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Baker Today
By the People, for the People
Byte Magazine Artist Robert Tinney, Who Illustrated the Birth of PCs, Dies at 78
Tinney's airbrushed cover paintings defined the look and feel of pioneering computer magazine Byte for over a decade.
Published on Feb. 11, 2026
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Robert Tinney, the illustrator whose airbrushed cover paintings defined the look and feel of pioneering computer magazine Byte from 1975 to the late 1980s, has died at the age of 78 in Baker, Louisiana. Tinney became one of the first illustrators to give the abstract world of personal computing a coherent visual language, translating topics like artificial intelligence, networking, and programming into vivid, surrealist-influenced paintings that a generation of computer enthusiasts grew up with.
Why it matters
Tinney's cover art played a crucial role in shaping the visual identity of the personal computing revolution in its early days. His work helped bring the abstract concepts of emerging technologies to life and made them more accessible to a growing audience of computer enthusiasts.
The details
Tinney created over 80 covers for Byte, working almost entirely in airbrushed Designers Gouache. He cited René Magritte and M.C. Escher as two of his favorite artists, and fans often noticed their influence in his work. Tinney's connection to Byte came through a chance meeting with Carl Helmers, who would later found the magazine. Tinney's covers became so popular that he created limited-edition signed prints that he sold on his website for decades.
- Tinney's first cover appeared on the December 1975 issue, just three months after the magazine launched.
- Tinney painted covers for Byte from 1975 to the late 1980s.
The players
Robert Tinney
The illustrator whose airbrushed cover paintings defined the look and feel of pioneering computer magazine Byte for over a decade.
Carl Helmers
The founder of Byte magazine, who discovered Tinney and commissioned him to create the magazine's covers.
What they’re saying
“One day the phone rang in my Houston apartment and it was Carl wanting to know if I would be interested in painting covers for Byte.”
— Robert Tinney, Illustrator (Vintage Computing and Gaming)
“A friend suggested once that I should select the best covers and reproduce them as signed prints. Byte was gracious enough to let me advertise the prints when they could fit in an ad (it did get bumped occasionally), and the prints were very popular in the Byte booth at the big computer shows, two or three of which my wife, Susan, and I attended per year.”
— Robert Tinney, Illustrator (Vintage Computing and Gaming)
The takeaway
Robert Tinney's iconic cover art for Byte magazine played a pivotal role in shaping the visual identity of the personal computing revolution in its early days, helping to bring the abstract concepts of emerging technologies to life for a growing audience of computer enthusiasts.
