Trans RINA, Vol 153, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jul - Dec 2011 THE SUBLIMINAL LANGUAGE OF AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN


N Forsyth, Ladida SARL, France (DOI No: 10.3940/rina.ijmd.2011.c1.4) SUMMARY


Decoding Automotive Design: Users interpret a product based on their individual thoughts, beliefs, values, and attitudes, and their emotional associations. 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 highlight simply 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


1. INTRODUCTION


The success of automotive companies depends on their ability to identify and respond to their customers’ needs and desires. Their main goals are to respond quickly to market demands, make a vehicle that meets legislative requirements, produce it cost effectively, and sell it for a modest profit (the Return of Investment of around 3-8%). Achieving these goals relies on a successful synthesis between all


departments of an enterprise, design,


engineering, manufacturing, marketing and management must be made aware of the importance of and take responsibility for, good design.


Good design adds value to a product and a company:


 Builds overall brand values  Further develops/ improves existing designs  Adds emotional value  Creates and conveys a vision in the product line  Builds a relationship with the customer  Can save costs, in raw materials manufacture and distribution


 Design creates inter-disciplinary connections between marketing, engineering and production.


 An ugly two piece moulding costs the same to produce as a beautiful one, provided each perform well, which is easier to sell?


Good design may be costly however one should consider the real cost of bad design. Good industrial design helps the bottom line and the end of the line, designers and industrial design need to be treated not as an afterthought but as a driver and quality control which must be part of the entire development cycle


2. FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION


This is true of product, automotive and yacht design However function is more than mere fulfilment of technical requirements:


Recent developments in


information-processing technologies and media have resulted in increasingly sophisticated


increasingly discerning customers. In the world


materials, production, and products and


of


product design, almost all modern digital cameras, in each market segment, are similar in size to each other, have similar amounts of mega-pixels as each other, have similarly sophisticated auto focus, and can even come with a leather case as an optional extra, within each segment of the market, the only big difference between them is with the design.


The same applies to Automotive design, legislation, customer demands and intense competition have ensured that most modern cars can attain the legal speed limit, go at least 130kph, go round corners reasonably well, can cope with potholes and generally don’t rust to pieces in five years. This, as anyone who has had experience of buying a car in the 1970’s will tell you, was not always the case. What then is the difference in purely functional terms between a Ford Focus, a VW Golf, an Opel Astra, a Renault Megane or a Citroën C3?... not much- the defining difference between them is with the design.


With yachts, I think it is fair to say that a yacht has always been more than just a way to go from A to B, or relax, over the water. Yacht owners naturally expect a yacht to function safely and meet their needs on a basic level


while also providing deeper emotional and


psychological satisfaction. The main difference between different yacht brands is in their design.


A car’s function is also a lot more than merely getting from A to B (and if that is all you want, -there’s a car designed for you too). Automotive designers are experts at


emotional manipulation using various design


methodologies in their chosen medium, surface form. We shall be investigating and decoding these methodologies in subsequent chapters.


“The cars which stand out for me today are those with great


design, a contemporary yet timeless spirit, incredible movement and cutting-edge technology. Cars


©2011: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects C-25


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66