Ed Eyth Interview Part 4

Ed Eyth has had an extensive and diverse artistic career. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and prior to that majored in Visual Communication at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He has served as a production designer, a set and costume designer and a puppet designer for a variety of film and television productions. His film credits include Hook, The Rocketeer and Captain EO.

For nearly 10 years Eyth was Director of Creative Services for the Jim Henson Company. While at Henson, he designed characters for shows like Muppets Tonight, Mopatop's Shop and Animal Jam, as well as the video feature Kermit's Swamp Years. I asked him to share his thoughts on puppet design.



PJ: What makes a character design strong or interesting?

EE: Obviously a great performance is what really conveys the soul of a character and gives it interest or appeal, but from a purely visual standpoint? After years of observing and designing characters, I haven't been able to develop a real scientific formula or predictable method to explain that.

Two vital elements seem to be personality and visual style. The elusive element of personality can't really be quantified, but I know it when I see it. It's when a design evokes an emotional response, or at least something of interest to the viewer.

If I look at a character and think "That's odd" or "That's interesting," or if I snicker or react in some way, that gets me intrigued. That's when I know a character is successful visually in some way. There are characters that convey a strong sense of who they are just by the way they look, but I'm at a loss to rationally explain how that works.

That's a challenging question, a bit like "What makes a great work of art?"