Batmobile Design Competition: WINNER!Batmobile Design Competition: WINNER! Congratulations to Paul Denton for winning the Batmobile Design Competition!  Paul's rendering, seen above, captures that "bad ass" feel of the Dark Knight: it's moody, menacing, and full of drama. ...

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CDF's Batmobile Design ContestCDF's Batmobile Design Contest CarDesignFetish knows that you like cool cars.  We also know that you like to sketch cool cars.  What happens when you put the two together?  A really cool design contest, that's what! We're...

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Dwayne Vance: Design and Render Vehicles Online Course (March 3)Dwayne Vance: Design and Render Vehicles Online Course... Superstar Designer/Artist (and friend of CDF) Dwayne Vance is hosting an online class for rendering vehicles in Photoshop and Painter.  This Thursday, March 3rd at 2PM EST (11PST) Dwayne will be hosting...

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Sketch P*rn: February EditionSketch P*rn: February Edition February is over, and that means more awesome sketches were released in the month.  Point your eyeballs here for great digital work from Volkswagen, pencil sketches from Renault, sketches over photos...

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How to Make Cute CarsHow to Make Cute Cars Cars that share the general traits of a baby’s face trigger the ‘Isn’t it cute’ response in consumers. The Fiat 500 is the latest in a long line of "cute cars."  So what is it about cars...

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Batmobile Design Competition: WINNER!

Category : Community, Competitions, Crit

Congratulations to Paul Denton for winning the Batmobile Design Competition!  Paul’s rendering, seen above, captures that “bad ass” feel of the Dark Knight: it’s moody, menacing, and full of drama.  The sketch technique is loose and intriguing, and the vehicle’s design is well-though out… It’s as if the car lurks in the shadows, stalking Batman’s prey.  The smoke emitting from the side exhaust, something that Denton had in his other two sketches, makes it almost seem like the Batmobile is smoking after a night of satisfactory Joker-murder.

It’s awesome, pure and simple.

Congrats to Paul, and THANK YOU to everyone who submitted!  It was an extremely tough decision, which took us right down to the final moments of the selection.  Thanks to Arvind from DrivenMavens for helping us select, and for Dwayne Vance, who is doing something a little special for our international entries (more on that in a later post).

Be sure to check out our International winner here: INTERNATIONAL WINNER

… and the rest of our entries: Set 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Finally, check out our sister site, SideQuesting, and their recent Light Cycle contest here: LIGHT CYCLE DESIGNS

Below you’ll find some of the Honorable Mentions that made our final decision so difficult. Congrats!

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CDF’s Batmobile Design Contest

Category : Competitions, Crit, Fetishing

CarDesignFetish knows that you like cool cars.  We also know that you like to sketch cool cars.  What happens when you put the two together?  A really cool design contest, that’s what!

We’re hosting our first ever sketch contest on CDF, and it centers around a classic vehicle: the Batmobile.  Gotham’s masked detective has one of most iconic rides around, filled with gadgets, weapons, and style.  The goal is for you to create/sketch a Batmobile concept, but to do so in 2 hours or less and send them over to us.  Pencil sketches, Photoshop, Painter… whatever you want to use to create it is up to you.  We just want to see a great idea (or two).

The focus is to be creative, but not over-render an image.  Just an hour or two will suffice to get a cool sketch or rendering out there.

CONTEST

We’ll feature each concept on our site and select a winner.  The winner will get copies of pivotal Batman graphic novels Cacophany penned by Kevin Smith and Year One by Frank Miller.  The contest begins TODAY, March 4th, and lasts until Monday, March 14th.  We’re lucky to have Dwayne Vance be a guest judge, as well as Team CDF, as we select the best from the bunch.  Submit as many as you’d like (per the rules below).

Each entry will be evaluated on merits of cool design and sketching basics, so perspective and proportion will be important.  Will it be a classic 60′s Batmobile, a newer Tumbler-style?  Will you take a crack at Tim Burton’s Batmobile, or something completely different?

Good Luck, and have fun!

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Dwayne Vance: Design and Render Vehicles Online Course (March 3)

Category : Crit, Design, education

Superstar Designer/Artist (and friend of CDF) Dwayne Vance is hosting an online class for rendering vehicles in Photoshop and Painter.  This Thursday, March 3rd at 2PM EST (11PST) Dwayne will be hosting a session talking to the basics of setting up a sketch in perspective, using design language to set up a theme, making and utilizing textures, and creating a visual flow for the viewer.  The session lasts for about 1.5 hours, and will be a TERRIFIC way for people both new to automotive design AND professionals to pick up and learn new techniques at improving our vehicle renderings.  There will also be a question/answer session that follows.

