A full 100% Copic day!
11:30 a.m – 1:30 p.m: Theory (techniques of sketching and color with Copic Marker and Sketch)
Practice 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (all participants will exercise with the tutors)
info copic@copic.it
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!
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.
UED is hosting a Design Workshop with Designer Michele Leonello on February 18th, 2011 in Pescara. The event will be a terrific way for Designers (both students and professionals) to train on methods of sketching using paper, Chartpak markers, pencils, and more.
The basics are important for all Designers, so this is going to be a highly informative day. The registration for non-students is €20, and the event takes place from 9AM-6PM.
For more information, visit http://www.uedpescara.it
Rendering a yellow car on yellow paper is not as simple as it looks. Careful, methodical application of color is the key to making it work. Click on the image above to see the twenty step process…
I decided to ring in the new year with a bit of an experiment. Click on the image above to see the twenty steps for this McLaren — you may need some orange gouache 
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.
Developing a vehicle is no easy task. Anyone who has been a part of the development cycle and they are amazed that all the pieces and parts actually fit together and are reliable for 10+ years. It truly is an incredible undertaking. As for the creative process the easiest part is sometimes nailing the sketch to develop a new car. The more difficult and longer process is developing that sketch into a feasible and working automobile. A designer will sketch the concept and it is then the job of the design manager to execute the theme. It goes up from there with the design director keeping tabs on the manager and the VP looking after the director. You can see how the differing aesthetic taste can derail the theme direction. Case in point, the Chrysler Sebring (do you think a designer actually wanted the car to look like that?). Management also has input flanking from every side. Product planning, marketing, engineering, etc. all have their own agendas that often do not align with design.
Luciano Bove is a design manager a Renault in France. His blog Car Design Education Tips posted some tips and info on design management. He speaks of some key attributes which are relevant to any designer in the corporate world. Check it out below,
The automotive design process is something complicated believe me. From sketches to production there are almost 4 years of activities, brainstorming – ideas selections – sketching evolutions – early presentations to select ideas -product planning meetings – marketing – first architecture product plans – virtual reality step – model making – master models – technical meetings – suppliers meetings – follow up parts – prototyping – modifications and up dates follow up – at so on until production!
Category : education, Fetishing, Holiday Gift Guide, News
CDF’s very own Jason White is on the cusp of releasing his first book, Old School Viscom, to the masses! Over the past year, Jason has posted tutorial after tutorial on the Fetish, helping professionals and students alike in understanding the basics of automotive sketching and rendering across a variety of medium.
Join us in congratulating Jason on the release of his first book! The 250-page book is available for preorder right now (click here) and more info can be found on the official website (oldschoolviscom.com).
Does anyone really know how to design anything? Can sex accelerate innovation? These are some questions to get answers to buy watching the video below.
When Ideas have Sex
Matt Ridley shows that the reason why humans have advanced as a culture was because we were able to exchange ideas and learn from each other.
More importantly was his point that people do not know how to do everything, but instead leverages on groups of people knowledgeable in their areas. As a result people are contributors to a collective whole and therefore, it is not how smart a person is, but how well he communicates and interfaces with the world around him.
This topic is one that I wish every OEM would listen too. What would happen if an OEM redesigned a car with Mr. Dyson or rethought the info/ interface with Steve Jobs? Vehicle design could progress so much faster if politics were set aside and the consumer was actually the most important part of the product. Put away the ego’s and stubborness and lets work together people!
[via Design Sojourn]