Redefining Mobility with Sketchbattle, From Four Wheels to Flying Skateboards: Part 2

Good afternoon listeners and viewers. This is Ron Stefanski, host of disrupt dead, where we talk to the determined do gooders, the passion and purpose driven out there. Who are making sense of this ginormous disruption that we're seeing. This five g wire technology interconnected globally interdependent. Pandemic interrupted AI infused disrupted world of work and learning, And we've got an amazing guest today to join us here. And we are live in the new lab studio that was just built here right on the Michigan central innovation campus over in the new lab facility, which is redesigned from Albert Khan's historic book depository for the Detroit Public School System. And we have today with us the head of Middlecott Design and the founder of the Middlecast sketch battle himself, Brooke Bam. Thank you so much for joining us, Brooke. Ron, absolutely. My pleasure. Thank you so much for inviting me and and, listening to, having a nice discussion about, the future of all this crazy development and disruptive stuff. That's so exciting. Well, it is exciting. You know what? I've been going to these shows, going to trade shows. That's how I met Lucas and Kevin Zinger, which we talked about on the last episode. Yep. And what I find is that people need to meet folks like you all because I think a lot of people are like me. We're cool adjacent. Mhmm. You know, we're not cool on our own, but we can see cool, you know, we know a cool when we see it. And what's happening in the world of technology, what's happening in the world of manufacturing is driven by a software first mentality, a software first industrial four point o -- Mhmm. -- kind of perspective. And so the desire that I think of in the days of Buick And the old roadsters and those kinds of cars has given way to a technology boom that we have not seen in our lifetime. Is that a fair statement Yes. It is. And I think it's, I don't like it being technology driven. In the sense of we use the technology to, to manifest ideas, but I personally think there's still a place for hand drawn stuff. I don't some people design straight on the computer, which is fine. And it's it's it also has its its warrant. But me as a as a designer who really embraces the world of sketching, I feel like you can produce more ideas, by sketching and and and fleshing it out pretty go straight into the computer. And so don't get me wrong. I love the technology. I love the three d printing stuff. And as you mentioned, senior and and, companies like this who are embracing that technology, it's amazing. But I do have to any kids out there, young people who wanna get into the world, cat is great. But you should draw you should draw as well because you can pop out A bunch of ideas if you draw, draw. Well, it's kind of, like, the nexus between art and science. Right? It really is. It's where design is coming. Yes. That's our sweet spot. They say, well, card designers specifically, there's a lot there's art to it. You know, the the drawings that they create, there's art to it. And, And especially with all of this new technology and and stuff that we can't even imagine yet that's around the corner, it's really a fusion of art and design. I mean, you could there there it's such a gray area. There is no a strong distinction between art and design like there used to be ten, twenty years ago. Sculptors are using CAD, they're they're sketching their thing and they're using cat to three d model. They're they're so a sculptor, a fine artist. So the and this this is to your, blog point. I mean, it's it's disruptive. It's it's it's great. So so I mean, an artist is now can be an engineer well, an engineer a designer easily as well as a and a designer becoming an artist. So you're reminding me of an upcoming guest that we're gonna have on disrupt debt. His name is Brad, and he runs a company called EntOP, and they're a software design firm. Yeah. And what they're doing is creating, new, next gen design tools. Okay. And Brad's way, an interesting dude, and you're gonna find him to be quite captivating when we have him on the show in a few weeks here, because he began his career or his field of study in architecture. So it's all about understanding design from a sketching point of view, as you're saying. Yes. And what key is now done to revolutionize design software is to think like a designer. I wanna have the software that designers love so that the technology doesn't get a way in the way of the final product. You know, in other words, the design itself. Yes. And so what he's really trying to do is unleash designers from the encumbrance of technology and simply see it as a conveyance, something that helps them to do their best work at a next level kind of thing. Absolutely. Well, here's a Here's a pretty good balance. Have you heard of a thing called Gravity Sketch? No. I haven't. Okay. And basically, what it is, it's it's a software where you draw full size. It's okay. Let's it's for car design. It's basically designed for car design. So you can physically you it's like a performance piece. You draw a car full size. So you have to run up and down. Draw this thing. And and you have this wand, and there's a scanner that's scanning you. And so it sees where you're putting this this wand in real time and space. So it and then so, basically, you're you're modeling a car live. And and it and it comes out onto computer in CAD, these the surfaces