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J Mays

J Mays is a renowned auto designer who works for Ford. He has turned heads with energetic re-imaginations of iconic cars such as the Mustang and Firebird. Recently, he also designed the revamping of the Volkswagen Beetle, which is soon to be released. For the editing process, Mays undergoes multiple visual stages of comprehension in order to finalize the design. Starting with a simple idea or concept, he uses his mind to create a visual image of what the car should look like based on the qualities they want it to convey. After a first drawing, a technical drawing is created to show the size of the car with people inside of it, as well as how much room the engine and other parts will take up. After the size is determined to be a good fit, artists make kinetic sketches of the vehicle in attempt to show what it looks like while moving. This helps give a better idea of what the final car will actually look like if it is deemed worthy to be made for production. The concept of sketches is used to “walk around” the car and visualize it from every angle. Finally after meeting approval, a quarter-scale clay rendering of the car is made to observe in a move life size state. Usually a mold is taken of this clay model, and is used to create an exterior shell for that vehicle. As shown in this process, Mays spends multiple times re-evaluating his design through the use of visual imaging, and eventually is able to reach the final product because of it. Taking a project in small steps, and reflecting on it as the work is completed ensures the elimination of any errors, and could be a valuable task for creating papers as well.


Tim Burton
Tim Burton can be described as one of the most visually distinctive directors in all of Hollywood. His drawing styles are so abstract that is has led him to create “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and re-directed “Alice in Wonderland” with an extremely creative twist. Burton claims to be attracted to over-exaggerated features in characters, creating a different type of “madness” for each one. Tim also tends to use thoughts and ideas from other projects to relate to other characters. One of his early sketches, that of Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd helped create new characters for “Alice in Wonderland” that popped with emotion. Burtons strategy involves reserving time each day to just sit down and do nothing, a technique in which he hopes staring off into space will randomly help create a character in his mind. Tim Burtons strategies seem rather difficult to incorporate in writing, as staring off into space might distract one from writing, and lead to procrastination.

Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry is a winner of the Pritzker Prize as an architect. His style has become a trademark, especially when observing his design for the New World Symphony building in Miami. Gehry starts by analyzing the obvioius, where doors and parking lots need to be for optimum efficiency, and eventually makes a model of the entire lot. Gehry works from the inside out, his sketches appear to imply form, but are really just educated implications. Then using general facts about the type of building being created, he can create a outline shape for the building. One way to describe his work is that he is both intuitive, but his intuition is informed. When comparing this to writing, it can be like creating an outline before filling in the middle of a paper. Getting all the necessary ideas out first, and filling in the rest with more detail.