Category Archives: Transportation Design

Just Add Water

The following post was written by 5th Term Transportation Design student Tom Harezlak for the Designmatters blog.

Who needs an alarm clock when you can wake to the sound of a choir of monks?

NikolausKloster, a 600 year-old monastery in Germany, has an atmosphere that I would describe as a charming castle mixed with frat house. This special place was home to me and 23 others for a week as we learned about key issues of sustainability and attempted to tackle some of them. This was the second Sustainable Summer School, and I was grateful to be sponsored as attendee by Designmatters, the social impact design department at my school, Art Center College of Design.

“Summer” is a loose term, however, because September in Duesseldorf can get quite cold as I discovered. The warmth of my company was tremendous; a point that illustrated the value of bio-diversity. Our culturally diverse group hailed from nine different countries and this added richness to the experience. All the workshop participants were either design students or practicing designers, but we were in the company of a philosopher, sociologist, artists, a CEO and ecological researchers. The program was born out of collaboration between faculty from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and Ecosign, an ecologically focused design academy.

For the week we stayed in this sanctuary with little internet and poor cell reception; it was great. The brothers of the order made our food and much of it was grown on site. We left the countryside for one day to visit Cologne and hear expert speakers at Ecosign.

Biologists and a sociologist presented two points of view on swarms and swarm intelligence. Their research was fascinating and their debate heated. Experiments illustrated the dynamic probability of humans to behave like a swarm. All this while psychological factors would indicate that this behavior would never be predictable when applied to humans.

Another point communicated was that a group may be able to solve a problem that no one individual in the group is able to. Then it was up to our teams of designers to present the relevance we believed it had to design. Throughout the week I was elected to present as a native English speaker and because I was “the easiest to understand,” though there was a proper Brit on call. I suppose I have Hollywood to thank for that.

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The Mystery of the Ford Capri

It’s been one of the greatest mysteries of the transportation industry: Just who designed the Ford Capri?

It’s taken four decades, but we finally know the answer. And interestingly enough—and probably not surprisingly—he was an Art Center alum. Phil Clark, an Iowa native who graduated from Art Center in 1958 and went to work for Ford in 1962, was the designer of Mustang’s galloping horse logo. Thanks to his daughter Holly, Clark has been identified as the designer of the Capri as well.

Holly was just a toddler when her father died of kidney failure at age 32. As an adult, she began an extensive investigation, piecing together his surviving art folios.

From Hemmings Blog: “‘Code-named GBX, his drawings and clay models for Project Colt, the name given to Capri preproduction planning within Ford, range from 1964 through 1966,’ said Norm Murdock, executive of the Ford Capri Hall of Fame, which inducted Clark earlier this month when the news came to light. Early Clark renderings show nearly all the classical Capri hallmarks: Long hood, short rear deck, fastback pillars with notchback rear window, squared-off rear quarter, upswept front valence, dramatic side crease, etc.’”

Read more at Hemmings Blog and at Holly’s fascinating site about her father.

Meet Gabriel Wartofsky

Transportation Design student Gabriel Wartofsky first learned of Art Center from an automobile magazine when he was a child.

He says that his goal as a transportation designer is to “improve the way we move around our neighborhoods, our cities and our planet with desirable, responsible design solutions.”

Read more about Gabriel and his Art Center experience in this great interview.

Making Concept Cars That Work

Check out this great L.A. Times profile on Art Center Transportation Design alum Freeman Thomas, design director for Ford Motor Co.’s strategic concepts group in Irvine.

Thomas has helped design the new Beetle, the first Audi TT and the Chrysler 300. Now his latest creation is the eco-friendly Start.

From the article: “The Ford Start concept vehicle is a small, ‘eco-friendly’ car with a 1-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine that puts out 120 horsepower. He said it could get more than 60 miles per gallon, depending on driving conditions. ‘The basic idea of the car was finding a polished pebble on the sand. You are attracted to that pebble and you want to pick it up and play with it. We want the car to look as if nature had shaped it,’ Thomas said. Although there are no production plans for the vehicle, he says it is a serious concept that is ‘buildable.’ Anything else would be a waste of time and Ford’s money, Thomas said. ‘If we don’t combine design and marketing and engineering into the concept cars, it is a fruitless exercise. You have to be able to make the concept cars that work.’”

