Should you learn automotive design online?

Online education has become a reliable means of acquiring skills and knowledge throughout the years. There are plenty of free resources, paid resources, and other online courses to help you get a leg up on your career or satisfy personal goals. However, for becoming an automotive designer, online learning may not be the best medium to do so. In this video, we will explain why that is.

In the last few years, online education has taken over the learning communities by storm. This is great in so many ways because anyone can learn from anywhere. It costs less than a regular university degree, and also you can learn at your own pace and convenience. Online training platforms like Khan Academy, Udemy, Udacity, Edx, Codecademy, and many others are doing a fantastic job in educating people worldwide.

So, what about learning automotive design? Is online training a reliable platform to learn automobile design? Not Exactly. But why?

Let’s consider you decide to learn pottery. Can you learn pottery through online training alone? Maybe you learn about the process involved in making a pot like the material used, working methods, etc. But can you start making pots? Not precisely, because you need a mentor who is an expert potter to guide you, and also you require a setup to make pots. Likewise, if you consider getting trained to be a Doctor, online education may provide you a theoretical framework. Still, to treat patients, it’s a long way to go.

To design automobiles, you need an environment emulating a professional design studio under expert mentor guidance.

This, however, doesn’t imply that other design verticals can’t be learned through online training. Take, for example, UI/UX training. Institutions like Interaction Design Foundation provide world-class training in UX design. Since the eventual outcome is to work on a software interface, online training is successful in this case.

Is learning design online is strictly a no-go? Not at all, you can learn everything theoretical about design or specific aspects of software and sketch through the internet. But to work on a challenging project, to brainstorm, to ideate, to prototype, and to present, the university design education is the right approach. Because a good design school can provide you the access to interact and to work with fellow designers. It is imperative to work with cross-cultural teams and immerse in the cultural aspects, let it be European, Scandinavian, Japanese, or American. Finally, established networks of universities with the industry could offer you internships at the end of your training, which is the pathway to start your career as a designer.

Let the COVID-19 situation come under control. Until then, you can continue to work on your portfolio, which is an essential document for your admission.

Note: We made this video in June 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was creating havoc all over the world. We held on to the video in case the situation could return to normal. However, we are in 2021 and we see returning to normalcy is getting prolonged and also online training in automotive design is promoted heavily which may not justify the effort and cost involved for the students. We are not against online training for automotive design, but you must understand the limitations and how it is not a replacement for regular university education.