Dragos Pop, 26, is residing in Bucharest, Romania. He did his graduation in Industrial Design at the Art and Design University and then received a Master Diploma in Design from in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Among his professional experiences are, three years spent as a furniture designer and a collaboration with Castagna Milano (2007). Presently, he’s working as a concept graphic artist for Advanced Mobile Applications.
I personally liked his Renault Neptun, a luxury coupe concept vehicle inspired by sea waves, hence I thought of having him as our Auto Ninja, so without much ado, here we go,
1. Dragos, what made you take a plunge into the automotive designing?
Dragos: I got into car design because I’ve always loved cars, since I was just a kid.
2. How far were able to ‘capture the spirit of a powerful sea wave’, in your Renault Neptun Concept?
Dragos: I tried to capture the power and beautiful elegance of the wave, if I succeeded or not, that is for the viewers to decide.
3. When could we see Renault Neptun hitting the roads?
Dragos: Sadly, I don’t think that the Neptun will ever be produced because I did it just for me, not for Renault or other client.
5. What is innovation to you - design, technology or the creative processes itself?
Dragos: I think that design and technology work together in the creative process. Sometimes the design is pushing the technology, other times the technology creates the need for new design.
6. What future car technology can we expect?
Dragos: I think that the cars of the future will have to repair some of the pollution that the cars of the past produced (future cars like the hummer O2 concept).
7. I’d like to have your views on the retro-design approach since its is coming more and more into the fashion with the release of the new Chevy Camaro.
Dragos: The retro design will always be accepted because the car is an emotional object, and retro design brings back a car you loved as a kid, or your father owned, or you wanted to own some day, and puts it into the modern context combining the design characteristics of the old car with the technology of the present. But there are situations when the new car looks like the old one, but does not capture the spirit of the original (VW new Beetle).
Quick bits:
You prefer working with 3D CAD over sketching?
Dragos: I prefer sketching, but 3D helps you a lot.
If you had to walk in another man’s shoes for a day, it would have to be?
Dragos: That is a very tough question....it would have to be someone that really started in car business out of passion...like Henry Ford or Enzo Ferrari.
Describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it.
Dragos: I think I still have a lot to learn before I can say that I have a style.
If you could choose to make a dream come true, it would be?
Dragos: My dream is to design an iconic car, one that would be recognized after many generations, and redesign by future designers :)
Thank you Dragos for sparing out time in doing an interview with us, it is really appreciated. Before signing off, I’d like to wish you success for all your future endeavors.