The webinar takes place as a part of the Digital Art Summit and can be found here: CLICK FOR LINK

This is a MUST SEE for all those interested in vehicle design, as we can attest to Dwayne’s awesome abilities and techniques first-hand.

The webinar cost just $47 and will be well worth it.  It will also be available afterward for purchase and download.

For a little more on Dwayne, read the press release below.  We’ll be there on Thursday, and we hope you will as well!

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Sketch P*rn: February Edition

Category : Crit, Sketch P*rn

February is over, and that means more awesome sketches were released in the month.  Point your eyeballs here for great digital work from Volkswagen, pencil sketches from Renault, sketches over photos by Lexus and Hyundai, classy Ssangyong work, and concept work from Scott Robertson.  Visit the gallery below.

[Via Autoblog, Drawthrough Jr, and CarBodyDesign]

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How to Make Cute Cars

Category : Crit, Design, education, Fetishing, tools

Cars that share the general traits of a baby’s face trigger the ‘Isn’t it cute’ response in consumers.

The Fiat 500 is the latest in a long line of “cute cars.”  So what is it about cars that make them cute?  Mostly proportions control the feeling of a car.  Most cute cars are compact cars that are a little taller than wider with softer graphic forms.  The VW Beetle and Mini are other great examples of cute cars.  If you are a people / car watcher then check out the guys that drive these vehicles.  I bet the color of the car is darker, the rims a little bigger, the sills a bit lower.  All of these attributes help disguise the cuteness and catch you off guard.  I fall victim to this driving a VW GTI.  I don’t think a GTI is a cute car but a base level Golf is a cute car to me.  It is an interesting phenomena and as more cars get smaller you we see more attempts at the costumes to through off the cuteness.  Who said cute cars are bad anyway?

Check out the article after the jump which talks about the psychology of car features and how they play tricks on us.

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Essential iPad Apps for Designers

Category : Crit, education, Fetishing, Holiday Gift Guide, tools

The iPad is an incredibly versatile tool.  For Designers, it can become essential, though sifting through the ocean of apps may be daunting.  As many a Designer received an iPad this holiday season, I felt it apt time to compile a list of apps (and tools) to turn the iPad into the perfect portable Industrial Design, with an exhaustive software suite and few extras thrown in for fun.

Load up iTunes, get the gift cards ready, and begin downloading… NOW.

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It’s Here!! 2011 Rendered Hope Calendar

Category : Concept Car, Crit, Design, Fetishing, Holiday Gift Guide, Sketch P*rn, Student Work

So we are little late this year but the calendar is ready to go.  The Rendered Hope Charity Calendar has the usual mix of concept car, hot rod, motorcycle, race car and fine art all wrapped up into 12 months of eye candy.  Just like the past 2 years all the profits will go toward buying toys for the boys and girls at the Detroit Children’s Hospital.  This will be a limited sale so act fast to make sure you get one (or many) in time.   Take a look through the samples below and continue to the CDf store to buy.  A huge thanks goes out to all the designers and artist who contributed this year.

Buy it at the CDf store now!!

Polishing a Turd

Category : Big 3, Crit, Fetishing, Production Car

Polishing a Turd is a common expression in design school.  This happens when you try and do a hot rendering over a horrible drawing.  You can’t cover up a bad structure with a pretty covering.  I think everyone will agree the Jeep Compass is a turd of a design.  Well Jeep has been doing some polishing.  This new refresh is a much needed improvment, but there is still a ways to go…

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Mazda Shinari Concept

Category : Concept Car, Crit, Design, Fetishing, Sketch P*rn

Mazda recently introduced a new design language to take over the old one which never really worked out in production.  The Shinari has a clean upscale look with sophisticated surfacing and new interpretations of aluminum trim placement.  The Kodo (soul of motion or should we just say zoom, zoom) design language wipes the smile off its face in exchange for a more traditional grill opening.

Hit the jump for more…

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Ford Start Concept

Category : Autoshows, Big 3, Concept Car, Crit, Fetishing

At this years Ward’s Auto Interior Conference held in Dearborn the other day J Mays was the key note speaker and brought a little something special to our shores.  The Ford Start Concept was on hand for the first time in the states after its debut at the Beijing Auto Show a few weeks ago.  This concept would definitely give Mini and the Fiat 500 a run for their money.  Look past the fuzzy cell phone pics and hit the jump for some fetish thoughts.

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