you're you're sketching. And then and so it gravity sketches a perfect fusion of sketching and and and modeling at the same time. So this is definitely a disruptive thing. It's been going on for a while, but it's it's just not catching on. Now, this is where art design really fused together in the terms of technology and old school techniques. Now as we talk about this stuff, in the context of the city in which we live here, Tright, the center of mobility of the place where it all began. We defined mobility over the past century and get angst to Bill Ford and other a deep thought leaders. It looks like we're gonna be on a solid path to defining it in the next generation. Yeah. As we look at places like the Michigan Innovation Campus, what NewLab is doing here. Yeah. But tell me a little bit about your own background and how you came to participate in this growing ecosystem. And how you found your place here in Detroit after being essentially a global traveler. Right? You were working in Texas and then, Europe, and then out in California. So Yeah. Yeah. Well, firstly, I was I was born in Texas. And, so we moved to England. The family moved to England when I was about twelve years old. So that took me over to England. And from that point, I've I I got my degree in Coventry University where they have a transportation design school. I've always been a car person because my dad was a car guy. So that's that that brought on the car stuff. My mom was an artist. So That's where I got my drawing stuff. So I started drawing cars as a young person. So that's how I went into the car design through Carpenter University, which Coventry is the Detroit of England. Land Rover, Esther Martin Rolls Royce, Layland, they were all based there. So it's an analogy. So okay. So I left England. I my first job was to work, I got a shoe design job, which cars and shoes that sport shoes are and cars are very similar in terms of shape, and and they're both transportation. So, anyway, so I got my first shoe design job. Moved over to Munich, lived there for a wild work for Puma, doing shoes. And then I got, a little bit annoyed with the weather there. Funny. Here, I'm in Detroit, but said, alright. I'm moving to California. I need some warmth. And, that was in San Francisco. And so that was a very interesting for me in terms of disrupting my thoughts of, because it's such a a tech hub. And -- Right. -- so that really inspired me a lot. Working with some of the best design firms there and biggest companies. So, so that was that was really interesting for me to learn about this electronic movement, and it got me into cars, because these these design students were making little electric cars of customizing cars in there And, so to fight to move to Detroit in two thousand and nine, it's funny because that recession or great recession, whatever it's called, had I I look at it. It had a blessing in disguise because it moved me out of San Francisco to Detroit, where this is the car capital. So I took some of that San Francisco tech savvy thinking into Detroit. And, now here I am working here, doing this stuff Well, so much of this design that's going on in Detroit, is laid claim by, the Center for Creative Studies. Right? I mean, it's the it's really the intellect cultural hub for all this, design that's going on. Right? And you're also teaching classes there. Let's let's talk a little bit about that and what you're finding with students as you're bringing this next generation into the world of design thinking. Yeah. I I definitely think CCS is a big hub that brings in talent, creative talent, and, if if, you know, it's one of the best colleges in the world. If I do say so myself, it really is, especially for transportation design because in America, there's only two schools here. And CCS is probably the the best but so too. And so, yeah, that brings in a lot of and they these these students, they stay here as well. They stay in Detroit. So that, and alone, is a great, draw to Detroit, as far as, talent, but then also places like NewLab and, like, the central station, that, Port has put together. All of these incubators are just helping Detroit just explode with, enthusiasm and excitement and, optimism, and and, where where it is living up to its manifestation of, the Phoenix. The the the Phoenix is once again rising out of the ashes, and, it's beautiful to see. And I'm so glad to be part of this. And even though, I'm just a very small part of this movement with Sketch battle, and my design stuff and my wife's design, Judith, middle cut, even though we're small microcosm of that is still so exciting to be part of this. And in that time, this time period, this time period is extraordinary. I still believe all of us in Detroit sort of feel like we're part of something much bigger that's happening here. Well, absolutely wrong. And you are are friends with a lot of these people, and and you are getting all the inside scoop with the interviews you're doing with these these tech leaders. And so you really have a a a very valuable insight. So I'm very honored to be on this show. Oh, thank you saying that, but no, we, you know, we've found a lot of people are interested in understanding not only the challenges of this five wired world we're talking about. Yep. But they're interested in understanding the opportunities because if they're properly, fueled And if they're properly directed, the sky is the limit in terms of new possibilities for us as we face some big