By Kirsten Coachman
Gaining hands-on experience in one’s chosen career path while in school can serve as a student’s launch pad to their dream job after graduation—or, in some cases, even before.
The School of Industrial Design (IND) at Academy of Art University has helped match many of its students with their post-academic opportunities—both internships and full-time roles—several of which began through participation in IND’s corporate-sponsored classes. For over a decade, IND has partnered with companies such as Stellantis, General Motors, and Volkswagen Group on various design projects.
This past fall, students in the corporate-sponsored class were tasked with designing clay speedforms for Cadillac, which they shared during their final presentations with industry members from General Motors (GM) at the end of the semester.
“Typically, for the design research and inspiration phase, that goes a little bit fast,” explained IND Director and Academy alum Antonio Borja at the start of the day’s presentations. “This time, we decided to do it a little bit different and really focus in on the speedforms and what the Cadillac brand means to us.”
Throughout the semester, the students had the opportunity to receive feedback directly from GM’s Senior Design Modeler and Academy alum Matthew Mantz, who made classroom visits to see the students’ progress and to offer guidance on their speedform designs.
“I think each session that he would come to, his focus was just to impart as much knowledge onto [the students] of the clay modeling process,” Borja told Art U News following the presentations. “Clay modeling is one of those things that is very therapeutic. It’s like a siren for time because you can jump into a clay model and if you let it happen, you can work on the clay model for eight hours and it feels like you’ve only been working on it for half an hour because you get so in love with shifting the form around, how the light and shade and shadows play off of it and whatnot. So what he tried to impart with them is just the importance of capturing the sketch.”
Mantz attended the presentations along with his GM colleagues, Senior Sculpting Manager Chelsea Semidey, Design Manager Jeffrey Perkins, Sculpting Group Manager John Lazorack III, and Design External Partnerships and Collegiate Relations Lead Oneita Porter.
The presentations
Eight IND students—Hojun Kang, Daniel Castaño, 2024 Phil Hill Scholar Milos Delic, Stan Li, Nicolas Acosta, Rafael Ceron, Jinghan Yang, and 2024 Phil Hill Scholar Kelsy Avalos-Feehan—presented their speedforms on the morning of Tuesday, December 17, 2024, in the newly remodeled collaboration lounge at 1849 Washington.
Each of the students presented their speedform designs in a professional slideshow format, where they shared keywords, such as “bold,” “prestige,” and “refined,” to help describe what the Cadillac brand meant to them and how they applied these various concepts to their speedform designs.
During their presentations, the students detailed their design process and ideation, from their initial design inspiration to hand sketches and digital designs, before going over their experience creating clay models and revealing their final speedforms.
In between presentations, applause rang out in the presentation space as students cheered one another on in a strong showing of camaraderie.
“I don’t think any of us would have gotten through it all without the help of everyone else,” said Avalos-Feehan following the presentations. “There were a lot of skills that were new to all of us. Some people had different things they could bring to the group. We all contributed our personal skills to making everyone’s projects look amazing, which I think was pretty awesome.”
“It’s very much like a family aspect when it comes to these small sponsored classes because we’re with each other every single day, so you’re really learning the strengths and the weaknesses of each person and just learning who they are, personally,” said Acosta. “And I think that all helps, going back to the design of whatever you’re making. So I think that’s helpful because some people see your strengths and say, ‘Hey, I think you should focus on this.’ Other people may see your weaknesses and say, ‘Hey, let me help you with this.’ I think that’s really important with the small knit group that we have.”
According to Borja, the students working well together and supporting one another aligns with the tone that IND has set out from the start.
“I think that’s the culture that we’ve always tried to have here, and that’s a consistent comment that we get from all of industry is that they love the way that our students work well with other creatives,” said Borja. “We definitely let them know that they’re joining a very competitive field, but at the same time, one thing I try to make clear to them early on is that if they help one another get better, then that means they’re making themselves that much better as well. And the reason I say that is because if the competition around you is really good, then that’s going to elevate what you have to do as an individual to be able to compete. So, by you helping others improve, they’re in turn going to help you improve.”
Following the presentations, Academy President Dr. Elisa Stephens congratulated the students on their work. She noted that the university was nearing almost 100 years old, and as a native San Franciscan, it was her father’s dream, the late Dr. Richard A. Stephens, to open an auto design school in the city where their family calls home.
“We felt strongly that this beautiful city that we live in deserves to have an auto design school—there’s only three in the nation—so we’re very happy to have this school,” she told the presentation attendees. “And it’s industry partners like General Motors that make us successful and push our students to be the best that they can be, because that’s what we ask of them. So I want to thank each and every one of you for coming down to San Francisco today to judge our students and make them better.”
