Car designer education: Universities and Design art Colleges
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This week I received an email by an italian young student passionate of Car Design asking me for help. How do I become a car designer? I explaned that first of all he had to show me few drawings just to understand his level of talent before telling him the all process to follow. Few days later I received, by email, some sketches done by him and I found a certain talent! So, according to his motivation, I wrote him back telling him that he was elegible to try for an admission interview at design schools. I explaned to prepare at least 15 drawings on a A3 format, plus his quick sketches and to go visit a short list of italian design schools. The objectif was to chose the right school and start the car design education cursus. In other words to get him in the right process.
I was surprised when I received his email and the reason is the following; he told me that his intention was to go to Engineering University in Italy and after 5 or 6 years with his bachelor go to follow a Master in Transportation Design in Italy and then try to work in the Car Design business. (at the age of 26/27 years old limit for designers hirings).
Now when I read his answear I undrstood that this guy was still following the old italian mentality to get "first" a bachelor from University and "after" try an artistic school...
I wrote right away back to him and told him that he was going off track! Today's Design schools around the world are highly professional institutions in which we learn a profession, in car design as well as in Industrial Design it is imperatif to be in one of those renomated Design schools. The scheme University and later specialization school is a high risk choice because it does not give any deeper knowledge of your field.
If I follow Engineering University I learn about mechanical Engineering and I will be formed for 5 years as an Engineer.
If I follow Design specialized schools, like Art Center College of Design in Pasadena or IAAD in Turin Italy, I learn for 5 years how to be a car designer learning to sketch, render,model,computer,Photoshop,Illustrator,Preentations,Portfolios, sponsored projects, Internship programs.
It is obvious to me that we cannot compare in the sense that if I want to become a car designer I must follow a specialized Design school! Another fact that shows the effectivness of following a real Design school is this one: statisticly how many car designers are from Design schools and how many from Universities? Now I do not know the answear, but I can tell you my perception about my 20 years experience in this business as designer and Design educator. In my professional time period untill today I met 5 very good designers coming from Universities 4 from Engineering and 1 from Architecture. All the others come from Design schools like myself.
In conclusion:
I hope that for mentality reasons people will not make the classical mistake of going to University because it is only there I can get my culture and professional training. I hope that parents go visit Design schools to understand why the methods and results are different from Universities. It is important that parents understand well what it means to be a designer and why it is needed a certain type of training.
Universities are excellent to form in their respective fields, however we cannot pretend that from Engineering we switch to Design and in 2 years of Master program we are designers! Sorry ,this is not possible.
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Ciao Luciano!
Just would like to point out that many of your so called "design schools" are actually considered universities on an international academic level. So even though I agree with your general advice - attending a proper design school to learn the tools of the trade - I think the article might actually be slightly confusing.
Thanks for all your effort so far!
Really like the blog!
Saluti!
mmh, I always read carefully your blogs because I feel they are very interesting, but I believe this is really trivial because the only possible scenario seems to be: engineering state universities vs. private design schools. That's not true, and you know.
1. why did you speak about univesity only for engineering courses? There are design courses in a lot of state universities, from Royal College of Art to Politecnico di Milano and sevaral others
2. I believe you studied in a private design school and you teach in a private design school, so your comments cannot be a real independent comments.
Sorry.
Hi Luciano,
I live in South Africa and am really interested in studying car design. I am nearing completion of my final year in high school (Matric) and I now need to make applications for tertiary education. I have looked at various design institutions overseas since South Africa offers no car/transportation design courses, whatsoever. The only problem with these overseas institutions is the sheer cost of the courses, especially since i am classified as an "international Student". What I have decided to do is study "Interior Architecture" at a local university for 3 years and hopefully apply to an overseas master's course in transportation design. Would this be a good path to follow? Can you please offer me some suggestions?
Clearly you mean it in the traditional sense but you must take care while writing an article titled 'uni vs schools.' A majority of the best schools (with the exception of your alma mater obviously) are part of universities.
