Ralph Gilles

As a whole, this episode struck a really different chord than any of the other episodes we watched. a lot of Gilles' personal experiences were tied into the narrative. This more personal side really humanized the design of car making to me. It's easy to admire beautiful old cars, but nowadays I really look past the everyday car. It's hard to imagine a lot of care and passion going into these mass-produced vehicle. I forget that each groove or detail is on the car for a specific reason and for Gilles there is also an emotional attachment. I found it interesting when Jay Leno noted that Gilles can create a car that everyone loves, not just the rich and famous. In other words, he invests so much passion and creativity into everyday cars so that anyone can enjoy his designs.

Something that also really struck me was that Gilles works for Chrysler. Even as someone who doesn't pay that attention to cars, I know it's a dying brand. I hardly see Chrysler's anymore and the style of the cars just seem outdated. I loved his passion and motivation to turn this brand around with the new concept car. It's hard to remember that not all designers start at companies that are extremely succesful, sometimes they themselves are the tool that's going fix the company. In this case, Gilles was bringing the revolutionary design. I loved that he noted how daunting it was designing these cars because you are designing 9 years into the future, so much like a fashion designer for example, he has to predict what the future people will want in their everyday car. Now more than ever, car design is so important because they are becoming vital to many people's lives.