The students also had the opportunity to have one-on-one time with the GM industry guests to review the physical speed forms on display around the presentation room.
“It’s nice to get a little bit more history and talk about the reasons why they made certain decisions,” said Perkins. “One of the things we look for in a sculptor is understanding the process of how they got to the final product, and that’s a big part of it, understanding what decisions were made and why and how. So that was great. And then, I always think as a student and as General Motors coming for a final critique. It’s good to give some constructive feedback on, ‘Hey, this was a great project, maybe next time try this and this.’ Good discussion. Kind of a little more informal.”
Mantz shared that he was impressed with the final speed forms that the students put forth during their presentations.
“It was great. You watch them develop these, and I wanted to see what the finished quality was, and they really brought up the level of the surface quality line work,” said Mantz. “They really did a good job.”
He added: “They listened a lot when I was instructing them in class, and I can see how that definitely benefited the models.”
Semidey commented that she appreciated seeing a spotlight put on the clay modeling and sculpting process.
“I’m really excited to see that there’s a school on the West Coast focusing on sculpting and that they’re talking about all parts of the process,” said Semidey. “I think that’s what’s exciting about this partnership is that it was sculpting-focused. I think we have another one coming that’s design-focused. So it’s just nice to see focus put on that side of our job, the art of sculpting, to talk to them about their portfolios when they submit to us, and highlight what we do.”
Best in show
At the end of the presentation day, it was announced that Castaño and Avalos-Feehan’s speedforms had received Best in Show honors.
Castaño’s speedform, “Liora,” was created with the vision of the design to look as if the car was leaning back and reaching forward simultaneously.
This speedform design was born from one of his initial sketch designs, “Ethereal Majesty.” He shared that ethereal denotes “dignity, lightweight, and delicacy,” while majesty indicates “royalty.”
“I took this form, which was pretty organic, and tried to tidy it up and make it a little more Cadillac by adding some more refined edges to give it a more tailored look,” Castaño said during his presentation, citing the “shoulder lines” and “controlled reflections” as examples.
Borja mentioned that one of the reasons he believed that Castaño’s design took Best in Show overall was due to the student’s design being athletic and luxurious at the same time, while noting the cabin was placed at the back of the speedform.
“He did a really good job of using negative space, too; that really stood out from a lot of the other speedforms that we had,” said Borja. “That one had that huge negative space in the front where the pods were. And I think that was also very unique, creating a window within the form to another section of the form. And when you walked around it, you were able to notice little details that you didn’t see from just one perspective.
“The stance of the form, the surface language, I thought was very powerful. But at the same time, understated and the creases, the way the elements were done there, they had a lot of design intent to them, meaning that they were very bold. I think that’s something that tied in with what Cadillac was looking for, and be iconic and iconic tends to be bold.”
Avalos-Feehan’s speedform, “Athalia,” was created with the words “palatial,” “commanding,” and “precision” in mind. In her research, she was drawn to vintage Cadillac ads specifically geared toward women.
“They’re not just ads, they are fashion statements,” Avalos-Feehan explained during her presentation. “They really evoke this feeling of glamour and elegance, and the idea that a Cadillac is the essential accessory for the fashionable woman at that time.”
The final speedform design captured the vision of a dress, with pleats on the side, as a nod to the “Cadillac Goddess.”
“I designed a form to celebrate the modern woman of today,” said Avalos-Feehan. “The form is commanding, but also is able to maintain its delicacy. I achieved this balance through the fluid form with a contrast of the precise, crisp lines.”
In discussing Avalos-Feehan’s design, Borja commented that one of the reasons her speedform was received well was that her design drew inspiration from “structured fashion elements versus something that looked fast.”
“It had more of this essential presence to it that was still tailored. So it wasn’t just like a purely organic form. The creases provided a structure to the form that allowed you to see that the form was being controlled, and it had intent behind that form, versus just being a purely organic form like the other ones. And that one stood out because of that, where, as you saw the form from different perspectives, there were different things for you to really admire.
“That particular design, when you look at it from the top, from plain view, looks a lot more stunning than even just the side view. And that’s saying a lot because the side view looks really awesome. But when you saw it from the top, it just takes on this whole new feeling.”
Before the day’s event came to a close, Art U News caught up with the Best in Show honorees.
“It was incredible; it was definitely a surprise,” said Avalos-Feehan. “We all have such beautiful designs, and I didn’t know anything was coming. I thought it was just this presentation, so I’m still in shock.”
“I agree,” said Castaño. “Everyone has beautiful designs. It’s so interesting to see how different experiences and different backgrounds when people design things. How they come up with different forms, and everyone is just so very unique, and it’s all very beautiful.”