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![An interview with Nissan's hottest young designer. By <a href="http://sharpformen.com/author/carson-edwards/">Carson Edwards</a><div id='nr_fo_top_of_post'></div><p><strong>For Randy Rodriguez, designing a new Nissan Z was literally a childhood dream come true.</strong> Born and raised in British Columbia, he now calls San Diego his home, where he designs for Nissan Design America. His work on the all-new 370Z has already taken off in a big way, but he’s also responsible for another design that’s literally taking flight.</p>
<p><strong>You’re quite young to be so successful…</strong></p>
<p>I’m 31, which has an advantage. You don’t have the experience when you’re younger, but you don’t have these preconceptions of what you can and can’t do. I’ve done the 370Z and other products, and I feel like I still have a whole career ahead of me to do more things.</p>
<p><strong>Including fatherhood…</strong></p>
<p>Yes, I have my baby, a little girl. I think you live through your children. I realized that my dad sacrificed a lot for his kids, and I really respect him for that. I just sold my 280Z last month for the down payment on a house, and a bunch of my motorcycles transformed into appliances.</p>
<p><strong>And now there’s an airplane in your portfolio.</strong></p>
<p>Nissan sometimes gets approached by other companies to style their products for them, and there was a company called Icon that came up with a two-seater sports aircraft. There was a design competition with a bunch of other studios. I had my baby and when this project came along, I was out of the office for a month and not really involved in work. When I came back, I asked the manager what’s going on, and he said we’re having a design selection tomorrow to narrow down sketches. I spent a couple of hours sketching that night. I had no idea about the concepts or the briefs or anything; I just had an idea of what it proportionately looked like. It turned out to be one of the four or five [selections], and then the final design. Most planes of this type look like Cessnas or things that have been around for 50 or 60 years. This thing will really define aviation for a lot of people.</p>
<p><strong>You designed the 370Z from a shark, and the airplane (the Icon) is amphibious.</strong></p>
<p>When you design [a car], you look at things other than cars, and with this, it was the shark. The Z was very shark-inspired, and the airplane has a lot of that. I love nature and I really love mechanical things. What’s new and cool is robotic, but very organic, with sexy, sensual organic forms, but also sharp mechanical details.</p>
<p><strong>Why was doing the 370Z so special?</strong></p>
<p>My dad had a gas station, and he got my brother a Datsun Z when he was 10 years old, and got me a Z when I was 14. They weren’t perfect; we had to fix everything. I just loved the car, washing it, looking at all the forms and surfaces and details.</p>
<div id='nr_fo_bot_of_post'></div> <span id="pty_trigger"></span> Randy Rodriguez](http://sharpformen.com/wp-content/gallery/randy-rodriguez-gallery/randy-rodriguez-gallery00458-03_3.jpg)