Syd Mead

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Sydney Jay Mead (July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019)<ref name="ign">Template:Cite web</ref> was an American industrial designer and neo-futurist concept artist. Initially known for his influential futuristic design work for industrial clients such as U.S. Steel, Philips, and Ford, he subsequently went on to create conceptual and world designs for science-fiction films such as Blade Runner, Aliens and Tron.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mead has been described as "the artist who illustrates the future" and "one of the most influential concept artists and industrial designers of our time."<ref name="heavy">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Mead was born on July 18, 1933, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His father was a Baptist minister, who read him pulp magazines, such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, sparking his interest in science fiction. Mead was skilled in drawing at a young age. According to Mead, "by the time I was in high school I could draw the human figure, I could draw animals, and I had a sense of shading to show shape. I was really quite accomplished at that point with brush technique and so-forth." He described himself as being an "insular child."<ref name="heavy" /> Mead graduated from high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1951. After serving a three-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, Mead attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles (now the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena), where he graduated in June 1959.<ref name="holly">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

File:Smell Fear (3043373242).jpg
Voight-Kampff Machine, an example of Mead's artwork for Blade Runner

In 1959, Mead was recruited to Ford Motor Company's Advanced Styling Studio by Elwood Engel. From 1960 to 1961, Mead worked in Ford Motor Company Styling in Detroit, Michigan. Mead left Ford after two years to illustrate books and catalogues for companies including United States Steel, Celanese, Allis-Chalmers and Atlas Cement. In 1970, he launched Syd Mead, Inc. in Detroit with clients including Philips Electronics.<ref name="holly" />

With his own company in the 1970s, Mead spent about a third of his time in Europe, primarily to provide designs and illustrations for Philips, and he continued to work for international clients.<ref name="Syd Mead Futurist: Biography">Template:Cite web</ref> Through the 1970s and 1980s, Mead and his company provided architectural renderings, both interior and exterior, for clients including Intercontinental Hotels,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 3D International, Harwood Taylor & Associates, Don Ghia, Gresham & Smith<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Philip Koether Architects.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Beginning in 1983, Mead developed working relationships with Sony, Minolta, Dentsu, Dyflex, Tiger Corporation, Seibu, Mitsukoshi, Bandai, NHK and Honda.<ref name="forbes">Template:Cite web</ref>

Mead's one-man shows began in 1973 with an exhibit at documenta 6 in Kassel, West Germany. His work was later exhibited in Japan, Italy, California and Spain.<ref name="forbes" /> In 1983, Mead was invited by Chrysler Corporation to be a guest speaker to its design staff. He created a series of slides to provide visuals to the lecture, and the resulting presentation was a success. It was later expanded and enhanced with computer-generated images specifically created at the requests of several clients, including Disney, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, Pratt Institute and the Society of Illustrators. In March 2010, Mead completed a four-city tour of Australia.<ref name="Syd Mead Futurist: Biography" />

In 1992, he participated in the production of a TurboGrafx-CD video game, Syd Mead's TerraForming.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1993, a digital gallery consisting of 50 examples of his art with interface screens designed by him became one of the first CD-ROMs released in Japan. In 2004, Mead co-operated with Gnomon School of Visual Effects to produce a four-volume "how-to" DVD series titled Techniques of Syd Mead.<ref name="Syd Mead Futurist: Biography" />

In 2018, Mead published his autobiography, titled A Future Remembered.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Regarding his work, Mead said, "the idea supersedes technique,"<ref name="Syd Mead Futurist: Biography" /> and that "I've called science fiction 'reality ahead of schedule.'"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In film

Template:Multiple image Mead worked with major studios on the feature films: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Short Circuit, Aliens, Timecop, Johnny Mnemonic, Mission: Impossible III, Elysium, Tomorrowland and Blade Runner 2049.<ref name="ign" /><ref name="cnet">Template:Cite web</ref> George Lucas and Joe Johnston created the AT-AT for the Star Wars saga based on art by Mead from his U.S. Steel catalogues.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mead also contributed to the Japanese film Solar Crisis. In the 1990s, Mead supplied designs for two Japanese anime series, Turn A Gundam and the unfinished Yamato 2520.<ref name="cnet" />

In May 2007, he completed work on a documentary of his career with the director Joaquin Montalvan entitled Visual Futurist:The Art & Life of Syd Mead. The short 2008 documentary film 2019: A Future Imagined, also explored his works. Mead also appears in movie documentaries such as Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner and Mark Kermode's On the Edge of Blade Runner, and promotional materials such as the DVD extra for Aliens and a promotional short film about the making of 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Clear

Personal life and death

Mead was in a relationship with Roger Servick. They married in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They established a publishing extension, Oblagon, Inc., in Hollywood<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and relocated in 1998 to Pasadena, California, where Mead continued to work.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On December 30, 2019, Mead died in his Pasadena home at age 86, after three years of lymphoma.<ref name="holly" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A memorial to Mead exists within Cyberpunk 2077's Columbarium, honoring his legacy and works in Cyberpunk-style media (Films, Games. i.e. Blade Runner, Tron, etc.) and inspiration used in other projects (i.e. Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex, etc.)

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Wikiquote Template:Commons category

Interviews

Template:Inkpot Award 1980s Template:Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Syd_Mead&oldid=407183"