Category: STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Finding the red thread: Christian Grajewski, freelance designer and full-time creative

    Putting passion first. This German designer has built an intriguing career that reinforces a “creativity first” mindset. With an education in product and conceptual design, experience with Alias, and an internship (September 2007-February 2008) at the Volkswagen Group Future Center Europe GmbH, Christian believed he was set for the life of a permanent interior designer.…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • A car in 15 minutes

    Over the last few years, several technologies which massively speed up concept modeling have been added to Alias. These technologies include subdivision surfaces, Dynamo and Create VR. Inspired by this, some colleagues and I wanted to challenge ourselves: How detailed a car design could we create, when limited to a 15-minute time frame? We went…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Behind the scenes with Mike Turner series 02 teaser: Taking vehicle design off highway

    In 2021, we went behind the scenes with Senior Designer Mike Turner to hear about some of his work with VRED. These videos offer tips and processes for extending VRED’s value and experimenting with views and environments, the basics of data set-up and file import; artwork techniques to make your design pop; VRED environments, HDRIs…

    Essential SKILLS

  • Behind the Scenes with Mike Turner series 01, episode 05: Retro Rendering with the 1980s DeLorean

    In this bonus episode of his first VRED series, DGDesign’s Senior Designer Mike Turner walks through how he created a “retro wave” aesthetic to show off a performance-ready DeLorean model. (Mike’s already talked us through getting into VRED for bespoke automotive design, importing data from Alias, working with backplates and other rendering approaches.) Mike starts…

    Essential SKILLS

  • Behind the scenes with Mike Turner series 01, episode 04: Backplates and other render approaches

    In episode three of his VRED series, DGDesign’s Senior Designer Mike Turner talked about creating backplates that really make your car design pop. Mike picks up on the backplate conversation in episode four, sharing some other render approaches he’s exploring on his own. Like the “spot-lit” effect that you can create using VRED’s sky light…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Creation of the ETRAXX – Part 3

    This is Part 3 of our podcast with Florian Coenen, Technical Marketing Manager. In Part 1 of our podcast, we introduced you to the ETRAXX. We talked through the process behind the design, what design elements inspired it, initial sketching and moving those sketches into a CAD environment. In Part 2, we went deeper into…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • “The tools to create the cars of the future”: Autodesk in Raconteur

    ” ‘We’re a group of passionate people with decades of experience in automotive design…. We’re in position to provide best-in-class tools for the automotive design studio and our customers in that space to get the latest and greatest designs on the market.’ ” Thomas Heermann, VP Automotive, Conceptual Design and XR Raconteur spoke to our…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Behind the scenes with Mike Turner series 01, episode 03: Getting started with backplates

    In the third episode of his VRED series, DGDesign’s Senior Designer Mike Turner talks backplates: flexible, clean auto artworks to make your car design pop. This “straightforward” technique opens the door to all kinds of exploration. And once your backplate is in place, you can pan around the car with just the standard lighting environment. You’ll…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • The smart city: Mobility, infrastructure, opportunity

    In our first conversation with the APMA’s Colin Dhillon, Ananda Arasu and I talked about Society 5.0 and its implications for technology and design. We had the chance to talk with Colin again about smart cities, the future of mobility, and how we can get closer to a more sustainable, ethical future with (not despite)…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Creation of the ETRAXX – Part 2

    This is Part 2 of our podcast with Florian Coenen, Technical Marketing Manager. In Part 1 of our podcast, we introduced you to the ETRAXX. We talked through the process behind the design, what design elements inspired it, initial sketching, and moving those sketches into a CAD environment. That’s where we’re picking up for Part…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Behind the scenes with Mike Turner series 01, episode 01: VRED meets UK bespoke automotive

    In the first of his VRED series, DGDesign’s Senior Designer Mike Turner takes us through a bespoke automotive case study with UK Fifteen Eleven Design agency. Some of the highlights: Extending VRED value: how it fits within overall development, building confidence in design Transferring Alias data into VRED + initial organization and testing Collaborating with…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Coming soon: Behind the scenes with automotive and transportation designer Mike Turner

    We’re delighted to share with you this teaser from Mike Turner, Senior Designer with DGDesign. An industrial designer with 24 years’ experience working primarily in automotive and non-automotive design sectors—passenger rail vehicle, motorcycle, construction machinery, off-road vehicle, to name just a few. A self-described “Alias Pilot for the past 23 years,” Mike is relatively new…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • “Make anything”: Project Arrow and Autodesk Technology Centers

    What does it take to support a sustainable mobility contest run by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA)? Practical guidance. Industry insights. Product team expertise. Cue the Autodesk Technology Centers. This natural collaboration resulted from a conversation between Vanessa Sigurdson, Development Manager for the Technology Center and Jason MacFarlane, Head of Advanced Manufacturing for Venture…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Creation of the ETRAXX – Part 1

    Florian Coenen, Technical Marketing Manager at Autodesk, created a car he called ETRAXX. We’ve been using it a lot here at Autodesk, so we wanted to share with you the process behind its creation. Its inspiration actually started with Alias 2021.3. This release had a number of new features – new SubD features for concept…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION

  • Tales of a car designer working remotely

    by Peter Spriggs The pandemic introduced millions around the world to remote working, no longer being able to stay within proximity to colleagues necessitated the change to working from home… and for many, it uncovered a surprising truth, working from home does not have to negatively impact productivity.    I’m no stranger to remote work, in…

    STORIES & INSPIRATION