Automotive: 2011

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & A HUGE 2012

I wish everybody peaceful Holidays and a powerful 2012. I will wrap up my exciting involvement in Universal's Oblivion film project next year and have a massive array of fresh personal projects lined up. I am looking forward to this and to sharing it with you.

All the Best, Daniel Simon. Los Angeles 2011.

INSPIRATION SHOOT: Mooneyes Drag Meet

Went to the Mooneyes Drag Fest this weekend in L.A., saw those ridiculous old school dragster I love so much for real first time. The guys sit right on the differential with 7000 HP going through, not funny if something goes bad. As always, some snaps on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmicmotors/

Cheers, Daniel

INTERVIEW: Las Vegas. Three parts. Very spontaneous.

Core77, oldest online design magazine, pulled me to the side at the Las Vegas Autodesk University. Three parts, each about three minutes.

Click here to see Part 1. Link to other parts at the end of clip.

Best, Daniel

PORTFOLIO: HYDRA SUBMARINE HD RENDER

High res final design render of the Hydra Submarine from my portfolio. Subtle weathering, stickers, and a good stereo, maybe. Some details seen in my illustration were removed for the final film.

Cheers, Daniel
© MARVEL STUDIOS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: Premiere

Attending the world premiere of Captain America on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles. Marvel parked the drivable Coupe (700 hp V8) in front of the Oscar-famed Kodak theater. A beautiful sight and a moment of happiness.

Cheers, Daniel

ART BOOK: CAPTAIN AMERICA DESIGNS RELEASED

Art Of Captain America Book is here! My credit on this film is Lead Vehicle Designer.
38 of the 240 paged book are exclusively for vehicle design, featuring all seven crafts with sketches and final renderings. Marvel put a fantastic volume together, with lots of explanatory text by us designers. Also includes countless mindblowing character paintings by fellow artist Ryan Meinerding.

Cheers, Daniel

COSMIC MOTORS: F1 Helmet

F1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi wore a one-off helmet designed by Daniel Simon during the F1 GP in Germany. Most drivers have an recurring pattern or theme for their helmets throughout their career, so does Tonio. My motivation for this one was to blend it into the car styling as much as possible while not breaking with Tonio's helmet traditions, and contrast the red with a special blue visor by Bell.

Cheers, Daniel

OBLIVION - Universal release date

The Universal movie Oblivion - by Tron director Joe Kosinski - will open July 19, 2013. Tom Cruise is starring. I am designing under the lead of production designer Darren Gilford. Article here.

Cheers, Daniel

F1 - Canadian GP in Montreal

It was exciting to be at the Canadian F1 GP and work with the Hispania Team on upcoming ideas. They finished 13th and 17th, great result in a chaotic race.

Cheers, Daniel

INSPIRATION SHOOT: F1 vintage photos

Vintage F1 cars break every gear head's heart. What an amazing sight. The first thing you might notice that they are tiny. So tiny! Most images that you know them from make you think of those monsterous machines, but jesus those things are small. Crazy. Enjoy the closeup shots I took of those old beauties during the ridiculous Canadian F1 GP.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmicmotors/

Cheers, Daniel

COSMIC MOTORS: F1 Grand Prix Barcelona

I arrived at the F1 track of Barcelona just in time to enjoy a weekend of screaming engine sounds and sports with the Hispania Racing team. The car looks great in person and reads well on the track, a sight I had for the first time now, since I designed the racer's graphic purely digitally.

Cheers, Daniel

INSPIRATION SHOOT: Vintage Planes Chino

Had some fun yesterday taking pictures of vintage aircrafts. There is no better way to learn about color, proportion and composition then getting out there and stare at stuff. Like those gorgeous vintage machines. Priceless inspiration from a time when machinery was tanglible. Swing by my flickr (unfortunately not very high res there) if you like !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmicmotors/

Cheers, Daniel

INSPIRATION SHOOT: Supercar Sunday

Today I decided to start a flickr page with my car photographs. Most of it will be from California car events, but will post other stuff too from Le Mans, F1, trips, etc... anything I photographed myself and feel worth sharing with you. Nothing fancy, mostly emotional shots, not very documentary. Anyhow, swing by if you'd like, it will grow...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmicmotors/

Cheers, Daniel

PORTFOLIO: Light Jet Illustration HD

The Small Light Jet was a joy to design. Having the pilot riding on a barrel like fuselage with his arms nestled in chopped off wing sections was the key idea. The style language then followed the Light Cycle, established earlier. Gun barrels were arranged to line up with the pilot's arms, visually extending him into the weapon.

The New Face lifted 2011 Mini Cooper S JCW Edition

Pics of the first 2011 Mini Cooper S JCW in Vancouver BC, Canada

PORTFOLIO: Light Runner Sketch HD

Continuing the series of Tron Legacy showcase images is the final Light Runner design drawing. It's a hybrid of my standard sketch technique with ball pen and Prisma markers and a 3D Alias wireframe, completed with a Photoshop airbrush layer. Seen is the out-land mode with expanded tires, rotated wheel hubs for ground clearance, exposed rockets and a heavy rear to illustrate some acceleration.

Cheers, Daniel

The Ultimate Automotive Blog: Pictures from the International Auto Show

Pictures from the Vancouver Auto Show and Vancouver Community College's Project Cobra Roadster

Congrats to Vancouver Community College on finishing their Cobra project. I saw it being built a couple times over at least a year. It looked absolutely Fantastic at the Auto Show. Keep up all the good work Apprentices !!! GREAT JOB !!! The pics of the Cobra are the last three on the next article

Article here --- http://www.vcc.ca/about-vcc/news.cfm?NEWS_ID=7500

PORTFOLIO: Light Runner Image HD

With the movie out and today available on disc, I will publish step by step some portfolio pieces of my work on Tron Legacy, depending on approval by Disney. As you know, if you work for a film, its not yours, the studio owns it. So this piece here was published in the latest issue of Auto&Design, and I rendered it in Bunkspeed Shot. It's the orginal design data that I created with the help of Set Designer Joe Hiura. This view shows the coherent concept of exterior, interior and chassis. Tire tread is an after thought and not in the movie. Enjoy in HD.

Cheers, Daniel

Pictures from the International Auto Show

Pictures from the Vancouver International Auto Show on April 3rd, 2011