Ed Eyth Interview Part 8

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: Do you ever get stuck on a design?

EE: There hasn't been a project yet where I didn't feel stuck to some degree, but that's because I have this compulsion to overdo it, wanting to explore a hundred options before narrowing it down to a final concept.

I see character design as being like a creative casting call to fill a role. The more candidates you can review during the initial cattle call, the more likely you are to stumble on the ideal one, or maybe even someone whose appearance deviates from the original requirements in a way that adds even more to the role. Sort of like American Idol for character design. I have boxes and boxes of unfortunate character rejects who didn't make it beyond the first pencil round.