It’s been over 5 years, but it’s time to say “Good Bye”.

Our time at CDF has been incredible, but the busy lifestyles we lead as husbands, fathers, and designers has us re-prioritizing… in a good way.

Please keep up to date with us, as we always have new projects going.

Dali: http://www.twitter.com/kewlrats

Dustin: http://www.twitter.com/shedski

Jason: http://www.oldschoolviscom.com

Arvind: http://www.twitter.com/drivenmavens

Good Bye!

We’re super excited by this new book from designers Matt Morocco and Adam Hubers, recent CCS graduates and full-time product and automotive designers. Youth energy is awesome, and these dudes are harnessing it to the fullest, taking a pet project and placing it on Kickstarter. And you know what? They’ve already blown past their initial monetary goal, but that shouldn’t stop you from picking it up and supporting the duo.

The book is the kind that every designer has been waiting for, professional or student. It teaches the absolute necessary basics for car design. Literally, it WILL make you a better car designer — nothing beats the basics, after all. From perspective and looseness to tight sketches, the book gets it all jammed in there.

Stop what you’re doing, support these guys, and get the book here on Kickstarter.

Renault in collaboration with Designboom are giving you the opportunity
to re-design the Renault 4.

Participation is open to to applicants from every country in the world,
to professionals, students, and design-enthusiasts – free registration is required.

Competition Brief

The competition brief is broken up in two parts:

1) THE LOOK AND ITS STYLE:
The Renault 4 is the third best-selling model in automobile history and has become an international style icon. Your new design should respect the identity of the historical R4 model, which was based on an extremely functional and minimalistic philosophy.

2) INNOVATIVE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY:
The cleverly minimalistic R4 used the technical know-how of its time at its best. Low running costs and the ability to adapt to all types of use granted the R4 an illustrious 31-year career. The revolutionary approach to body design allowed several different versions, including a van, a four-wheel drive vehicle and a cabriolet. The sturdy construction and the low maintenance strategy of the model made it suitable also for an off-road racing championship. How would you translate this characteristics into a contemporary model?

—
Prizes

• First Prize
the winning design will get a Renault 4 that Michel Leclère (ex formula 1 driver) has driven in the 2011 historic Rallye Monte-Carlo. the car is based on a 1965 Renault 4L (value of the car € 15.000 euro)

• Second Prize
€5000 euro

• Third Prize
€3000 euro

—
Deadlines
• Registration will be accepted through June 16th, 2011
• Entries must be submitted before June 20, 2011.

—
• For more information and to enter the competition visit:
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/13543/Renault-4-ever.html

• Learn about the original Renault 4 and its history here:
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/13523/Renault-4-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary.html

SideQuesting.com and concept designer/automotive designer Dwayne Vance, of Future Elements, are announcing a new art & design contest for the hot rod fan in all of us!

Starting April 26th, artists and designers are encouraged to create a videogame- or futuristic-themed hot rod using whatever means they have.  Sketches, renderings, and models are all welcome, and will all be rated equally.

The contest brings together art, design, automobiles, and interactive entertainment.  What would a hot rod for Master Chief look like?  How about a hot rod for Final Fantasy?  The choice is yours, so be creative!

The overall winning entry receives a copy of Dwayne’s newest book, The Hot Rod Art Book: Masters of Chicken Scratch Volume 2, two signed limited edition prints, and a limited t-shirt.  Second and third place entries will receive limited-edition prints from the book.  All entries will be compiled in a gallery and featured on SideQuesting.com.

Full rules & inspiration below, and please visit and support Dwayne’s book on Kickstarter.com!

Future Elements | Masters of Chicken Scratch | SideQuesting’s Interview with Dwayne Vance | Full Contest Rules Here at SideQuesting

Contest rules:

• Contest starts Tuesday, April 26th.
• Submissions due by Sunday night, May 22nd, at 11:59PM PDT
• Winner announced on Thursday, May 26th
• Format: JPEG, PNG, or TIFF file
• Submit as many ideas as you’d like, as there is no limit
• MUST BE ORIGINAL WORK.
• Send entries to: sidequesting@gmail.com
• Entries will be judged by Dwayne Vance and SideQuesting
• First-place winner receives a copy of the Hot Rod Art Book: Masters of Chicken Scratch Volume 2, limited edition prints, and a limited t-shirt
  
• Second and third place entries will receive a limited-edition print from the book
• Open to all entrants, US & international
• All qualifying submissions will be posted in a gallery.
• Please see our official Contest Rules for more information.

