The Design Academy, Inc.

STAFF ADDITION

Welcome Nouphone Bansasine, Lead Designer!

The Design Academy is excited to add Nouphone Bansasine to our list of experienced designers who balance excellence and evolution. With over a decade of experience, Nouphone brings a special blend of industrial design, automotive prowess, mechanical engineering, and lithe sketch work to our studio.

Nouphone earned his B.S. in Transportation Design from the Art Center of Design in Pasadena after completing his B.F. degree from the Design Institute of San Diego. In between classes, Mr. Bansasine streamlined his designs with LG, Philips, AST, SEGA, Fujitsu, Factory Five, and One Industries.

Throughout his career, Nouphone has developed projects dedicated to the art of forward momentum. From designing the next generation of vision with Oakley to honing the microscopic musculature of the human physique at Hoist Fitness Systems, Nouphone is an expert of collective balance. Passionate about details, Nouphone has worked with Aero Seating Technology as a contractor. Dedicated to the project as a whole, he also excelled in his years with Volvo. Feel the urge to view a particularly wicked guilty pleasure? Search for his sleek minx of the Volvo SC90. Guaranteed to send an appreciative chill down your spine, it is one of many conceptual epiphanies this designer has already left behind, pursuing the next phase of progressive motion.

Posted on February 15, 2012 in The Design Academy | Leave a Comment

Design Los Angeles, November 17, 2011

And The Design Challenge Winner is

Smart 341 Parkour

“This year’s theme presented these designers with creative challenges like never before. Not only were studios tasked with designing a futuristic Hollywood vehicle, but also the complex plots within which they starred. The Smart 341 Parkour captured the essence of the Design Challenge by combining innovation and functionality with an adventurous plot.” Chuck Pelly

Please read the article in PR Newswire.

We would like to thank all the Studios which participated in the Design Challenge this year:

Honda Research and Development Americas, Inc. - Honda IH (intelligent horse)
Hyundai Design North America - Hyundai Stratus Sprinter, DB Atlant (Airship)
Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc.: Advanced Design Center California – Mercedes -Benz Silver Arrow
Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Germany – Smart 341 Parkour
Mercedes-Benz Interior Design Studio, Germany - Maybach Berline
Subaru Design Tokyo Studio – Subaru HORIZON

Please refer to The Hollywood’s Hottest New Movie Car Studios Presentations.

We also would like to thank all the sponsors:

Bose, one of the largest and best-known audio technology developers and product manufacturers in the world. Bose has a heritage of research and innovation, and has produced inventions that have improved for instance the performance of Automotive sound systems.
Dassault Systèmes which develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance to recycling. Its customers include companies in aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer goods, consumer packaged goods, energy, high-tech, industrial equipment, life sciences, shipbuilding and services industries.
Faurecia which designs, manufactures and sells automotive equipment. under four major segments, Automotive seating, Vehicle Interiors, Exhaust systems and Front end.
Inda , a trade association representing the nonwoven fabrics industry since 1968. Throughout the year, their conferences and action-oriented committees bring industry professionals together to explore the most pressing trends and issues in the areas of government relations, technology, marketing and international commerce.
RTT, a producer of creative and fascinating 3D visualization solutions and services for automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, and apparel. Since last year, RTT has joined their forces with Bunkspeed to bring forth new technologies catering to all areas of design, engineering, marketing, and sales. Producer of design software for automotive, aircraft and consumer goods applications.
Yokohama which main focus is tires for passenger car, truck, bus, mining and construction equipment, and aircraft markets worldwide.

Thank you to all of you who participated and/or attended. We look forward to welcoming more Studios to The Design Challenge next year.

Posted on November 21, 2011 in Auto Shows, Design Innovation, Mobility/Auto/Trans Design | Leave a Comment

L.A. Auto Show, Press Days November 16-17 & Public Days November 18-27, 2011 – Design Los Angeles on November 17, 2011

The Design Academy will be at The L.A. Auto Show on November 16 and 17 for the Press Days. Chuck Pelly and Joan Gregor will be hosting The Design Challenge “Hollywood’s Hottest New Movie Car” on November 17. Please see The Design Los Angeles Program.

The Studios participating this year are:

Please read the related articles: LA Auto Show, Wired, New York Times and also IMotor Trend, NBC, Automobile, Car Advice, Car Design News, Motor Authority, World Car Fans, PSFK, Design Crave, Inhabitat, Sportwagen Und Tuning, Auto Zeitung, Auto Blog Greece, Stuff.

The judges are:

• Tom Matano, Director, Industrial Design, Academy of Art University
• Stewart Reed, Chair, Transportation Design, Art Center College of Design
• Jay Shuster, Art Director at Pixar Animation Studios
• Mark West, Transportation Chair, Detroit’s College for Creative Studies

The winner of The Design Challenge will be announced during The Designer’s Night Party.

Posted on November 16, 2011 in Auto Shows, Design Innovation, Mobility/Auto/Trans Design | Leave a Comment

Art Center Car Classic, Art Center College of Design, October 23, 2011

Chuck Pelly presented all the studios many of which have brought some of their very special show cars.

“The unique thing about these collections of cars is that it is based on design rather than vintage correctness. This allows much more unique and exciting collection of cars. Each year this Car Classic grows in importance and we are very excited to participate”. Chuck Pelly

“With more than 20 advanced automotive design studios located in Southern California, as well as companies leading the charge in new mobility and alternative energy, SoCal continues to shape the how, what and where of mobility on a tremendous scale.”

Please read related article.

