Mike Trim

Mike Trim is a British artist known for illustrating the cover of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, which depicts a Martian tripod striking down the Thunder Child. A book of his illustrations entitled The Future was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim was released in 2006.

Trim grew up in Fulham and attended Christopher Wren School. He later completed a two-year course in graphic design at the London School of Printing.

In 1964, Trim's father saw a newspaper advertisement seeking model-makers for a film company. Beginning in the final days of Stingray, Trim worked as a model-maker and designer for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's television series Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90, The Secret Service, and UFO, as well as their feature films Thunderbirds Are Go, Thunderbird 6, and Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (a.k.a. Doppelgänger).

Starting out in the model shop, Mike eventually became special effects director Derek Meddings' assistant in designing the futuristic vehicles, buildings, and look of the Andersons' series. Eventually, he would take on the bulk of design work for the series as Meddings became more involved in feature films.

After contributing a single (unused) vehicle design and model to Space: 1999, Trim then moved into freelance illustration, creating an iconic cover painting for the album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds in 1978.