Sketch. Rev. Repeat. The Creative Side of Roush

Step into the hidden world of automotive design as we uncover the creative genius behind Roush's most impressive vehicles. Kevin and Dhruv from Roush Creative Services—the 65-person team responsible for transforming concepts into head-turning reality—reveal how they blend artistry with engineering to create machines that perform as spectacularly as they look.

Ever wondered what separates truly exceptional vehicle design? According to our guests, the secret lies in evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes that honor brand DNA while pushing boundaries. The Roush F-150 exemplifies this philosophy with its innovative integrated lighting that brings the Roush brand to life without abandoning the signature elements loyal customers recognize. This delicate balance of tradition and innovation creates vehicles that remain visually compelling decades after their release.

What truly distinguishes Roush Creative Services is their comprehensive approach—from initial sketches and 3D modeling to full-size prototypes and production-ready designs. Their work extends far beyond what most imagine, encompassing everything from high-performance Mustangs and F-150s to boats, aircraft, and even spacecraft for major companies. This diversity of experience enriches their automotive designs with perspectives that wouldn't emerge in a more narrowly focused studio.

The future of design at Roush embraces cutting-edge technology like VR modeling and AI-assisted rendering, not to replace human creativity but to amplify it. These tools allow designers to explore more possibilities faster while ensuring the human touch remains central to every Roush vehicle. After all, as Kevin and Dhruv explain, creating something that makes you look back after parking—that head-turning quality that defines a truly exceptional design—remains an art beyond what technology alone can achieve.

Subscribe and follow us on social media to continue exploring the innovation, engineering and raw passion behind everything Roush creates. The design journey from sketch to showroom is just one fascinating aspect of the Roush story we're excited to share.

Transcript

Introduction to Roush Creative Services

Josh 0:05

Hey guys , welcome to the you Don't Know Jack podcast , where we pull back the curtain on the innovation , engineering and raw passion that makes Roush vehicles stand out on the road , on the track , on the trail and sometimes even on the water . I'm your host , Josh Massab , alongside the one and only Jack Roush Jr , and today we're diving into something truly special . If you've ever looked at a Roush vehicle and thought , dang , that thing looks good , then this episode's for you .

Jack Roush Jr. 0:29

So this is an area that I'm personally really passionate about . You know , it's not just about , you know , getting the most performance , even though that's really important . It's also about the look , and that is a very hard thing to really describe analytically . You know , it's really something that you feel in your soul and it really takes that artistry . And you know , when you combine that with a car , you know that's a really potent combination of engineering and design , and that's what we're going to be talking about today . I'm really excited about it and I think you guys will be too .

Josh 1:09

Yeah , yeah , you're right , jack . So today we're sitting down with two of the masterminds behind that magic , kevin and Dhruv from Roush Creative Services , and if you want to know how form meets function in the world of high performance vehicles , these are the guys to talk to . So , kevin , Dhruv , welcome to the show . Thanks , guys . Yeah . So , kevin , let's start with you . Tell the people about Kevin . Ooh gosh , wow , how's Josh ?

Kevin 1:28

No pressure . Yeah , exactly . Well , the dinosaurs rise of man . No , I've been here at Roush collectively since 2011 . So this will be 14 years this summer , and I knew of Roush before then because I was building high-end hot rods using some Roush crate engines for several years . But here at Roush , I've got the recent pleasure of leading the creative services team in the director of operations role , and I'm excited to spend some time talking about that today .

Kevin 2:00

So here to my left , though , is I'm Veerkar , senior creative designer at Roush . I've been here since 2018 , so almost seven years almost now and before that I was in college literally pursuing car design as a degree and graduated and got a job at Roush and I've been here ever since . So that's kind of my background .

