Computer Plant Life

"Thе Commodore РЕТ offers you а safe passage through the primeval swamр of computerization," says the ad copy accompanying this uncredited illustration in a June 1981 issue of Personal Computer World:

That image and ad copy offers a perfect example of how most retro tech illustration works: Visualize the hell out of a corny pun or metaphor in order to jazz up the latest consumer tech ad or coding explainer.

But don't take my word for it! Today we're looking at another dozen examples that all reached for the same basic concept: Gardens, jungles, and plants.

Before we start, though, I should mention that, much like my Medieval Computers post, this roundup couldn't exist without the efforts of art blogger Lookcaitlin, who has spent years spelunking the depths of the Internet Archive for the best '70s-'90s retro tech magazine illustrations.

You can check out Lookcaitlin's tumblr here and read my interview with them for more background. Okay, here we go!

Another ad borrows just about the exact same idea as the one above, asking "Is your PC an endangered species?" right below this lovely uncredited illustration of a bunch of animals cuddling with a PC.

One reason plant life might be such a popular theme is because it lends consumer computing a much-needed "one with nature" vibe.

Take the 1989 cover to Exploring Macintosh: Concepts in Visually Oriented Computing for example. The uncredited artist reimagines computer lessons as a safari, homaging the style of French post-impressionist Henri Rousseau by copying both the jungle setting that Rousseau frequently painted and Rousseau's intentionally flat "primitive" style.

Here's another great example of the computer as nature: Liz Murphy's illustrations rely on a "well-tended garden" metaphor.

The context is "Maintaining Diversity in the Electronic Republic," an article about government regulation on the internet, in the Nov/Dec 1995 issue of Technology Review.

The article includes these spot illustrations on the same theme:

Let's compare and contrast the Murphy illustrations with this one, credited to Hom & Hom in 1989 – the floppy disk flowers aren't dissimilar.

That Hom & Hom illustration is the first one here that isn't from Lookcaitlin: Writer and musician Claire L. Evans included it with a fascinating short story in her email newsletter last year, "Hyperlink Island."

The story's very on-theme for this post, and I highly recommend reading it. Evans mentions that it was "inspired by J.G. Ballard’s Report on an Unidentified Space Station and an image, which has haunted me for years, from Michael Green’s Zen and the Art of the Macintosh, of an ancient computer falling into ruin in the jungle."

Here's that 1986 image, which I think is by Michael Green himself:

Evans also includes a few related photo illustrations with the same email. This one didn't have a caption:

And these two are both from Nam June Paik's TV Garden installation, 1974.

Speaking of actual photos, here's one for the Falco 5500, scanned from the Feb 1987 issue of Mini-Micro Systems.

The ad copy hammers in the central visual pun here: "Stop sinking in ASCII terminal quicksand."

We can't talk about visual puns in retro tech illustration without Robert Tinney popping up. He's known for his era-defining run of Byte magazine covers, but I'm equally fascinated by his work for other computer magazines.

This Robert Tinney interior illustration from the Fall 1979 issue of onComputing is for an article on Atari's "hybrid" computer/game consoles.

The rich computer biodiversity continues with a Feb 1978 Personal Computing cover by Nancy Lawrence.

Here Lawrence bends the flexible "plant" metaphor in a new direction, comparing a bewildering amount of computer knowledge to an inpenetrable jungle.

This uncredited illustration of a desktop computer surrounded by nature and some trash is actually a little too charming to sell the message in the ad copy from the Sep 1978 issue of Acorn User, no matter how hard they yell "ROT!"

This next illustration by Bob Peters comes from The Society of Illustrators 31st Annual of American Illustration, 1990.

It's included without any further context, so we'll have to make up the visual pun ourselves. I'm going with "what phone calls feel like to anyone under 35."

A similar tome of coffee table illustration, 1986's Corporate Showcase 5, includes this one by Jeanette Adams. I'm cheating because this is clearly an animal-based computer, not a plant-based one.

At least the dinosaur computers in these 1983 Ivan Powell illustrations are accompanied by floppy disk foliage. I love the eerie green glow.

I'm sure there are many more computer/vegetation pairings left to discover in the forgotten realms of magazines like MICRO, InfoWorld, Creative Computing, or dozens of others.

(One of them, Apple Orchard magazine, even put that exact category of pun in its own title!)

For now, though, I'll wrap up with a delightful 1986 Paul Kratter illustration of a frog on a microchip lilypad.

Cool Links

American illustrator Shannon Stirnweis had a fascinating career across the 20th century that included men's adventure magazines, slick magazines, tons of paperback covers, over 35 children's books, and more.

Here's a four-part interview he did with Leif Peng at the art blog Today's Inspiration in 2022: Part one, part two, part three, part four.

Plus, since I mentioned Robert Tinney's non-Byte work in this issue, here's a great roundup of nine more of his tech magazine covers that you'll have missed if you only know him from Byte.

I'm turning into a Tinney fan, so if any readers know of any other less-known art from him, send it my way!

Music rec: Greek Pop Hits, 2022-2025. You know a Spotify playlist is authentic when the first 17 tracks aren't even available anymore.

Next Time: Odds and Ends - October 2025