You may have intended otherwise but most people will interpret it in that manner. In fact a school within a university stands to offer much more than an independent school (i.e. resources).Please change the title or revise it.
- pb ( i'm a student from one such 'university,' which is as reputed as accd and has had a relationship with cars far longer.)
Dear all ,
coming from the ' wrong ' education path ( i.e. engineering degree + car design school ) , I can only agree with my collegue Luciano .
Car design is a serious business , involving highly skilled and trained professionals . If you want to enter this competitive world , why don't you focus on learning
immediately all of the necessary skill ?
Focus is everything :
When have you met an electronic engineer trained as an architect ?
If you want to play tennis , should you learn woodworking first ?
You should look for an education which give you all the knowledge you need and learn it as fast as you can .
Don't forget that youth is an important factor to get your first job , since it is associated with energy and boundaryless creativity .
Good luck .
thanx a lot ............. ur suggestions changed my mind about designing to be an art of a proffesional deal.
i m a gud designer but not proffesionally sound................ can u suggest me how can i enhance my art to a profesional level.
damn. this is discouraging... im 23 looking to go to art center. by the time i get out ill be too old from what your saying. why dont they hire people close to 30?
Hi Luciano, my son is 16 and very interested in designing cars. I thought sending him to engineering school would be the best route but you seem to disagree. Is design school his best bet? I will do more research and want to support his decision for designing, I just want the best school for him. thx deb
hpw about a an industrial designer? is there really a big differance with an engeneer?
what if an industrial designer from a university decides to adventure on car design? would it be different tan other carreers?
Luciano,may I have your email address please?
luciano, actually i have some little problems with fb but i can give you mine so you can contact me :
marcogulla6@gmail.com
The real problem is that an italian school like IAAD, doesn't offer a real preparation at a future car designer.
Why? because this school only wants your money and nothing else.
IAAD doesn't ask an entry portfolio and doesn't wants to know if you have talent or not, the important thing for this "school" is make money, money and money with their courses
There aren't professional teachers, and their theaching methods are totally inappropriate, not professional.
Infact when i started to work for a design studio, everything that i learned was totally incorrect.
Luciano, i'm an ex-student degree at IAAD and i know that you was a teacher at my school many years ago, but now the reality has changed.
Luciano, "the school property has changed!".. this is the problem, has changed negatively!.
I have been a student IAAD as v11, I spent three years there, and I was disappointed, embittered by the teaching that was given to me. I also speak on behalf of my former classmates, like me angry for having spent so much money and then having to draw and improve without support from teachers. This is the mood I'm breathing, and I know you can still breathe at IAAD.
luciano. im 22 and im a first year arquitecture student. im very interested in car design but i dont know if my career as an arquitect will help to achieve this goal. should i change to a design school or for me it would work to do a MA in vehicle design? thanks.
luciano. im 22 and im a first year arquitecture student. im very interested in car design but i dont know if my career as an arquitect will help to achieve this goal. should i change to a design school or for me it would work to do a MA in vehicle design? thanks.
Dear Luciano,
My name is Roman and I'm 14 years old.I live in Ukraine and I am really interested in car design. I have many sketches and car models made by me. There are no good transportation design schools in Ukraine and I'd like to study in Europe or United States. So what should I do at first to study there? Thank you.
Thanks a lot! By the way, I'd like to send you some photos of my car sketches. what do You think about it? Could you tell me what are my mistakes and what should I do to paint better?
Ok. Here is my profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10000143860 You can add me to your Facebook friends list.
Ciao Luciano come vai?
I read your article and I was a little bit discouraged when i saw that 26/27 was the the Age limit of car designers.
Im actually 27 and Im an Industrial designer. I always dreamt on being a car designer... so i set myself to study a MA in car design, which im probably gonna end at the age of 30. Do I have any chance of being part of the car industry whatsoever?