Josh 2:27

Yeah , that's awesome . And , , if I know , we've got a ton of posters of your , your sketches , renders , drawings all around and , man , they are cool . So , thank you , some awesome stuff , man , so awesome . Well , thank you guys for joining us . I'm excited for this one . You know I think not a lot of people know that behind every Roush product and vehicle specifically , there's a whole full on studio that helps us create and design and , you know , really come out with the coolest looking thing . So I kind of want to share some you know information and detail about what that looks like from your end . So I guess , kevin , let's start . Let's start big right . Sure , what is Roush Creative Services and what's what's the role in a larger Roush ecosystem ?

Kevin 3:13

Ooh , that's a good one you know we are . I like to say we're the welcome mat to Roush . You know a lot of customers may start with us but then work their way through the rest of the enterprise , and that's because what we represent is the very first time that an idea is actually going to be put into some form or , as we work it , through our building and our services we can take those ideas and really work with the customers to fees them out , make sure they're feasible , they're doable , they meet regulations and all those other fun things , product a physical manifestation of that design , because what we have is a super talented team of not just designers but model makers , painters , light fabrication , and so the cool thing is it's quite often we actually get a customer to come to us that they've got an idea and they may come back a couple months later and to see the look on their face when they see their product in in person in front of them the very first time . You've had a couple times where customers just like don't know what to say . You know they come around the corner into one of our studios and see this in front of them for the first time they've only been thinking about it maybe for years , and see it and it's a , it's a , it's a great , you know inspiring moment for them to have .

Kevin 4:47

That , you know realization . Here it is here , it is in front of me . So , um , we are about 65 people strong . Uh , we , like I mentioned , we do all sorts of aspects of that early side of product development and it's an exciting . It's an exciting time because , man , I don't have the talent of Dhruv , but I've always appreciated that and to see how that process goes and it's a process , it is , and Dhruv will certainly talk about that , but this isn't something you just sketch out once and then you're done , it goes . So it's a cool thing .

Jack Roush Jr. 5:25

That's awesome , absolutely , actually , if I could just give a little bit of background .

Jack Roush Jr. 5:30

You know , it's really easy for us to , you know , talk about what we're doing as though everyone knows , but I think a lot of people don't maybe not have heard this before . But at Roush Performance , you know , we , you know we are very proud , you know , I think for a good reason of the quality of product we put out , and a huge part of that is that we we're not just developing product within Roush Performance , we're leveraging the engineering capabilities that the larger Roush company has , and the design studio is one of those We've . You know , we've worked with the design studio ever since the beginning of RPP , to my knowledge , and we'd have to talk about timelines there might be some technical things of the years We'd have to go back through , but yeah , it's just a really interesting story . You know , there's so much more to tell and we're going to be sensitive about , you know , not talking about , you know , certain customer work or things like that . We can only talk about certain things that we do , obviously , but yeah , it's , I think , very eye-opening for sure .

Josh 6:46

Oh , yeah , for sure , and I think I don't know , Dhruv , if you've got any insight into your day-to-day , but I know you're constantly in creative mode and coming up with some really cool stuff . Be curious to see what that looks like .

Dhruv 6:59

Yeah , absolutely . I mean , you know the design process . It's like Kevin said , it is a process . It's not just you just do one sketch and you're done , and you know , especially when it comes to our Roush branded vehicles . You know the car buying process is such an emotional thing where a lot of people get gravitated towards a vehicle based on the look . So the visual appeal is so important , along with the performance aspect of it as well , and I think that's where I think we creative services have the edge over other competitors is like we focus on the details , of the aesthetics while still making it functional as well , so you get that perfect combination of aesthetics and performance .

Josh 7:40

Yeah , that's great . So thank you guys for the deep dive there . I think , uh , you know Roush creative services obviously is , is a major player and how you know us at Roush performance comes out with new products and design it , you know , in the right way , um , and it's it's cool to know that . You know we do have , you know , a whole team behind us to actually get this thing right . So , um , so , on that topic , you know , thinking of the 24 F one , 50 , um , obviously a really I don't want to say long process , but you know , really focused process where we went through and you know

The Design Process Behind Roush Vehicles

Josh 8:16

we had all the panels on the walls . It was really cool . You know we we went through each sort of design theme , um , thought through the customer and really kept that in mind throughout the whole design process . And I guess my curious mind is going to you know what , from your side , really differentiated that product when we were going through that .

