“Never underestimate the power of focusing on one’s strengths, being open-minded, and staying committed to one’s work.”
Born and raised in Germany, Alex Dang has turned his childhood creativity into a career designing for the future and teaching the next generation. As a kid, Alex gravitated towards hands-on activities like painting, drawing, moviemaking, and playing with cars.
He didn’t think too much about his future career until one of his high school teachers noticed his artistic talent and encouraged him to take his creativity seriously. A pivotal moment occurred at 15 years old when one of Alex’s art teachers invited an Industrial Designer to an after-school workshop. That was the first time he was exposed to an industrial design practice, and it was then that he found his direction.
Image of 9-year-old Alex and a comic he drew in 1997.
As a Senior Advanced Exterior Designer at Mercedes-Benz, Alex designed the outside of the Vision AVTR, a car inspired by James Cameron’s movie Avatar.
Click the link below to learn more about this unique collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Disney, Lightstorm Entertainment.
Alex working on a clay model.
After graduating high school, Alex considered studying moviemaking or pursuing his design journey. But his passion for drawing made his decision to pursue design. To become a car designer, Alex discovered that he needed to earn a college degree. As a result, he visited a specialized university where he could study Transportation Design in Germany to see the portfolios of those students who wanted to get in. He saw how high the expectations were, so he didn’t even try to apply – since there are only three chances given to succeed. Instead, he decided to take some private time to improve his sketching skills to earn approval at the university. Later he had an apprenticeship in hard modeling and clay modeling to gain insights into the related industry. Despite feeling mentally and physically exhausted working many hours a day, Alex still found the time to sketch in the evenings and on weekends. After a year at the apprenticeship, he wanted to quit, but his parents encouraged him to stay with it, convincing him that it would all pay off in the future. Although Alex had a difficult experience, the skills he built prepared him for everything he’s able to do now and his role as an Advanced Exterior Designer.
Click to enlarge thumbnails of travel sketches.
Courtesy of Alex Dang
Alex delivering a keynote speech at a conference in Berlin in 2019.
Nowadays, Alex designs cars for the future and implements specific ideas and core values into his concept cars through 2D sketching, rendering, 3D modeling, and clay modeling. Even though it’s not always easy to come up with new ideas or invent something new, Alex feels it’s natural and a part of the creative process. Dealing with constructive criticism is also inevitable, but he feels that it’s a matter of how to frame it, considering it’s easy to view it in a negative light.
Alex’s advice for young people looking to go into design is to talk to professionals and students in the field to share their own experiences and figure out if it’s something they want to pursue in the future. He recommends never to underestimate the power of focusing on one’s strengths, being open-minded, and staying committed to one’s work.