| | Quite recently, I signed up for an evening class put out by the Art Center College of Design - one of the most if not THE most prestigious design schools in the US. This class was an introductory course in transportation design (in other words, car design) taught by the designer of the Porsche Carrera GT supercar. One of his most recent designs is the Aptera - the 200+ mpg space pod looking vehicle.
I missed the first class because it had occurred already by the time I was reminded of the existence of this night class they offered. Luckily, I was still able to add myself into the class.
I knew that I was behind having missed the first class, so I emailed the teacher to ask him about this upcoming week's assignment as well as what materials I ought to buy and bring to each weekly class. He was kind enough to shoot me back an email furnishing me with all this information.
The assignment was to take an 11" x 17" sheet of paper and draw 100 thumbnail sketches on it. He provided a work sample for us to follow. It literally was a sheet of 11" x 17" paper filled with little drawings of cars. For the next few days, I spent time drawing my mini cars. They started out as my actual take on how cars would look a few years down the road. For instance, I'd take an S2000 and using what I thought were its key styling elements, I'd design what I thought would be the next generation S2000.
It took me a few days to complete the assignment, but it was complete by the time the next class came around.
During last Tuesday's class, the teacher had us pin our 11" x 17" assignments to a wall in the classroom. Since there were only 5 of us, 6 including the teacher, the size of the class allowed for us to closely inspect and critique everybody's assignment.
When the critiquing started, I started to notice that one of my fellow classmates seemed to hold himself and his own opinions in high regard and would constantly provide harsh though "constructive" criticism to his fellow classmates. It got to a point where he would be talking more than the teacher. I thought to myself, "Fuck... I didn't pay 7 notes to listen to this clown tear apart his classmate's work..." and it was quite noticeable that the teacher was getting a little peeved as well.
Well, the time came to critique the work of our "self appointed teaching assistant" and I couldn't have relished this moment more. His motif for his 11" x 17" sketch was BMW. Everything he drew made an obvious attempt at emulating a Bimmer's styling, but it wasn't quite there. Since he pulled no punches with his fellow classmates and they weren't too good at defending themselves, this here chigga felt a need to step in.
Ass. TA walked us through his completed assignment, and just as I thought, he wanted to draw nothing but BMWs. I, being a car enthusiast, knew a thing or two about BMWs myself. Key design elements central to all BMWs are of course, its Roundel badge (controversy between the schools who thought the badge symbolized the spinning propellors of a BMW airplane or the blue and white checkers of the Bavarian flag in the old days), the ever-present Kidney Grilles that provide airflow to the engine compartment, and last but not least, the Hofmeister Kink. The Hofmeister Kink is the inward bend the BMW's C Pillar makes as it meets with the car's beltline. These three things are styling elements EVERY BMW design enthusiast should know, but yet, Ass. TA's sketches didn't really emphasize the Hofmeister Kink - only the Kidney Grille.... so I put him on the spot.
I said, "I noticed that your sketches, obviously BMWs like you said, emphasized the Kidney Grille component common to all BMWs, but I don't see other styling elements, such as the Hofmeister Kink. Am I just missing it?"
I heard a little chuckle coming from behind me. It was the teacher. It was kind of like he said "wow... you didn't just go there..."
The Ass. TA was caught on his heels, backpeddling. His response was priceless:
"What's the Hofmeister Kink?"
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| | Posted 1/25/2009 9:23 AM - 9 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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