Dhruv 8:36

Yeah . So I think the , you know , biggest focal point was the integrated lighting into our grill for the F-150 . You know , we've done lighting in the past but never at this scale where we really animated the Roush brand into our grill . And you know , I always like to use the analogy of having an evolutionary design process rather than being too revolutionary . I think a lot of car companies these days with their design process try to be too revolutionary where they're trying too hard to make it different and a lot of times they lose the , the dna of their brand . You know , and that's why you can see it on a lot of performance brands these days , where they kind of lose the appeal of what that car had from a visual standpoint back in the 60s or 70s .

Dhruv 9:18

Yeah , the soul yep the soul of it and I think we've done a good job over the years where it's like , it's been an evolutionary process of , you know , sticking to our DNA , our brand identity , and just making it 30 , 40% better and not necessarily trying too hard to make it too different , where we alienate our customers away from the brand . And so you know our horizontal bars on the grill , for example , it's been in our DNA on the Roush since ever since we started doing the F-150 , but each time we have kind of improved the way it looks by adding more details to it . And then you know 2021 , we had the really refined Roush letters into the horizontal bar and then for 24 , we introduced lighting for that Roush and I think that was a really big game changer .

Josh 10:05

Yeah , yeah , no , awesome , awesome . And I think , too , it's important to note that all this design isn't just , you know , sketches and renders and ideas . Right , there's an engineering aspect behind it and you know , with our grill especially , you think through all the high flow features that we put into it and all that . So I guess , once you guys have that concept in mind and you know , we nail down what we wanted to look like , what does that back end sort of thing look like , where it's like , hey , now we actually have to go make the thing right like what does that entail ?

Dhruv 10:36

yeah , absolutely so . At rush creative services . Obviously we have the designers where they start off with the sketches , the ideation stuff , but but we also have a team of digital sculptors where we will actually create the sketches in 3D CAD and build those surfaces . And then we also have a studio engineering team where they will work on the B-side attachments , on how these parts are going to be attached to the vehicle , and so it's kind of a parallel path where we'll work with the engineering teams , the alias digital sculptors , and obviously the design team , and we'll kind of create a product or all the proposals that we're proposing . We'll make sure that they're realistic proposals right from the beginning , so it's not like we're trying to propose something that can't be made . So it's kind of a cool process to see how each and every single iteration that we do kind of gets refined every single week and then we finally reached that , you know , final product solution for our trucks and Mustang .

Josh 11:35

Right , right , yeah , and I think that's a key point . Right , it's like it is highly engineered . You know we throw that term around , but to its core , that's what it is right , so awesome , yeah . And one thing just to add to that you know we throw that term around , but to its core , that's what it is Right , so awesome , yeah .

Kevin 12:01

And one thing just to add to that you , with outside customers , and some of that experience that we get , it's still our knowledge , it's still how to bring something fresh and exciting , and having all of those pieces together makes that design solution even stronger . So awesome .

Josh 12:20

So we talked through kind of , you know the process , the process there , and you know the details behind how the thing actually gets made . What you know , what does that look like with other clients ? Is it a similar process that you know ? You go through this kind of stuff with our products , but what does that look like with some of your other clients ?

Dhruv 12:45

clients . Yeah , it's a very similar process . We're involved in not just trucks and Mustangs for the Roush brand , but we do a lot of aerospace stuff . We're involved in the marine industry , boats In the aerospace division , we do helicopters , planes . We've also been working on a spaceship for a big space company . We do semi-trucks a little bit of everything and so the process from a high level is pretty much the same for no matter whether it's a plane or a car or a motorcycle .

