Trans RINA, Vol 153, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jul - Dec 2011
Looking at the rear view of the Toyota IQ (Figure 18) the designers made the DLO as large as possible, the black graphics on C-pillars making the DLO (rear window) appear wider and the car more cubic thus. This fact gives the car a strong solid stance. The design of the lights has horizontal graphics that increase impression of width/ strength further. In painting the sill of the car black, the designer has reduced the visual height of the vehicle.
Figure 17 BMW
In this image (Figure 17) the car has a much shorter front overhang and a longer rear overhang, it
is therefore
unbalanced but the car is more dynamic than the image before.
Cars are dynamic sculptures. This means that the car is designed to look as if is moving even when it stands still. The real BMW isthe
second image, it has been
purposefully designed to be “unbalanced“. This gives the car a more dynamic aspect, as if the wheels have already gone forward, leaving the body to ‘catch up’ - it already has a sense motion blur when standing still. This is just one of the many signifiers used by the designers to communicate the signified speed and dynamic capability. The highlights and reflections in the bodywork are tear drop shaped; these too, work directly on the observer’s subconscious associations of aerodynamic efficiency and speed.
8. AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN: PROPORTION
By changing the proportion of a car the designers and packaging engineers can change the aspect of the car thus emphasizing attributes of length, width or strength.
A fixed engineering package can be visually adjusted by the designer to appear lighter, more dynamic, stronger, shorter, longer, employing
higher, lower as required automotive design or by
Peugeot and Citroën work with the same engineering package for the Aygo, 108 and C1.
techniques. Toyota, Design is the
differentiator in creating a more conservative Peugeot that looks more solid and heavier whereas the avant- garde and younger branded Citroën C1 is technical and quirky; the Toyota is automotive and dynamic.
9.
AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN: AUTOMOTIVE SURFACING
There are many signifieds that can be communicated with the body shape. Metal can be designed to look strong and rigid or soft, almost fluid and light, it can look as if it is stretched around an interior structure or potent power plant. Low lights and highlights define a surface and by the way these are made to interplay the character of a surface can be controlled. By wrapping and intersecting surfaces and graphics, the car catches the eyes attention. The eye of the observer is led to sweep across the surfaces, as if visually stoking the vehicle along the metal form, a visual caress, the eye movement thus creates a sensation of dynamic flow.
“Cars may be the product of massive, heartless industrial machines, but thanks to inspirational design they can have a life, even a spirit of their own They have movement power and energy\they evoke feelings, dreams and fantasies. At the end of the day is these gut feelings that really sell the car”11
10. AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN: METHODOLOGY
Figure 18 Toyota
Today’s automotive designers think of automobiles as 3D objects from the outset. They usually design using from a ¾ front and a ¾ rear view to create a coherent and dynamic 3D object. In the past, automotive design was approached in a more architectural method, designers used the piano di forma – designing from the side view, top front and rear views to and linking them up by means of transitional surfaces and graphical elements.
©2011: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects
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