Syd Mead

{{Infobox person

| name = Syd Mead

| image = Syd Mead LF.JPG

| caption = Mead in 2007

| birth_name = Sydney Jay Mead

| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|7|18}}

| birth_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|12|30|1933|07|18}}

| death_place = Pasadena, California, U.S.

| other_names =

| known_for = Designs for Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens, 2010, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture

| education = Art Center School

| occupation = Industrial designer

| years_active = 1959–2019

| awards = Inkpot Award (1989)[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award] National Design Award (2006)

William Cameron Menzies Award (2020)

| spouse = {{marriage|Roger Servick{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50955699|title=Syd Mead: 'Pivotal' Blade Runner designer dies|work=BBC|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}}|2016}}

}}

Sydney Jay Mead (July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019){{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/12/30/syd-mead-artist-behind-blade-runner-dies-tron-aliens-star-trek|title=Syd Mead, Artist Behind Blade Runner, Dies|work=IGN|last=Fowler|first=Matt|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Article |first=Min Chen ShareShare This |date=2025-03-19 |title='Blade Runner' Designer Syd Mead Gets First Major New York Outing |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/syd-mead-future-pastime-new-york-exhibition-2621849 |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}} 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."{{Cite web|url=https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/12/syd-mead-dead/|title=Syd Mead Dead: 'Star Trek' & 'Blade Runner' Visual Futurist Dies at 86|work=Heavy|last=Bicks|first=Emily|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.curbed.com/2015/7/23/9937790/syd-mead-city-architecture-blade-runner-design-future|title=Goodbye Syd Mead: A conversation with the artist who illustrated the urban future|work=Curbed|last=Sisson|first=Patrick|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019|archive-date=November 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102110351/https://www.curbed.com/2015/7/23/9937790/syd-mead-city-architecture-blade-runner-design-future|url-status=dead}}

Life

=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." 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/syd-mead-dead-concept-artist-behind-blade-runner-tron-was-46-1265259|title=Syd Mead, Visionary Conceptual Artist Behind 'Blade Runner' and 'Tron', Dies at 86|work=Hollywood Reporter|last=Kilkenny|first=Katie|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}}

=Career=

File:Smell Fear (3043373242).jpg]]

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.

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.sydmead.com/v/10/bio/|title=Syd Mead Futurist: Biography|website=Sydmead.com|access-date=June 7, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406191316/http://www.sydmead.com/v/10/bio/|archive-date=April 6, 2010}} Through the 1970s and 1980s, Mead and his company provided architectural renderings, both interior and exterior, for clients including Intercontinental Hotels,{{Cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/31/syd-mead-blade-runner-tron/|title=Syd Mead, concept artist behind 'Blade Runner' and 'Tron,' dies at 86|work=EnGadget|last=Moon|first=Mariella|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}} 3D International, Harwood Taylor & Associates, Don Ghia, Gresham & Smith{{Cite web|url=https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/people/syd-mead|title=Syd Mead – Visual Futurist and Concept Artist|publisher=Carnegie Council|date=September 2, 2017|access-date=December 31, 2019}} and Philip Koether Architects.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1662380/almost-genius-futuristic-food-court-by-blade-runners-set-designer-syd-mead|title=Almost Genius: Futuristic Food Court by Blade Runner's Set Designer, Syd Mead|work=Fast Company|last=LaBarre|first=Suzanne|date=September 27, 2010|access-date=December 31, 2019}}

Beginning in 1983, Mead developed working relationships with Sony, Minolta, Dentsu, Dyflex, Tiger Corporation, Seibu, Mitsukoshi, Bandai, NHK and Honda.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tamarawarren/2012/05/24/syd-mead/#285435c166ee|title=New Exhibition: Syd Mead|work=Forbes|last=Warren|first=Tamara|date=May 24, 2012|access-date=December 31, 2019}}

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. 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.

In 1992, he participated in the production of a TurboGrafx-CD video game, Syd Mead's TerraForming.{{cite web |title=Syd Mead's Terraforming review |url=https://www.classic-games.net/turbo-grafx-16/syd-mead-terraforming/ |website=Classic-Games.net |access-date=28 July 2024 |date=11 November 2019}}{{cite book |title=GamePro |date=May 1993 |location=United States |pages=96–97 |edition=46 |url=https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_046_May_1993/page/n119/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=28 July 2024}}

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.

