Recently I met with James Hope and his students. He’s head of transportation design at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China, one of China’s finest design and art schools. I met James in China last year, and he invited me to visit the school and give a lecture about vehicle lighting. Lighting has become, over the last 20 years, one of the major key elements for differentiation, even if critics say new EVs all have the same light-band design and it’s not possible to discern one car model or brand from another. Time to react in China? this is what James is teaching, and it can be seen in the 1:4 scale models, which students have realized for their master’s theses. We cover it in this week’s in-depth piece.
Why this passion for light? because James is a lamp designer. It was good to discuss with him about the Opel Zafira lamps — condensation management, bezel and inner lens design — with his friend (and ours!) Ingolf Schneider. Ingolf says, “James understands the technics behind, got a lot of lamps patents in his carrier. He knows the importance of the connection between designer and engineers, and it always was a good cooperation based on trust”.
This is what we tried to explain to the young students. James will be at the DVN Shanghai event, with his students, to give a lecture about lamp design, vehicle design, and the importance of design school.
This week I decided to focus on what is happening in China with a DVN visit to the Chery QQ styling studio and to interior lighting supplier Fuerda. We made these visits last month to prepare for our DVN Shanghai event, which will be on 29 – 30 October, with focus on exterior lighting, yes, and also on interior lighting which is becoming really important in China.
I am also publishing the final version of the DVN Shanghai Auto Show report — a very interesting summary of current trends in China for the vehicle lighting industry; find it here.
I’ve updated our 2024 DVN Study about exterior displays with the latest information and 2025 car releases in China. You may order it here.
Sincerely yours,