Dhruv 13:16

We'll start off with ideation sketches , where we're just sketching on paper 2D sketches and renderings . We'll move into the 3D phase of it and start sculpting those surfaces and then we'll start going into the actual model making phase , whether it's 3D printing parts , doing a small scale model or we have , you know , capabilities of doing full size clay models or foam models in our studios and we have a pretty dedicated paint shop facility in our building as well at creative services . So we'll paint the foam model or clay model and we'll make it look like the real thing . So when clients walk in it looks like it's an actual production intent vehicle , but it's just a model yeah , that's cool .

Jack Roush Jr. 14:00

It's funny . If you go to the rush museum , there's at least one vehicle in there that was made by our design studio years ago , where it looks like a real car but it's not yeah , yeah , yeah .

Josh 14:12

So what you're saying , Dhruv , is that you guys are busy . Yeah , yeah , yeah , yep , always busy . Yeah , no , that's great , no , that's really cool and I I think for everybody listening it's it's it's kind of eye-opening to , to becauseening , because when you see a product , you don't really think about the backend stuff that goes into it , and the design process and all that stuff is such a big part of it and it does take time . It's a lot that goes into it , because , especially with our products , roush Performance it's not just a product , it's an experience , and we have to make sure that that comes across in every way possible , and you guys do a great job at it , obviously , so , really cool . So I think what we need to do is pull back the curtain a little bit on Roush Creative Services and I want to get either a funny story , a good story or like a favorite project that you guys have worked on recently .

Kevin 15:05

So let's start with you , kevin wow , okay , um , you know it's uh , josh , what you're just saying is it's a it takes a long process .

Kevin 15:14

Yeah , I wish that some of our customers would allow for that in their development timeline because it is it's quite often that you know we get them coming through the door and it's like we need this in five weeks and it's like , oh , we got to get like really thrash at things . Those can be some of the more entertaining although hair pulling out type of projects , because it does go from that short thing that didn't exist to now and you know , four or five weeks it's out the door . Trust me , I love all types of customers , all types of projects . At one point last year I was just sharing before we started about that gosh . I think it was like mid last year we had a locomotive , a boat , a semi and pieces of a plane and cars two cars in the building at the same time , and didn't Steve ?

Jack Roush Jr. 16:08

Martin do a movie about that once yeah pretty much this .

Kevin 16:13

This was when I wish they

Evolution vs. Revolution in Design

Kevin 16:14

were . They're going and it was funny , but it was intense . It was intense because there was a lot of stuff going in every corner of the building , but what was what I really dug was to see the diversity is . I mean , we are car people right .

Kevin 16:30

We like things that you know mechanics and and things like that . So to see how many different things were going on and the same disciplines of the talent of our team to do that was was way cool . That was was way cool . So , um , you know , I'll have to , from a singular project I'd probably have to reach actually back to when I was at rpp and working with the studio as a customer , and it was the the 729 last day yeah , grabber green I gotta say that was a quick sema project , but man that that turned out great emphasize , quickphasize , quick .

Jack Roush Jr. 17:05

Yeah , I made an impression with a lot of people too .

Kevin 17:08

That was , I mean , a great looking vehicle and the fact that it stuck out so well at SEMA really and that's a hard place to get any attention Yep , the fact that people would gravitate towards that . But that was a , that was a thrash of a build and you know the fact that we still did design , we did cad in order to make those flares and they went through that process to be a well-executed design and in that time frame it was awesome . Yeah , this wasn't just , like you know , backyard slamming together , sema build right , this was a legit deal , don't know right .

Josh 17:41

Yeah , that was one of my favorites too . I think the other one was the P-51 tribute to Bud Anderson . We were trying to pick all the cues of the actual P-51 Mustang airplane , right ?

Dhruv 18:10

And the one debate we were having in the studio at the time was the eighth insignia logo that we have on the rear of that Mustang and we weren't sure whether you know there were a couple of iterations of that eighth insignia . One was just the logo and then one had the logo with the red circle in the center and we weren't sure which one Bud Anderson had . And so Jack Roush Sr was there and he just pulled up his phone , called up Bud right away on the spot and Bud picked up and at that time I think he was like 98 years old or something .

