Car design is harder than I had thought... help please

I love that pic !

I just threw a bathroom rug out as I had smeared clay from my soles into it.

Its been so long since Ive smelled the huge sulfur content stuff i dont remember how bad it was.

 

Then you might like this one........looks like a crime scene
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Thats badass....looks like a fun environment. Is this one of your classes ?

 

Yes,it was last Spring semester.18 Graduating Seniors...............what a disaster area.But we got it cleaned up for the final presentations.

 

Not to go off on a tangent, but I'm wondering which books/textbooks are the classics of automotive design?

Also, which magazines, journals and sites do those of you who know this field find helpful?

My thanks in advance.

 

" H-Point the fundamentals of car design & packaging" by Macey & Wardle is a must to understand vehicle architecture. As far as drawing cars,there are several books on the market that provide the basics.As I mentioned earlier, the just released "How to draw cars now" DVD's are a good place to start.
The Italian publication Auto & Design is one of the few publications left that are a magazine format/style.With the demise of Car Styling (Japan) & Style Auto (Italy) they are the last man standing.
Online:Car Design News is a good source of information, and there are several other car design websites available.
There aren't any specific magazines for car design in general,but all the usual suspects are filled with great articles regarding what is happening in the Automotive world i.e. Autocar,TopGear,Auto Motor & Sport,Evo,etc, etc.Every country has their own car related magazines,and they are a great source for material.
Hope that helps!

Forgot: carbodydesign.com as well

 

I was a sculptor at Honda then, we may have met. It was a pretty small studio back then with only a handful of sculptors. I had started Honda's computer design group so I was back and forth between the clay and the computer back then. The studio now is huge. I left 10 years ago.
That sulfur clay would not only get in everything, it would also destroy electronics. The radio in my new car, at the time, lasted about a year.

 

If you can find the Car Styling back issues at a library, they are a great source of information. Not only do they have in depth looks at the design processes of specific cars and studios, they also feature "how to" articles in the back that cover clay modeling and computer modeling etc. It is an awesome publication. I think I miss it

 

I have every issue printed as well as the special editions from # 1- last one.It cronicles the history of auto design from 1973 - 2010.If you know of anyone that is searching for the entire set..........have them contact me.They are in new cond.I thought it was a fantastic source,and I miss it as well.

 

When I win the lottery I will be contacting you! I started getting them when I went freelance so I only have the last ten years and a few Honda specific issues.

 

They aint going anywhere soon I don't think

 

Are you interested in Car Design in general? Or designing/drawing cars? My library has both.

 

I'm interested in the principles of good car design but I'm sure I'll have to do some drawing to really internalize the basic principles (I'll send you some of my stick figures posing seductively next to Chrysler K cars . . .)

 

To understand "good design" you must start to look at the shapes in a highly critical way. It has been a long, long time since I was around car design but I doubt some of the fundemental things have changed much.

Look at any car and analyze if the shapes should be as seen or altered in some way. Is a surface too hollow or too flat in cross section? If you were to change it where would the peak of the curve be? Should any line be up or down? As one form mutates or transitions into another should it be different. Look at the detailing of things like the lights and bumpers and trim and everything else. Be critical in thinking if that is the best solution.

If you are interested in the history of car design and how it evolved there are a couple of books. Dave Holls was co-author of one. i had the other one but can't find it now; its author was some professor. It dealt with how GM, Ford and Chrysler built their individual design operations.

Look back at those old Car Styling issues. There are lots of photos showing the evolving design process and the alternatives that were not selected.

John: How many of the 18 grads got placed in automotive?

For the Honda people: Anyone know Doug Halbert? He, Mark Jordan and I all graduated together from ACCD.

Jeff

 

Jeff,

Excellent advice!

I still believe Dave Holls' book is one of the best for the history of car design.There are several others as you mention,and when I get home tonight,I'll list them.

Of the 18 students in that class,I believe 12 so far have landed jobs in the industry. Several went to Japan,one to VW,the rest wound up at Ford,GM,Chrysler.Last I knew some were still looking in Europe/Germany/UK.

I thought Doug had left Honda,but I could be mistaken.Dave Marek,is the Chief Designer now.

 

Hi Jeff,
Your name sounded familiar to me. Doug Halbert hired me out of Art Center and we spent the next 13 years pranking each other with ever escalating levels of evil. I left there 10 years ago and he retired soon after that. He had since moved to Colorado but I recently heard he moved back to the LA area. I will be teaching a class at Honda next week and will see if my friends there know what he is up to.
John Dixon

 

Cool,another Art Center grad!

 

But John you have switched sides "that other place" CCS. Of course you have company there with the department head - another ACCD grad.

I had heard of Halbert retiring but never knew what had become of him afterwards.

I used to hang out at a restaurant that was nearly across the street from Honda North America. Not The Depot but the one owned by George - girlfriend was a manager there. Became friendly with a couple of the Honda senior people that would be in the bar sometimes. One had been a temporary VP Sales during the blow up over the pay for extra allocation to the dealers. He had an NSX as a company car.

Jeff

 

Yes I know that I'm on the "opposing" team now.The interesting thing is the Senior project for my class is a competition with ACCD & CCS! So I have dual loyalties as it were.I keep telling the class we're in a "cage fight" w/ACCD.They don't see the humor however

 

When were you at ACCD? I graduated Christmas '88.

 

Long before that!
I was in one of the last classes to graduate from the old 3rd st campus

 

If they want more humor make them grasp that not only are they each going to be competing for a job amonst their CCS classmates at graduation but but everyone one of the ACCD people is also their direct competition for the job offer. They may already have themselves figured out against their peers but they have no such special insight to the other guys. Its a tough deal and between all the schools there may be too many graduates to be absorbed into the marketplace.

I graduated ACCD 1978. 3 terms at the old campus, 4th term at the opening of the new campus. There were some horro stories as they opened the new building for classes. Good thing is that we no longer were driving around the neighborhood looking for parking places.

Jeff

 

Amen,I keep telling them that they are competing with not only ACCD, but Cleveland, RCA(London),Phortzheim (Germany),Honyik (Korea),Coventry,etc.
We did manage to place one student at Pininfarina,and one in my class now is talking to Porsche,so we'll see.

 

Back in our days at ACCD one thing that could be counted on was the ability to start making productive contributions right away after starting; except for learning to draw during daylight hours.

It was one of the things that I used to see at a few different places and in talking with some students from other schools. They were not ready to start drawing and contributing for the tasks at hand initially. Watched a person at Chrysler that took 6 months before she was contributing - they first had to teach her how to draw a car. Others couldn't get around that people way above them were making the real decisions and one had to play by their rules. Solving all the world's ills was not part of what that designer was being paid to do.

Not saying that some of these people from other places did not go on to become spectacular but the special trait of ACCD back then, as opposed to many of the other schools, was that when hired the person did not have to be retrained into the reality.

Don't know how the various schools compare these days in turning out competent graduates that are ready to contribute effectively when they walk through the door. Curious on the thoughts on this comparision.

Jeff