Very cool. Read more: Ford’s Freeman Thomas has a better idea, and check out this video of the Start featuring J Mays, another of our Transportation Design alums and Ford’s chief creative officer below:

Shaping China’s Auto Industry at Art Center

The Wall Street Journal asks, “Is the day when you might drive a Chevy Camaro or an Audi A6 styled by a Chinese designer almost here?”

Transportation Design student Chen Di

The answer is that this scenario is not too far away, especially when you consider China’s rapidly growing automotive industry, which in 2009 surpassed the U.S. as the world’s biggest auto market.

The Wall Street Journal writes: “Judging from a growing number of students from mainland China, such as Chen Di and Feng Chao, at Art Center College of Design, a premier transportation design school in Pasadena, Calif., the auto industry is poised to see an uptick in the influence of Chinese-born designers – just as Japanese and Korean designers’ influence grew over the past three or four decades coinciding with the rise of Japanese and Korean auto makers over the same period.”

The article also speaks to Transportation Design professor Bumsuk Lim on this “initial wave” of Chinese Transportation Design students who began arriving at the College in the early 2000s.

Read more: Budding Chinese Car Designers

In Case You Missed It

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:

Chip Foose, left, with castmates Lou Santiago and ACP

In Case You Missed It

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:

Jorge Pardo, "Bulgogi"

  • A new mixed media installation by Fine Art alum Jorge Pardo, Bulgogi, at Gagosian Gallery. artdaily.org
  • Top-seller at Vroman’s Bookstore features cover illustrations by Art Center students. Pasadena Star-News
  • Catching up with top hot-rod designer and Art Center Transportation Design alum Chip Foose. Los Angeles Times
  • Photography and Imaging alum Dan Chavkin discovers mid-century inspiration in Palm Springs. MyDesert.com

Castriota Named Saab Design Director

Transportation Design alum Jason Castriota has been named director of design for Saab.

From Inside Line: “Saab Chairman Victor Muller said the acquisition of Castriota means the automaker ‘will be making landmark cars for the foreseeable future.’ Castriota will report to Saab Automobile CEO Jan Ake Jonsson and will lead Saab’s push to expand its product lineup.”

Read more:
Saab Names New Design Chief (Inside Line)
Saab’s Future Can Be Found in Saab’s Past, Says Its New Designer (NYT)

Foundation Awards $50,000 for Transportation Design Scholarships

Exciting news: The Pasadena Star-News brings us a great story today about the Collectors Foundation, a nonprofit created by car enthusiasts who has awarded $50,000 for Art Center Transportation Design scholarships over the next five years.

“We’re interested in historic vehicles and classics, and the board is funding education and training for students to create and build the next generation for collection enthusiasts,” says Bob Knechel, the foundation’s executive director.

Read more: Pasadena Art Center taps support from Classic-car collectors

In Case You Missed It

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:

  • Acclaimed author, illustrator and Art Center alum James Gurney’s magical world of Dinotopia comes to life in a new exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla. Artdaily.org
  • Looking for a luxurious electric car? Check out the Maserati Tramontane, a concept vehicle designed by Transportation Design student Ondrej Jirec. Automotto.com
  • Photo alum Justine Maccario has a solo photography show up at Modest Fly Gallery in Tujunga. Closing reception June 26. Modest Fly Gallery
  • Broadcast Cinema alum Keith Wells explores foreign adoption in his latest work. Pasadena Star-News
  • Dana Point Concours d’Elegance announces artists for the 2010 exhibit, chaired by Advertising alum William Motta and featuring work by Transportation Design faculty member Richard Pietruska. Earth Times
  • Illustration alum Frank Ordaz opens a studio in downtown Auburn, Calif. Auburn Journal

(Pictured: “The Excursion” by James Gurney)