Matthew Blythman - Industrial Designer Wheels in His Future

Matthew Blythman: Industrial Designer Wheels in His Future

Matthew Blythman's sleek two-seater "Velo" roadster design has won a prestigious award in the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce Target 2020 Car of the Future competition.

The 2008 Swinburne Industrial Design Honours graduate took out the design category (tertiary student) award, earning $3000 for himself and a further $3000 for Swinburne's Faculty of Design.

"Velo is designed with real drivers in mind," said Matthew Blythman. "Its purpose is to reignite the passion of driving, without having to worry about burning limited fossil fuels and damaging our precious earth."

According to his design rationale, the lightweight two seat roadster adapts clever technology and innovative thinking with a touch of simplicity to create the ideal driver's car for the year 2020.

Matthew believes we are seeing a worldwide change in people's automotive preferences. "An increase in small city cars and a decrease in true performance cars has the potential to make true drivers extinct. Velo offers a solution to this problem, by offering a small lightweight dual hydrogen/ethanol hybrid vehicle that can still offer the feel of a real sports car."

Having spent his Honours year resolving real commercial problems at Swinburne's internal design consultancy, the Swinburne Design Centre, Matthew is now off to Germany on a six-month internship at internationally renowned design company Frog.

"My studies at Swinburne have allowed me to really discover who I am as a designer, and I now feel confident to step into a full time professional role.

During the past year I had the privilege to work within a wide range of design sectors, including product development, manufacturing, retail, exhibition, and automotive design. This has given me remarkable insight into the current status of design in Australia."

Two other students from the Swinburne Design Centre, Daniel Fitzgerald and Mathieu Lewis, were among the finalists in the Target 2020 competition, which featured three categories: model making, drawing and design, and essay in both tertiary and secondary student divisions.

The winning designs will be on display at the Melbourne Motor Show from 27 February to 9 March.

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