Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

We are marketers, and it's not clear that our opinions of these concept cars would really be meaningful. I'm not sure what it is we are supposed to be assessing. Do the cars look realistic? I suppose. Do they look like something I would want to buy? No, probably not. Do they display your creativity and design capability? I have no idea.

You may want to ask the specific questions that would be most helpful for you, or you might want to find the right forum to address industrial design issues.

I would judge your creativity in context of the assignment you've given yourself. What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to appeal to? Are you looking to create a portfolio to get hired by an automotive firm, a virtual world software company, or something else? Without a context, we can only offer our opinions, not our insights.

Dear dreamedo,

You obviously have a lot of talent—something you don't really need anyone here to tell you.

But for your career to truly blossom I urge you to consider not
just seeking critique that will help you be more creative. I urge you to consider investigating ways you can use your talent to improve the lives of other people.

Futuristic car concepts are great. I'm a huge fan of conceptual futurism like this and have been sketching elements like this (although not to the quality of your work) for decades.

But despite having seen these kinds of drawings (and now, computer renderings) for over 30 years, I've yet to see flying cars at affordable prices in my local Honda dealership.

So again—where is the application? What is the practical upshot for consumers? When will the kinds of vehicles you're rendering make significant contributions to the lives of consumers?

Much like the fashion industry, where stick thin models stroll the catwalks in what might sometimes be the most bizarre of outfits,
I realize that the car concepts of today SHAPE the style of vehicle elements five years down the road, but that we'll seldom SEE this kind of visionary vehicle pulling up to a stop light any time soon.

Does this make the concept of the concept overly self indulgent?
If it offers no benefit than to merely stroke the ego of the designer, yes, I believe it does. But when the concept fans out and touches real lives and offers obvious, practical, and workable solutions to common, everyday problems, then the ability and vision of the designer has more purpose.

As the creative, and because you're as close to the work as you are, you may not see this.

I vividly recall a concept of a heavy duty transcontinental truck that was put together in the UK nearly 30 years ago. The tractor unit was shaped like the Japanese Shinkansen—the fabled "Bullet Train"—and it looked astonishing. The cowlings around the cab had been custom designed and engineered to reduce drag, increase speed, and slash fuel consumption, thereby increasing the vehicle's efficiency. This wasn't a model or a sketch, they built this thing for real and it worked: it was a thing of beauty AND it was practical. It was faster and cheaper to run than its regular, off the production line cousin.

But no one would drive it. Truck drivers laughed at it. It wasn't macho enough. And the project died. Today, three decades later, the overall design of tractor trailer units has hardly changed, yet now, truck drivers the world over bitch, moan, and whine about the price of diesel and about the cost of running their trucks in order to make a living.

So, as talented as you are, consider putting your talent to even greater use by making people's lives even better.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA