I have been fortunate to be shown round many design studios in my time, from super yacht consultancies to major car manufacturers. As well as being served a coffee in many of their meeting rooms, but none come close to the feeling of history expressed by this boardroom.

For those who don’t know what the connection Rubery Owen have to the car industry, Sir Alfred Owen was responsible for rescuing the BRM F1 racing team.  Saved from almost certain extinction his support saw BRM rise to take the Formula 1 World Constructors Championship, as well as the F1 driver’s title with Graham Hill at the wheel.

Rubery Owen Boardroom

We were there, at the old Rubery Owen headquarters, with a team putting together a proposition to take the BRM name back into the limelight, with a supercar programme.

Steeped in history, the idea that just perhaps Graham Hill or Jackie Stewart had signed a contract or two here, a bit like an audience with Enzo Ferrari, fuelled my imagination.

BRM Trophies

BRM trophies and personal mementos were lovely to look at and were such a rare opportunity for anyone to see.
I was in heaven.

The Bourne Heritage Trust Museum

The Bourne Heritage Trust Museum has been entrusted with many of the BRM F1 race winning trophies, which were donated to them by Rubery Owen, allowing a much larger audience to view these pieces of motorsport history.

The old Rubery Owen & Co. HQ in Booth Street, Darlaston, is still standing today thanks to David Owen OBE and Accord Housing Association. Now named “The Rubery Owen Innovation Centre” the interior having been converted for small business use.

I am so pleased that the Rubery Owen boardroom still exists in the building.

This year Graham Hill would have celebrated his 95th Birthday – seems as good a time as any to recall my visit to Rubery Owen.

Bourne Town | Bourne Heritage Centre

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Major car companies carry out most of their design work themselves, with dedicated design departments capable of handling every aspect of the design process.  But few companies do not use the services of external design consultancies for some smaller projects or as a validation of their internal designs, whilst many smaller niche companies use such consultancies to supplement their more limited in-house design facilities on larger design projects.

In most cases the reason we get shown around a company’s design facilities is because Drive is working with them or about to.  They see that Drive has something to offer them and they want us to work with their teams to stimulate creativity and maximise the design output.  Whether it be for market insights, a fresh design perspective or simply additional digital resource we are able to provide focussed and professional expertise.

As with the studio space, I question ‘how can we compete’ when recruiting creative talent, when automotive OEMs can offer so much in terms of employment, facilities and certainty of projects well into the future.

Again we don’t compete, what we have to offer is different.

We are an efficient studio that has a welcoming, creative and professional atmosphere.  We work with numerous brands so it is unlikely that we will designing a similar face of a car or same product for long.  The type of work is varied, and is more likely to be concept ideation than production detailing.  The projects will cover a large spectrum with mobility solutions, aircraft interiors  or maybe another supercar inspired Track-tor being as likely as the next production SUV.

A consultancy environment like Drive’s isn’t for everyone, but the constant change benefits our creative team keeping them fresh, interested and gaining a breadth of experiences that differentiates them from other designers.  The very skill set that many design chiefs look for in their next hire, indeed two former Drive employees will be able relax at the new SAIC coffee bar.

It is the diverse experiences that attracts our clients and benefits their projects as they get new perspectives, fresh ideas and insight from our broad knowledge gained across different industries and clients.

So if you are looking for some creative input for your next project or if a consultancy environment is somewhere you would like to work, come round for a chat.  We don’t have a coffee bar but we do have a fantastic café around the corner.

(SAIC Design Advanced London top image – photos source SAIC)

https://www.instagram.com/drivedesign/

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Niche vehicles have always provided opportunities for entrepreneurs to build successful businesses but now more than ever they are providing a solution to specific transportation problems. This is leading to opportunities for OEMs to use niche vehicles to expand their brand into new mobility markets, become leaders by redefining a market or exploiting new technologies.

Low volume vehicles provide unique challenges in the product offering, manufacturing constraints and the commercial demands.  Drive have been involved in numerous projects and have built up experience of the various approaches to the business proposal, from designers wishing to produce their concept, technology led business opportunities and brand experience products.  Many low volume manufacturers such as Hennessey, Apex Motors, Delta Motorsport,  Zenos Cars, Caterham Cars and Lightning Car Company have benefited from Drive’s expertise at various stages during their projects.

Whilst the funding for niche vehicle projects is provided from varying sources depending on the circumstances, the necessary underlying business case has to be rigorously tested and proved just the same, before investing of valuable time, resources and money.  Drive’s in depth experience can help build the background to the project, give crucial investor confidence in the participating parties and provide experience and guidance throughout project timeline.

