When you think of future design, you think of Syd Mead.

Spaceships, Blade Runner, futuristic and apocalyptic cities, vehicles, aircraft, monorails, shuttles — and the interiors of everything that could possibly move in the future. His style was incredibly diverse: colorful, detailed yet sometimes wonderfully abstract.

This book captures the essence of his work and his enormous influence on visual culture. Mead started his career as an industrial designer at Ford’s Advanced Styling Center in the late 1950s. Later, he worked for companies like Philips, Sony, and Chrysler, creating visions of the future that balanced technical precision with imagination. His work bridged industrial design, architecture, and film, long before those worlds regularly overlapped.

Syd Mead’s illustrations became the visual DNA of modern science fiction. He was the concept artist behind Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Elysium — to name just a few. His drawings didn’t just visualize these worlds; they helped define them. You could ask: which came first — Syd Mead or the movie?

His paintings often look like movie stills, glimpses of worlds that feel both alien and believable. He created parallel universes that always seemed inhabitable, places where you could imagine people living and working. That sense of realism made his futuristic visions powerful — he didn’t just design machines; he designed societies.

Even today, decades after his early work, Syd Mead’s influence is everywhere — in concept art, game design, architecture, and industrial design. His legacy reminds us that imagining the future isn’t just about technology; it’s about optimism, creativity, and the human desire to build better worlds.

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/the-movie-art-of-syd-mead/9200000074339230/