Dhruv 18:51

And he picked up the phone and he just just asked him like hey , what was the color that you used ? And and he remembered every single detail . That's what I really found amazing about it that all those years ago that you know , he flew the plane and he still remembered every detail about that plane . That's cool . And he told us right away yeah , I had the red logo in it . And then we ended up doing the red logo , yeah that's cool .

Jack Roush Jr. 19:05

I'm not a designer , but it seems like that was a challenging project , you know , to really try to use all those cues from a Warbird and get it to look really sleek on a Mustang . But you guys nailed it . It looked awesome .

Kevin 19:19

Yeah , and it's still in the collection . It is . It came flying back , it's in the collection it is .

Josh 19:23

It came flying back . Yeah , I mean , if you guys listening and want to check that thing out , it's over at our Roush Automotive Collection in Livonia , michigan . So really cool place , really cool place . I appreciate the peek behind the curtain . I think everybody listening does too . It's cool to hear all these stories from different pieces around Roush and everybody's got a different story and it's just really cool to to get insight on them . So let's change gears here . Um let's , let's look forward . Um , you know , obviously technology and all that stuff is is becoming super important in everything we do and I wanted to see what you guys thought , or you know projects you're working on , that kind of point towards the future of where Roush Creative Services is going .

Dhruv 20:08

Yeah , that's a good one , I think . Yeah , especially the design process . These days we are noticing a big change , and rapid change actually , in technology . We've been into planning or integrating VR tech in our design process . So while we're designing , we'll start pulling up the model in VR .

Dhruv 20:28

So even before it's made , even before we've actually done a physical model for the customer , we actually put on the headsets and then view those models full size in VR , and I think that's a great way to quickly see what the product's going to look like before customers have spent the money going through iterations of , you know , physical models , and that's a really helpful process for us to get to the final physical model as well . And then , of course , you know like ai has been , you know , changing the world in the design process also , it's been changing a lot of things where we've been using AI not necessarily to replace the designer , but it's used as to amplify the designer skill set . So we use it in our design process to speed up our sketches and renderings and we can pump out more iterations in a shorter period of time . So we're using it in a way to help the design process rather than being used as a replacement , which a lot of people are afraid of .

Jack Roush Jr. 21:31

Right . I hear a lot of people concerned and they should be about

Engineering the Aesthetics

Jack Roush Jr. 21:35

AI and what its implications are , but this is my own feeling . I'm a tech guy . I've grown up developing software .

Dhruv 22:01

And I'm a tech guy . You know I've grown up developing software as my . In my previous life that's what I did . But I don't think that you can ever replace human talent . You know , I think , just like you said , back in the 90s , when Autodesk Alias was invented and you know , we saw the shift from where we're still doing digital models but at the same time we still do plenty of physical clay and foam models . So I think , with ai being there , it's not necessarily going to replace the talent that the human talent is doing . It's just going to help them achieve the result a lot faster .

Josh 22:40

Yes , okay , cool . Um , sorry , I just had something on my brain I was thinking through you were talking about all this technology and stuff and I was thinking through a quote that when I was working on one of my first projects in the studio with you guys I think it was like the 2015 Mustang or something and I think it was Mark who looked at me because we had just gotten out of a session where I think your dad wasn't very happy with one of the designs , and he goes well in design . If you make 50% of the people happy , it's a win . Yeah , that's true , Is that ?

Dhruv 23:15

true , that is true , yeah , yeah . If you try to please everybody , you end up pleasing nobody Right , and I think , just speaking on AI , that's got to be a human quality right .

