Brandy Ryan
Earlier this spring, Ananda Arasu and I spent some time with James McLachlan, Editor for Car Design News (CDN).
In Part 1 of that conversation, we discuss sustainability, customer demand, the CDN Review Book, and more.
In Part 2, we’re shifting from legacy designers to new grads, a look at the current job market, and what trends CDN is talking about these days.
Listen here for Part 2 and scroll down for more context and visuals.
Young designers and the future
CDN is known for its support of current design students and recent grads, always keeping an eye out for top talent. Certain schools have a reputation for producing the designers of the future, so CDN covers their degree shows. (You can see some of this coverage on their LinkedIn.)
Coventry University’s Automotive and Transportation Design Student Show highlights
RE:STORE by Junu Kim
Intercontinental Hydrogen Endurance Racing Car by Francis L’Ecuyer
Project Beyond by Alan Chacko Zachariah
You can check out the full article here.
Royal College of Art: Intelligent Mobility post-graduate show 2022
Aeon by Corentin Janel
Holos by August Reynes
Heron by Guillaume Innocenti
You can check out the full article here.
Young designers and the future
James notes that there isn’t a design director alive who isn’t interested in helping to shape the young minds of the future. That support may be more necessary than ever before. The automotive design industry is undergoing a shift which is proving a challenge for schools and students: what sort of skills are most useful for the future? Historically, it was the “car guys and girls,” the people who love to sketch.
But the world is, as we are all experiencing, trending digital.
Sketching is still an important skill, but there are new skill sets that are setting young grads apart. UX experience. Digital modeling.
To be a designer in the 21st century is to embed design at the heart of all you do. We saw this in Steve Jobs and Jony Ive at Apple.
Young designers and the job market
So how does that translate in the current job market? Like so many industries these days, it comes in fits and starts. All the changes that start-ups bring have opened up the job market. But that’s tempered by the higher education boom – there are more design grads now than ever before.
That means the competition is tough. It also means that winning the job doesn’t translate immediately or directly into being head of design for your company. There many interesting and rewarding roles within the automotive design world, so James suggests grads keep an open mind and explore their options.
VR and collaboration
We’ve all experienced how the pandemic accelerated digital collaboration. And there are companies excelling in their approach to this new mode of collaboration.
Take Hyundai. They essentially have a 24-hour design process. It starts in Korea, moves into Europe, and then hits the U.S. There is never someone not working on the design. That allows designers to be creative, easy, prolific – and to have the kinds of interaction that encourage and enhance creative thinking.
This is only going to become more prevalent, and it calls into question some of the more traditional techniques design studios have used in the past.
Physical models, for example: some design directors swear you can’t achieve pure, exceptional design without them. Other companies are now completely digital and don’t bother with physical models.
Only time will tell whether digital is going to serve design in the long term. We can’t (yet) replicate the exact conditions and kinetics of live, in-person creative sessions and design reviews … but VR has brought us closer than any other medium or platform. That’s the future.
James McLachlan has been the editor at CDN since September 2020.
Interestingly, he didn’t come from automotive or industrial design; his background is architectural design. His previous experience includes serving as Editor for The Architect’s Journal and for Icon magazine.
Yes, there will be more stories and learning resources!
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