It’s hard to quantify Bill’s impact on me personally, because it was so profound. He was thoughtful and patient with all of us, but he seemed to take a special interest in promoting me personally for a number of freelance gigs and internship opportunities. I could never thank him enough for that. Ultimately, his lessons in car design — overlaying sketches, pointing out perspective mistakes and suggesting ways to improve the designs, teaching the importance of a keen eye when translating sketches or renderings to clay, and conveying the necessity of organizational skills so we knew exactly what to do and how to execute the many steps, — were transformational. His advice was always on point, as were his critiques. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.
Paul Snyder
Chair of Transportation Design, CCS
About Paul: Internationally recognized automotive designer, educator and CCS alumnus, Paul Snyder’s experience spans four continents and encompasses both exterior and interior development for a number of automotive brands, including Honda, Ford, Acura, and Renault. For Ford Motor Company, he designed exterior and interior solutions for the Taurus/Sable and Explorer production vehicles and later oversaw projects for the Taurus X, Ford Five Hundred, and Flex production vehicles.
Prior to joining CCS in 2015 as the Paul and Helen Farago Chair of Transportation Design, Snyder worked at Honda Research and Development in California where he was Assistant Chief Designer, overseeing production and concept projects for the 2012 European Civic, 2015 Accord, and the 2018 Odyssey.
Snyder previously taught transportation design and visual communications at Pratt Institute as well as a range of undergraduate and graduate courses at Wayne State University and CCS. In addition to his work as a car designer, Snyder is an accomplished figure painter, sculptor, and collagist, having earned a Master of Fine Arts degree cum laude in Fine Art and Cultural Studies from the New York Academy of Art in New York City, where he has also shown his work.
Since Snyder accepted the Chair position at CCS, the Transportation Design Department has sustained and strengthened its exceptional annual record of preparing/placing Transportation Design students into internships and full-time design positions. CCS/Industry sponsored projects directed by Snyder since 2015 include; Ford, Stellantis, GM, Nissan/Infinity, Toyota, Honda, GAC, Bordrin, Yanfeng, and numerous Tier 1 suppliers and industry consortia.