Vehicle or auto designers conceive and draw the designs of cars and trucks. Working with auto marketers, vehicle designers are responsible for creating ideas for new vehicles that are visually and aesthetically appealing to consumers, as well as safe to drive and economical to manufacture. Car designers also work closely with vehicle engineers and can incorporate engineering principles, such as aerodynamics and 3-D volumes, in their designs.
Car and truck designers have usually completed 4-year bachelor's degrees in industrial design at colleges and universities that offer coursework in transportation and automobile design. Typical classes for a student pursuing vehicle design careers include design theory, 2-D and 3-D drawing, computer modeling, and presentation skills workshops. Increasingly, many design schools incorporate an internship with an auto design studio in the third or fourth year of study. This helps students to understand how the skills learned in the classroom can be applied to real world applications.
Car designers should have excellent drawing skills and an intrinsic sense of popular aesthetics. According to Car Design News, auto design studios increasingly look for candidates with foreign language skills to communicate with clients and manufacturers in Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. The ability to effectively pitch their ideas requires vehicle designers to have polished communication skills.
Career and Economic Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, www.bls.gov) expects that positions for industrial designers, of which vehicle designers make up a significant part, will increase 4% from 2012 to 2022. Industrial designers in general earned a median income of $59, 610 as of May 2012.
Architects meet with clients to determine what their needs are and then design structures like homes, office buildings, and shopping centers that meet those needs. They prepare drawings by hand and with computer-aided design and drafting software; they also prepare an outline of the required time and materials for a project. Architects also participate in the construction aspect of a new building, from assisting with bid selection to site visits.