I got this idea off another thread (plus the fact I can't sleep and it's 1:30 AM). Which head car designer do you like, and what are your observations on them?

Mine?

GM's Ed Welburn is a extremely creative designer. I feel his strong point is he's able to break new ground without creating something weird. He took over from design well after Bob Lutz came aboard from Wayne Cherry, so it's not likely we'll see his influence till 2007 (LeCrosse & LeCerne are mostly under Cherry's direction, as is the Solstice & new Impala). The Saturn Aura we saw last autoshow season and the 2008 Malibu we're hearing about on another thread are under his direction. So is the skin on the Saturn Sky.

I think he's too low keyed, and isn't quite as recognized as Chrysler's Trevor Creed & especially Ford's J. Mays, which is a shame because some of his work is pretty showstopping. Look at the SSR.



Ford's J. Mays is sort of the rock star of automotive design. I've personally met him, and he not only looks shockingly younger in person than in pictures, but he's typically not a suit & tie type of guy. The guy can wear jeans, tennis shoes, a sweater & a trench coat, and somehow it all looks like it goes together and fits in when everyone else is dressed up. True story... and very very strange.

J.Mays IMO isn't a ground breaking design type like I feel Welburn is. I'd be hard placed to name any shapes or surfaces from him that are original or new. However, Mays has a sharp eye for details, and can make the most mundane things look like it should have a Tiffiny's label. The interior of the F series truck, for example, blew everyone away, and most every interior he touches are both familiar, but places you enjoy looking at. His eye for exterior details is clear in the new Fusion, the gills in Mustangs headlights (bet you didn't even notice them), and in Europe's new Focus. No doubt, the guy is good. How many other car designers have had their work (outside of automobiles) on display in an exibit at the Los Angeles Art Muesem?




Trevor Creed's strength seems to be in designing vehicles that visually hit you with a sledgehammer. You'll never call his designs weak or mundane. Oversized grilles, chisled surfaces that interact extremely well with light, and a dash of modernized art-deco thrown in. Crossfire, 300, Magnum, Dakota, Durango, the new Caliper, and even the current Stratus sedan all have a sort of chisled-deco look. In twilight, most all Chryslers look stunning as that's when the surfaces of their vehicles really stand out. At the same time, just about every car or truck Chrysler makes looks like it came out of a DC comic book, or a 30's propaganda poster.

Like Mays, I think he has an amazing eye for details in a design (both interiors and exteriors). But where Mays is good at adding tasteful touches that transforms routine exterior shapes & surfaces, I feel Trevor is all about exterior surfaces. Inside, he seems more adaptable depending on what the purpose is. You have the neo-deco interior of the 300C, yet the interior of the Magnum & Charger looks like a 60s era car made but with German functionality.



Although, none of these guys actually get their hands dirty anymore, and are directing other designer's direction, each one's personality comes through on the finished product.


BTW: in case you're intrested, Brian Nesbitt was the actual designer of the PT Cruiser. GM brought him over, and put him in charge of design for Chevy. He's the one who designed the 2006 Impala and the '06 Monte Carlo nose, and had a hand in the HHR before being moved to head design at GM-Europe.

 

i like welburn most

observations
welburn- like you said, does unique things without them being weird
designs nice looking cars

mays- does dress differently (which i find cool myself), but doesn't bring anything innovative to the table really
that's not to say i don't like his designs though as they are almost always pretty good

creed- not really my type, i like the big grill idea on some chrysler cars
and what really got me not liking this though is his comment on the charger being a 4 door

 

There is a guy working at Honda now - used to work for GM before. I forget the name...
This guy single-handedly convinced Honda to let him design the new Ridgeline pickup.
Any resemblances you see between the Ridgeline and the Silerado/Avalanche are NOT coincidental.
They finally allowed him to do it, but told him unquestionably that there would be no V8, and towing restrictions. He said he could work with that... and the rest is history.
So a GM-trained designer has put Honda in the US truck market. Hmmm...

I think we are going to see more of this cross-shopping of designers in the future. The auto industry is like all the other industries these days. The individual has to look out for their own best interest, meaning they jump from job-to-job for the 15% salary increase. Not like the old days when a guy stayed at a company for 35-40 years and the company rewarded them with gifts, promotions, and such.

Oh well, at least the new Mustang didn't reak of design ques from the revived Beetle!

 

Opinions from a designer:

Welburn: really can't comment yet since we haven't seen alot of his work that's gotten to production. Concept cars are one thing (Aura), but how manage the compromises that take place during the deisgn for mfg and cost trade off are the real trick. He seems like a great guy: Tlaented, humble, and a car nut. Personally I'd rather hang with a low key designer...I've been around enough who promote themselves as the next coming of "X" and really don't have too much to show for themselves.

