
Syd Mead, the Artist Who Illustrates the Future - diodorus
http://curbed.com/archives/2015/07/23/syd-mead-city-architecture-blade-runner-design-future.php
======
Animats
In the 1970s, he did designs for Playboy of futuristic environments for the
single guy. Cars, (he did a lot of vehicle designs), a "land yacht" RV, and
some interiors and exteriors. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts had a show of
those a few years ago.

Big Syd Mead image collection:
[http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#0](http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#0)

~~~
agumonkey
People might recognize what this influenced:
[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/4f209325d09a4f024c85b0...](http://static1.squarespace.com/static/4f209325d09a4f024c85b060/5117e392e4b0c59967aba700/51196fe3e4b06ffe292440bb/1428377769409/3714725769_238c2d7e43_o.jpg?format=1500w)

------
aresant
Syd's work is regularly featured at /r/retrofuturism - great submission the
other day I'm paraphrasing below:

First load this up:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8mC9AKHoAQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8mC9AKHoAQ)

Then open up this Syd Mead gallery to full screen and click through:

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/40143737@N02/sets/721576229061...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/40143737@N02/sets/72157622906191929/)

~~~
jmduke
Thanks for introducing me to /r/retrofuturism -- this is incredible.

In particular I love the retro ads for Facebook, Skype, and Twitter:

[http://imgur.com/a/ab39f](http://imgur.com/a/ab39f)

~~~
bane
You may also like

[https://www.reddit.com/r/outrun](https://www.reddit.com/r/outrun)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/newretrowave](https://www.reddit.com/r/newretrowave)

------
prawn
What are our chances of getting, as a common thing, a physical space like the
concept that influenced Elysium? As long as we're about value for money and
efficiency, I can't see productive space like growing areas ever looking so
clean and designed.

That concept transitions from growing beds to lake and so on beautifully. In
reality, between a current manicured golf course and a public road or
residential area, we often have razor wire fences catching garbage blown
around by the wind, we have dog-at-dog strips full of weeds, etc.

------
PhasmaFelis
Many years ago, in the dark days before Wikipedia, I read a similar article
about Syd Mead (and his excellent work) that introduced me to the term
"futurist." I thought that sounded like a really cool thing to be, and set
myself to finding out what it was exactly.

Much Googling later, I realized that no one else knew either. It was just
whatever Syd Mead happened to be, which as best I could figure was "sci-fi
artist, except too respectable to lump in with those grubby sci-fi nerds."

These days "futurist" seems to have a much more well-known and clearly defined
meaning that doesn't really include designing movie backdrops, so Mead has
been updated to " _visual_ futurist," which has the same definition as above.

------
curtis
It hadn't occurred to me that Syd Mead might still be alive.

------
Udo_Schmitz
I love his stuff, and for me—being in my mid-forties—he is around since
forever. A few years ago I got a book I had read as a kid and when I saw his
space installations again I had to find out who did those. Was surprised he is
still around and still working.

------
afrancis
Great article! As a kid, I would read "Future" Magazine. What was cool was
each issue featured a full page colour poster. That is where I discovered Syd
Mead.

------
uxcn
For those who don't know, he was recently responsible for a lot of the concept
art for Blomkamp's Elysium.

