The 2006 Spring Show, held from May 10th to 12th in CIA's Gund Building in Cleveland, Ohio, featured the work of 50 industrial design majors, with 17 emphasizing transportation design.
Among the twenty-one graduating majors seven focused on transportation design. Visitors to the show included designers from Daimler Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, Calty, Hyundai/Kia, Johnson Controls, Plastech, Fisher Price, Polaris, Design Continuum and Nike. Nearly one hundred designers walked through the three-day event and by the close of the show 85% of transportation design graduates had offers from major manufacturers.
This year's show also included work from several sponsored projects.
The Daimler Chrysler Fall 2005 project involved creating proposals and business plans for introducing Smart vehicles to the US. Concepts include car-sharing programs that would expose consumers to the brand and body-swapping systems that would allow continuous upgrading of designs and colors. After research and planning in teams, each designer created solutions in support of their proposal.
The General Motors Spring 2006 project involved developing line extensions for various GM brands. Solutions included crossover Cadillac and two-seat convertible Hummer concepts. The project placed equal emphasis on interior and exterior development.
The show also featured a 'muscle car' project done in cooperation with Daimler Chrysler. The challenged, devised by designers from the Chrysler Pacifica Studio drew upon essential attributes of a typical muscle car: distinctly American, mega-horsepower, pure, minimal signature lines, aggressive, air-grabbing grille and finished in bold colors and graphics.
The Spring Show concluded with a closing reception attended by nearly 300 designers, alumni and patrons. The event was a huge success due in large part to the commitment and teamwork of the students and the planning of Associate Professor Doug Paige.
Cleveland Institute of Art website: www.cia.edu