Kevin 23:31

Anyway , sorry to get off track there , but , um , yeah , it's , it's , it's a cool tool . I mean , to your point about alias , I hadn't thought about alias , but you're right . I mean we still do a lot of clay models . We don't have as much modelers meaning like shaping it in clay we do . You know , the mills are cutting it , but then those people are still there to clean it up , to fine tune it . It hasn't gone away , it's just changed its shape . And the AI tools you know , with Mark and Dhruv obviously always looking at how do we , how do we always remain , you know , forefront , competitive AI is an awesome tool , right , it's not , you know , a substitute , but an awesome tool , right , it's not , you know , a substitute . But , man , the iterations that you can go through and perhaps find something that's a little bit off of where you would be looking otherwise , and you know those are really cool , like ways to use it , but you know , not replace , yeah , exactly not replacing .

Dhruv 24:21

Another example was like when we did the , when we did the 24f 150 and we'd done a teaser animation for it . I remember we spent weeks on that to do the teaser I think three weeks or so . And recently , in my own time , I've come across an AI tool and I think it's still pretty early on where I can't really use it properly just yet . Can't really use it properly just yet , but I think as it evolves , it'll be a good tool in the design process where I feel like I can cut down the time from three weeks to maybe five days or something using that tool . Okay , that's great . Again , it'll just help speed up the process , but not necessarily going to replace the person who's doing the animation . Right , right .

Josh 25:04

No , that's cool . I mean , technology's crazy these days . All right , so , kevin , what about you ? What do you see for the future of Roush Creative Services ?

Kevin 25:12

Wow , bringing more tech into the part making . You know we're obviously doing a lot of 3D printing already of different styles and types . We actually do something that's called Machined ABS and that's been an awesome . I'd love to have a better name for it because it sounds very plain and basic . And yet you know from RPP days , it's like you a good quality part is typically going to be injection molded so that you can control the outside surface but also the inside , so it mounts it , so you can control the outside surface but also the inside , so it mounts this process .

Kevin 25:49

Lets us do that control both sides and you come out with a single part that's needed for a model and yet it can plug in , it can have fasteners , it can have all those features that you'd find on a fully designed b-side and it's here in a model , which has been awesome . What that's allowed us to do is it doesn't fit everywhere , obviously , but where it fits you can get even closer to what that real final part will look like at this really early prototype stage . So that's that helps engineers , it helps customers , it helps everyone kind of along the way . You know , get there faster , because that that's always a push right . Marketing needs a product out , you know you're getting beat by competitors or whatever . There's always a time crunch . So by that technology that we're using it , just it raises that , that bar up . So that's been , that's been cool for me to see , because I hadn't seen that prior to coming over to creative services , and it's like wow , okay , that's , that's pretty , that's sharp .

Josh 26:55

Is that cool ? Yeah , I think speed , speed to markets become so important . You know , when we're in the Amazon age , right , where it's like , hey , everybody needs it now , kind of a thing . So it's cool to see that we're , you know , looking at technology to speed things up and , um , you know , I think it is definitely a key differentiator for us , so that's that's cool . All right , so , um , my next question is might be a thinker , but you know the , the world of design , and I'll call it branding and all that other stuff . It's always changing , right , and so I'm curious how you guys stay on top of that . And then , you know , bring some of those trends or those , you know , new views into your process I'm getting like a guy yeah with the yeah that's definitely a thinker .

Dhruv 27:44

No yeah , as designers , we always like to try and keep on top of all the new design trends that are going on . So it's just , you know , whether it's just keeping up

Design Across Industries: Beyond Cars

Dhruv 27:54

to date with all the auto shows that are going on across the world and seeing what all these different car brands are doing , whether it's , you know , European auto shows or Chinese auto shows , American auto shows , all of those We'll try and keep up to date with every single different car brand and what they're doing , especially with interiors . I think that's the biggest change that's happened in the last five , six years is car companies have really stepped up the interior game , and I think that's always a good area to improve on . Even if we try and come up with the best design possible , two , three years later , there's always new tech and you can always improve the interior even further .

Josh 28:35

Yeah , I have noticed that I feel like interiors have just gotten just so nice even on lower trim vehicles . It's crazy Nice Even on lower trim vehicles .

Jack Roush Jr. 28:44

It's crazy . So , guys , I got to ask you a question . I know this is kind of a tough one , but it's been on my mind , you know , as someone who's passionate about automotive . And so when you look at a design , a car design , and you say , oh , it's good or it's not good , what makes the difference ?

