The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist

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ARTS (Proposed for November: Invited event presenter in connection with Arts and Architecture series) Sadly, that's not so. It was a great collection of many films (both released and cancelled) but there were plenty of holes. This book does no justice to the comprehensive work he did on TRON and on Blade Runner 2049. I'd assume these were just barely covered because of competing volumes and licensing issues, but the omissions were glaring. Garvey, Marianne (December 31, 2019). "Syd Mead, the visual artist behind 'Blade Runner' dies at 86". CNN . Retrieved January 2, 2020. In response to numerous requests, the 4 volume DVD “HOW TO” series of instructional DVD’s, “TECHNIQUES OF SYD MEAD” goes on sale. Syd Mead: 'Pivotal' Blade Runner designer dies". BBC. December 30, 2019 . Retrieved December 31, 2019.

Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist - Google Books The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist - Google Books

Concept design and illustration: Theme project AWAGI) (Concept design and illustration: Theme project NEOTOPIA) Syd Mead is one of the most accomplished and widely respected artists and industrial designers alive today. His career boasts an incredible array of projects from designing cars to drafting architectural renderings, but he is most famous for his work as a concept artist on some of the most visually arresting films in the history of cinema. Since working on Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1978 as a production illustrator Syd Mead has always aimed to render “reality ahead of schedule,” creating evocative designs that marry believable content with a neofuturistic form. It is this ability to predict technological potential that has helped Mead create such a distinctive and influential aesthetic. From his work with Ridley Scott on Blade Runner, to his striking designs for the light cycles in Tron, to his imposing concept art for the U.S.S. Sulaco in James Cameron’s Aliens, Syd Mead has played a pivotal role in shaping cinema’s vision of the future. As a personal note, no designer or artist has affected me as deeply as Syd Mead: he was – and will be – a constant point of reference, and since his passing a few days ago I’m coming to realize more and more how much of my personal aesthetic culture has been affected by him in one form of another. Production design for vehicles and footage production arti- facts for casino attraction for Las Vegas Hilton)Now the style of Syd Mead is incredibly distinctive and yet when you look through the book you realise how many of his designs shaped the "feel" of the film and to be honest I am not sure how many of them really did credit him for that. After all you can see the character of Johny 5 in Short Circuit really coming out in his work.

Syd Mead, concept artist on Blade Runner. An ode to Syd Mead, concept artist on Blade Runner.

Sydney Jay Mead, commonly Syd Mead (born July 18, 1933), is an American industrial designer and neofuturistic concept artist, widely known for his designs for science-fiction films such as Blade Runner, Aliens and Tron. Mead once said, "I've called science fiction 'reality ahead of schedule.'"

Syd Mead - Visual Futurist and Concept Artist". Carnegie Council. September 2, 2017 . Retrieved December 31, 2019. His one-man show, “Cavalcade to the Crimson Castle” consisting of 114 original paintings and illustrations, enjoyed a three month showing at the Center for the Arts in San Francisco in the Fall of 1996. The highlight of the show turned out to be Syd’s presentation and lecture attracted an audience that exceeded the available capacity of the auditorium. Subsequent personal appearances at schools across the country have attracted record numbers. “SYD MEAD PROGRESSIONS” a traveling one-man-show of his work, is now in the planning stage to mark the 40th anniversary of his work. This touring exhibition is currently scheduled to premiere in Glendale, California at the Forest Lawn Gallery of Fine Arts in January 2012. Concept design of ‘future’ variations for motorcycles. Production of illustration for mural enlargement as design studio feature In 1979, projects began to include work with most major studios, on such feature films as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, followed by, Blade Runner, TRON, 2010, Short Circuit, Aliens, Time Cop, Johnny Mnemonic, Mission Impossible-3, and most recently Elysium starring Jodi Foster and Matt Damon, directed by Neill Blomkamp. Beginning in 1983, Syd began to develop close working relationships with a number of major Japanese corporate clients, including; Sony, Minolta, Dentsu, Dyflex, Tiger, Seibu, Mitsukoshi, Bandai, NHK, and Honda as well as contributing to two Japanese film projects, The New Yamato and Crises 2050. In the 1990s’, Syd supplied designs for two Japanese toy icons, “The New Yamato” and all eight robot characters in the new Turn-A Gundam mobile suit series which were also seen as characters in Television shows.

Syd Mead - Wikipedia

Syd was the grandfather of concept design, creating world class designs and unmatched visions of the future that were uniquely his to the very end. Few people have had such a massive influence on the world of art and design as he did throughout his career. He will be sadly missed by all, but his legacy will live on forever.” What makes Syd’s vision so compelling,” says the book’s author, architect/designer and professor Craig Hodgetts, “is not only the means he employs to convey it, but the acute physical and environmental awareness: the endless curiosity about how the world works; the precise level of detail and the practical engineering knowledge that he brings to even the most fantastic devices.” Beginning with the look of the both geometric and organic mechanical villain V’ger from the year 2273 in 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture to a mid-21st century casino and hotel in this year’s Blade Runner 2049, Mead’s sketches, drawings, illustrations, and paintings have inspired and influenced the art design of dozens of movie productions. With transportation design as his first love, Syd Mead seldom misses an opportunity to provide his unique blend of futurism and believability to those projects consisting of a vehicle that travels from “A” to ‘B”. Whether it be designing solar powered unicycles, show cars, luxury yachts, cruise ships, the interiors of private 747’s, or interplanetary spacecraft, each receives the same attention to detail within a perfectly designed scenario. This combination has become a Syd Mead trademark and has been seen in everything from concept cars for Ford Motor Company to futuristic “Hypervans” which have been the subject of his latest full-color illustrations. Born on 18 July 1933 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, 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. He was recruited by Ford Motor Company's Advanced Styling Studio by Elwood Engel. 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.His legacy lives on not only through his works as well as all the lectures, interviews and speeches that we are fortunate to have inherited: his vision of the future has become engrained in our culture and I think one day we’ll really discover what a major influence he has had on our reality – and our future. Tl;dr: Mead's art is genre defining and highly recommend this book for that, the let down was in the writing. Absolutely worth getting and sitting with a big cup of tea and immersing yourself in some of the best science fiction art of all time, you're going for the art not the writing.