How to Become an Automobile Designer

Start Learning

Transportation design courses are relatively rare among schools that teach industrial design, but those classes are exactly where a would-be car designer should start. Considering there are less than two-dozen transportation design schools in the world and that many people aspire careers as car designers, the car design field is very crowded and competitive. In fact, many schools won't consider an applicant who does not already have a design portfolio, so some people are ruled out of consideration almost right away.

Choosing a Transportation Design Course

Schools that teach transportation design are scattered around the globe. The most sensible first-choices for an applicant are the schools that are closest to home. However, a careful examination of a school's reputation might make other options worthy of consideration. Faculty and educational philosophies can also play a part in choosing a transportation design course. Therefore, international study might be necessary.

Some of the most sought-after car design courses are given at schools located near automotive companies. These often have a close tie with the industry and good relations with the nearby automaker. In fact, some of these schools offer apprenticeships and mentoring programs that help students gain firsthand experience in the automotive industry.

Schools that offer car design courses can vary as to how much they emphasize engineering skills versus modeling skills, so prospective students should weigh that information with their own preferences. They also vary as to the amount of equipment available in academic design studios and how often students can access those studios.

Many schools appear at college and career shows, giving prospective students a chance to meet current students and learn more about available programs. Therefore, attending one of these shows is recommended before a student makes any final decisions.

Qualifications

Car design courses require that applicants have talent before even being considered for acceptance. This means that a prospective student must have demonstrable drawing skills and work samples to prove they have a certain amount of ability.

Schools generally want to select applicants with high school design and art experience under their belt as well as solid credentials in mathematics and physics. High school writing credits are also a plus because car designers must have the ability to communicate well on paper. Foreign language experience is also a plus, seeing that the auto industry is globally intertwined. Many graduates will find that their first job after graduation is in a country that speaks a different language.

Length of Study

Students should expect to spend three or four years studying for their undergraduate degree in transportation design. They usually study industrial design for a year before branching out into their specialized courses of study. Advanced degrees are available, which may offer a higher starting salary and greater job security, but not necessarily a better chance for landing a job as a automotive designer.

Classic Car Fine Art: Not Just Another Pretty Car

In the musty halls of Fine Art and the critics, gallery owners and collectors who
walk them, there can often be felt a barely disguised disdain for the art of the
classic automobile.

Within the large population of Automotive Artists, especially in North America
and Britain, it has been difficult to find acceptance by the mainstream art
community. Perhaps many of the artists involved create illustrative portraits of
cars in styles that support auto racing fan merchandize more than what is
considered fine art. Some fit more easily into the areas of recreation, muscle
car, motor sport, NASCAR racing, or other thematic visual art. As such, these
gifted stylists and their work are considered commercial offshoots of these
areas. But there are many other automotive artists who's work stands equal
with any traditional fine art. The only thing that marks this art apart is its
subject matter -- one of the most ubiquitous and powerful icons of our society
-- the classic automobile.

Artists such as Andy Warhol, Don Jacot and Audrey Flack have been able to
immortalize common mass produced items of popular culture with resulting
critical success. Artist Robert Bechtle placed cars within the context of street
scenes reminiscent of family snapshots and as such, made a statement about
society that included the auto but moved beyond it. The automobile was
included in many of his paintings as an important piece of Americana.

There are many automotive artists, who like Robert Bechtle, have taken the
image further than an illustrative depiction of the car in its perfect 'still life'
state. These artists deserve to be recognized for crossing the line, as it were,
between niche art and fine art.

Paris based artist Malquito uses his website's virtual gallery to show his
automotive images hanging over a couch, as if to say "this too can hang in your
living room, not your rec room or garage." Artists Nicola Wood and David
Snyder portray classic cars in scenes rich with color and design, comparable to
any contemporary art today. John Salt's run down cars nestle amongst the rich
textures of urban strafed buildings. Margie Guyot's impressionist paintings just
happen to feature the automobile, a common item that would most likely not
have been removed from the painted scenes of Claude Monet or Pissarro, had
cars existed in their time.