Dhruv 29:04

Yeah , that's a really good question and you know you can go into all sorts of details , but I think the most successful car designs have been the ones that have been really simple and clean . You know , good design to me has always been about it being timeless and being focusing on the simplicity of it . If you , you know a lot of car companies today get too fussy with all their character lines , it just they're trying too hard to make it look like it's properly designed but they over-stylize it by adding too many character lines and then the surfaces are also not fully refined yet . And if you look at some old cars , you know I'm a huge fan of 60s cars because that was an era of , you know , simple cars . You know the Cobra that I'm building , I mean that's really simple . It's literally . There are not a whole lot of character lines to it but just the overall volume of the body , the stance , the proportions . That's what makes a car timeless , that even 40 years from now it's still a great design , you know .

Dhruv 29:59

And you can go back to all sorts of different car brands . You know Porsche 911 , obviously it's been timeless year and year . And it kind of goes back to my earlier point I made about evolutionary design . You know , I think a 911 or even the Mustang has been , you know , good looking throughout the years because it's been an evolutionary evolution of their design , theme or their DNA , whereas some car companies try and depart from their history and DNA too much . And I think with the Roush brand , I think we've done a pretty good job of keeping it timeless and consistently good looking , where even 20 years from now , some of our older Roush cars will still look good and they won't look dated .

Kevin 30:40

Yeah , I always go with the uh , does it ? Does it turn your head right as you're , as you're driving along ? Does your head snap ? Right , yeah , is that something that , uh , you know it's , um , it was nice to hear you describe it , Dhruv , because I couldn't articulate it other than . You know , if it really catches your eye in in a way of not like , what was that ? But you know more of like , wow , like yeah you know when you see it .

Dhruv 31:06

Yeah absolutely yeah . Less is more yeah , or it's the or it's the .

Josh 31:10

You walk out of it after you park and you lock and you look and then you look back again .

Dhruv 31:15

If you're not looking back , then you know it's a good one , awesome .

Josh 31:26

So let's talk about you guys , because you have some pretty cool projects of your own right . I think you know you've kind of always had something going on , both of you , but I think your current projects are pretty awesome to talk about . So , Dhruv , you've got . What is that 65 Cobra that you're building ?

Dhruv 31:43

Yep , so it's a Factory 5 1965 shelby cobra replica that they do , and it's a kit and it's awesome . I mean you , you order the kit and you get all the parts the body , the chassis , everything . You get basically every single part you'd need other than engine and transmission . And so I just got that recently and that's been my big project and I've been building that

Technology's Role in Modern Design

Dhruv 32:05

and , uh , I am going to be putting a roush crate engine in it .

Dhruv 32:08

So the roush 427 ir is , uh , what I'm planning on putting in . It's , uh , the tremec five speed tkx , and then after that it's all a lot of mustang parts too . I've got . I'm using the 2018 mustang irs for it , okay , and uh , you know , the Mustang breaks from the 2015 Mustang . So a lot of brand new Mustang Ford performance parts and you know , the cool thing about it is I don't have to go to junkyards and try and , you know , find parts that may or may not fit Right , I just know all these parts are going to fit . So it's almost like real , life-size Legos , pretty much putting together the whole , thing , yeah .

Kevin 32:52

No , that's really cool .

Dhruv 32:52

I can't wait to see that thing done so that that crate motor is going to be really cool . You know so , all right , but Dhruv , how do you , as a designer , choose one color ? Yeah , that's , uh , you know so . I definitely . I am gravitating towards blue because you know cobras , they got to be blue . You're doing the right way . But yeah , which shade of blue .

Josh 33:03

I haven't decided yet , and I'm going to be blue .

