As July approaches our creative team are beginning to get the usual requests to produce animations and visuals for the Monaco Yacht Show in September 2019.
Drive have always shared the expertise and methodologies gained in automotive design with other product and transportation studios. Our aim is to provide a quality service, building our reputation of bringing real value to our clients. All knowledge gained from other industries is then incorporated into our work flows and brings benefit to all our clients across all sectors.
Working with yacht manufacturers’ marketing teams as well as supporting brokers, naval architects and yacht design consultancies, is an enjoyable experience allowing our creative team to work on projects without 4 wheels.
www.drivecgi.co.uk
Driving down to Goodwood on Sunday morning, following a Lamborghini and keeping a watch on the Ferrari behind, I was reminded of a comment by Peter Stevens, “there are a lot of super cars, but not many super drivers!”.
Feeling a little bit of a fraud in the Zenos E10R, I parked up in the paddock whilst the line up of exotic machines on the start finish straight extended beyond the chicane.
It was great to walk round and discuss the various cars with friends and colleagues, and listen in on the comments of the crowd about the differing designs and what is the definition of a supercar! As far as our discussions were concerned they seemed to concentrate on details that we are currently in negotiation with engineers about, under/over flush conditions, door release positions and legal light heights!
This event has changed over the years and is now huge with very organised parking, a simulator ride, numerous breakfast bars to satisfy the bacon butty brigade and various stalls selling their products.
One of the more interesting exhibitors being Greenpower Education Trust who are a UK based charity which gets young people enthusiastic about science and engineering by challenging them to design, build and race an electric car. Have a look at their website here.
So with a clear road up through Petworth on the way back allowing me to enjoy the great handling of the Zenos, I look forward to catching up with more of you at the next ‘designer’s breakfast club’!
The Coventry University Automotive and Transport Design Degree Show once again showcases the talented designers graduating from this highly regarded course.
Chris Longmore presented the Drive Sketchbook Award to Marco Gulla whose sketching output clearly demonstrated his ideas and concepts through inspiring and engaging hand-drawn sketches.
Along with the Award he received £500 to enable him to continue his design appreciation and development. Hopefully he will use it to travel!!
Marco was a deserving winner, with other designers such as Alexey Andreev and Yinhan Zhang also displaying a clear understanding of the benefit of a sketchbook to capture ideas and thoughts at any time; realising it is the instant impulse that makes them so valuable rather than sketches retouched through photoshop.
To see more of the exhibits please follow the link here XXX
Worth visiting to see the professionalism of all the designers –
Automotive and Transport Degree Show times –
Thursday May 16th 2019 6-10pm : Industry Preview night
The Collective at Coventry
Thursday 16th – Saturday 25th May 2019
*Sunday May 19th Degree Shows are closed
SAIC have an advanced design studio on prime Maryleborne real estate in the middle of London. The open plan arrangement with designers’ zones, review areas, chill out space and groovy chairs provides a creative environment with which to attract design talent to ddefine the future SAIC Group products.
When I started Drive and was shown impressive facilities of OEMs like Volvo or engineering firms like Magna, it made me wonder how a design consultancy like Drive can compete with the major automotive manufacturers and their studios.
The answer of course is we don’t.
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 car companies do not use the services of external car design consultancies for some smaller projects or as a validation of their internal designs, whilst many smaller niche car 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 grill 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 (see here) 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)
I wrote this post 5 years ago.
So it is now 25 years since Senna passed away, and 5 years on Michael Schumacher’s condition is still unknown to the general public.
On TV last weekend it was amazing to see his wife Corinna watch from the pit wall as their son Mick tested a 2019 F1 Ferrari. Keep fighting Michael.
A personal post –
I know exactly where I was 20 years ago today, Snetterton Paddock, with a group of very good friends pretending to be mechanics.
It was my second race in the Renault Clio Championship supporting the British Touring Cars.
I had promised my new girlfriend that motor racing was exciting, glamorous and I would be Touring Car champion within a couple of years.
Her reality check (and mine) was that during the test session the day before, I rolled the car at Riches, and so instead of a day off on the Sunday, we were all working out how to replace rear axles and align wheels. In the afternoon she came back with refreshments, tears streaming down her face and the news that Ayrton Senna was dead.
The whole paddock was quiet.
The next day as the Clio qualifying session started, I was still being strapped into the car as they bled the brakes. We qualified 9th.
Jill, now my wife, talks of hating my friends on that day for putting the car together so I could go back out on track, and only in the last year revealed just how terrified she was everytime I raced.
As we remember a hero, Senna’s family will still be mourning a loss, and Corinna Schumacher, who must have thought her days of worrying were over, will be praying for Michael.
(ayrtonsennadasilvaforever.blogspot.com – Foto: AFP)
Very good friends Jill Barton, Simon Duerden, Ian Astley, Kevin Rice, Tony Pettman, Robin Lock
