We interview visionary designer Daniel Simon in his California home to discuss his latest book, The Timeless Racer, and find out what makes him who he is.
Daniel Simon is a designer’s God. His ability to imagine and create vehicles in otherworldly environments is incredible; he has an amazingly masterful grasp of design tools such as Alias and he has a knack for storytelling.
Blessed with talent, Simon went to work for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg and Barcelona following his graduation from Pforzheim, where he studied industrial design and transportation design. But when a concept car design he had been slaving over was put on ice, he gave up the car industry to move to Brazil.
While there, he was contacted by Scott Robertson and signed to create Cosmic Motors, his first book. “I opened an email in a shabby Internet cafe on the beach of Fortaleza and read a few lines from US design publisher and concept designer Scott Robertson,” recalls Simon. “He’d seen my site and suggested to publish me. I thought it was a prank and I continued sipping my Caipiroska. Even later, I still thought he meant a few pages in a compilation book – it took a few weeks to understand he meant a full 176 pages!”
Upon finishing the book, Simon came to the US and began his movie career, working on films such as Tron: Legacy, Captain America, Prometheus and Oblivion. He’s also designed livery for the now defunct HRT race team and a sportbike for Lotus Motorcycles.
Last year he published his second book, The Timeless Racer. The story of a time travelling speed junkie, the book outlines the history of a race team and a family over the course of 699 years.
We took the opportunity to discuss the book and speak to him about sketching, his work in the movie industry, how he’s evolved as a designer since graduating from Pforzheim and his plans for the future.
Watch the second part of our exclusive interview with Daniel Simon.
All photos Copyright © Daniel Simon, LLC
