I apologize in advance for the length of my comment. I am thinking of going into car design but I am apprehensive. I have always been told I had drawing talent, and I’ve always done it for fun and loved cars. But I have a question for you. In high school, I decided not to pursue this type of career because I thought it would not be stable enough, so I went to university and learned Japanese instead, because I was advised that I could use it for business. Well, without a degree in business that is basically impossible. Not to mention the global economy collapse. In other words, my undergrad degree was very expensive and quite useless. I’ve since found Tokyo Communication Arts school for car design and I have been thinking of applying.

My question for you is perhaps a big one, but is it a bad idea for me to do this? Is it a little too idealistic? I’m already 24 years old. I’d be 28 by the time I get out if I had enrolled this year, so realistically I’ll be about 30 when I get out if I do this. As much as I would really enjoy living in Tokyo again, using Japanese, and as much as I would love to learn and get better at car design, I really can’t afford to get another useless degree that isn’t going to get me a job. If that happens, I’ll be 30 and still working minimum wage with tuition debt from two schools. Is this field too competitive? Do many talented designers end up unemployed because they don’t have any connections? Do design schools help students get jobs? Are car design jobs stable? And is Tokyo Communication Arts a good school? I mean, does it have a good reputation, or do companies who hire designers consider it a good school? Does my being American and speaking Japanese/going to a Japanese school give me any sort of edge?

Again I’m really sorry this is such a big and complicated question but I really can’t find anyone who can answer it. I don’t know where to talk to car designers. If hard work pays off, I can do it, but if this is just going to be something that puts me in more debt and won’t help me get out then I need to know so I can avoid it.

Thank you so much for any advise at all you can give.

MikeW

@mike:
Thanks for mentioning the DVD alongside my style of sketching. As you can see I haven’t posted any updates regarding the DVD for good few years, the problem is only time related. However, the good thing is that I will do it sooner or later and I will try to be as helpful as possible, explaining how to handle the car in the sketching process!