Our current vehicle design practice is increasingly refined to speed up the project execution and, as a result, many vehicles on our roads today lack in identity and character.
The opportunity to be a speaker at the International Automotive Conference (IAC) in Sunderland, in November last year, gave me the possibility to reflect upon our current automotive design practice and how it is increasingly constrained by tight project timelines and in some cases by lack of vision. This is what should be questioned today, as many new vehicles on the road lack identity, originality and character.
Therefore, I decided to tackle the presentation theme: 'Evolution - How do we speed up the design process?' from a different perspective, by introducing a recent case study based on an industrial collaboration project that our third year Transportation Design students had undertaken in collaboration with Concept Group International (CGI), a leading product design and strategic development consultancy based in Coventry, UK. Apart form establishing stronger links with industry, the aim of this project was to challenge current design methods and trends in order to create new design directions without having to compromise the design process with the usual financial, marketing and industrial constraints.
As a design academic, one of my primary objectives is to instill in our design students the right approach to projects, making sure that a different and appropriate thinking process is applied right from the outset. This is an absolutely crucial requirement if new, different and original design solutions are to be developed.
This team project benefited from the direct involvement of Niki Yau (Principal Designer) and Jonathan Tatum, Head of Design from the CGI design studio, who set the briefs and repeatedly visited our students during the five-week project schedule. In our case, another primary objective of this collaboration was to prepare the class for the forthcoming industrial placement scheme, by enhancing the students' intellectual and design skills to the required standard of professional presentation to secure a placement. The project required an enthusiastic and experiential approach to learning by linking technology with social, marketing and aesthetic concerns. The choice of the subject matter enabled the students to develop a particular area of vehicle design interest or gain experience in the fascinating discipline of marine design.
A series of final design drawings and renderings / CAD images were produced as presentation boards to illustrate both the exterior and the interior of their proposed designs. The overall integrity, appropriateness and detail of the design solution had to be apparent in terms of quality and clarity of the final presentation package.
The first brief was entitled 'HAUTE CAR-TURE' in order to explore the link between fashion and automotive world. The aim was to select an automotive and a fashion brand to imagine the result of such collaboration and create a unique custom-built vehicle that reflected the values / design cues of both brands.
This brief followed the trend of some car manufacturers associating their products with established fashion labels to further reinforce their appeal to new fashion-conscious buyers. A typical example of this is represented by the recent joint venture between Lamborghini and Versace as well as Mercedes Benz and Armani. In order to conceive a vehicle, which is, in this specific scenario, the outcome of both design brands, their core values and design language, our students had to carefully examine what areas of commonality and distinction had to be retained and combined. Only at the end of this brainstorming and brand / consumer analysis were they allowed to pick up their pencils.
Having gained this level of brand awareness, the students were able to embark on a design development process that was more evaluative, refreshing and satisfying. Students Nicki Lau and Samuel Sari approached the brief in a fairly unconventional way by combining Vivienne Tam and the Chinese maker Chery to form a new premium sub-brand called Lineage, to diversify Chery's portfolio in a lucrative and new niche market. Considering the increasing competition between car brands, this strategic product development plan gave the students plenty of motivation and ideas to invent a concept car within a different and dynamic branding scenario.
At the opposite end of the scale, James Murray and James Patterson chose to explore the enormous potential of two of the most charismatic brands in today's society: Aston Martin and Chanel. For this project they aimed to create a car for women that offered aggression and power whilst carrying influences that Coco Chanel translated into her early 20th century designs, in terms of fluidity and organic forms. A lot of clever design work was then carried in order to convey the appropriate product semantic to the car in terms of detailing in a subtle and sensitive manner.
This second brief required the students to design a concept boat (class between 58/64 foot), focussing on 'premium lifestyle' and automotive-inspired themes. The aim was to focus on exterior design and styling using automotive-influenced themes and levels of sophistication in design execution more associated with cars. This exciting brief was put forward by CGI designer for many valid reasons. Probably, the main one is well embodied by the blunt but honest statement that Dr Marteen de Bruijn, founder of Silvestris Haute Motive Concepts, made for Intersection Magazine (summer 2007): "Boat design needs to change radically, we are at least twenty to thirty years behind car manufacturing. it's incredibly conservative."
Martin Atkinson and Jason Bushby decided to tackle this brief by creating a floating entertainment platform for a luxury hotel chain rather than producing another reiteration of the common luxury yacht. Whilst aboard the yacht, passengers would have numerous chances to independently explore and sample differing cultures of the Mediterranean, all without the stress or obligation of being limited by visiting times and group activities that you would find within a regular holiday package. All trips would be tailor-made to each individual client, whether it is for wedding functions, birthday parties or special celebrations.
The yacht also features an observatory, which acts as a sheltered communal space on the main deck, while under water the space would allow anyone to view the sea without having to dive. Gianluca D'Alessandro and Jonathan Hodder designed a conceptual and advanced luxury submersible yacht to offer passengers the exhilarating opportunity to travel both on and below the water line. A spacious and luxurious interior was formed around new hull architecture, capable of combining the dynamic requirements of both traditional yacht and compact submarine. This exciting and unusual proposal is another confirmation of the lengthy process, which had to occur at the beginning of the project to prepare and change the students' mindset before entering the design development phase.
This appealing design collaborative project proved to be a challenge, as students were required to design for the industry and also experiment with new scenarios, presentation techniques and communication strategies. Two important official interim critiques took place in our state-of-the-art School of Design building at Northumbria University, to provide guidance at key stages of the project. They represented fundamental stepping stones during which formative assessment with verbal feedback was given to each student by the CGI designers and their tutor.
Our philosophy was to create a unique environment that supported the growth of a creative design community by promoting experimentation, communication and design education. The fundamental learning and practical methods adopted in the design process were based on in-depth mental approach to the project in order to speed up the evolution of ideas with appropriate methodologies, which unlocked and channelled students' inspiration. We firmly believe that only a flexible and open mind will enable students to become not just well trained designers but also great thinkers! Within this context, it becomes apparent that the best strategy to speed up the design process goes well beyond the appropriate use of design methods and cutting-edge software technology.
It is instead, the ability to provide designers with the right level of confidence, intellectual rigour, knowledge and drive to innovate. For once, this specific approach is something car design studios should turn to if they are to fully exploit their immense and varied design capabilities, but within a redefined timescale to seek out more diverse pathways. This is a means of finding profound sense and justification in whatever design activity we are involved.
Matteo Conti is a senior lecturer / industrial placement tutor in Northumbria University. His graduation is in Transportation Design with a First Class Honors. Recently appointed as the external examiner at Domus Academy for the MA course in Car Design and Mobility, Matteo's plan is to place this evolving course in Newcastle on the European design arena.
