From Classroom to Showroom: Students Create Designs for Mazda
January 29, 2016鈥擡very semester, Georgetown 海角论坛 Graphic Design and Animation Professor challenges his students to create a series of exterior car art designs based on particular themes鈥攁nd the results often find homes outside the classroom.
The current series placed a number of student works in the , and past students have developed art for Georgetown鈥檚 GUTS buses, the SafeRides logo, and the GnuLab, as well as art cars for BMW and Mazda.
鈥淲e start the semester very hands on with an instinctual ink and paint on paper approach,鈥� Hyams said. 鈥淲e then begin research and discussion on the Art Car Series founded by Herv茅 Poulain in 1975 with the Alexander Caulder BMW 3.0CSL and follow with works from Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and the complete series. A design theme is chosen鈥nd with [this] context in mind, the students begin creating five original designs each.鈥�
This year, Hyams鈥� students focused on creating art for a Mazda CX-3, using 鈥渒odo鈥濃�攚hich means 鈥渟oul of motion鈥� in Japanese鈥攁s the theme. 鈥淜ODO鈥� is also a language for many of Mazda鈥檚 current models.
Mazda North American Operations director of design, Julien Montousse, selected the 2016 auto show winners from a pool of around 130 student entries from Hyams鈥� courses. Three Georgetown 海角论坛 students received top honors; Elle Vernerey鈥檚 鈥淔LASH鈥� placed first; Zack Bennett-Engler鈥檚 鈥淗YPER鈥� placed second; and first-year Katherine Lee鈥檚 鈥淣ATURE!鈥� placed third. Vernerey and Bennet-Engler鈥檚 designs were featured on Mazda CX-3 vehicles, and Lee鈥檚 design was printed as a 22鈥� x 28鈥� wall-mount display.
鈥淚 wanted to evoke a sense of movement, particularly when I considered the theme of soul of motion,鈥� said Vernerey (C鈥�17). 鈥淎s a whole, my design imitates the image of a meteor pushing through the atmosphere鈥 hope that it will make the viewer wonder what is behind or beyond the car, where the car is heading, and where it has been.鈥�
For Bennett-Engler (C鈥�18), Kodo 鈥渃ombines the force of motion with pure gracefulness.鈥� His design features 鈥渓ines that flow around the car originate from the front and stream off of the back, giving the impression that the car is accelerating through the air.鈥�
Hyams is also featured in this year鈥檚 show for his Mazda Miata design 鈥淪assy Lassie鈥濃�攁n homage to his grandfather, F. C. McPhearson, who spent years as a professional racing photographer during the 1950s and 1960s. 鈥淪ome years ago,鈥� explained Hyams, 鈥淚 found a box of black and white photographs of amazing classic race cars in action on the gritty racing circuits of the day. What an inspiration!鈥�
Related Information
The 2016 Washington Auto Show runs through January 31. For a detailed schedule of events, visit the show鈥檚 .