Expert: Bob - 10/8/2008

Question
Hi Bob this is austin. i am 14 and i am sure i am going to do something with cars for a career. im hoping that i will be able to be a designer for GM. well i would really like to get my designs off of paper and into a good 3D design program. I just dont have 3 or 4 hundred dollars to spend on a good program. Would you be able to refer me to a good free or cheap program to get me started on car design?  thank you for your time and i apreciate any help you can give.

Answer
Hi -- good for you! Perhaps, many years ago, if I had received parental support to be a car designer, I would be doing that today. I am still a huge car nut, so it is fortunate that you wrote to me.

Remember, I am an Interior Designer (2nd career), so I might not know what software that car companies use. Of course, the serious versions cost many thousands of dollars. (3D programs which can do the complex curves of a car are pretty complex). I do know that some use CATIA -- look it up.

My suggestion would be to look for the website of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena -- traditionally the main source of design talent to the Industry. See what you can find, then perhaps write to someone there and ask what courses you should take in High School and what else you can do to prepare for admission.

If you keep searching, you will probably find that there is a student blog, and so forth. You could ask current students what they did to prepare. Don't be shocked that many are women, and some large percentage are Koreans or Korean Americans.

MOST IMPORTANT:
I hope you realize that you will need to go to a GREAT school to have a chance to land such a job -- one that lots of people want. There are a couple of other good schools. Put CAR DESIGN and AUTOMOBILE DESIGN into Google. Write to the designers at GM -- be creative and show initiative. and you will get some help.

If this is really your dream, prepare to dedicate yourself, prepare for a lot of work --- and prepare, in the event it does not work for you, to move on to something else, rather than letting disappointment stop you.  That is what I would tell anyone interested in a very competitive industry.

Last -- don't count on the existence of GM in the future, although I personally want it to continue. Be the best, and go where the best is needed.

BOB