Designer and futurist, Syd Mead, who helped mould the future of design by the likes of movie dynasts such as ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Aliens’ and ‘Star Trek’, has died in his home in Pasadena, California at the age of 86.
His spouse and business manager, Roger Servick, confirmed Mead’s death on Monday 30 December 2019 which was due to complications from lymphoma cancer.
Syd Mead’s artistry, beginning at the age of three, evolved into his designing for Ford, working on architectural interiors and exteriors for restaurants and catalogues, to then his first movie credit in 1979 on ‘Star Trek’, and a slew of masthead films thereafter.
Mead’s work for Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’, to then ‘Aliens’ and his vehicle design on ‘Mission to Mars’ are just a few hallmarks of what fundamentally shaped ‘creating a fanciful future’ of design.
From Mead’s 1969 premature design of the Segway - then coined as a unipod – to his design of Eventi Hotel’s food court and a futuristic 2016 fashion show, Mead’s designs for the future were as optimistic as his idea of it.
“He left us peacefully accompanied by his partner Roger Servick surrounded by a gentle fire, Christmas decorations, and a wonderful array of his artwork,” Syd Mead’s website states.
Mead’s final words being, “I am done here. They’re coming to take me back.”
