What do you do as an auto designer when you leave the “biz?”  You take what you have learned and apply it to other things.  This is exactly what Sid Ramnarace did after leaving Ford Motor Company.  Ramnarace studied under design icon Victor Shreckengost at the Cleveland Institute of Art where he developed skills on all sides of product design.  This experience helped him design such notable vehicles like the Ford Thunderbird and current Ford Mustang.

Everyone in the car world can appreciate seeing products designed with an automotive influence.  This series of Metalware definitely speaks to the auto world with some artistic surfacing.  How do you say “split eight spoke bowl with a five star center cap coaster?”  These are some pretty sweet pieces of recycled aluminum.

more pics after the jump…. Read more

Designing an Icon: Creativity and the American Automobile

Check out this show that will be opening this Friday at Wayne State University.  Sounds like a good one to spend some time at while the snow begins to fall.  If you can’t make it now, don’t worry.  It will be running through the Detroit Auto Show so stop by after you see the new concept cars and compare how they have changed.

DESIGNING AN ICON consists of some 100 sketches and renderings from the top-secret studios of GM, Ford, and Chrysler, during the Musclecar Era (1960s-1970s).  Some will be immediately recognizable as relating to production cars of the era, but many depict advanced concepts that never made it into production.  Many sketches are beautiful in themselves and represent mediums and techniques that are no longer used in the computer-dominated field today.  The exhibition will run from Nov 21, 2008 through Jan 16, 2009.  Opening reception is 5pm-8pm Friday, Nov 21.  The last week of the exhibition overlaps the preview week for the Detroit International Auto Show.

Gallery hours are 10am-6pm Tues-Thurs, 10am-7pm, Friday.  (Closed Sat-Mon.)

ELAINE L. JACOB GALLERY
WAYNE UNIVERSITY
480 W. Hancock St.
Detroit, MI 48201
313 993 7813
visit the gallery’s artinfo.com listing

GALLERY LISTING AND MAP:
http://art.wayne.edu/jacob_gallery.php

Thanks for the tip Mike!

When we are confronted with the ages-old question of where creativity comes from, how do we normally answer?

Is it in our blood?  Is it a learned trait?  Is is happy accidents?

Well, our friends in the UK are exposing the shocking truth:  Creativity is juiced.

Is Toyota following GM’s footsteps?  How many brands do you want under one company?  It is obvious from what GM is going through that less is more.  Toyota, Lexus, Scion and now Prius.  The first three brands are all very unique brand wise from each other not so much when it comes to the actual cars.  Why have one fuel efficient brand, don’t you want all your brands to be leaders in technology and fuel efficiency?

The worst part of this is that under the Prius brand there would be more…Prius’s.  Not something I am looking forward top seeing on the road.  I am all about supporting the environment but not at the expense of a poorly looking car leaking NIMH all over the road creating a dead zone.

Anyway, in an attempt to go along with the inevitable bad decisions in the auto industry we have come up with some future Prius models to fill out the lineup.  Check them out and see if we are on to something.  Hopefully we are not.

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Sure, cars are great to look at, and they do go fast, but the Holy Grail for all designers is the creation of a truly unique, sexy motorcycle.  There is a reason why great bike designs are so few and far between: they are increidbly difficult to design, focusing less on the aesthetics and more on the power, ride, and manufacture.   Many of us THINK we know how to make a “hot bike” (heck, I was pretty proud of the Buell concept I designed in Junior year) but really only the professionals have the know-how to execute perfectly.

In come Honda and Confederate Motorcycles.

Recently, both unveiled new bikes and concepts that are sure to make us drool.  I needed and especially dry towel to keep my keyboard from short-fusing.

Pics and descriptions after the break.

The Honda V4 Concept Bike

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We often discuss the changes needed for automotive companies to be successful and “up-to-date” in an increasingly demanding technological world.  One of the ways design studios are starting to embrace technology is based on the tried-and-true method of critiquing the work of other Designers.  Group critiques, or “crits” as we affectionately call them, are a part of the design world that no other field or industry engages in.  It opens the floor to opinion from other designers, often leading to vastly improved products visually, increased effectiveness and appropriateness of a design, and market-leading products.  In fact without crits a design can end up short-sighted and a designer not pushed further towards a proper direction.

With the usage of new tools and design methods, critiques must adapt to better serve the designers AND the product.  Modern methods of bettering design critiques include Smart Board (interactive white board) usage with notation and sketch overlays, increased usage of technologies such as WebX and GoToMeeting, and even video conferencing.

Local Motors has a unique situation: Being an online community of designers, students, engineers, and car aficionados they must allow for a variety of feedback from potential customers & designers in order to make their product successful, as well as provide feedback to hopeful designers in improving their concepts and design skills.

The method they decided to employ is unique, but steeped in what the community already knows.

Read on to find out how.

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If you, like us, love classic car design and all the wild concepts that came about in the early days of Automotive Design, then you’ll love this:

Discovery Channel has listed several of legendary designer Harley Earl’s automotive concepts and one-offs on its NextWorld site.  The site chronicles some of his more iconic designs, such as the Y-Job and the Firebird III.

My personal favorite?  The ‘54 Pontiac Bonneville Special.  Take a look and let us know your favorites from Mr Earl.

Link to NextWorld’s Harley Earl tribute

Let me be the first to say, “It’s about time!”

As iconic as Chrysler’s early 2K styling was with the sexy Chrysler 300C, the brutish Dodge Magnum, and the not-very-attractive (as in, ugly) Jeep Compass, newly-anointed Chrysler Design Chief Ralph Gilles spoke about the the coming change in the Chrysler aesthetic.

His words (via Autoblog): “It’s definitely time for a new aesthetic at Chrysler. … We’re done with the ‘edge’ look.”

The new Chrysler design language is said to be more “organic” and sexy, which will be a welcome change from the 1984-ish styling of the last 8 years.  Switching to a new aesthetic brings with it both challenges and rewards, as it may be difficult to succeed a popular vehicle like the 300C with a more swoopy brother, yet it may open the door to further bring to market some new vehicles and leave behind the baggage of the past decade, something that Chrysler desperately needs.

We have heard about a “minivan” running around Europe but who would have thought it would look this good.  At first glance this has real potential.  A little bit of HHR/ Groove/ Traverse all mixed together.  At least they mixed ingredients from the same brand.  I think GM is really on track for this thing we call brand identity.  I am starting to see it.

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It’s no surprise that Motorola’s mobile phone division is hitting rock-bottom.  You can see that happening when you are offered 38 free RAZRs with every new account with Big Corporate Wireless Company.  But, how did it go from super-cool phone to has-been mobile company in such a relatively short time?  Gizmodo found out.

The lack of proper Design support, and the emphasis on engineering and marketing, killed the brand ever so softly.  It’s the realization of the Old Wives’ Tale of how Design is subjected to adding gemstones and color combinations instead of being injected as a part of the product development process.

It’s no wonder that LG, HTC, and now Apple have run past Moto at a blazing speed.

Full (great) article here:

Motorola Inside Blame Game: Engineers Shoved Designers Aside