Artists

Over the years a large number of graphic artists worked on Telecomsoft titles. A few are mentioned here, with hopefully more to come in the future:

Stephen Robertson

Most recognisable by his 8-bit title screen signature SIR, Stephen created a series of C64 title screens for the budget range Firebird Silver/Silverbird between 1986 and 1987. Titles included Freak Factory, Happiest Days of your Life, Harvey Headbanger, I Ball, Microrhythm, Olli and Lisa, Warhawk, Twinky Goes Hiking. Stephen has his own website, which can be found on the Links page.

An interview with Stephen can be found on the excellent C64 web site Lemon 64.

David Rowe

David Rowe created some of the most memorable paintings for Firebird's 8-bit classics, including the eye that adorned The Sentinel, and the cover for the Flying Shark conversions. His first piece of artwork for Telecomsoft was actually for Beyond just after they had been bought by BT (for the Monolith game Bounces).

In addition, David also worked for Starlight Software and produced the artwork for the charity 8-bit software compilation Soft Aid. He also contributed the background art for the children's British TV series Knightmare and later created the artwork that adorned the box for the classic EA game Populous. David is married to the equally accomplished artist, Susan Rowe, who also produced some work for Telecomsoft (including the back of the novella The Darkness Rises that came with the Rainbird title The Jewels of Darkness and some unused artwork for the Firebird coin-op conversion of Rainbow Islands.

These days, David Rowe is joint Managing Director of Broadsword Ltd (with John-Jones Steele), a software development company based in Wales. Many thanks go to David for providing the excellent scans of his original paintings.

Herman Serrano

Herman is one of a rare breed of artists who is as adept with a paintbrush as he is with a mouse. Apart from co-designing Weird Dreams (as well as doing all the in-game graphics, the title screen and the box artwork), Herman contributed a number of other paintings including Carrier Command, Quartz, and Savage.

Titles screens drawn by Herman included Carrier Command, Quartz, Savage, Starglider 2, Verminator, and Virus (ST version only). He also contributed some of the in-game graphics for Starglider (Mac and Spectrum), Carrier Command (icons on 16-bit versions), and Stunt Car Racer.