Karl Smith

London, Thousand Oaks

USA Correspondent at Car Design News

Architect, Transportation Designer, Planner, Journalist. Telling the story of the future at Car Design News and other fun places.

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Articles

Ten cars that defined the Art Deco era

2 weeks ago | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

Get unlimited access to Car Design News Unlock exclusive design knowledge, inspiration & connection.
A Falcon awesome night at Press Club of Cleveland awards event

3 weeks ago | bgnewsalumni.com | Karl Smith

Multiple generations represented BGSU at the Press Club of Cleveland’s Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards event, and several Falcons left with an armful of awards.
Ten intriguing concept car lighting designs

1 month ago | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

Ten intriguing concept car lighting designs A sampler from the weird and wonderful world of concept cars We recently published a list of unique lighting designs of production cars of the past, present and future. Concept cars were omitted because there just seem to be too many to name. But, as they say, “fools rush in where angels fear to tread”, and so the overwhelming desire to present some our favourites prevailed. Are there any designs that you think we missed?
Ten strange and wonderful car light designs

1 month ago | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

Ten strange and wonderful lighting designs We see some wild lighting schemes on concept cars every year. But few make it into production. Here are a few that managed to slip past the censors The eyes are the windows to the soul, so they say. Thus, the fascination with automobile faces and, in particular, headlights and lighting design.
Composites in car design: new opportunities

2 months ago | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

Composites: new opportunities Composites have been discussed for decades as the future of automotive bodies, chassis and other assemblies. But what really works? We ask an expert As we close out our March special topic on new materials, we cannot let the opportunity to speak with a true expert in composite materials pass us by.
Syd Mead exhibit this Spring in New York City

Mar 24, 2025 | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

Syd Mead, the late ‘Visual Futurist’, Industrial, and Automotive Designer, and Motion Picture Concept artist, passed away just over five years ago. But his work lives on, not just in the hearts and minds of his many fans, but also in exhibits of his work, which have traveled extensively after the Covid pandemic. This Spring, a major exhibit of his work will be mounted in New York City, at a private gallery on West 26th Street.
Car design ideation with Midjourney, an exercise in artificial intelligence trial and error

Feb 21, 2025 | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

Ideation with Midjourney Our US correspondent, Karl Smith, reports on his experiments with one of the hottest new AI tools Midjourney became available in 2022, and soon became a favourite of gaming and fantasy illustration enthusiasts. Since then it has grown to over 20 million users, and adds about 23,000 users a day. It now boasts one of the largest AI communities – outside of ChatGPT, of course.
New tools, new workflow: In conversation with Eric Stoddard of Car Design Academy

Feb 14, 2025 | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

New tools, new workflow: In conversation with Eric Stoddard of Car Design Academy An auto industry veteran has embraced a new generation of tools and now instructs others in emerging methods of design and visualisation Our February Focus on Digital Tools has revealed some emerging “all-stars” of the digital world- most of which are AI programs. But translating these new tools into a productive workflow can be quite a challenge.
Digital design tools: the state of play in 2025

Feb 7, 2025 | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

Digital design tools: the state of play in 2025 Software is a constituent part of the modern design studio. We survey a number designers about the state of digital tools, and get some unexpected encouragement from ‘Ratatouille’ It’s 2025. Do you know where your favourite sketching pencil is? Does it even matter? Design studios across all disciplines are increasingly digitising their workflows from conception to manufacturing.
EyesOn Design Awards 2025: the winning production and concept cars, best interior and CMF

Jan 13, 2025 | cardesignnews.com | Karl Smith

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