Dhruv 33:04

You're doing the right way . But yeah , which shade of blue ? I haven't decided yet , and I'm going to be going through iteration , different renderings , trying out different shades of blues . I'll be doing spray outs on . You know , I've got a 3d printer , so I'm going to be 3d printing just a small scale model of the cobra and I'll be spray painting different shades of blues and then I'll pick the one that looks best . So that's also the paint process in itself is a design process alone . All right , we'll talk in a year yeah , oh , that's really cool , man , uh .

Josh 33:34

So , kevin , you've got a long history of some pretty cool yeah yeah , there's a , there's an affliction , yeah , call it uh .

Kevin 33:43

So , uh , yeah , right now , uh , there's , I'm proud to say , the 75 international scout 2 has been out and about and last year made its first successful , uh , overnight rooftop tent . Oh , expedition nice , which is like rolling into granted . We kept things very mild and we didn't go too far and truly , when I got home I said , made it , um , but as we , you know , arrived into the campground . Everyone just kind of stops in there and look at it , cause it's bright orange , it's hard to miss , it's , it's a good seventies bright orange with bold graphics and uh , it was a lot of fun . It's not fast , it's low and noisy , but it's good stuff . I'm thoroughly enjoying that . So that's kind of the latest and , yeah , it's good stuff . It is good stuff . It's been fun to see the Scout brand come back and see what they're doing with that

What Makes Good Car Design Timeless

Kevin 34:43

and get to see this come around again . It was really pretty cool .

Josh 34:49

Yeah , so awesome . Yeah , that's a cool truck , it's . It's orange , right Right , orange yeah .

Kevin 34:54

Omaha , Omaha , orange Nice .

Josh 34:55

Yeah .

Kevin 34:56

Nice , so got 35 .

Josh 34:59

It's all good , there you go . Yeah , that's plenty capable . That's plenty capable . Yeah , oh , that's awesome , cool , um , so I'll wrap this up . Um , I got one last question . Any final words of advice for those who either want to get in design or are going to be designing anything soon .

Dhruv 35:24

Yeah , Okay . Well , for those who want to be designers , I'd say just sketch , sketch and sketch . You know , practice makes perfect , but just stick to a lot of sketching . And yeah , I mean car design is a thing . I think that it has gained popularity in recent years , but a lot of people don't even know that it's a career option , and so you know , there are some colleges for it . I went to college for creative studies in downtown Detroit for it and it is a four-year bachelor's degree to pursue transportation design , and they make you do everything . It's not just cars , but you do boats , airplanes , trains and pretty much what we do at Roush Creative Services . But yeah , it is a career . And for those who are interested , yeah , you can literally draw cars for a living . So I'd say just keep on sketching , that's great .

Kevin 36:10

Yeah , for the other part of creative services is going to be for the model shop , and you know we've got a really experienced team , but we're always looking for new people , new ideas , new people , new ideas . Um , so , getting younger people in to work with their hands to physically make something , it's awesome . So we've got a recent new hire just started with us about 10 days ago and I saw him yesterday and just a little check-in how are things going ? Huge smile , right , huge smile . Just being able to , you know , be in an environment where , every day , you're creating , it's awesome . Yeah , like you know , if you're , if you're one of those people that really want to do that , like it's , it's a great thing to be a part of . Oh yeah .

Josh 36:55

Yeah , the creativity piece is awesome , I think from a you know the marketing side , at least the Roush Performance . I can relate to that a lot , cause you , everything's everything's always different . Right , you come in one day there's one thing to work on . You come in the next day there's something else to work on , and just being able to you know , get that creative outlet is is huge . So so , guys , from first sketch to final badge , it's incredible to see how roush creative services brings these high performance machines to life . So kevin Dhruv a huge thanks for joining us today . It was really cool to get a little peek behind the curtain at Roush Creative Services . Obviously , you guys are pretty much the backbone of a lot of our projects and products . So definitely appreciate all the work you do and if you guys like this episode , make sure you're locked in , subscribe and follow us on social so you never miss a behind the scenes look at the innovation , design and pure adrenaline that drives everything we do . We'll catch you next time on the you don't know , jack podcast .