative.

By zooming in on this one aspect of films, he often traces connections that are easy to miss, like: a newspaper being held by the lead character in Blade Runner later appearing as the liner for a drawer. For fans of sci-fi and design, his blog will take you deeper into films than you realized you could go — it is well worth checking out.

More about the project: “This site is dedicated to typography and iconography as it appears in sci-fi and fantasy movies and TV shows. It’s inspired by the Typeset In The Future trope I added to TV Tropes. (If you know of more good sci-fi font examples, please do add them to that page.)”

In the same magic-realist vein as artistic giants like Salvador Dalí, M.C. Escher and Renê Margritte, Rob Gonsalves crafts elaborate and interconnected scenes that shift subtly to form remarkable illusions of dizzying depth and scale.

The 55-year-old Canadian of Portuguese descent takes settings that look ordinary at first glance, then layers and intersects them to form fantastic fictional realities. Many of his pieces tackle overlap, blurring the boundaries of natural and built environments.

Trees falling from the tree on a street form a canopy for a second, semi-secret world below. Books slowly turn into steps as they make their way around a domed library. Bricks become rooftops as children walk along a path. Skyscrapers morph into trees, blending nature and cities.

After college, Gonsalves worked as an architect and painted trompe-l’œil murals and theater sets on the side. As the popularity of his artistic works grew, he turned to painting as a profession.

“Although Gonsalves’ work is often categorized as surrealistic, it differs because the images are deliberately planned and result from conscious thought. Ideas are largely generated by the external world and involve recognizable human activities, using carefully planned illusionist devices. Gonsalves injects a sense of magic into realistic scenes. As a result, the term “Magic Realism” describes his work accurately. His work is an attempt to represent human beings’ desire to believe the impossible, to be open to possibility.”

Steampunk, the aesthetic of Victorian clothing and steam powered technology, is known best for its old timey costumes and eccentric, cog-laden accessories, but there’s a whole side to the movement that’s exploding in popularity: Artwork. The airships with their sky captains, the rumbling, lurching machines of war, and mustachioed heroes with rocket packs provide a plethora of content for any artist. Here are 11 of the best and most intriguing types of steampunk artwork:

(Images via anidea, steampunkscholar, steampunkmagazine)

A large part of the steampunk appeal is the variety of characters and the uniqueness of their clothing, appearance, and behavior. The Airship Captain and his nemesis the Air Pirate… the Soldier of Fortune with a rocket pack… the variety is endless. It’s natural that paintings and digital art would spend a lot of time focusing on these characters and their eccentricities. Bright colors and a lot of movement give these portrait subjects the appearance of swiftness and power.

(Images via boingboing, infinitecoolness, templates, lanalog)

Any sci fi world has to have robots, as they’re a crucial focal point for the examination into humans and technology. With steampunk’s emphasis on pushing the boundaries of technological innovation (albeit via outdated science), the creation of robots is a large factor in the genre. The clockwork, cogs and gears, element makes robots even more interesting because of their apparent fragility and uniqueness.

(Images via cgsociety, omega7red, saintview)

The only thing more fun than a clockwork robot is a clockwork robot hundreds of feet high. As is natural in any scenario that involves brilliant Professors, some of them are bound to be insane and power hungry, and just downright villainous. Whether these lurching colossi were created by an ambitious government power, or a greedy tycoon, they always add excitement to a steampunk tale. Artists have a lot of fun illustrating the destruction these creations can wreak on an urban center.

(Images via steamlords, ottens, mykeamend, phoenixnewtimes)

Airships are one of the staples of steampunk, and their importance to the movement is well represented by the amount of artwork centered on them. Whether they sail through the sky using gigantic Zeppelin style balloons, or are kept aloft by gigantic flapping wings and rotors, they are a stunning visual example of all that’s interesting about the culture, and the technological dream it represents.

(Images via ebsqart, elfwood)

Just as fantasy subcultures have an intense subculture that revolves around cartography, mapping the various lands in fictional universes with beautiful sketches and old style maps, steampunk has schematics of the intricate clockwork machines and attachments that are required in any interesting steampunk tale. Schematics are often beautifully rendered, but they’re also just as often quick entertaining sketches that appear to have sprung out of the mind of some madcap Professor.

(Images via izismile, darkroastedblend, haikubaikou)

As any steampunk world is part of a fictional universe, some artists tend to take the aesthetic into a more abstract direction. They dream of worlds in which animal and machine are combined, or where machines have become so advanced under steam power that they’re as ingrained as cars are in our world.

(Images via peachbeach, brassgoggles, steampunkrings, elfwood)

The prolific inventor and wildly intelligent inventor / gentleman is one of the many character types that are popular in costuming and art. The combination of old style stateliness with action and wild accessories lend an interesting duality to these characters.

(Images via myfreewallpapers, ubersuper, cghub, commissioned, ottens)

Victorian landscapes and visions of classic city centers is always beautiful. When you add the steampunk aesthetic, these landscapes can transcend what is truly possible and become utopian (or extremely industrial). The steampunk emphasis on machines and technology allow artists to incorporate incredibly interesting elements into what would otherwise be a mundane cityscape.

(Images via ottens, brassgoggles, drikoland)

Star Wars has leaked into nearly every subculture since its premiere in 1977, and steampunk is no exception. While many artists concentrate on creating costumes for Stormtroopers and Darth Vader that represent steam technology, there are also plenty of painters and digital artists who have taken a stab at this famous trilogy and its characters.

(Images via aj-concepts, gaiaonline, darkroastedblend, streettech)

Transportation is a fun element in any steampunk fiction. Pneumatic tubes, incredibly fast railroad cars, and powered bicycles are just some examples of the shaky steam powered vehicles that are common. The only requirement is that they be groundbreaking for the story’s period, and that they break down often, but can always be repaired on the go, and are always able to kick back into action when a second’s delay would have meant doom.

(Images via thegeekcouch, pinkkryptonite, forbiddenplanet, conceptart)

Any fiction includes war, but steampunk fiction adds new twists, with even more exotic ways for nations to butt heads. Flying ships, napalm, rocket packs, tanks and robots, all add to the variety of troops and machines that can be sent against one’s enemies. In some fiction nations fight in the old style, with alternating volleys of steam powered muskets and rocket barrages, but in most tales, it becomes much messier. Giant war machines are typically at the center of any big battle, and they add an intimidating visual element to steampunk artwork.