Transportation design and Gomotiv | Insights

Outerspace’s transportation design studio, Gomotiv, launched in 2020 as a preferred independent studio for global automotive partners that is steadily growing and accelerating.

At Gomotiv we’re working on a range of projects including full vehicle concept and production design. Our work spans all vehicle segments from cars, SUVs and pickups; to buses, boats, trains and aircraft; including left to right hand drive conversions, accessory development, animations and 2D or 3D digital visualisation.

Gomotiv’s specialist design offering provides global clients with experienced, trusted, professional transportation design from concept to production release.

Our designers have worked in senior positions in the automotive industry, in design and design management for Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, Holden, Ford, Toyota, KIA, Jaguar, McLaren and other global OEMs. Our experience, passion and energy brings trusted talent and essential speed to high-profile transportation projects.

We harness and leverage our passion and strengths to create a dynamic, collaborative team approach and a spirit and energy that is central to our founding principles. We always aim to fully understand what our customers want to achieve in terms of branding and what they want their vehicles to be project to customers. We are passionate about good design and providing our customers with the products that will set them apart from the crowd.

The Gomotiv team

Working from within outerspace, from the creative, inner Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford our team is adept at working across time zones and countries, while providing an amazing place to work for our staff. Our leadership regularly visit our clients for face to face meetings and team building.

Gomotiv Creative Director, Justin Thompson is a creative design leader with over 20 years experience. He has an extensive and impressive background in the international automotive industry, with global experience gained working in Australia, China and the United States.

He’s held successful leadership roles on many production and advanced programs globally. Justin is a proven design professional with a strategic approach and a creative ability to convert initial concepts into production reality.

Our Surface Development Manager, Rhys Kaunda-McKenzie, is an experienced digital vehicle sculptor with a demonstrated history of working in transportation design, automotive and creative visualisation. He’s skilled in Autodesk Alias Automotive, Maya, 3D visualisation in VRED and VRAY, generative modelling in Grasshopper3D and UE4 Development.

Rhys has held senior roles at GM Advanced Design, GM Production Studios and has worked in design academia at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia lecturing students in automotive design.

Senior Designer, Jae Hoon Lee is a talented senior automotive designer with years of experience in design and execution in the mobility sector. He’s designed and developed many concept vehicles selected for production.

Jae specialises in automotive concept design that breaks the mould and pushes boundaries. Jae has held previous roles at GM-Korea, GM-Holden and Toyota.

Gomotiv design services are scaled to suit the unique requirements of our larger global electric vehicle clients and local customers; from multi-designer sketch ‘blitzes’; to full production A class Alias surface release; and virtual reviews to physical concept development.

With years of combined major OEM experience and a large industry network of contacts. We’re giving our clients direct access to informed and leading automotive design capability and the latest automotive design development tools. This significantly speeds up project timelines to meet important development deadlines.

Working with client requirements, including engineering criteria and manufacturing constraints, Gomotiv is developing unique electric vehicles from the ground up, that define a unique brand design language and production ready designs.

Coming from renowned global OEM companies, we understand how automotive development works at an expert level. We break this down into the essence of the process – at a scale that works for clients, so we achieve high quality results. As a small, highly qualified team, we are nimble and flexible in our design approach and development process, with a focus on attention to detail and creating lasting designs that define a brand.

Since launching in 2020, we have competed against industry renowned independent global studios and won projects with major international clients on large EV development programs.

Our team has grown from an initial group of three, to twenty designers and engineers, allowing us to deliver high quality to multiple clients. We’ve also invested in creating roles for the development of the next generation of designers who work alongside more experienced team members.

Delivering automotive design in a changing landscape

Automotive design and development is shifting focus from mechanical precision, efficiency and innovation in internal combustion engine or ICE vehicle development; to battery electric, which is more reliant on software and battery technology.

We are experiencing a unique time in automotive design. The increasing trend towards EV design and development has lowered the barriers to entry for new brands. Design and development is rapidly shifting focus from the constraints of traditional ICE development to the increased freedom and speed of development that battery electric components offer.

Brands that can embrace change and deliver compelling, unique products fast will have a distinct advantage establishing themselves as the market shifts and consumer tastes change. Gomotiv is delivering in this rapidly evolving EV space.

EVs will accelerate the trend for component sets that are optimised for size and weight with the ability to be packaged very efficiently allowing increased flexibility for occupant packaging and overall vehicle proportions. The ability to quickly create themes and proportion studies and visualise them accurately, then make changes, is key to making good product decisions fast.

At the same time new tools are rapidly evolving. Our process is informed by a strong understanding of the needs of all functional development requirements and the end customer, but by using the latest tools such as virtual reality we can significantly improve speed of development, lower costs and improve quality of outcomes.

Compared to traditional OEMs, we are helping our customers see product and make decisions very fast. As a result in some instances we are able to lower design time from years to months.

Full size clay development and validation of design is a process all of our designers know and love. Nothing beats taking a fully dressed, full size clay model outside to see how the light reflects and the model looks next to real vehicles. But with the need for increased speed we have taken the step to use clay differently.

Initially we use a combination of hard models and virtual reality to prove out proportions and refine designs – only moving to clay if and when the client would like to see the vehicle in this manner. Using a combination of virtual tools and hard models gives the best balance between speed, cost and quality.

We provide turn-key design solutions to support clients in the delivery of their brand vision and to enter the EV market with differentiation. Our team understands the importance of refreshing, defining and pushing a new automotive brand design language to succeed against competitors.