Book Review: Syd Mead's Sentury II
This second volume collects the work of Syd Mead from the last ten years. The first volume of Sentury (amazon.com) has been out of print for a while.
Syd Mead is a industrial designer, concept art and so-called "visual futurist" by his industry peers. He has created designs for Blade Runner, Tron, Star Trek, Aliens — all of which are not included in this volume except a bit on Tron (the game) — and other movie and entertainment projects. He's born in 1933 but still churning out really high quality work for his age.
This is large format squarish art book with 176 pages. It comes in paperback and hardcover, with the latter costing more than twice as much. Publisher Design Studio Press printed everything with glossy paper.
Inside, the gallery of work featured are the concept designs and illustrations for various movies, commercial projects and games. There are architectural style drawings ranging from restaurants to city scenes to underground bunkers, robot designs for Turn A Mobile Suit Gundam, futuristic designs of vehicles, production design for movies like Mission Impossible III, and even some of his personal doodles and cartoons. Everything is printed large.
The concept designs are cool, especially those of interiors and transportation vehicles. They are meticulously drawn with architectural style lines with controlled colour schemes that you can easily identify. Everything looks very refreshing and unique, unlike any other stuff I've seen from other artists. There's also plenty of first-person commentary from Syd Mead talking about the projects, his ideas and how he created them.
It's certainly the book to check out if you're into futuristic concept or industrial design.
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This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook or visit their website.
Syd Mead's Sentury II is available on Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | JP | CN)
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This paperback edition is available at:
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The hardcover edition is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.co.jp
This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook or visit their website.
Comments
If you dont have any Syd
If you dont have any Syd Mead, or are just a huge fan of his; definitely get this book.
But if you already have a collection, I advise you to check it out in person to make sure it's worth it to you.
He's a legend for certain, one of my favorites, but this book, although very nicely produced, isnt one of the best.
I would say you should save up for something from the Kronolog box set. If you can afford it, or work in the industry- sheesh! Just buy those 2 Kronolog books. You will thank yourself.
Ive a few Mead books and this
In reply to If you dont have any Syd by en_b (not verified)
Ive a few Mead books and this has got the be the least interesting. As advised, do check it out in person before buying. Syd Mead is an absolutely amazing artist, its just that this book isn't the best collection of his work.
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