Rich Christoph, a 2005 graduate of the art program, worked as the design lead on the 2007 Harley-Davidson Nightster—an ultra low, tough-looking Sportster.
Christoph, who studied industrial design and freehand design with pencil while at UW-Stout, wanted the bike to look like it was handmade in someone’s garage. He wanted it to look illegal. Christoph found inspiration in hot-rod and post-WWII styles. He also worked closely with Willie G. Davidson, grandson of the founder of Harley Davidson.
Christoph has been receiving a lot of attention for his design work on the bike. He has been featured in the New York Times, Cycle World and other publications.
But the Nightster was not the first bike he designed. While attending UW-Stout, Christoph completed an internship with Polaris, during which he gained experience working on Victory Motorcycles in Spirit Lake. For class, he built his own custom bike; using welding and metal-bending skills he learned fixing his father’s old Oliver tractors. He rode his “portfolio” to Harley’s headquarters in Milwaukee for an interview. He was hired.
Other UW-Stout graduates working at Harley-Davidson's Design Studio include Frank Savage, manager of design, and Tony Pink, industrial design senior.