Through the development and refinement of the design our experienced team maintain the initial design intent whilst answering the engineering and economic challenges posed by these unique projects.

Drive’s understanding of the difficulties facing a car company startup, and niche vehicle manufacturers (NVMs) trying to establish a company or product, make them ideal partners to be involved in the development of a robust product concept and commercial strategy, whilst helping identify design and manufacturing efficiencies through collaboration with strategic partners.

Not every venture can be the success that everyone is looking for but minimising the risk by being fully aware of the undertaking at the start, with suitable gateways mapped out so that owners and investors can make informed decisions before embarking on the next phase, help to increase the chances of a sustainable business.

https://www.nichevehiclenetwork.co.uk

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Design is all about opinion, this is one.  You can take all of it on board, some of it on board or none at all.

Unlike other designers giving you advice, this is from someone who actually employs both graduates and established designers .

PORTFOLIOS

From designers to alias modellers, we are all aware that our industry doesn’t tend to favour the conventional CV and cover letter with a careful placement of buzz words/phrases like ‘I can manage a team of people and take on individual responsibilities’.  Although these are areas we all have to consider, at the end of the day it is the your Portfolio that we are discussing here. 

KNOW WHO YOU ARE APPLYING TO

If all you have is speed boats and lawn mowers in your portfolio then I would say it is quite rare that an automotive studio will consider you. Research the studio / brand and try your best to think of what they might look for in a candidate.

“You are only as good as your worst piece of work”. As a designer, your portfolio will mainly be put under the eyes of other designers, we love looking at them, we want to be excited, we want to see that sketch or render that inspires us and then we will want you!  So reduce or throw away lifeless package drawings of translucent, colour filled boxes that say “batteries” or “motors”, and the 97.5 percentile Dutch males that you’ve squashed into your vehicle.

Keep your projects to a minimum, we see 56 page portfolios with about 10 projects in.  These are too big to keep/capture attention for the period of time it would take to digest that amount of information / wade through it.  We are designers ourselves and therefore have to do the day job designing and unfortunately we can’t spend all day every day looking at portfolios!

DISCARDING OLDER PROJECTS

This is the hard bit, discarding older projects as your skills have improved …. nearly impossible to do sometimes as you probably hold emotions for each project as if they were your own child.  They aren’t your children and they don’t have emotions, cut them out and be brutal.  Do it, cut it down, get through it.  Even if you are left with 3 projects of a high standard, we will think that you can do everything of this level.

Cut out some of the projects you may have done like – 1. Clay head project  2. Any ergonomics based project with lights that reflect your mood  3. An alias model or render which is then repeated in different colours to show colour choices up to 5-6 times (padding out your portfolio?).

VARIATIONS OF DESIGN WORK

This topic divides people when asked, and can be difficult to answer without causing a whole world of LinkedIn design debates. I prefer the overall portfolio to be focussed. Try to mix it up, don’t just have 3 projects of space ships and fantastic speed painting art work, show that side of you by all means it’s great to see, however try and include some good old fashioned automotive design, displaying an understanding of surfacing, brand interpretation and proportion over 4 conventional wheels.

Your portfolio should be a reflection of yourself, it should be presented in a way that you are comfortable with.  Your style should be natural rather than something that is forced.  Always be honest with the way that you work, whether you are all about hand sketching or a Photoshop wizard, show how you work as we all have different ways we do things.

DESIGN COMPETITIONS

A great way to stay sharp, promote your name and they really keep you on your toes.  Polestar, the Michelin design challenge and interior motives to name but a few, the briefs are usually fun, and if it is not fun then you need to twist their brief to do so!  No one wants to design something boring in their spare time.  These usually have no engineering requirement, package constraints or a need to convince university tutors to what you are doing, go forth and have fun!

CV WRITING

Like my car designer portfolio advice – Keep it simple, if you don’t have that much to show it’s ok, we have all been in your shoes at some point and we don’t expect to see years of experience from a student.  Whatever you do, please don’t write that you have been ‘freelancing’, unless you can back it up with examples to prove you haven’t just living at home with your parents with a part time job.  Better to say you have been working on your portfolio and design competitions in an evening, but again you have to back it up with the evidence!

SELF RATING CHARTS

My last thought on this topic, which I could probably continue to preach about for another hour whilst I annoy my colleagues by seemingly moaning endlessly is this …. the self-rating skill charts!  Now I’m not sure what the universities have been preaching to the students of late, but here’s my number one pointless thing to put in your portfolio if you are applying to be a designer or alias modeller.  Grading yourself out of 10, maybe out of 5 stars even and stating how good you are at alias, photoshop, design or sketching.