Mayes: The Audi TT is really the only thing of his I like, and the only thing original I can think he's done. Otherwise, I'd have to go with those that label him "Mr. Retro". Thunderbird, Beetle, Mustang, nothing new here, in fact (IMO) just blatant copies of someone else's designs. If he were an author he might get sued for plagerism. The new Shelby show car to years ago was as emotionless a car I've seen in a while, althought the coupe they showed this year (can't think of the name...it was finished in raw polished aluminum) was a very sleek, good looking vehicle.

Creed: Definately right now the one with the most flash and backbone to take design chances (although I think the 300 tries too much to be something it needn't be, a Bentley), although I wonder if a large part of that is he's just lucky enough to be at the right company. Although his work doesn't do too much for me, I think the Magnum/300/Charger trio is just too big, blocky, and crude looking and the grill on the trucks is in my face too much, you have to give credit for a designer and company for trying new things to capture the market's attention and money. And it seems they've done it.

 

Didn't he move over to Mazda??? I could have sworn that he left GM altogether.

 

Still with GM in Europe, check the 4th question here.

 

That link doesn't work but I'll take your word for it. I could have sworn that he left oh well. perhaps I was confused with someone else. Thanks

 

I wanna say Mays and I dont wanna . I think his best work was with Audi . He transformed that division back in 98 from boxy ugly cars into IMO some of the most attractive cars on the road that withstood the aging process and still looked contemporary up until the most recent redesigns of the A4 , A6 ect. The new big grill cars are still sweet I think , but not even close to impact the last Audi overhaul made . What do I think of Jay Mays at Ford , ALOT of 88-2004 Audi influence . The Ford 500 is so close in resemblence to the 88-2004 A6 , if Mays wasnt the one who originally desinged the A6 , I think Ford shoulda been worrying about lawsuit . Maybe extreme , but ya get the point . Im just not seeing to much orginality with Mays at Ford . The Fusion is very Cadillac like in the nose , as is a SRX type concept from last year which looked almost like a rip off of SRX . The Mustang , and the F-series truck were imo knock outs , outside that , Mays needs to do for Ford what Mays did for Audi ....without looking like ...errrr Audi's .

Welburn like was said before , I dont know too much about him . I can say if the Sky and Aura are indicators , I dont think I have too much to worry with future GM vehicles . As many ooooo's and ahhhhh's as that press invite garnered , I really look forward to the full on Lutz era cars . So many people dont realize your not really even seeing the full Lutz era cars yet , save for the Sky and Aura ( ?) . Im really starting to feel comfortable thinkin the new Camaro will knock the entire sporty 2-door coupe market on it ***

Welburn's stuff is what I most wanna see .

 

I want to say it's Frans Something-Or-Other, the guy who originally sketched the Solstice. It was either Honda or Mazda that he left for, I can't remember which. But I know he left GM.

 

Mays is good but he tends to make everything look like either old Audis or old Fords.

 

Franz Von Holzhausen I believe.

Had to look it up.

 

Recently, Welburn's hand came up with the Chevrolet SSR and the Belair.

Working with others, he's also recently responsible for the Escalade, the H2, the Velite, and the Autonomy. He also has a track record doing GM's Indy 500 pacecars. Other Welburn handywork: The Oldsmobile Aerotech (a 259mph 4 cylinder rocket), just about every current generation full size GMC & Chevy truck and SUV, including the redesign of a few years ago.

Ed Welburn's favorite toy?

A 1969 yellow Chevy Camaro with black stripes , complete with 17" rims.

 

I had read about his Camaro. I thought that was very cool. This is the first time I've neard him associated with the SSR and H2, that's also pretty cool.

From all indications, GM design is in great hands...now if we can only smack some sense into those bean counters.....

 

these guys barely ever touch pen to paper anymore.

they are more managers, team leaders, motivators and coaches than they are designers.

they set the themes, not the lines.

they protect their guys from the politics, wrestle the marketing, engineering and beancounting boffins.

they are the focal point for all the information, such as technological breakthroughs, supplier innovations, plastics developments, passive safety advances.
then they look at what's possible for the right cost/benefit analysis mix in production engineering, new tooling advances that make impossible shapes suddenly possible.
They also haggle over costs, including occasionally trading off cool bits of design that may not be core design elements in order to retain those that are.
they've got to sit in endless meetings with marketing and research personnel about whether certain designs overlap the right demographic and age profiles for everything else about the price, engineering, ride, handling, engine, gearbox criteria.
plus they deal with all the egos of their sometimes highly strung design assets and make them (sometimes hundreds of them) work together.

when would they have time to actually draw cars anymore? they direct the design, but they very rarely actually design anything more than rough initial sketches.