EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION
This is the first edition of International Journal of Marine Design (IJMD). The aim of the journal is to raise an awareness of the value and activities of industrial design (aesthetic design, ergonomics, and sustainability) within the marine industry though papers, design reviews, articles and discussion.
The first paper in this edition of the IJMD reports on a design project engaging in design-driven innovation through the application of a technologically advanced high speed platform combined with the implementation of a culturally specific emotional design framework. Resulting in a high speed superyacht coastal cruiser for the Chinese market, which changes the design meaning associated with a superyacht. The second paper discusses a unique inclusive design approach that accommodates a bespoke wheelchair within the luxury environment of a motor-yacht. This groundbreaking project leads the way in de-stigmatising disability, moving boat design towards a more inclusive field and opening up this leisure activity to an ever increasingly number of people with disabilities within our aging population.
The third paper addresses the potential of the subliminal language of automotive design in the marine design industry. Automotive design language communicates brand image, values and functionality. By using the inherent dynamics of the vehicle to create dynamic sculpture, surfaces linked by curvature, tangential and positional transitions appeal directly to our emotions. Conscious and subconscious semantic language is created by the interplay of proportion, visual weight, and the balance of mass and volume. Dynamic highlights imply speed and motion, enabling an emotional and practical understanding of the product. These sophisticated tools and methods can be, and are being, applied to the design of boats and yachts. For this to work successfully it is vital that the designer has a central role in linking marketing, engineering and manufacturing, and the other company departments, to the customer.
The fourth paper delineates the potential of advanced visualisation methodologies and technology from the automotive industry to offer a transfer of innovation to the marine industry. Through supporting spatial awareness in the design process and enhanced immersive experience for design clients through photorealistic stereo viewing animations. The fifth paper examines the potential of automotive digital human models to enhance the design resolve of marine ergonomics. The dynamic motion of boats, and the different operational scenarios, means that effective ergonomic solutions are more complex than for a typical car driver. The boat requires effective occupant postural stability as well as easy ingress and egress. An evaluation of the RAMSIS tool demonstrated that for the marine sector it is effective in conditions similar to those found in typical automotive conditions. In more extreme marine environments, where the crew are required to use protective clothing and equipment, combined with specific seating/postural support, digital human model analysis limitations need to be addressed.
The sixth paper highlights the need for environmental considerations in the boat design process. The industrial-scale production of pleasure boats started in the '70s and their lifespan was 30-50 years. It is expected that this mass of pleasure boats coming to their end-of-life, will soon pose an environmental and economic problem. To address this issue boats need to be designed for disassembly (DfD): they need to be built so that they can be disassembled at the end of their useful life. The challenge is to design boats in a cradle-to-cradle perspective. What makes DfD so effective is that creative problem solving is placed in the hands of those who are best able to find a solution, marine designers and naval architects.
The design review discusses the key issues of user needs that are beyond the functional. The shift of our population in terms of aging and disabilities and ‘time deepening’ use of leisure time, means that the boat as an extension of the home will need to satisfy more supra-functional needs than ever before. Gaining empathy with the current and future boat owners will assist designers to focus on authentic needs to ensure more appropriate design outcomes.
Finally an article gives a designers perspective on the true nature of the US sailing yacht market and how it is informed by the actual usage of the yacht rather that the designed capability of a vessel.
Discussion on papers, design reviews and articles published in the IJMD is an important feature of the journal, and contributions are invited from all members of the marine design industry.
Dr Sean McCartan Editor
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