Last week I had the opportunity to be present at the launch of the all new Volkswagen Jetta. One of the cool things about attending these launches is you get an understanding of what goes on in the background when big car companies design & create cars.

For the launch, VW flew out the chief exterior designer of the Jetta and I had the opportunity to have a good chat with him.

His name is José Pavone. José informed me of the cut throat nature of the design process, they started the design four years ago!! With 30 plus other designers all competing for the right to have their ideas go into production, José is obviously very talented. What struck me the most though was José’s background. He is a 34 year old who comes from Sao Paulo Brazil, a city of 20+million people. Talking with José, I asked him how he got into design. As it turns out, José’s big break came when he was a 12 year old who was good at soccer but better at drawing things. He sent some car designs into the Brazil VW headquarters only to receive some good praise from the chief designer who gave him some tips to move forward...fast forward ten years and José was now this man’s boss…it just goes to show how with the right instruction and desire anyone’s dreams & aspirations can take them anywhere. Check out José’s designs at Volkswagen’s website, I think they’re great.