In 2018, Mead published his autobiography, titled A Future Remembered.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/12/syd-mead-dead-blade-runner-tron-visionary-futurist-1202818716/|title=Syd Mead Dies: Visionary Futurist Who Worked On 'Blade Runner' & 'Tron' Was 86|work=Deadline|last=Pedersen|first=Erik|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}} Regarding his work, Mead said, "the idea supersedes technique," and that "I've called science fiction 'reality ahead of schedule.'"{{cite web|last=Cathcart |first=Rebecca |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/arts/23iht-lights.1.13118726.html |title=Borrowing an idea from Los Angeles |work=New York Times |date=May 22, 2008 |access-date=July 20, 2011}}

=In film=

{{multiple image

|total_width=400

|image1=Blade Runner Spinner Car.jpg

|width1=1025

|height1=756

|image2=Blade Runner Deckard's sedan.jpg

|width2=5184

|height2=3888

|footer=Mead is best known for his work on films such as Blade Runner. Some of Mead's concept art is visible in the background of the second 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/syd-mead-sci-fi-visual-artist-known-for-blade-runner-and-tron-dies-at-86/|title=Syd Mead, sci-fi visual artist known for Blade Runner and Tron, dies at 86|work=CNet|last=Burton|first=Bonnie|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=December 31, 2019}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/star-wars/255158/star-wars-the-surprising-origins-of-the-at-at|title=Star Wars: The Surprising Origins of the AT-AT|work=Den of Geek|last=Lamble|first=Ryan|date=June 1, 2017|access-date=December 31, 2019}}{{Cite web |date=2020-05-21 |title=Joe Johnston explains the secret origins of The Empire Strikes Back's new Star Wars vehicles |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/joe-johnston-origins-the-empire-strikes-back-star-wars-vehicles |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=SYFY |language=en-US}} 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.

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.{{cite web|url=http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2013/2010.html |title=Blu-ray Review: 2010 | High-Def Digest |website=Bluray.highdefdigest.com |access-date=July 20, 2011}}{{clear}}

Personal life

Mead was in a relationship with Roger Servick; the couple married in 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/syd-mead-dead-dies-blade-runner-tron-artist-1203453795/|title=Syd Mead, Visionary 'Blade Runner' Artist and Futurist, Dies at 86|work=Variety|last=Wheat|first=Lorraine|date=December 30, 2019|access-date=January 2, 2020}} They established a publishing extension, Oblagon, Inc., in Hollywood{{Cite web|last=Wax|first=Roxana|date=May 14, 2017|title=Syd Mead – The Master|url=https://www.graphicine.com/syd-mead-the-master/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303212232/https://www.graphicine.com/syd-mead-the-master/|archive-date=March 3, 2018|access-date=January 2, 2020|work=Graphicine}} and relocated in 1998 to Pasadena, California, where Mead continued to work.{{Cite web|url=http://sydmead.com/biography/|title=Biography|website=SydMead.com|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102033126/http://sydmead.com/biography/|archive-date=January 2, 2020|access-date=January 2, 2020}}

Death

On December 30, 2019, Mead died in his Pasadena home at age 86, after three years of lymphoma.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/31/entertainment/syd-mead-obit/index.html|title=Syd Mead, the visual artist behind 'Blade Runner' dies at 86|work=CNN|last=Garvey|first=Marianne|date=December 31, 2019|access-date=January 2, 2020}}

Gallery of works

File:American Police Hall of Fame - Blade Runner Car.jpg|Blade Runner Car at the American Police Hall of Fame

File:Blade Runner - 47102816054.jpg|A police spinner from Blade Runner

File:Spinner3.jpg|A car Mead designed for the film Blade Runner

File:Cyberrace sled plastic model 4 sides.PNG|A plastic representation of a Cyberrace vehicle

File:Police car from “Blade Runner” - 5192543459.jpg|Rick Deckard's car from Blade Runner

File:Blade Runner - 47102815404.jpg|The interior of a car from Blade Runner

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.sydmead.com}}
{{IMDb name|id=0574927}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060217014314/http://www.anime.com/Syd_Mead/ Syd Mead entry at anime.com]
[http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/sydmeadsentury/ Blogs in JPN]
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708093847/http://www.briscreativeindustries.com/blog/tag/syd-mead Event Recap: "An Audience with Syd Mead", Brisbane, March 2010]}}
{{isfdb name|id=Syd_Mead}}
{{ann|people|5434}}
[https://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/instructors/syd-mead The Gnomon Workshop video tutorials with Syd Mead]

Interviews

Ed Naha, "Blade Runner's Syd Mead: An Artist With Designs on the Future", Starlog (USA) May 1982, Iss. 58, pg. 36–39,+61
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100731054849/http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~mstoll/?p=967 The future came true – An Interview with Syd Mead]
[http://www.jabucnjak.hr/clanci/interview/syd-mead-it-is-going-to-be-a-swell-ride-folks-narode-bit-e-to-opaka-vonja.html Syd Mead's interview at Jabučnjak, July 2009]

Category:1933 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:Artists from Saint Paul, Minnesota

Category:Artists from Colorado Springs, Colorado

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)

Category:Military personnel from Minnesota

Category:ArtCenter College of Design alumni

Category:American industrial designers

Category:American production designers

Category:American futurologists

Category:American science fiction artists

Category:Hard science fiction