Car Design Fetish

Have you ever seen a better deal.  Except for our Charity Calendar I have not seen a better value for the car enthusiast.  Papa John is sharing his favorite Camaro in a size we can all afford.  For the $5 purchase price $1 goes to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation while the othe $4 pays for the car which includes a coupon for a free medium pizza.  Papa J is also donating 5,000 mini Camaro’s to Toys for Tots.  Instead of a Hot Wheel for the kiddo this year go splurge on one of these and get yourself a pizza!

Press Release after the jump….

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Buy the calendar Here!!!!!

 Podcast Video [0:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1240)

Students may like this book for the nice images, but as far as technique and instruction goes “How to Illustrate and Design Concept Cars” falls flat.

When I was given the opportunity to review “How to Illustrate and Design Concept Cars”, a guide created to help automotive design fans draw cool cars, a realization struck me:  as a schooled designer I am very protective about who, what, and how automotive design should be taught to the masses.  I’m of the old school thought in that proper design training only happens in colleges or through rigorous and continual practice.  At least that was part of it, until recently.

With the proliferation of new media across the internet it is possible to receive ample training in the tools and techniques required to help sketch cars.  But, that’s where it stops.  Illustration and design are two very different things.  One can illustrate a car, but designing one requires a level of problem-solving that you can’t teach without human interaction.  Even though this book has “design” on the cover it primarily focuses on the techniques associated with sketching.  And, unfortunately, it misses the mark in that respect.

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Black Friday has come and gone… what did you buy?

CDF wants to contribute to the madness by giving you a couple of games!  Inspired by all of the racing from store to store at odd hours of the morning we’re teeing up a couple of great racing games for you: PGR3 and Forza 2!  Now, they may not be the NEWEST editions of the games, but they certainly are tons of fun… and should get you in the mood for the rest of your consumer racing these next 30 or so days.  And in the spirit of the season, we’re working this contest with our compadres over at SideQuesting.com, our sister site about video games.

How to win?  Simple.

1) Follow both SideQuesting and CarDesignFetish on Twitter and tweet this message:  I want to win these games from @SideQuesting and @CarDesignFetish for #FreeStuffFriday! http://bit.ly/5UvWh5

3) Enter up to once per day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

4) Must be a US or Canadian resident to enter (sans Quebec… sorry!)

5) Check back on Sunday Nov 29, 10PM EST (when we draw the winner) at the bottom of this post to see who wins.

Good Luck!

[Update:  The winner of the games is.... @HotPocketNinja!  Congrats on winning and thanks for entering!]

It’s here!!!  The 2010 Rendered Hope Charity Calendar featuring transportation artwork from professional designers.  This years calendar has a great mix of work from OEM, Hot Rod and Entertainment Designers.  There is feature artwork from the hot Camaro, Corvette Stingray Concept, Scott Robertson’s crazy ships, west coast Hot Rods and more!

Just like last year 100% of the profits will go toward buying Hot Wheels and toys for the Detroit Children’s Hospital annual Snow Pile Event.  This is a great cause that you surely want to support.

Head on over to our store at Cafe Press and buy the gift that gives 12 times a year!  This is a large calendar too at 11″ x 17″ with thick card stock and full bleed printing.  Very high quality.

The calendar is a limited edition print and will be on sale now through the end of the year.  So spread the word and get it while you can!

Buy It Here!

Design Thinking is a hot topic right now.  Companies need to change and create new innovative and profitable products.  The question is does management become more creative or do designers become more business oriented?  In my opinion designers already have business in mind.  You cannot create a successful product without looking down the road into the marketing strategy and how the product will benefit the company.  Management will probably have a harder time learning how to be creative and think about all sides of the business (product development through to production and marketing)  like designers do.

Here is a presentation on design thinking and how to pitch it to your management.  Bryan deBlois of Innovation Focus “created this presentation as a synthesis of current thoughts on design thinking to try and explain “it” to buisness people who have heard the term design thinking”

It is time for designers to take charge.

Here is a fresh dose of Automotive Sketch P*rn.  Enjoy the selection of loose sketches/ renderings to more dramatic paintings.  We will start off with the sketch of the new Fiesta.  Tomorrow we will be heading to Ford to review the new U.S. production version due out early next year.  Stay tuned for our review on it.  For now enjoy the P*rn!

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We’ve all seen artwork designed from car parts.  A T-Rex from a muffler and a ’72 Volkswagen?  Check.

James Corbett, a sculpture artist from Australia, utilizes automotive parts to create something a bit more meta.  Sure, he has the prerequisite flora and fauna down to a tee, but the artist also creates vehicles in motion.  “That’s cheating!” you decry?  Oh ho!  Not so fast!

Corbett’s work takes parts from vehicles (he owns a recycling business in Brisbane) and includes them in the art without change.  That is, he doesn’t bend, break, or modify them in any way apart from welding.  From this method he creates vehicles turning corners during high-speed races, motorcycles in extreme side-swipes, and convertibles with drivers wearing scarves.

His upcoming exhibit in the UK takes place at the end of this week, and he plans on trekking to the US in the next year.

For more of his work, visit his website or take a peak at a few images after the break!

[images courtesy Jame Corbett]

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Philippe Starck, designer extraordinaire famous for juicers, recently sat down for an interview on the Engadget Show while in Paris.  The enigmatic designers talks about many things, including his love for all things Apple-ish.

[Via Engadget]

Jaguar recently invited us to see the new XJ and have a chat with Design Director Ian Callum.  The conversation spanned a variety of topics like childhood, Jaguars’ future and the future of automobile design.  Ian was great to talk to with a laid back personality and a true love for the Jaguar brand.

Check out the podcast for the full interview.

More pics and opinions of the design after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

 CDF Podcast #17: Ian Callum and the XJ [44:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download