issues. Sustainability, Circularity. These are things that are gonna drive carbon emissions down. They're gonna drive us to be better shepherds and stewards of the planet we have. We've been building cars. We've been building things at the expense of our natural resources. And I think what's interesting about a design in the role it's playing now in disrupting the world of manufacturing is that it's showing us that, you know, there's an art and a beauty in simplicity. There's an art and a beauty in recirculating, the the things that we make into usable next Yeah. You know, and that we we can no longer afford to treat the ocean as our, you know, as our dumping ground. We can no longer afford to treat our, vast land expanses as landfills. I mean, we have to do a better job of that. Right? Absolutely. And, you know, we have to get that, that mentality at an early age from the youngsters. So, you know, they don't grow up, destroying the planet and not knowing what they're doing. So, you know, is very important for all design schools. I think all design schools are teaching designers to have a sustainable outlook. Think about things in a creative way there's other solutions apart from melting plastic or burning, you know, there's a way there's so many options. And so, yes, that's one of the most exciting parts I find about teaching is is thinking about things like that. You know, Brooke, it's interesting because when you talk about technology, you talk about it, not being the BL end all, but it's simply a conveyance for you and to get to the solving the kinds of problems or design challenges that you're looking to do. In a similar vein when we had Lucas and Kevin Zinger on our show recently, both of them were talking about the same thing. They weren't building, a for, you know, they weren't building an additive manufacturing system for the sake of the technology. They were looking to say, how do we drive carbon stem? How do we build a more efficient, high performance vehicle, or a transportation vehicle? And that's what drove them. And the technology was simply something that helped them get there and get there fast. And I think that's how we have to put this into context, and it's gonna be the same with AI. Right? AI is gonna do a lot to change the way you're designing even as we speak. But we have to be able to figure out how to use it in such a way that it does service to the greater solving of problems and the greater solving of challenges that are out there that have become bigger than any one of us. I'm so glad you mentioned AI because a few months ago, the school was a little bit, worried about, how we're gonna deal with this AI at is it gonna make the job too easy for the kids? Or is there any point that the as a designer? And what I've learned it does is it just helps us. It's a it's another tool in the in the in the in the arsenal in the arsenal. And besides, we have to think about origins of AI anyway. It's all man made stuff anyway. It's all taken from the internet, which is already no original ideas because it's on the internet. And so that is taking all those ideas. So the human element. As it looks right now, we we're still needed because we're we're the ones that are creating the fresh ideas, not AI. So, I don't think that's an important perspective is that AI is not getting ahead of humans in that reason. I and hopefully, it doesn't it doesn't Well, we'll see how it goes, but I'm not worried about it. In fact, I love it because it's helping me a lot. I'll give you an example of how I'm using it. By the way, AI sucks at design. I mean, I I've I've said, hey, design So you're not gonna lose a year design jobs. Oh, nothing. Well, I'll tell you where it does. I mean, I said, I gave it a an experiment. I said, alright. Give me a battery powered scooter. And it did, but the ergonomics stuck. It was ugly. It was just like nasty. Alright. And so many different levels. So, so I was not worried about the design AI taking in my design job. But what I really love is the weird lighting. That that that thing is so weird. I mean, how they light stuff. These pinks and weird colors and just, it's it's it's out of this world in a way lighting. So I love looking at those images and finding inspiration about Oh, wow. I can have a blue light reflecting on this. And so it's I use it more of an artistic tool. It almost sounds like a technological muse for you. Is it's like another planet type of environment where things are so that's where I find a lot of my influence from it for for So to our listening and viewing audience, been disrupted. We've been talking with Brooke Vanham from Middlecott Design, right here live in Detroit at the new lab, studio. Brooke, any last minute, reflections or thoughts that you'd like to share as we wrap another episode here. No? I'm I'm just really I'm so glad to have, had some time to talk about, just give my opinion about some some of this stuff and and, talking about disrupted stuff, which is super cool. So I appreciate, you giving me this opportunity, Ron. Fantastic. Well, we are so glad to have you here, and we're gonna have you again, in the meantime, to our listening and viewing audience, give us your feedback, reach out to us, let us know what you think. Join disrupt ed, subscribe to our newsletter, subscribe to the podcast, and get disrupted with us. Thanks. This has been Ron Stefanskiteer host. Along with Brooke Banham from Middlecott Design, and talk to you in our next episode. Thanks so much.