The successfully completed apprenticeship as a building fitter, with almost daily new problems to be solved with always different tasks to be implemented quickly and single-mindedly, was the ideal start for a creative but down-to-earth designer.
I strongly recommend an apprenticeship as a craftsman to every prospective designer, not only because one learns to deal with working methods and materials.
To get closer to his dream job, therefore, only internships in industry came into question. Thomas Clever completed two in Opel's Rüsselsheim design studio and one in a small Bavarian design studio.
As an Opel-sponsored student at the European branch of the Pasadena-based Art Center College of Design, Thomas Clever graduated as the top automotive design student in the class with a Bachelor of Science in Transportation Design awarded with Honors.
Today, it's easier to become a car designer, as several good suitable design schools have been added, in Germany usually even without tuition fees.