The automobile as part of society is as viable a subject for art today as were
the religious symbols and icons in the 13th century or hunting scenes and
sailing ships in the 19th century. Art has historically catered to its clients; once
the church, later high society, monarchs and noblemen; today, the common
man. Auto buyers come from a wide socio-economic demographic which
marks cars from all eras as a cross section indicator of societal tastes. The
classic automobile has a viable right to commemoration as a major example of
historic style and design, arguably as much as the architecture of any era.

It has long been a central role of artists to articulate contemporary lifestyles
and express the effects of society and everyday surroundings upon the mind of
man. Our society enjoys a love-hate relationship with the car. The cars of the
50's and 60's represent perhaps the apex of North America's love affair with
the personal machine that gave both men and women equal access to freedom,
travel and the ability to expand their horizons. It is also the grand polluter of
our time and these behemoths of yesteryear the worst offenders. The classic
auto is strongly symbolic of the opposing emotions and attitudes of their eras
and the current era. And as such, it is a tremendously powerful subject for fine
art.

The Unique Pop Art Portraits World: Impact And Inspiration Together With Astounding American Culture

The domination associated with common culture inside the 1950s seems to have not only enthused men and women to purchase what is popular and to really encourage the majority to match the new traits in music and fashion - popular culture has also significantly inspired painters and artists in participating in an art movement that inevitably grew to become known as Pop Art. This specific art movement questioned the common approaches of fine arts and used the expansive products enjoyed by an incredible percentage of the world's public, which usually included entities which are usually the topic of adverts and items of marketing and advertising. The composition of Pop is centred on separating a particular topic from its known context and in some works of art, mixed with several other items for analysis. This specific form of art is not just following the gratitude of an exceptional masterpiece, but about how viewers will react and also be influenced by its class and deep impressions.

Pop Art portraits exhibit an effect received from Dadaism, an art movement that started in Zürich, Switzerland in 1916 and lasted until 1922. The use of illustrations or photos and objects that may be seen and touched are thoughts of Dadaism and when joined with irony, results in Pop. The appearance of this art movement has done away with the highbrow idea in imaginative works of art via the use of common and inexpensive elements received from distinct cultures. Pop transcends the limitations involving high and low art, dealing with institutional art by means of the use of a wide variety of less academic themes and setting up a brand new standard for art quality. Pop Art portraits are often created by means of the enactment of diverse mechanical techniques in both rendering and also reproduction. Though the themes of Pop are extremely uncomplicated and usually considered as entertainment, the imaginative underpinnings are often tough to understand and so are frequently designed to mock and condemn particular problems and subjects within the world, which in turn result in its powerful effects on the art market.

Popular culture is always following customers and huge devotees of what's hot and what's interesting. The 1950s was always a great opportunity for an excellent variety of artists to make use of pictures which are observed by everybody in their every day activities. This particular period also is an occasion of aspiration in Britain, succeeding the final chapters of war-time rationing and also leading to a profound boost in asset ingestion. This period likewise represents the development of the word "Pop" by way of the British critic Lawrence Alloway to consult the artworks centering on products which has obtained massive awareness. The goods of mass culture rooting from the works of the professional society are inexhaustible resources for Pop Art portraits and up until now, this valuable type of art continues to impact a fantastic volume of people. Pop has been triumphant over Abstract Expressionism which was reigning within the USA and Europe throughout the nineteen fifties and sixties. The greatest Pop event presented within the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1962 developed the existence of this form of art and marked its fantastic influence in history. Pop is considered a forerunner of Post-modern Art and also certain modern artists consider Pop Art portraits as the top instances of early Post-modern Art items.

Pop slowly became well-known within the U.S. together with The United Kingdom yet both countries have various meanings and styles of the specific type of art. The Independent Group plus Richard Hamilton launched Pop in Britain by means of their resistance to modernist art, design and architecture. British Pop traces its beginnings from the American automotive design as well as its emphasis on "planned obsolescence," and the continued creation of entities that can eventually exhaust and also be exchanged by fresh items inside the marketplace. The upbeat standpoint of British Pop artists will be the cause of their preference for subjects which are apparent representations of direct action like assemblages and occurrences. The themes are often dedicated to American Pop Culture and technology, as seen and interpreted by an outsider. However, American Pop is strengthened by its own culture, influenced by the components, activities and life within American culture. Pop accumulated reputation along with the pop music phenomenon of the fifties and sixties, generating celebrities and musicians as cutting edge objects for Pop Art portraits.

