Designer Interview Théo Bernard
It is a chaotic year so far but nevertheless we'd like to continue with our Designer introduction interviews.
So here we are now, congratulations to the " Sketch of the month" Award, Theo. Your proposal won with an amazing amount of 838 Likes.
So when was the first time in your life you thought about you want to become a car designer?
This passion for car design started at a very young age, around the age of 7-8, when I was in primary school, I started to draw. I was already imagining future vehicles through my overflowing creativity and my childhood world. I had to make sure that the drawing was well done, the first cars in 3D perspective appeared, choosing the right colors to make a quality rendering, the taste for detail was already present at that time. My parents quickly noticed that it had become a kind of addiction to want to imagine new vehicle concepts all the time through drawing, building LEGOs or creating stories from small cars.
This path as a car designer never left me from then on. I have this dream to be able to practice this unique profession. During my classes at the college, I never stopped drawing on my notebooks or my course sheets while listening to the teacher. I would tell everyone that I just had one goal in mind, to become a car designer.
For the little story, sometimes I meet old friends from class who ask me "Theo, I have a question : do you still draw cars as before ? "and I tell them "yes" that I still haven't changed my life's objective which I am passionate about and which makes me dream.
How was your journey/carreer path from the beginning up to today so far?
As far as my path as a designer is concerned, I had the opportunity to join La Joliverie Art High School with a specialization in Design in the city of Nantes in the west of France where I am from. During 3 years, I had the chance to discover all the creative fields such as painting, sculpture, art, architecture, fashion as well as the basis of our profession, drawing.
It was very important for me to open my mind to other fields than just automotive, to be curious and learn new skills. At that time it was difficult to make transport projects for the school but I continued with my personal projects.
After graduating with a A-level in Arts, I already had the goal of being able to go to a design school to continue on my way in the right direction. I found out about the 2 schools that existed with a transport design specialization in France. The first one was STRATE located in Paris and the second one was ISD the Institut Supérieur de design in Valenciennes. I chose the latter.
During my 5 years of study in the transport design section of the ISD, I was able to learn a process of reflection by trying to identify user problems and solve them by means of new vehicles. We had the chance to work with car brands during projects such as Volkswagen, Peugeot or Infiniti among others. This course allowed me to develop my curiosity to tackle other fields such as interior design, color and materials or digital interface which I knew little about.
As for my professional experience, I did my first 6 month internship abroad in the exterior design department at AUDI in Ingolstadt, Germany. That's when I realized that my dream of becoming a designer was becoming more concrete. This was my first experience in the automotive sector with the legendary German company. I had the chance to help with production projects and to realize a project for an official AUDI vehicle, which I was able to present to the head of exterior design, Andreas MINDT, at the end.
With a thirst for discovery and a desire to change scenery, I had the opportunity to complete my second final year internship at the ICONA design studio in Shanghai, China. I was able to work in the exterior and interior sector for various clients in the Chinese and European automotive market. During this internship, I really learned the job of car designer with the participation in the project directly as a junior designer and the intensive work load to design just one vehicle. This allowed me to see my strengths and weaknesses, to get to know myself better and to continue to improve.
I am currently completing my master's degree in transport design and I would like to join an automotive interior or exterior design studio with interesting goals in relation to their future brand vision. I have an attraction for advanced projects by imagining potential visions of a car brand. But I adapt easily to production vehicle-oriented jobs, all trying to bring my creativity to bear.
I love to project myself into the future and think about possible scenarios for future mobility through new vehicles that tell a story.
What motivates you? What are your Inspiration sources and what future do you want to create with your talent?
Our job as designers leads us to constantly question ourselves. I find it important to have a thirst for creative ideas and to be as curious as possible to learn new skills. What is most motivating is to have this desire to create all the time to write our history through our projects. I think that it is above all essential to be passionate about what we do in order to want to evolve in this unique field. Design is not just a profession but a way of life in its own right that is constantly evolving. I wake up some nights with lots of ideas for new vehicles.
