Most famous for his role as the chief designer on the 2005-2006 Ford GT project, Pardo now spends his time creating unique pieces at his studios in Detroit and Los Angeles. His automotive design career was inspired by a fascination with ’60s- and ’70s-era sports cars. After graduating from the Detroit Center for Creative Studies in 1985, he immediately went to work at Ford’s Dearborn Design Center. Before the GT project, Pardo helped create vehicles at Ford’s Italy and German studios. Though Pardo has since expanded his work to other fine art segments, he has hosted Detroit Auto Designers’ Night at his studio for the last 15 years.
Audi asked the designer to do something a bit different than his normal routine — turn five Audi Instagrams into large, vibrant paintings. As an independent artist, Pardo has never worked in partnership with a brand, so this is not an occasion that’s likely to be repeated.
In this short clip, Pardo describes his appreciation for Audi styling, which he says “creates a very exciting proportion and stance.” We see Pardo slowly transform a cherry red Audi Quattro from an Instagram into a stunning painting — what Pardo calls taking a social media post to the “next gear.” Besides the uniqueness of the project, Pardo says he was attracted to Audi’s proposal for its exposure of his craft.
Audi says Pardo will bring five Instagram posts to life this holiday season but if you were hoping to be one of these lucky few, you may be disappointed — printed pieces of paper shown briefly in the clip suggest Pardo’s posts have already been selected.