One of the most prominent icons in Pop will be the American artist Andy Warhol. Identified as the "Pope of Pop Art," Warhol did not only leave the art world with works of art but with common declarations on popular culture that continues to impact society. Immortalizing Marilyn Monroe and her stunning face on canvas in 1962 labelled the age of Warhol Pop Art. Putting a Campbell's Soup Can and Tomato Juice Box in prints, Warhol Pop Art items are best degrees of irony and parody of classic American popular culture. The American Pop culture in Warhol Pop Art can be considered cunning, potent and highly important power that moves and changes every single person's way of life as a means of increasing the prosperity of contemporary society.

The continuous manufacture of cutting edge images from televisions, journals, newsprint and Hollywood perked up Warhol's enthusiasm, making a quote, "In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." Warhol Pop Art identified popular culture as an image that can be consumed and may solely stay alive if numerous copies are reproduced. Warhol in no way disclosed the true definitions regarding his artworks and gave his audiences the opportunity to give life and perception to his masterpieces. Pop culture can be a media condensed culture for Warhol and the blemishes of his designs because of the silkscreen technique are representations of the disordered problem of the contemporary society.

These days, Pop Art continues to go on, just like pop culture. More and more images are being created daily and also the control of contemporary technology concluded in far more objects subject to Pop's criticisms. The facts of how Warhol developed the artistic style to life style continues to dominate the mass media saturated culture, with most of his artworks implanted in everyone's brains and replicas being offered for sale at on-line outlets over the World Wide Web. While using the American culture still influencing the global pop culture, this specific form of art continues to criticise as well as scrutinise.

Discover the Most Popular Custom Paint Designs on Cars - Spray Painting and Bodywork

It gets pretty boring when you driving down the highway and you see all the same colors of vehicles. Sure they are different makes and styles, but color wise they are all the same and uninteresting. Then every once in a while something really dynamic pulls up beside you. Its one of those cars that has been painted with a custom design. To paint a car is one thing but to custom paint it is a whole new world.

At least when you went to buy your car you had a few more color options then perhaps your grandfather did in his day and age. Now today, not only do you have to decide on color, you need to decide if you want metallic, or rust free or even scratch proof finishes.

When you get down to wanting to paint a car with custom colors you have to really give some thought as to what you want. It isn't cheap to custom paint a car. The paints are a very high grade poly urethanes.

When it comes time and you want to paint a car and you have decided to have a custom design put on it, then you are going to have to choose which type you want. A few years back the burning flame was the rage. To see a black car with those flames running down the sides was the envy of every avid car lover.

The flames are still very popular but the designs are somewhat different. They cover more of an area.

Another popular design is animals such as the wild mustangs or the flying eagle. Then there are designs that are just abstract in nature. The skulls and crossbones type art used to be more popular when it came to motorcycles, but it has sort of caught on with those car buffs that really want to paint a car with the custom designs. Another unique observation as well is that people like to just have the art painted as a mural on their trunks for example.

One of the newer type designs that really sort of fit in between the skulls and the flames is the dragons. These are becoming increasingly popular, and one has to admit they do look pretty impressive.

In today's age if you have decided to paint a car and have a custom design then you may find that a automotive logo design is suggested to you.

Then there are individuals who want to paint a car all in metallic with a variety of colors as opposed to any type of graphic. These can be quite stunning when the color selection goes well together and the airbrush color application flows.

One thing to remember, it you want to paint a car and customize it with a design, its not cheap. It can get quite expensive the more defined and elaborate you go. So its well worth only having it done on a car you plan on keeping for a while, or at least selling at a good price.

If you are looking for a professional Chattanooga painters who can give your home the fresh new look or make your business feel more welcoming to your customers then check out http://ChattanoogaPainters.com or call them at 423-619-8129. Chattanooga Painters not only provides residential painting in Chattanooga TN, they also provide Chattanooga commercial painters too! So if you are looking to renovate the inside of your home or office or add a fresh new look to the outside, call Chattanooga Painters!