Category Archives: Transportation Design

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:

  • Film Department Chair Ross LaManna talks to CNN about the rise of the graphic novel in Hollywood. CNN
  • Director for Advanced Mobility Research Geoff Wardle chats with The New York Times about the Tata Nano, which will be on display next week at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The New York Times
  • Alumnus Tommy Lee Edwards explains his conceptual work for the film The Book of Eli. Livingston Daily
  • Indy Racing League discusses the development of its next-generation racing car, developed with the help of Art Center students. Edmunds Inside Line
  • Painter and Illustration alumnus Paul Rickert’s latest exchibit, Industrial Visions, is currently on display at Rider University in Lawrence, NJ. CentralJersey.com
  • Filmmaker and alumnus Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s fantasy-action-drama epic about ancient Greece, Dawn of War, might be filmed in 3D. Little About

(Pictured: Out of Furnaces, Paul Rickert)

20000 Leagues Under the Sea Via Underwater Plane

Another childhood dream of ours is about to become a reality: Virgin has unveiled an underwater plane that will fly into the depths of the Caribbean Sea.

Guests on Necker Island, a retreat in the British Virgin Islands, will be able to dive underwater in a submarine dubbed the Necker Nymph for $25,000 a week.

CNNMoney.com writes: “Beginning on Feb. 20, two riders and a pilot will be able to take the plunge from land, or from a boat. The underwater plane uses the downward pressure on its wings to fly through the water for up to two hours at a time, while an open cockpit will give riders a 360-degree view.”

Read more, and check out a video, at CNNMoney.com.

Concours d’Art Winner Announced

The Dana Point Concours d’Elegance announced today that Transportation Design student John Narciso is the winner of the 2010 Dana Point Concours d’Art.

The Concours d’Art is an annual competition hosted by the Dana Point Concours d’ Elegance and Art Center. Narciso’s winning artwork, which will be used for the event poster, program cover and tickets, depicts the progression of iconic Alfa Romeo designs over the firm’s history. The 28th Annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance will take place June 27 at Monarch Beach in Dana Point, Calif. This year’s event will feature 100 years of Alfa Romeo and celebrate 80 years of design from Pininfarina.

Congrats, John!

Design in the Age of Open Source Design

In June, Local Motors, the first open source car company to reach production, will officially release the Rally Fighter, a $50,000 off-road (but street-legal) racer.

The design—described by Wired as a “cross between a Baja racer and a P-51 Mustang fighter plane”— was created by Sangho Kim, a graphic artist and Art Center student. The design was crowdsourced, as was the selection of mostly off-the-shelf components, and the final assembly will be done by the customers themselves in local assembly centers as part of a “build experience.”

Per Wired: “As the community coalesced around his Rally Fighter, members competed to develop secondary parts, from the side vents to the light bar. Some were designers, some engineers, and others just car hobbyists. But what they had in common was a refusal to design just another car, compromised by mass-market needs and convention. They wanted to make something original — a fantasy car come to life.”

Read more: In the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms Are the New Bits

Building Beautiful and Fast Cars That Keep Your Conscience Clear

A great article in the L.A. Times about alumnus Henrik Fisker, one of the world’s most highly regarded designers of luxury automobiles.

Fisker’s Karma is the first luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and the first vehicle released by Fisker Automotive. The Times says it can go from 0 to 60 mph in six seconds. Not bad for a gas-electric hybrid.

“Fisker is known for designs that are fresh as well as classic. “He can do something new and contemporary—but do it with an echo of the brand legacy,” said Stewart Reed, chairman of the transportation design department at the Art Center College of Design. “He understands the importance of proportion and architecture. But he also understands that design, at the end of the day, is a business tool.”

Read more: Henrik Fisker’s cars roar into the future

Fisker Karma Wins Accolades

The Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid electric car has received the 2009 Spark Design and Architecture Award, a competition promoting great design and designers and encouraging creativity.

The Karma is the first luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and the first vehicle released by Fisker Automotive. The company’s CEO and design director is alumnus Henrik Fisker, acclaimed designer of iconic cars such as the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

Congrats to Henrik and his team! Read more at autoevolution:  Fisker Karma Wins 2009 Spark Design and Architecture Award and Fisker Automotive: The Karma

A Gamer’s Childhood Dream Come True

Our dream vehicle has finally arrived! Student Garnet Hertz has taken a classic OutRun arcade cabinet and made it a real, live vehicle … that goes as fast as 20 mph. Hertz is working on an iPhone 3GS app that uses the phone’s camera and GPS to detect your position and shape of the road, and translate that information into a digital OutRun track. 

Don’t miss the video behind the jump.

Continue reading →

2009 BMW 750i: Returning to its Spiritual Home

Edmunds.com editor Kelly Toepke recently visited campus, bringing along the new 2009 BMW 750i for Transportation Design students and faculty to examine.

Toepke writes: “Of all the cars in the Inside Line fleet, the 2009 BMW 750i seemed the most logical, given that the last two BMW design chiefs were Art Center graduates: Chris Bangle (’81) and current head of design Adrian van Hooydonk (’92). (Maybe this was why there was a reserved, curbside parking spot for me when I arrived?)”

Read more about Toepke’s visit, and see photos of the BMW 750i: 2009 BMW 750i: Returning to its Spiritual Home