Apprenticeship/Traineeship/Indenture in Boat or Yacht design

Hi Richard,
Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier (work time). Just an example of 1 idea a stylist that does super yachts put to me:-
design of a cat. with guest rooms in the hulls, he kept wanting to increase the length of the cabin (which backed onto the engineroom), I told him he could have as much room as he liked, we could remove the engines and the client can have a luxury floating pontoon in his backyard.

Cheers,
Cian

 

Thanks for the laughter. I loved it.

 

Problems with stylists

Here are two non-nautical run-ins I've had with architects.

First, an experience I heard from a student who had switched from architecture to CE: She told me that one of the Architecture profs had told her not to waste time studying structural engineering/vibrations, because ``buildings are held up by art''. Her next semester was in the CE department.

Second, a personal experience: In Valdez, Alaska (where 30 to 40 feet of snow per winter is the norm), an architect wanted to put large, fixed planters throughout the parking lot. That would make snow removal either expensive or impossible. When we told her that we'd have to close the parking lot in winter, she was unconcerned. When we told her that no one could see the planters under the snow, she grudgingly agreed that we could make them movable, and remove them in the winter. We never put them back out after the first winter, because we needed the many parking spaces they took up.

In both cases, the architects were irresponsibly neglecting real world factors, letting down their clients by making their designs less usable and more expensive.

 

First of all, "stylist" for the most part today, is an outdated and irrelevant title.
A designer, or more specifically, an Industrial Designer, is capable of styling, as you say- but styling is only one of an industrial designers skill sets.

Industrial designers are trained in aesthetics, visual communication, and market trends, but are also versed in the materials and manufacturing processes specific to the industry in and for which they design. Perhaps most importantly, they are skilled in critical thinking and creative problem solving (as an architect); they are challenged to develop a design "process".


They are also some of the most proficient users of design (NURBS based) and engineering (Solids) software packages. These programs are, by far and away, more complex and powerful than the ubiquitous "AutoCad" and the like. In the practice of everyday product design, it is neither practical or possible that engineeers be involved in every decision towards structure and manufacturabilty. Therefore, it becoms part of a designer's skill set to understand these issues thoroughly, and to implment this knowledge in a productive and eloquent manner. Engineering and styling become an integral practice.

Industrial designers are, in fact, the architects of mass produced items. Hence the word "industrial" in the title. Refering to Industrial Designers as "stylists" is like calling an architect by "Building Decorator". Hull design becomes a matter of technical learning, implementation of data, and use of software that any industrial designer can master.

Industrial Designers already design (from concept to production) in fiberglass, plastics, metals, and wood. Boat design is the realm of the industrial designer- along with canoes, skies, kayaks, and personal watercraft.