Posted on November 4, 2011 in Mobility/Auto/Trans Design | Leave a Comment

Color Form Workshop, Boston, October 2011

“It was a pleasure for The Design Academy to organized and hold a third workshop with a client in Boston on the importance of color and form and design consistency to increase a company’s brand value”. Chuck Pelly

Posted on November 4, 2011 in Branding/Design Language, CMF/Graphics/Packaging, Salons/Workshops | Leave a Comment

The Atlantic Meets The Pacific, San Diego, October 17-19, 2011

“The Design Academy, Joan Gregor, Scott Clear, Pascale Bauer and myself attended this unique meeting which was inspirational and very symbolic for the type of Design Research we are involved with.” Chuck Pelly

The Design Academy Team visited different Labs, and came back very impressed by the research innovation and the advanced technology of each of the tours at :

UCSD Moores Cancer Center

The Scripps Research Institute

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

The CALIT2 experience and the Salk Institute Lab tour were also amazing as were the speakers.

“The Atlantic Meets The Pacific conference brought main highlights to The Design Academy team which made it very apparent that we have moved from the information age to the biotechnology age. Since we are now located in the San Diego Area this is especially exciting to us as this is the Global Center of Bio Research at Scripps and Salk Institute.” Chuck Pelly

For more information, please go to The Atlantic Meets The Pacific.

Posted on October 26, 2011 in Conferences/Speeches, Trends/Design Research | Leave a Comment

IDSA International Conference, New Orleans, September 14-17, 2011

Chuck Pelly, Joan Gregor, Scott Clear of the Design Academy attended the IDSA International Conference in New Orleans. This annual affair is the most important event in Industrial Design. One of the highlights was a presentation by Gaylon White of Eastman and a panel of the owners and team development of the Hydropack, system to provide drinkable water from contaminated sources. The filming of its use in Africa was very emotional and brought the audience to the point of tears. Gaylon was given the IDSA honorary membership. Three Eastman V.P.s attended illustrating the Company’s commitment to design. The Design Academy is one of their preferred design partners. Gaylon is retiring early next year. Winning a gold for the Hydropack was a nice honor. The Design Academy is very proud to have Eastman on a chart. Please read the article in Plastic News.

Another TDA client GE Healthcare accepted 3 more silver awards placing them in one of the top position of the number of total awards received.

Posted on September 30, 2011 in Conferences/Speeches, Design Innovation, Strategic Partners | Leave a Comment

The Hollywood Racer, Lace Reventlow

Lance’s race car is called the Scarab, it was fast and won many of the races it entered.

The Scarab sports cars were very successful and dominated United States racing in the late 1950′s and early 1960′s and were the best of the best sports race cars. Not only were they great race cars beating Ferraris, Maseratis and Listers but they were beautiful too.

Lance Reventlow was the leader, and funder, of the team that built and raced these cars. One of the important keys to his success was the team that he assembled. Bruce Kessler, who raced with Lance in the United States and Europe, was the first member of this special team.

Together they toured some of the racing factories in Europe and were influenced by what they saw there, in particular at Lister in Cambridge, UK. Reventlow decided that he could build a better chassis so rather than buy a chassis from Lister he struck out on his own with his company, Reventlow Automobile Inc. (RAI), to design his own chassis.

RAI chose their engine – the Chevrolet small block V8, starting at 283 cid, they went to 301 cid and soon were at 327 cid and later 339 cid. With fuel injection they produced around 360 hp. They used aluminum Borg Warner T-10 transmissions. The beautiful Scarab body was designed by Chuck Pelly and built by Emil Deidt who had experience making Indy cars. The paint scheme was a pearl blue with white stripes and was pinstriped by Von Dutch himself.

Read the whole article.

Posted on August 30, 2011 in Chuck Pelly, Mobility/Auto/Trans Design | Leave a Comment

STAFF OPPORTUNITY: Industrial Designers

Chuck Pelly from The Design Academy, Inc. in San Diego is looking for highly motivated industrial designers/design strategist/data visualization. Candidates should be strategic thinkers with the desire to work on projects that make a difference. This is an opportunity to work with high level professionals. Three to ten plus years experience. The Design Academy will be interviewing at the IDSA International Conference in New Orleans, September 14-17, 2011. Please email your resume and portfolio (3MB maximum) to pascale.bauer@thedesignacademy.com.

Posted on August 30, 2011 in Employment Opportunities, The Design Academy | Leave a Comment

Art Center Alumni Chapter co-chaired by Chuck Pelly and June Rubin, June 23rd 2011

Chuck Pelly has been recently appointed co-Chair of Art Center Alumni – San Diego Chapter.

June 23rd 2011 from 7pm to 10pm, a party was organized at Nissan Design America, attended by more than 50 people, including The Design Academy team, Nissan Design Art Center Alumni and a lot of other Art Center Alumni from San Diego and Orange County.

After a welcome speech from Alfonso Albaisa (VP Nissan Design America), Chuck Pelly (Art Center Prod’ 58) and Stewart Reed (Art Center Transportation Design Chair), explained why Southern California is so attractive to car design studios and what Art Center transportation design program now offers to students.

Then, Art Center President Lorne Buchman presented his recently unveiled strategic plan for the famous school.

The speeches were followed by a private and very privileged visit of Nissan Design studio by Robert Bauer (Art Center Alumni, Trans’ 95). It was a great opportunity to mingle and to meet local talents.

For more information about this event and other to come, please contact Pascale Bauer or Alice Poulos at 858.490.0063.

Posted on June 30, 2011 in Chuck Pelly, Conferences/Speeches, Strategic Partners | Leave a Comment