Guys I am very sorry for any ambiguity in what I previously posted From what you guys said I guess it is better to publicize any completed concepts on major car news sites instead of sending it right to their doorstep. Would it be necessary to unbadge the car? I fear that they might just claim ownership of the concept just because of the presence of the company's badge on the concept design

I can only speak to this issue on one company, for whom I used to work. The policy on submitted designs and ideas at Nissan was to NEVER accept them under any circumstances. In fact, if someone slipped one in, we were to notify the LEGAL DEPT immediately. This policy was to defend the company against people would would invariably claim that their idea(s) had been stolen and used on some later product. With this policy the company was cutting itself off from possible "great new" ideas in order to protect its interests down the line.
In fact, the possibility of "missing out" on that great idea was infinitely small because the company already had an enormous product development effort, as well as relationships with other professional product development companies (suppliers, etc).
Of course, this wouldn't cover the portfolio submission for possible new hires but that is an entirely different thing.

MeanMINI,

I see, I was assuming the opposite.

Turbopok,

If you simply want to publicize your concept, I think the internet would be the best way to go. Just start unveiling your work to all the major user-content sites such as CDN, Deviantart, Local-Motors, and so on. That would be the first step. If you're really confident in your work, you can submit it to sites like autoblog. But be careful, if they don't like your concept they will make it known to the public!

Good luck.

Aflo: Thanks for the insight.. In my humble opinion there's always something questionable about the combined efforts of internal and external design teams ... I know that the design and planning of the final product (in this case a new car model) takes into account various factors particularly safety, costs of production, practicality and originality of the design, but sometimes it just gets on people's nerves to see a design of a car on the road that doesn't win their liking. Yes, car designs can be very subjective, but...

Modsquad: Thanks a lot for the tips!

quote:

Originally posted by AMH:
Mr. Burns! been a long time! I'm glad you still stick around!

FYI: I know someone who went thru science and engineering courses in their undergrad college, but transfered to RCA in UK for a graduate program (master degree) in transportation design. He got hired and already produced very cool concepts for OEM that's now showing in auto shows. He can't be more than 32 yrs old, not much in debt since RCA gave him decent financial help. Just something to share.

I tend to pop in from time to time

I think the Engineering then RCA route seems pretty good, get your bachelors in engineering then your masters at RCA, probably a lot cheaper and more desirable too.

Mr. Burns: Sounds like a more secure path to take, but I have to admit that I don't think I can afford to study in RCA without a scholarship (which I most probably won't get due to me being a foreigner）.. That's my main concern.. :/

I like the advice of doing something you DONT want to do first, hoping that works out, THEN do you want you want to do.
All the while, having to find around 8 years of schooling when less than 4 years would of sufficed.

I knew a guy at ACCD who had an engineering degree. He had to start from first term.
There is just too much to learn in the early terms.
I guess RCA is different.

quote:

Originally posted by Ferrari_one_two:
I like the advice of doing something you DONT want to do first, hoping that works out, THEN do you want you want to do.
All the while, having to find around 8 years of schooling when less than 4 years would of sufficed.

I knew a guy at ACCD who had an engineering degree. He had to start from first term.
There is just too much to learn in the early terms.
I guess RCA is different.

I think to get into RCA you need a very good portfolio, but overall I'm not sure. All I know is that there are certain things at certain times you can't do for reasons beyond your control, and there are certain things you can do. You then have to look at your options and use what your given to try and get to where you want to be, and if you can't then at least get to something almost as good.

Turbopok,

I think I read that you're not very interested in anything other than car design?? If this is true, I really don't think trying to get a design degree just because it'll give you a slight chance to be a car designer is a good route to take for you. I wouldn't even suggest being a car designer if you're not even interested in other forms of design. Designers in general spend a lot of time researching and finding trends/ inspiration from outside the field. You might want to think about that as well.

I agree with modsquad, its better if you look at other types of design and explore them as well.