Ed Eyth Interview Part 9

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 have any tricks or techniques for getting the creative juices flowing?

EE: When I run out of ideas, I just start looking around the room for shapes. "Hmm, if I soften the edges of that lampshade, it would make an interesting body shape," or "The little plastic thing at the end of the pull string on the window blinds would make a cool head shape."

Or I look through a magazine for some random objects that might suggest a silhouette or form I hadn't considered. It's kind of a visual free association that can liberate your thinking, and sometimes something magic or exceptional turns up.