io9: Syd Mead

Syd Mead to design Neill Blomkamp's 100-years-in-the-future flick Elysium

Cyriaque Lamar — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:08:15 PST

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Impressed with District 9? So was legendary Blade Runner and Tron concept artist Syd Mead. He was so taken with Neill Blomkamp's aliens-in-South Africa movie that he's been hired to design the sets of Blomkamp's next film, Elysium. More »

Blade Runner, Tron and Aliens Concept Artist Syd Mead predicts the future

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:00:00 PST

Legendary concept artist Syd Mead takes us into the future and talks about what sort of gadgets await us in the year 2019 in a new featurette. Plus get a closer look at some of his gorgeous futuristic concept art. More »

These are some styling power plants from the 1960s, daddy-o

Cyriaque Lamar — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:26:46 PDT

In the 1960s, United States Steel released Power Styling, a book of remodeled electrical stations that crackled with modernist flair. The book imagines a mod future in which "electrical engineer" is the sexiest gig on the planet. More »

Futuristic cars inspired by Syd Mead's Blade Runner designs

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:06:55 PDT

The next generation of concept artists is paying tribute to the master, Syd Mead, who reinvented cars and city living in his work on Blade Runner, Tron and other films. Here are our favorite entries from CGSociety's Syd Mead contest. More »

The Man Who Designed Tron's Lightcycles Will Rock Our Worlds Again

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:30:00 PDT

Syd Mead didn't just work on Blade Runner's dirty-neon future L.A., he also designed Tron's original lightcycles — check out this original concept art. So a new Mead book, full of concept art, is a cause for major celebration. More »

Win Signed Blade Runner Art This Tuesday

Cyriaque Lamar — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:15:53 PDT

Syd Mead designed the Los Angeles of 2019 for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. This Tuesday, you can win a signed book of Mead's art at Bonhams & Butterfields' 20th Century Decorative Arts auction. Cash-strapped readers can nonetheless ogle these illustrations. More »

Syd Mead Tells All About the "Erotic Machine" that Got Cut from Bladerunner

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:28:17 PDT

Today on BoingBoing TV, you can see the final part of Joel Johnson's epic interview with conceptual designer Syd Mead, the man who made the citiscapes of Bladerunner into some of the most memorable futuristic settings ever committed to film. Mead talks about the many alternate openings he created for the movie (one of which was deemed "too Holocaust" by the studio), as well as the "erotic machine" he crafted for replicant Zhora, a kind of breast-shaped dreampod that got cut when director Ridley Scott hit the outer limits of his budget. Watch the video below. More »

Tron's Light Cycles Could Have Looked Much Stranger

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:40:00 PDT

As sleek and cyber-looking as the light cycles were in VR-game epic Tron, some of the original light-cycle concept art looks even more arresting. Some of the light cycles look almost industrial, like machines made out of pixels, while others look abstract and chaotic, just squiggly lines moving around. Even though the light-cycle concept art includes work by masters Syd Mead and Peter Lloyd, my favorites are the comic-booky drawings by Andy Probert, above. Some more favorites, below the fold. More »

Spaceship Vs. Pirate Galleons, For The Ultimate Booty

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Here's a knock-down dogfight between a high-tech spaceship and a whole swarm of pirate galleons, from the mind of artist Nicholas Ferrand aka V.I.A.G. Or maybe the spaceship is teaming up with the more low-fi pirates? My new favorite blog is Concept Ships, which posts nothing but concept art of spaceships, including famous people like Syd Mead and Ralph McQuarrie as well as rising stars. A gallery of some of the coolest images, below the fold. More »

The Jazz Album Cover That Became Blade Runner

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:07:49 PST

Syd Mead's concept artwork for Blade Runner has always looked a bit like a jazz painting. It's meant to portray a saturnine view of downtown Los Angeles in the future, but the only things in it that are even slightly futuristic are the armored-looking dumptruck on the street, and the hulking mega-skyscraper in the background which is probably meant to be the Tyrell corporation. Besides that, the image is a wash of signage, mostly featuring Asian text. All it needs is an accompanying saxophone track and this could serve as the cover image to an album, circa 1963. More »

Put Futurist Syd Mead On The Hot Seat

Kevin Kelly — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:10:16 PST

Syd Mead has had a hand in designing everything from Ford automobiles, to V'Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, to the Sulaco ship design in Aliens, and even the look and feel of the cities in Blade Runner and Tron. He's definitely a giant in the field of future design, and if you could ask him any question, what would it be? More »