It’s not uncommon to find that one kid in any neighbourhood school doodling cars all over in his drawing book. That kid will perhaps grow up with a burning ambition to become an automobile designer.
Are you desperate to become one too?
Chris Bangle, arguably one of the most influential auto designers of his generation, says, ‘Great cars are art.’
‘I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalents of the great gothic cathedrals; I mean the supreme creation of an era conceived with passion by unknown artists and consumed in image, if not in usage, by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object’ – Roland Barthes, Mythologies, 1957
Automobiles are an embodiment of art, entertainment and sculpture, which, coincidentally also happen to provide transportation. The design of an automobile is essential and is often decisive for its success. In addition to technical qualities, design triggers the impulse to buy.
Automobile design is the very pinnacle of design – all other design forms are a substrate.
The automobile has, more than any thing else become a product with highly emotional properties and a significant impact on society. Worldwide, automobiles are the second largest purchase after a house.
Automobile design evolved in the frontier between art, market and science, and progressively became an aesthetic reference. Aspects such as aesthetic appeal, emotional response, brand impression and expression are heavily influenced by product appearance, and thus of main concern
for automotive manufacturers today. Aesthetic and identity related factors such as exterior styling, interior styling, trendy and ‘makes me feel attractive’ are among the ten most important purchasing criteria across the world.
The automobile design activity comprises the shaping of the automobile in all its visible aspects, in styling of the outer body shape and in graceful appointments of the interior; even the arrangement of the components in the engine compartment are included. Since direct sense perception acts strongly on the world of feelings, styling assumes a key function in the development of an automobile; styling often determines individual acceptance or rejection of a given product even before technical features are evaluated.
Automobile design implies taking into account several elements: function of the car, market, production, distribution, promotion, price reduction, and increase in safety, ergonomics and environmental concerns.
The average life of a car design is six years. There are 5000 different car designs produced globally. Each designed car would have gone through at least five to ten design variations. That’s 50,000 designs right there being churned out every five to six years. |