The idea of your portfolio or data you send is that we will be working out your abilities. Then deciding the level we see you, and where we feel you would fit within a studio. Whatever you do, please don’t include ‘football’ as a skill set, to which you then score yourself higher on this than any other design skills.  Makes me think you should be a professional footballer instead!  (NOTE: Only exception is if you are applying to drive where your karting lap times are important)

Have an opinion, perhaps a photo of you applying a tape to a clay model or sketching revealing some of your personality and be protective over your pen. Talk about sketches with emotions and feelings and never be truly happy with your work. Keep portfolios to no bigger than 5mb (if possible)

Although car designer portfolio advice is aimed at graduates, I hope it helps everyone.

If you are serious about securing
a design role within a leading studio.
To give yourself the best opportunity
drive offer a Resume / CV and portfolio review service.

Careers progression

Coventry University Automotive Design Course

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The company founders Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards, explained their unique market proposition and we extracted a few key words that would define their brand.  Drive had to create a design language that would embody all of their aspirations, for a completely new British sports car brand.  The E10 would be a mid-engined, carbon fibre tubbed car priced at less than £25,000.

A challenges during the initial design process was achieving the delicate balance between a friendly, approachable look fitting the brand values, with a thrilling, lightweight track day car.  With  affordability in mind, Drive wanted to highlight the innovation of the carbon composite material and reflect the intelligence of the styling.  The break up of panels, wings and tub allowing ease of production and lower repair costs compared to the single clam mouldings used on competitor products.   Drive’s designers, working closely with engineers and composite manufacturers Bright Lite Structures,  developed the final break down of parts and assemblies.

The close relationship between Drive and Zenos, and the openness of the management team were key to ensure that the design and business needs aligned at every stage of he project.

The public’s response to the car’s design was measured by the 40 deposits taken from customers before they had even seen it run.  This justification of the product, only raised the pressure to deliver on their promise to have the production model ready for January 2015.  Drive and Zenos launched into a rapid production development phase sensitive to the fact that the car’s appearance couldn’t alter significantly, but taking the opportunity to tune the car’s character and balance.

This phase involved working with suppliers on feasibility whilst ensuring manufacturing costs were kept on target keeping to the business plan and budget.  The secret of the E10’s affordability relative to its performance, is off-the-shelf Ford components engine, gearbox, and brakes.  The innovative composite tub made from recycled carbon fibre that offers 70 per cent of the lightness and stiffness of pure carbon-fibre for a tenth of the cost.

The interior’s design, built around the ideal driving positon, the quality of the panels and fit had to exceed what would be expected at the cars price point.  This approach saw Zenos Cars has take more than 110 deposits and a first year production run being approximately 70.  For Zenos’s founders Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards, the E10 represents the culmination of a dream.For Drive Design, it provides a mobile showcase for its design strategies for startup companies searching for the kind of collaborative, ground-up design approach that only Drive can deliver.

“Drive completely believed in and understood our vision right from the beginning. They committed themselves in every respect to developing the design of the E10, and helped us deliver a car that looks fantastic, great handling and well engineered” Ansar Ali. The Zenos E10 project is the essence of what we do at Drive.  We understand designing for a startup car company like Zenos.  We help them take their idea through to production whilst understanding their business needs.

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It is an insight to the approach, expertise and experience of Drive, recognising our 25 years as an independent design studio in the automotive sector.

This milestone was an opportunity to reflect and take a look at where we started, the intervening years and where we are now. Taking note of not what we do, but what we bring to the table, the reason clients trust us with their projects.

From those discussions we decided to communicate some of what we discovered through our website and our book DRIVEN BY DESIGN.

Thanks to everyone that contributed, from the layout, content, photography, those who actually worked on the projects for Drive and the clients who trusted us.

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We believe this isn’t the case and indeed the role of a good recruitment specialist is even more important for both a business and the person seeking a new role.

With a large proportion of people on LinkedIn connected to 3,000+ individuals; it is assumed that if they post an advert then, miraculously, they will have the right person apply.  Or an individual will see the advert for the position they crave.  In most cases the right person doesn’t spend their time sitting on-line to see the job post sandwiched between the adverts and portfolios.

Advertising every position on your website is also an option but brings in multiple applications which can make meaningful applicants harder to spot.

