Inside propelland: Rodrigo Castaman

Name: Rodrigo Castaman

Region: North America

Role at propelland: Industrial Design Lead

When you started working here: November 2021

Tell us more about your career path. What led you into the industrial design field?

RC: I always enjoyed creating things as a child. I’d spend hours working on my own creations whether it was drawing or building with Legos. I also had this fascination with cars ever since I was a child. As a Brazilian, I remember watching Ayrton Senna race in Formula One and being captivated by it. When it came time to choose a profession, my first question was, ‘What do I have to do to work with cars?’?

I was told to go into mechanical engineering. Then I went to a career fair and came across a pamphlet for industrial design with this futuristic motorcycle on it. I thought to myself, this is it! After trying out both mechanical engineering and design, I quickly realized that design was my true passion because of how it blended art and technical thinking.?

I started out in graphic design then eventually got to work at a product design consultancy with several clients in south Brazil. I gained a lot of hands-on experience working closely with the owners of these factories. I learned about the making of products, how to industrialize, taking ideas from concept all the way to market, sometimes even figuring out how to commercialize the product so it gets sold to people. I got a whole 360 view of the industrialized product ecosystem.

Even as my career evolved, I still had that lingering desire to work with cars. To me, cars remain the ultimate product. I wanted the challenge of designing this large, complex product, so I decided to go to the Art Center College of Design in California, one of the best design schools in the world, especially for car design. It was a dream come true. That’s also where I met Hugo and Sid from propelland.

I did some internships, for example in the aviation industry at Embraer, which is an airplane and executive jet manufacturer from Brazil. I also worked at a Volkswagen and Audi studio in L.A., where I learned about real car design. After I graduated from Art Center, I was fortunate to work at Tesla, merging my passions in design, sustainability and love for cars all into one.

After working some years in the automotive industry, I felt this strong need to do more to help create a sustainable future. Electric cars are not enough. We need solutions at every level, in every industry. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have at propelland because as a multidisciplinary team, we can influence so many areas and so many industries by creating new solutions that can help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.

What is one of your favorite projects that you've worked on in your career?

RC: One of my favorite projects to work on was the electric Tesla Semi truck. It was an opportunity to truly create something new in an industry that hasn't changed in a long time. We got to think from a human perspective, test out the existing products, and see what we could do to improve the life of a truck driver, and value to freight companies. We designed a much better cabin experience with enhanced visibility, safety, and comfort.?

I think of it as an example of what real innovation looks like. For example, our design puts the driver in the middle of the cabin. Nobody had done that before. It’s also a disruptive business model because it's a completely new offering for companies that are used to having a diesel-powered fleet.?

I participated in the creation of the conceptual design that resulted in what they call the alpha prototype, a functioning, fully-engineered prototype that Tesla is testing on roads before releasing the final production version. I think it has huge potential to transform shipping by transporting things in a more sustainable way.

What are your responsibilities as propelland’s North American Industrial Design lead?

RC: As propelland’s industrial design lead in North America, my job is to help propelland grow throughout the region, generating new business and building out our industrial design discipline. Bringing ideas to life is in propelland’s DNA, so we work with our clients to help them bring their business ideas to life whether it’s a service website, a revolutionary new technology, or a physical product they want to fully realize.

We can help them iterate, create a prototype, test the idea and design it, make it into a product and bring it to market. Our ability to deliver product innovation, helping our clients innovate from where they are and evolve, is really critical. Working as a multidisciplinary team, we learn all these different facets of design and how to best blend them together in order to be able to help our clients realize their vision.

What excites you most about the future of industrial design?

RC: Right now design, especially industrial design, has a big responsibility. For a long time, design has been used as a sort of superficial layer with the goal of making certain products look more expensive than they need to be or creating certain needs that people do not necessarily have. We need to think beyond that if we want to create a real sustainable future. When we do human-centered design it’s not just what's good for a single group of people, but for everyone and for the whole planet.

I remember visiting this museum once and looking at this rock that humans used in prehistoric times. I was mesmerized by that object. It had such beauty, but it wasn't a superficial kind of beauty. Its beauty comes from the fact that it had been optimized over and over and over, chipping away at the rocks until it worked in an ideal way, and as a result, they got to that shape. That is intrinsically beautiful. We have this built-in need for beauty through tools and objects that naturally enhance our lives. It’s part of our human nature.

So, as designers, we need to find the right balance in terms of fulfilling this human need for beauty and functionality in our everyday objects, with the responsibility of doing so on a planet with finite resources. That's our greatest challenge and I want to be a part of solving it.?

Is there any advice or lessons learned you’d like to share with those interested in pursuing a career in industrial design?

RC: Do what you love. That's the number one thing that will take you far. That's the road worth taking. My second piece of advice would be to look around. There are so many interesting challenges out there that are just waiting for someone to come and solve them. There's a lot of work to be done and there's a lot that we can do. It's all hands on deck right now. Every area, every profession has something to contribute to a better future. Find the problem you want to solve and have fun with it!