RICARDO SANTOS: A RACING CAR REALLY IS A ‘WORK OF ART’!

It originates from my love for cars, especially racing cars. I simply love the design, the bright colors, the logos, all the small technical details, the story behind the car, the drivers and so many other aspects of a racing car. If you put all things in perspective, a racing car really is a ‘Work of Art’.

Sometimes it’s a very emotional process. I like to feel something for the car I am working on. It might be a car that I love or even a car that I’ve never paid much attention to. It can give me a bright idea, like a click. Sometimes the pieces fall together, sometimes they don’t… but hey, that’s life!

Yes, absolutely. The Group B and the Formula 1 cars from the Turbo era are my favorites.
I started paying attention to motorsports when I was very young. I remember the Ford Escort and the Fiat 131 rally cars and Gilles Villeneuve driving a Ferrari, my passion grew stronger with my age.
I was 10 years old in 1986, the pinnacle of the Group B and Formula 1 Turbo, in this period those cars were fascinating. It was a great show. You could feel the danger, intensity, craziness, therefore so 80’s!

I really love magazines, newspapers and books. I work in the publishing industry for almost 20 years now and I always tried to show my passion through the pages of the publications where I work or designed for. Receiving recognition for it, feels amazing.

Difficult question! I think today’s life is difficult for designers who create the liveries. In the past we had cars that only represented one main sponsor. They were very easy to recognize and gave a great visibility to the brand who was sponsoring the car.

Today it’s rather rare to have one main sponsor. The grid shows cars with many logos and the car is mostly painted in black, grey or white. For example; the Renault F1-cars of the 80’s, the use of their colors was very strong, with big Renault logo’s. The Renault of today is black with a shy yellow stripe and with many logo’s that are difficult to recognize. Besides the abundance of brands, the current cars are very complicated, with all the aero kits and dark spaces which make it difficult to work with, seen from a graphic point of view.

Very important! Not only for the team but also for the sponsors. Everybody remembers the Martin Racing Lancia’s. They stopped racing almost 30 years ago, but everybody is still talking about them today. And we have much more iconic examples that won’t be forgotten.

I drive a BMW in daily live, but I enjoy driving with my Peugeot 205 CTI. I love to drive it even when the weather’s not fine. It’s my classic car… and a car full of history that reflects the coolness of the 80’s.

I have so many ideas and so many things I want to execute, but time is short. Next year I’ll have new works and approaches to share, but until then they remain secret!