At drive our approach is more targeted – we are not looking to fill 500 positions.  Our aim is to match the experience and talents of design personnel with the desire’s of industry’s leading design teams.  Drive also look to support our valued clients (individuals and companies) by matching personalities, talent and experience with the right roles.

We believe in discussing candidates’ cv, portfolio and dream role with them and using our experience to advise them how to adapt what and how they present to potential employers.  Thus giving themselves the best possible chance of succeeding.

Being trusted advisors to some of the world’s most prestigious automotive studios and influential individuals, we take our responsibilities seriously.  We realise that our reputation is dependent on these relationships.  Using our personal approach we understand the studio’s aims, select the correct personalities with relevant expertise to ensure a successful working relationship for both the studios and individuals alike.

Car Designer Portfolio Advice

If you are serious about your next design role – get in touch 

Debra @ LinkedIn

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When I left my previous company and started Drive, I had no business plan, no office and no equipment.  The one thing I did have was a non-solicitation clause.

That was probably one of the best things that could have happened. I was starting from scratch, so I couldn’t offer the same level or range of services that my previous company did. Therefore those clients I knew may not have been able to use my skills anyway.  It meant that I had to approach new clients, and offer them what I could at that stage of Drive’s existence.  Expanding my automotive network and making new contacts led to clients that aligned with my offering, enabling me to grow Drive as well as my relationship with them.

By the time my non-compete period was over, we had built up a new offering and were in a position to reach out to people I had worked with previously to build our potential client base.

It can also be difficult to change people’s perception of who you are, if you have been an intern it can be difficult to shake off that tag when you return as an employee. When going to university or being employed at a new company is an excellent opportunity to re-invent yourself.  As a consultancy our process involves everything from strategy and concept design through to production surfacing. We often provide one aspect, for example animations, to support a project and from then on it is very easy to get pigeon holed by the people you are dealing with.

So as your company develops and what you offer changes, approaching new clients who don’t have any previous relationship with you can be easier to sell the new offering to. This can obviously allow your company to expand beyond the current perceptions.

Of course the network of family, friends, colleagues and contacts that I have made (too many to name here) and learnt from over the years, have been incredibly important in my development and the growth of Drive and I am indebted for their wisdom and support ……. but even they were strangers at one time.

you might also like to read https://lnkd.in/dsznXw6

The post It’s not who you know It’s who you don’t know appeared first on Drive Automotive Design Consultancy.

From first Logo and business card to current

The more I thought about it drive was clearly the obvious choice, for sure the character aspect, clearly car and vehicle related, and it is what I love to do. Along with 99% of people involved in the car design industry.
 
As with a lot of people over the last few months I have been reassessing life and business. An important part of that process being listening to podcasts – especially in the middle of the night.  One in particular, The Futur with Chris Do, has been a major source of inspiration and a re-energiser.   
So it seemed appropriate to use this image from one of his twitter posts – a potential chapter for his (well worth reading) book ‘A Pocket Full of Do’.

Now is a time for focus and drive, as our company passes through it’s 25th year, in order to steer a clear future direction.

_{top image credit – Chris Do – the futur}

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The one glove fits all approach is no longer suitable, as manufacturers realise that they are and need to be different.  Not only in their designs, but how they produce them and that requires flexible resources.  Businesses have always looked to access additional resource so as not to increase fixed employee costs.  Recent changes in regulations are forcing companies to reduce having contractors for a block of time and requesting packages of support from consultancies to provide known expertise and deliver to a deadline.

With experienced specialist teams, consultancies are in a strong position to provide flexible packages for clients in the automotive design industry.  Where quality, experience and value are of utmost importance, they are able to support clients throughout the design process, completing projects in their own studio or through remote support of in house teams.  Using technologies that have long been available but not readily accepted like screen sharing or Virtual Reality and the Artificial Intelligence AI softwares such as Vizcom and Midjourney.

It is not only the manufacturers that are having to adapt but the design consultancies too.  It is important that the current market conditions don’t side track the vision of the consultancy, but they need to continually adapt in order to provide value for their clients.

For every company, the key asset are their staff and the best consultancies ensure that they provide a good working environment and equip them with the right tools, both equipment and personally, to excel at what they do.

Consultancies like Drive often work across different industries and are able to utilise insights and methods learned from product or aircraft industries to automotive clients and vice versa.
The benefit of this diverse experience of ideas, technologies and processes, delivers fresh innovative and creative concepts to clients whilst speeding up their products’ time to market.

There is no doubt that companies are looking for good return on investment through innovative design and cost reduction. Outsourced design and development expertise is an important element for achieving those goals and progressive clients understand their true value.

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