I was planning on going to the IAAD... what do you think, do I still have a chance?
Thank you very much
Juan
Good day Luciano,
Informative article. I would like to study masters in automobile design. I am 24 years old and was studying my bachelors in engineering in the USA but had to drop out. I am currently working on a portfolio to satisfy entry requirements for design schools. Considering my age, I would like to enroll directly into the masters programme so that I am not too old when I graduate. I would like some advice on this. Would a school consider me if my portfolio was good enough. Is there some way I could manage getting into a masters programme directly. Thanks!
Hello... Sir .... I had to ask a similar thing.... I'd been very very very much interested in this car designing stuff... and its been around 5 yrs that i didnt know how to get in it.. and is it possible fr me to be a part of it?
I dont have any fine arts degree.... but im ready to do it... im 22 of age now... Im from pakistan ... I just want to know the exact procedure how to take admission in a car designing college.... i dont find interest in any other academic field else than such a creative field....
Hey Luciano...first of all merry Xmas and happy new year, and second...
Im 14 years old and I very much want to be a car designer,problem is that that there aren't any car design schools in lebanon(with Beirut as it's capital) and am actually thinking of going to Italy to study it and to try to master my skills and become a car designer as I have been planning for 4 years...I have a great drawing hand but I know that I lack something,anyways I like to email you my drawings if you don't mind and discuss this but when I tried to add you on facebook,there were like 28 results :S got any tips? (ps:I want to start studying to become a car designer as soon as possible :D)Thanks
Jack
By the way Luciano,very informative blog,I enjoyed reading it,sorry for not mentionning this in my previous comment.
Hey Luciano! so nice of you to discuss this topic!
I will turn 22 this year, and am in my 4th (final) year of mechanical engineering( from India). I have this fiery passion for cars, design(especially car design), since i was a kid. i look forward to building a career in Transport design. and improvise vehicles right from the design stage, make them more eco-friendly! and i want to take a decision. i could not get into a design school because of the high cost, relative unfamiliarity of the design courses in India, and being unaware and skeptical of getting a sholarship. i'll mail in some of my older design-sketches. could you please evaluate them and enlighten me with what course to take?
thanksalot
this is my portfolio on the Car Design News Site:
http://www.cardesignnews.com/site/designers/portfo
i'll email you more of them.
thanks!
Since you studied at Art Center College of Design at Pasadena, Which one should I go to? I mean Cal State: Long Beach also offers an Industrial Design major. I'm confused now. I'm currently attending a community college, planning to transfer in 2 years..
Thanks luciano, I want to design cars more than consumer products, so I might go to ACCD. BTW, I have 0 experience designing cars..
Yup, I'm currently taking classes at a community college.. Just the basics though..
Dear Luciano
I posted a comment 7 months ago (MarcoCat) and since then have finally applied for automotive design at Coventry University. Fortunately, I have been accepted, however the issue now is the extremely high fees that I have to pay since I am an international student.
Can you please give me suggestions as to how I can source these funds in order to live my dream? I have tried e-mailing car companies, but to no avail... Please help.
Hi Luciano,
I am a recently graduated industrial design engeenring in Spain(I am 22), and now I want to take a master in car design. I want to study in Italy, and now I am applying for different master as Domus Academy, IED and IAAD. Could you tell me what is the best school between these?and what is your opinion about Domus Academy?
