Car Design Fetish

There is something nice about drawing on a white board.  No high quality expectations of line quality and always has a nice looseness to it.  What better table then to have at home to sit around and talk design.  Imagine the ideas that will appear and disappear over a few cocktails. Sweet as a Nut is a UK-based company that applies artwork to coffee and side table tops, from roses to tapes to whiteboards. You can choose from one of their designs or you can contact them to create your own.  This is a great high end look to an otherwise low end product.

[thanks to Design Milk for the find]

There has been a long debate about what constitutes an American made car.  Is it the fact that the headquarters is based in the U.S., or that the vehicle is built in the U.S.?  Most people say it is where the profits go in the end.  Others say it is the plant that matters. The plant workers put the money back into the economy sustaining employment.  This can be argued for hours with a loyal “American” buyer.  Honestly I am not sure what to believe.  For Ford and GM this debate will remain forever, but Chrysler is now owned by an Italian company Fiat.  So have the headquarters moved to there as well?

Could this have a negative impact on Chrysler or will the general public not even realize that Chrysler is technically not a domestic brand anymore?  I am just curious because I have not really seen any statements on the matter.  The truth is that the auto world is global and nothing is made 100% anywhere.  Most of our “domestics” are made in Canada and Mexico.  You don’t see those countries having the same unemployment issues as us.  Maybe we Americans should build our American cars.

So what do you think, does it matter that Chrysler is now Italian?

DeLorean  (approx 53 min B&W/Color)

This is an excellent 1981 documentary by Pennebaker Hegedus Films. Following John Z. DeLorean as he jets across the world from New Orleans to Belfast to Geneva and many places in between, we get an unvarnished, first-hand look at the incredible challenges that any new automobile venture must face.

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Here is the audio version of RoundAbout episode #28 — and yes, it contains 100% more CDF! Enjoy.

http://www.roundaboutshow.com/home/2010/3/21/roab-28-the-pet-episode.html

This is something that should be taught in every classroom.  I love the back and forth between these brands (BMW and Audi).  Their marketing is a great example of some friendly competition.

[via Autoblog]

Visualization techniques are constantly evolving.  It started with stone in cave, then pen to paper, then computer modeling and now we are finally getting into the hologram arena.  Holograms have always teased us in movies such as the landscape being spun around in the movie Avatar.  We are so close to having that capability.  This video shows a new form of holographic visualization used for architecture.  Imagine the possibilities of it in the automotive and product world.

Picture going into a sales meeting and showing the customer this.  Get a full size hologram of a car and show multiple versions in a clinic without ever having to make a prototype (maybe then the price of cars would come down).  This kind of visualization could greatly speed up the development process.

Holographic Architectural Imaging by Zebra from Core77 on Vimeo.

Here is some more info on the product from Freshome.

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With all of the industry events during the preview of NAIAS you get to hear a lot of rumors from a variety of people.  Some true and some not but all interesting.  Here is our run down of some interesting tid bits picked up off the floor when the drinks ran out.

Buick Regal GS – High potential of making it to production.  Really no reason not to since it is made as an Opel.

Chevrolet Aveo RS – Looked great at the show, but production form changes the front clip, lighting details, and the size wheels.  I saw this version at GM’s Technology Event in the fall and it needs help.  No RS version is going to create a lot of bad press for the new Aveo.

GMC Granite – This was an actual real concept car created in just 7 months.  Many GM designers were not a fan of a small GMC and are not supporting it to well.  GM employees seem to be split 50/50 on whether this concept will make it into production.  Personally I thought this was Best of Show and would bring many new buyers (myself included) to the brand.  This vehicle was a gerat interpretation of a small GMC.

Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep – Busy , busy , busy is all that can be said for team Pentastar.  No vehicles at Detroit but 16 new vehicles coming through next year.  11 refreshed and 5 all new.  There are 9 new interiors coming out by next year and some have not even been designed yet.  Most exciting to me is a new Jeep Wrangler interior coming after next years subtle refresh.  I was told I will love it.  We will wait and see.

Supposedly Mr. Sergio Marchionne does not like showing vehicles far ahead of actual production.  Hence why there were no vehicles in Detroit, nothing is ready to come out.  We will not even see the upcoming Jeep Grand Cherokee until spring when it goes on sale.  Could he be bringing the suspense of the old days when you would actually go to the dealership just to watch the cover come off the new car?  That would be great and really stick it to us bloggers (not us) who break embargoes early.

Ford – The new Fusion / Mondeo is said to be amazing and will blow away everything out there.  Hopefully they grew out of the global growing pains had by the new Focus.

Audi E-Tron – This version of the E-Tron will be the next R4.  It has the same proportion of last years VW roadster.

VW New Compact Coupe (NCC)- This will most likely be the new Jetta Coupe, assuming they stick with the Jetta name.

What did you here? If you have any other rumors you heard be sure to add them into the comments section.

For our last podcast of the year Dali, Arvind and I set out to enjoy some beverages to celebrate the upcoming holiday.  While we were at it the discussion of a holiday wish list from the Big 3 came up.  Have a listen to hear what our thoughts are.  We also reveal some details on our 4 year Anniversary celebration following the NAIAS Design Forum.  Check it out!

 Standard Podcast [17:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3869)

Our friend DT over at Design Sojourn has posted a fantastic article on something that all designers should know how to do: give effective presentations in front of other people.  While we as designers may create artwork that rivals the likes of DaVinci, we usually can’t present ourselves out of a cardboard box.

Focusing on aspect such as eye contact and how many points per slide, DT does a great job of helping explain how we can present our work more professionally, and in turn create engagement with those who we are presenting to.

And no, telling Tiger Woods jokes to kick off a meeting isn’t included.

[Click here for the full article]

Design Thinking is a hot topic right now.  Companies need to change and create new innovative and profitable products.  The question is does management become more creative or do designers become more business oriented?  In my opinion designers already have business in mind.  You cannot create a successful product without looking down the road into the marketing strategy and how the product will benefit the company.  Management will probably have a harder time learning how to be creative and think about all sides of the business (product development through to production and marketing)  like designers do.

Here is a presentation on design thinking and how to pitch it to your management.  Bryan deBlois of Innovation Focus “created this presentation as a synthesis of current thoughts on design thinking to try and explain “it” to buisness people who have heard the term design thinking”

It is time for designers to take charge.