Syd Mead, the visionary conceptual artist and designer, has died at the age of 86.
His contributions to science fiction cinema were as ubiquitous as they were influential: Blade Runner, Tron or Aliens offered us visions of the future unlike anything we have seen before or since. As a self-described "visual futurist," Mead was vastly responsible for defining our collective perception of things to come.
Trained at the Art Center School in Los Angeles (now ArtCenter College of Design), Mead found initial success as an industrial concept artist for car manufacturers, electronics and heavy industry conglomerates. His illustrations, done mostly in gouache on boards, were characterised by extreme detail, ultra-realistic rendering, and vibrancy of colour. Mead favoured elegant, flowing lines and stressed functionality over ornamentation, always pushing ahead of the current technological trends. After 1973, his work began to be regularly exhibited around the world to universal acclaim. It was inevitable that his path would cross with science fiction cinema.
The first call came from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), an ambitious, big budget reimagining of the 60s TV series, helmed by the equally visionary Robert Wise. Mead was tasked with the pivotal design of V'ger – a nearly organic entity modified by an alien species to reinterpret the meaning of "Creator" for the human race. Relying only on a general script description, Mead infused his design with organic geometry akin to gothic architecture and plasma-like kaleidoscopic patterns. The sequence of Enterprise, the protagonists' ship, entering the forcefield of V'ger remains one of the most breathtaking, unforgettable moments in cinema history – it is truly a spectacle that no one has ever seen before.
In 1982, Syd Mead left his singular imprint on two highly influential science fiction films: Tron and Blade Runner.
The bulk of the action of Tron, impressively directed by Steven Lisberger, takes place inside the mainframe of a supercomputer. Syd Mead was enlisted to provide the visualisation of a digital universe – a job without a precedent or point of reference. Drawing inspiration from circuit board patterns and utilising early 3D computer graphics modelling, Mead constructed a fully convincing grid of shapes and forms composed almost exclusively of vectors. Within the limitations of a nascent 3D technology, Mead created an appropriately dispassionate, sterile world which blended perfectly with live action. Essentially, Tron is an animated film: actors were superimposed on Mead's designs frame by frame using traditional analogue techniques. But the film is also noted for several extended all-digital 3D animation sequences – a first in cinema history. It was a great collaborative effort of pioneering talents, including the famed French artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud, tasked with costumes and sets. But it is Mead's artistic vision which dominates the film: the thrilling light-cycle race, the tank chase or the climactic encounter with Master Control Program – set-pieces of unbridled imagination which transport the viewer beyond any dimension known to man. No one else could have found so much breathtaking beauty in labyrinthine geometry – the Tron universe is perpetually linear, seemingly inescapable, where space has no directions and the concept of time doesn't apply.
In preparation for Blade Runner, director Ridley Scott wisely assumed that his version of a dystopian future will only be as convincing as the skill of the artist who designs it. Unable to secure the services of Jean Giraud, whose comics largely inspired the mood of the film, Scott turned to Syd Mead. Initially hired as a vehicle stylist, Mead drew on his automotive illustrating experience: he placed his designs on futuristic backgrounds to enhance the viewing experience. Scott, a trained artist himself, immediately recognised the power of Mead's visions and promoted him to "concept futurist" of the entire film. In this new capacity, Mead took Giraud's and Scott's ideas to the next level. Influenced by Edward Hopper's Nighthawks painting, nocturnal cityscapes of Hong Kong and Antonio Sant'Elia architectural visions, Mead produced hundreds of full-colour gouache paintings, ink and marker sketches which provided the template for Blade Runner's famous future-noir look. Combining elements of Mayan, Aztec, modern and deco styles, Mead retrofitted the future with a lived-in atmosphere that comes fully alive on screen. He jovially called this style "retro-deco." That unique look is not just an illustration of Phillip K. Dick's novel. In fact, it is mostly Mead's vision, as evidenced by the commercial illustrations he had done early in his career. In one image for US Steel, dated from 1969, the artist depicts a New York scene which looks like a still from Blade Runner: futuristic cars stuck in traffic on a rainy nocturnal freeway.
The colour palette is muted, punctuated by bright neon reflected in puddles and steel, the horizon obscured by serpentine roads and endless vertical urban sprawl. Scott loved that particular image so much, he entrusted Mead not only with the concept design, but also with pre-visualising the cinematography. But the artist's influence over Blade Runner didn't end there. During the eight months of preproduction, in addition to all vehicles, Mead also designed the key props: the Voight-Kampff machine is probably the most memorable plot-propelling device ever created for a film. Full-colour renditions of Deckard's apartment are striking in their detail and mood, as are the noodle-bar and storefront exteriors. Scopes, video-phones, viewers and a slew of other gadgets came directly from Mead's fertile mind. But the police 'spinner' car, with its fully functional interior, was his masterpiece.
It is from that vehicle that the audience got their first fully realistic glimpse of the future in cinema history. The design alone made you believe that cars could fly – Ridley Scott complemented the illusion by showcasing the spinner as much as he could – that car was a star in its own right. Guided by Scott's expertise and overseen by the late production designer Lawrence G. Paul, Mead's work on Blade Runner contributed beyond measure to what many consider the greatest sci-fi film ever made.
Astoundingly, Syd Mead was never given another opportunity of such magnitude in cinema again. He worked steadily, providing his visionary services with passion and inventiveness for a myriad of films. Among his most memorable contributions are the spacecraft, vehicles and their interiors for Aliens (1986), the robot co-star of Short Circuit (1986), mechanical designs for the anime series Yamato 2520 (1994), the prosthetic "head-case" for Mission: Impossible III (2006), and, more recently, the impressive architecture for Elysium (2014). One of his last jobs in film was the design of the sand-blown hotels in, fittingly, Blade Runner 2049 (2017).
But cinema was just a chapter in Syd Mead's prolific career. In addition to thousands of industrial concept illustrations he also had a passion for sharing his skill and design knowledge. With his partner, Roger Servic, Mead established a publishing house, which produced several beautifully printed books about his work as well as an autobiography. Mead also participated with enthusiasm in lectures on art and design, and was a charismatic and eloquent proponent of forward thinking in interviews. His tutorials on gouache illustration have been released on DVD as a 4-disk set. He leaves a legacy of work, which has already influenced several generations of designers. But in the hearts of filmgoers worldwide he will always have a special place: as the man who gave our dreams a fantastic vision we can collectively and wondrously share.
• Syd Mead (Sydney Jay Mead), American industrial designer and concept artist, born July 18, 1933; died December 30, 2019
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