Thanks!
dear luciano im a 20 year south african that is very passionate about car designing,im currently studyin law at the university of limpopo(first year)..so is it too late for me to change?and is there any design school that you know in south africa and the world as a whole?im prayer thapelo on facebook
Dear Luciano,this is Ramiz from India and i am also facing the same problem about which you have wrote in the above blog...actually i had just completed my school and i am 19 now.From now i want to chose my career as a car designer but i am unable to find any reliable information and you know in countries like India it is really hard to chose a career of a designer and that too of a car is even more difficult....since i was small i had derams of this but no way...and you know my marks are not so good to try for engineering so i was trying if i could get acceptance in a good design school some where...My first choice had always remained the Art center of design i had got the mailing address also for submitting portfolio but if you please suggest some other institute it will really help me very much....actually i want to know your opinion
pls who knw's about the best car designing school in italy
Hi Luciano , I am 25 and Preparing myself to try and get into admission in Masters programme in transportation in automobile and transportation design in my country ( India ) or even in any top college in Europe ( mainly Italy ) . So assuming it would be a two year course , I'll be 27 or say 27.5 when i graduate . So, Will that be difficult for me to get a job as a designer . I have a bachelors in engineering and a job experience not in the design field .
dear luciano,
im planning to get into a transportation design school in italy.please guide me.im 18 and a +2 graduate.currently trying to various art methods at nicc,india.im passionate about cars,bikes.
sir,
after reading most of comment i am some what confuse , as i am an automobile engg. and have great passion towards car designing at present i am 23 and belongs to India, i want to join designing course so what your suggestion that may i go for that or not because after doing course may be my age would cross the youth age factor .or there are any short term courses for designing and if so then guide me please because i don't want further delay this joining
sir, currently i am doing job as a component designer and having good command over cad designing software specially pro-e.
sir i used to make un offical sketches of cars and bikes from last 7 years as having great affinity towards car designing . So can you help me in selecting course accordingly i want to pursue post graduate in designing.
thanks
Hi Luciano,
Just a comment, why it is hard to get a job after 30 ?
Thank you
Dear Luciano,
I am now 26 years, I have fresh graduate from mechatronic engineering. I am from Indonesia. I would like to continue my master in car body design in SPD milan.
How good it is SPD milano ?
Can you explain relationship between SPD and VW group in this master car body design project ?
because this in 15 month course and in the end of course I will go to internship program.
best regard
Dear Luciano,
I am a 24 year old lebanese with a passion for art. I've studied in an art school, and I have been told that I'm great at it. The thing is my other passion is for cars, so my main job for 2 years now was a carsaleswoman and I got introduced (through the trainings we had) to cars' aerodynamics, designs and reasons for why cars are shaped the way they are. So as a good artist and a well informed on car backgrounds, history and designs, do you think it's too late for me to apply for car design courses(even if it's overseas) and eventually work in that major?
Thank you for your time, and your amazingly informative blog.
I was looking through colleges and I landed on Coventry University which has this course available.. What do you think about it? And I think I need to apply for next year 2013 since it's a bit late this year, right?
respected sir,
i m 23 tr old n now iwana start career in designing field so will u please help me 2 find out bst college for my designing career. i had done my degree in Automobile. wol u please help me
Hi there, I am 18 years old, Very interested in going into the field of Car design... as i read in one of the comments there are no car/transportation design courses in south africa whatsoever, i live in south africa and do not have the funds to be able to study over sea's. Does anyone know of ANY car design colleges/courses etc? i really want to fulfill my dream of hopefully designing the top sport cars in the world. Thank you
I have recently been accepted to ACCD with a scholarship, but I'm turning 30 this year. It sounds like from your replies, even when I get out (at age 34) it will be really difficult to find a job. Do companies necessarily look at your age first in hiring?
hi,i loved ur article can u please tell me what should i do automotive engineering or design school i live in pakistan here there is noany concept about design school,my both brother are mba n both sister doctor i am youngest in home there is no engineer or any one related to guide to please bro tell me what should i do,i love cars so very much i want to get remarkable achievement in this field please help me ,i live in karachi pakistan ,in pakistan there are 3 universities who have automotive department the best in them is N.E.D UNIVERSITY LOCATED IN KARACHI PLEASE GIVE GUIDENCE BRO N WHICH CARS U HAVE DESIGNED?












Erik 21 months ago
so what is the age limit for a company to hire a designer? 26/27?