Perspective

by Syd Mead

U.S. Steel commissioned the legendary Syd Mead to design and illustrate this unique brochure, aimed at promoting steel use by automakers, many of whom were already among the company's best clients. The immediately impressive white debossed cover encompasses an array of Mead's futuristic art, mostly in color, with bold typography and die-cut pages adding visual zest. A final four-page fold-out wraps it all up. Very scarce.

50 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1964

About the author

Sydney Jay Mead, commonly Syd Mead (born July 18, 1933), is an American industrial designer and neofuturistic concept artist, widely known for his designs for science-fiction films such as Blade Runner, Aliens and Tron. Mead once said, "I've called science fiction 'reality ahead of schedule.'"

Mead's work has received wide note, and, in 2017, Curbed called Mead "the artist who illustrates the future".

Born on 18 July 1933 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Mead graduated from high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1951. After serving a three-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, Mead attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles (now the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena), where he graduated in June 1959. He was recruited by Ford Motor Company's Advanced Styling Studio by Elwood Engel. Mead left Ford after two years to illustrate books and catalogues for companies including United States Steel, Celanese, Allis-Chalmers and Atlas Cement. In 1970, he launched Syd Mead, Inc. in Detroit with clients including Philips Electronics.

In 1979, Mead worked with major studios on the feature films Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Short Circuit, Aliens, Timecop, Johnny Mnemonic and Mission: Impossible III.