The recent crisis in the automotive industry presents clear challenges as well as tremendous opportunities for today’s transportation designers.

Art Center’s Transportation Design Department has long served as a catalyst for innovation, and 60 years after its creation, our program continues to serve as the best educational environment for designers seeking to revolutionize transportation design.

Our department represents much more than a way to get from Point A to Point B. Students learn to create inspiring spaces and engage with changing technologies, such as utilizing new materials and processes to satisfy the needs of safety and sustainability.

Our curriculum emphasizes key topics such as sustainable mobility and the implications of product life cycle, in addition to styling, comfort, safety and reliability.

Our students not only gain fluency in drawing and modeling skills, but develop an understanding of things such as vehicle architecture and aerodynamics.

By exploring the balance between form and function, students develop the ability to create vehicles with distinct personality and improved function.

While our department is best known for the influence our alumni have on automotive design, in recent years our program has taken a broader view of transportation, preparing students for careers in motorcycle, marine, aircraft, commercial transport, personal mobility and public transit design.

The creation of a vehicle is a team effort, and our students collaborate with colleagues in a range of disciplines through Transdisciplinary Studios.

Our location in Southern California—near more than 20 advanced automotive design studios as well as companies leading the emerging fields of new mobility and alternative energy—offers distinct advantages, including access to many professional designers who serve as part-time faculty and guest speakers, as well as opportunities for internships.