What would a possible next-generation Pontiac Solstice look like?  Well, had the company stuck around, Macedonian designer Dejan Hristov’s aggressive version might be ready for show rooms.  Hristov created a sexy convertible that would look great not only as a concept car, but maybe even in the latest Transformers flick.

Hristov melded sculptural form language with Pontiac heritage, updating the now famous “nostrils” of the brand but maintaining the proportions that it is known for.  If the last Solstice was a little too soft or curvacious for your tastes, then this update might be manly enough for you.

You can follow Hristov at his DeviantArt page at: http://dejanhristov.deviantart.com

Thanks, Dejan!

Our friends at Local Motors have their new competition up! Terra Prix is “a Concept Art Design competition that will challenge the imagination of designers and celebrate great conceptual design.”  The competition is Local Motors’ first to be judged by a panel.  The panel includes Scott Robertson, Daniel Simon, Syd Mead, and more legendary designers!

Enter now at Local Motors. The submission deadline is June 7th at 11:59PM

Full press release follows below

Local Motors is a new American car company setting an exciting and sustainable course to design, manufacture, and sell cars.  Revolutionary yet simple, Local Motors creates a direct connection with customers who guide and participate in design development based on personal desires.  The process is open source and the result is meaningful, exciting cars designed specifically for car enthusiasts.  All chassis and body vehicle data is shared to make the car building and modding experience more enjoyable.

Local Motors will build micro-factories in regions where demand is highest.  Cars are built and sold from the micro-factories on a just-in-time basis.  Both the products and process are sustainable.  Local Motors vehicles feature best-in-class fuel efficiency.  The development and manufacturing process dramatically reduces waste while maintaining the flexibility to incorporate new, efficient technologies as they emerge.

The first open source design concept brought to market by Local Motors and this dynamic community of contributors is the Rally Fighter ; the original design is by Sangho Kim.  The Rally Fighter is an off-road desert racer with on-street chops.  To view and purchase the Rally Fighter, or to contribute to the future car concepts, go to www.local-motors.com.

Want to learn more about Local Motors’ community-centric co-creative business model?  Join us in Phoenix for the world’s first Co-Creation Conference at the LM Micro-Factory this June: http://cocreate.pdma.org/

Click onto the image above to see a 20 step tutorial for this Bricklin SV1.  More tutorials can be viewed on the Old School Viscom Facebook page.

Our friends over at AutoLine have Ford’s Joel Piaskowski, head of Design, on their After Hours show tonight.

Autoline’s John McElroy will be joined by Piaskowski, Autoextremist Peter De Lorenzo, as well as Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press.

Need we say more?
Autoline After Hours

Pop-out Chat Window

Got questions for Rapid Fire? Put “AAH Question” in the subject line and e-mail it to viewermail@autolinedetroit.tv

Or, leave them a message by calling 1-620-288-6546 or by clicking below!

Arvind’s got a great video over at DrivenMavens detailing a technique that includes drawing what you see and NOT what you think you know.  The technique forces Designers and Artists to reference photographs and real-life situations, purposefully forgetting what we are taught to know about perspective, to get an image to look and feel correct.

Case in point: in real life, we know that everything falls in 3-point perspective.  Normally that’s how we draw.  For basic Design this is a great start. Photographs, on the other hand, add in an element of fish eye, vantage point, and even emotion that you just can’t capture while looking at a car in a parking lot.  By using these as reference, we can better create more emotionally impactful images.

Watch the YouTube vid above, and follow along on DrivenMavens for the full article.

Our sister site at SideQuesting.com is running a light cycle design competition, as you may have seen in our post about it last week.  Well, the first few sets of submissions are in, and they’re pretty damn cool.

Head on over and take a gander… you have until April 10th to enter one for yourself.

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3