Tag Archives: Frank Saucedo

How I Made It: Trans Alum Frank Saucedo

The L.A. Times has a nice profile on 1984 Transportation Design alumnus Frank Saucedo, who is director of General Motors Co.’s Advanced Design Studio in North Hollywood.

As director of the studio, 5350 Industrial Concepts, Saucedo oversees a staff of 30 designers, sculptors, analysts and engineers. Since opening, the studio has created several noteworthy projects, most notably the 2001 Chevrolet Borrego and the Pontiac Solstice. (We spoke with Saucedo about his work for a past issue of Outer Circle.)

From the L.A. Times article: “Saucedo didn’t realize auto design was a career option until he visited Art Center College of Design in Pasadena at the urging of his teacher at San Gabriel High School. ‘I walked into the big presentation room in Art Center and these guys were doing full-size drawings of cars, and I said, I want to do that.’

“After high school he took as many classes as he could, day and night, at Pasadena City College, East Los Angeles College and Art Center, while also working at auto parts stores.”

Read more: How I Made It: Frank Saucedo, GM car-design studio chief

Art Center on Display at L.A. Auto Show

Art Center students manning the L.A. Auto Show exhibit

The L.A. Auto Show kicks off today, hosting 50 world and North American debuts across virtually all vehicle categories.

This year’s show will display a number of electric vehicles and futuristic concepts, and test-drives of a number of vehicles.

Art Center again has an exhibition space in the show, featuring student and alumni work from Transportation Design and beyond.

Alumnus Chip Foose has work on display; Deep Orange, the collaborative concept electric vehicle created by Clemson University graduate students and styled by Art Center students; and examples of Art Center student work from a variety of disciplines.

Take a peek at the Art Center exhibit in the photo slide show below:

Another Art Center connection to the auto show: The Cadillac Aera concept vehicle won the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge. The concept was created in GM’s North Hollywood Advanced Design Studio, led by alum Frank Saucedo. GM Advanced Design has now won the honor more times than any other design team; this is its third victory since 2005. Congrats!