Little design trend

Anyone notice this one? It reinforces my theory that every generation of Art Center students cause a worldwide auto design trend 5-10 years later.

Wow, you dug up a 3 month old post just to write this painfully mis informed comment?

Considering his history on the forum does it really surprise you?

But as for the OP i do find it interesting how long it takes for “blue Sky” concepts that are shown to the public to eventually make their way to the mass market. Very much like the trickle down effect i experienced with European design elements eventually coming to America.

Chevis W

Anyone notice this one? It reinforces my theory that every generation of Art Center students cause a worldwide auto design trend 5-10 years later.

In 2009 it seems Honda R&D of America Hired the most talented Auto- designers from USA Design Schools…

I agree with you about the influence of Art Center (not sure about the cycle duration), but also could say that Pforzheim students are rocking the design scene.

When was the last time an engineer did any of those things? Every major car manufacturer was making cars with 4 wheels and a steering wheel. That format hasn’t been challenged successfully in the 100+ years of the automobile and was never lead by design. Design in the automobile has had two major focuses. 1) on the HMI (human machine interface) which has radically evolved with the introduction of outside technologies starting with high end audio and moving toward internet awareness (the internet of things). 2) on the cultural relevance, emotional resonance, and the manifestation of distinct brands. On paper the difference between a Jaguar XKR and an Aston Martin are not that large, but to their owners, they are very different.

Also, there seems to be a gap in the understanding in the difference between design and engineering roles. There is overlap and collaboration, but a core difference in responsibilities.

The paradigms in the automobile industry are also locked very deep because of the cost of change at the scale of such a product. In reality, they are systems of products that all come together as a cohesive whole. Change effects much more than in other product types. I’m a proponent of change in that industry, and it is happening, it is just measured and mainly under the covers right now.

Perhaps Variant harks back to engineers like Ferdinand Porsche, or Alec Issigonis, who increased passenger volume by pioneering transverse engines with FWD, or William Sayer who gave us the E-type road going fantasy based around race-track aerodynamics. Major design paradigm shifts.

With the automotive biz focussing on cut-throat manufacturing costs and relying on shared platforms across the globe: W/Audi/Skoda, Fiat/Chrysler/Mazda, Nissan/Renault/Lada to name a few, it’s no wonder that some of us are becoming a little jaded with styling and brand masquerading as ‘design innovation’.

(Yep, on paper there are similarities between Jags and Aston Martins- the dotted line between them being Ford, and Ian Callum, art college automotive grad who worked on both…)

Let’s not turn is into another design vs. engineering thread… We already hashed that out a while back.

Let’s not turn is into another design vs. engineering thread… We already hashed that out a while back.

I second the motion. Although I do support SV’s comment …

"it’s no wonder that some of us are becoming a little jaded with styling and brand masquerading as ‘design innovation’.

But what can “we” expect really… flying cars?

I find this presentation from Chris Bangle quite interesting Designing Difference in a World of Sameness - YouTube

Except for interconnection and security, I don’t find any big innovations inside the car industry during the last 50 years. It’s been all improving bit by bit what already existed, without changing much the original concept. I think now with autonomous cars, use of composites on a larger scale, car sharing, electric cars and youth not so interested in owning a car, we’ll see some interesting innovations. Companies like TESLA, BMW or Google are already digging into that, it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves during the next 3 - 5 years. I think by 2017 there’ll be a Volvo fleet of autonomous cars testing around Sweden.

I wish he could have posted the photos online. His descriptions and the crowd reactions are so interesting…

Agreed. Tried to watch but without the pictures it was tough.

It was like listening to porn. The pictures make a big diff.

:wink:

Yep, it´s a shame, but still some sentences that make you think about the automotive design. I found quite disturbing the story of the car designer who resigned his job to go and work for a bank WTF! I think the space era, with humans on the moon, plans to go to mars, maybe asteroids, had to be amazing, truly inspiring. I do think that now we are also on the verge of major innovations on that industry, we are already seeing some of that and I can´t wait to see what happens!

I think about going back to Uni. for an economics degree just about every other week. I thought, “wow, I guess I’m a normal designer with this desire.”

Don’t know if I’m normal, whatever that means, but once I found ID the range of professions that appeal to me greatly diminished. I could envision architecture, design-driven entrepreneurship, or being an artist, maybe even something like an anthropologist, geologist, or astronomer, but I don’t know about an economist. I think design might even be less subjective than economic policy. =)

Not engineering? I think I’d enjoy ME, in aeronautics or transportation in general. Architecture would be my second choice as well, but engineering would be the third. You need to be creative, struggle to find good solutions and make some prototyping.