Bentley Gets Idle Design Staff to Create Art for Charity

Rather than have staff pass their workday time surfing the web or worse lay them off, automaker Bentley called upon their talented design staff to create works of art for a charity auction.

The aim is to raise money for The Christie Hospital in Manchester, a leading international centre for research and treatment. The collection includes a vast array of sculptures, painting, digital art and photography. Created in many different media, from sculptures in bronze and set in wood, to metal and leather, to Perspex, to palette knife and brush paintings on canvas, the works showcase the imagination of the men and women who design Bentley cars.

Dirk van Braeckel, head designer, says the work embodies the best aesthetics possible, with advanced technology in the forefront, a combination “of the work we do technically with a passion for the brand that is very very strong in this team.

“The team worked up some early ideas on sketches and pen and paper but everything else is all done on a computer,” he says. “There has been a tremendous response from all the team from the day the idea was born. People have been doing additional work – after originally saying they would do one piece, they want to add more work.”

The team has received support and encouragement from the Bentley board, with 10 of the pieces on display to international press and customers who attended the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

All of the works can be viewed at the Bently Design Passion website. The collection will be auctioned off in London on December 1.

[via autoblog]