In my projects, I take inspiration from various product areas, generally as well as architecture, fashion and graphic design to give me inspiration for my concepts. Depending on the project brief and the DNA of the brand, I try to create an interesting new vision that could be a new creative opportunity. This research phase is very important to lay the foundations of the project and to make sure that the initial idea is well understood. It's essential to be well imbued with the codes of each brand and to try to think about how we can transcribe them into our project. We don't just create a vehicle but we tell a whole story around the object with an experience that should make the user want to use it.
My path as a designer is just beginning, I have a lot to learn in my future career. I aspire to a simple creative approach between function and style. Many ideas come to my mind often just by looking at an image that inspires me. I would like to have the opportunity to develop a vehicle with a team of designers or to work on a new vision of tomorrow's mobility. The product is important but all the people around it are equally interesting.
You have to keep motivating yourself and try to get out of your comfort zone as much as possible by experimenting in new creative ways.
How do you see the impact of the 2020 Covid19 pandemic situation to the industry, the people who works for the automotive industry and the cars itself ?
It is not easy for me to judge the consequences of COVID_19 within the automotive industry being currently in search of employment. The COVID19 pandemic has put a real brake on car production. At the same time, it has caused disruption to the new strategies put in place by the manufacturers (hybridization and electric vehicles).
As a young designer just graduated, the task is not easy...
And there are many young graduates around the world trying to look for new job opportunities. We are going to have to redouble our efforts and not let go of our goal. I think the competition for designers is going to be tougher and tougher to find a job. In view of the current situation, my thinking has evolved towards a designer job other than in the automotive industry. It is important to stay connected with this world by sharing your work, to avoid being forgotten. Communication within social networks is essential at the moment. I hope there will be an explosion of jobs after COVID as a result of this global economic crisis...
I think that the automotive world is in danger of changing as a result of this crisis. New economic and ecological problems are likely to emerge. The need for locomotion will undoubtedly change with different visions of the world compared to tomorrow's journeys. A lot of new questions will arise to organize our modes of transport, for example will single-seater vehicles resurface in our cities with this situation? Think about cleaner and more pleasant car interiors that can also be easily disinfected. Will future public transport be more private?
New, innovative and effective technologies for human protection are likely to come on the market in the coming years. A new development in the history of the automobile is likely to be written soon.
What advices do you have for the upcoming Transportation Design students?
I would tell them that it is essential not to lock oneself into just the world of car design for future students of transport design. I would advise them to open up to all areas of mobility, a boat project or a bicycle project can be just as interesting as a car project in terms of experience. One thing that I have seen in my student projects is that you should not hesitate to go far in creativity, create a visionary experience and then come back to reality. It is essential to work with passion, to be motivated by what you do and to have professional goals to achieve.
In terms of skills, it is really useful to be multidisciplinary in several fields such as drawing, rendering, 3D modeling, the choice of quality inspirations, the sensitivity of colors and materials, the creation of video content. I also think it is very important to learn how to communicate your ideas well. The design profession is not easy to learn, we are constantly looking for new skills. At the heart of the school, it is interesting to share your visions with your colleagues and not hesitate to help each other to improve. Questioning often allows us to discover new creative avenues.
Moreover, it is essential to keep one's style and personality when working on projects. You should be inspired by other designers but try to adapt it to your profile, vision or ideas. It is often noticed that many portfolios look the same in design studios, and it is difficult to judge the personality of each one through the projects. Each student has to write his or her own story with his or her personal desires.
You must always have a thirst for learning and be persistent about what you want to achieve. It is not as simple as that to project yourself into the future but it allows you to trace your path to reach the ultimate goal.
I hope that my analysis has helped you to understand a little better my profile, my vision of design and the few tips I have described in this interview The transportation interior.
Following the "Sketch of the month" award I would like to thank Nicci for asking me to share my experience as a young designer.
Do not hesitate to follow me and to contact me on the networks, I will be delighted to exchange with you and to be able to discuss our projects, our visions and create beautiful encounters.
Linkedin / Behance : @Théo BERNARD
Instagram : @brdxdesign
Contact : [email protected]