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Syd Mead, the Artist Who Illustrates the Future
- prawn 11y agoWhat 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 11y agoMany 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.
- aresant 11y agoSyd'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/72157622906191929/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/40143737@N02/sets/721576229061...
- jmduke 11y agoThanks 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 11y agoYou 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
- bane 11y agoGreat song recommendation, if I can recommend one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r80aUCMqHRE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r80aUCMqHRE
- brianobush 11y agoNice, might as well include the artists Droid Bishop, Dynatron, Nowtro, Mega Drive, Perturbator, Carpenter Brut. You can tell I am into retro synth tunes.
- Animats 11y agoIn 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 11y agoPeople might recognize what this influenced: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/4f209325d09a4f024c85b060/5117e392e4b0c59967aba700/51196fe3e4b06ffe292440bb/1428377769409/3714725769_238c2d7e43_o.jpg?format=1500w http://static1.squarespace.com/static/4f209325d09a4f024c85b0...
- omnibrain 11y agoIt seems like Mass Effect 2's Omega was inspired by this: http://i.imgur.com/4QsK0RQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/4QsK0RQ.jpg Edit: As a source is missing it seems like this is a genuine Mass Effect Concept art piece that the uploader mixed into the Syd Mead gallery. Of course the artists of Mass Effect drew a lot of inspiration from Syd Mead.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoI was going to comment that http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#32 http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#32 smells a lot like Mass Effect and then, suddenly, Mako appears: http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#43 http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#43. Also, tell me this is not a mass relay: http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#49 http://imgur.com/a/s9Oyr#49.
- curtis 11y agoIt hadn't occurred to me that Syd Mead might still be alive.
- uxcn 11y agoFor those who don't know, he was recently responsible for a lot of the concept art for Blomkamp's Elysium.
- Udo_Schmitz 11y agoI 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 11y agoGreat 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.