2 Comments Written by Robert on May 21, 2008 – 10:36 pm

In the strictest sense, automobile design is a field of industrial design and is divided into exterior design and interior design. It is an interdisciplinary process involving the manufacturer, components supplier, and feedback from consumers, and consists of numerous subdivisions.

This is due to the complexity of the automobile business, which requires large-scale, long-term investment before a new model can be introduced to the market, in order to minimize financial risk. The design process starts with a brief that defines the technical package.

The industry’s term for a package that consists of an adaptable base for a family of models is a platform, and this can be used by different manufacturers or brands. The characteristics of a package or platform (meaning dimensions, weight, type of construction, chassis, and engine) together with the specifics of the brief (the desired vehicle type, market position, and production costs) determine the amount of freedom given to the designer.

Usually, designers working from competing studios begin by developing two-dimensional sketches and renderings during what is called the brainstorming stage. Since the 1990s, this process has been almost fully replaced by computeraided styling (CAS), which allows three-dimensional models to be generated at very early stages.

The models can be displayed on a monitor or virtual wall and can be analyzed true to scale and detail. To assist the final decision process, modelers using Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) milling machines produce clay models that are practically identical to the finished product.

The modelers’ role in the design process is more significant than typically assumed, because they translate the designer’s ideas into tangible, three-dimensional objects and thus make an independent contribution to the final result. Internal and external tests are then carried out based on a painted clay model and, if necessary, modifications are made before arriving at the final design during the so-called “design freeze.” At the same time, in accordance with the simultaneous engineering processes, the design solutions undergo feasibility tests ( Feasibility Studies). After the design freeze, the industrialization phase begins and initially focuses on producing an operational prototype.

The automobile industry is concerned with reducing the time-tomarket phase, meaning the duration between the start of the planning stage and the release of a new model on the market. In the 1990s, this took about four to seven years. It was reduced to twenty-four months by 2005, and now takes about eighteen months.

The acceleration and intensification of the design process is a significant creative challenge to designers and makes teamwork indispensable. Our understanding of the phrase “automobile design” needs to be critically reexamined, despite the fact that the term is wellknown and readily understood. From the beginning of the age of the automobile until the 1930s, automobile manufacturers produced only the motorized chassis, or the rolling chassis, which was then custom fitted for the customer by coachwork builders. An illustrator was responsible for depicting the manufacturer’s expertise and interpreting the taste of the client, but also strived to develop innovative ideas and set new trends.

The client was presented with a selection of artistic color drawings, called figurini in Italian, from which to choose. His or her selection was then formed directly from tin, creating a unique object that rarely resembled the original drawing. If the “line” was successful, it was reproduced in a limited series or used on different chassis.

Leading firms at the time included Fleetwood (United States), Farina (Italy), Erdmann - Rossi (Germany), Saoutchik (France), and H. J. Mulliner - Co. (United Kingdom). The illustrators, also called stylists, had little knowledge of automobile construction or engineering and were rarely involved in other phases of the process. Their artistic abilities were all that was required, which is one reason why automobile design was long considered inferior to architecture or other design-based disciplines.

The trend toward mass motorization made it necessary for the industry to produce more efficient designs and to develop a holistic approach to the automobile as a product. Henry Ford (1863–1947) set a new modern standard with the Model T in 1908, yet was surpassed in the 1920s by General Motors under the management of Alfred P. Sloan (1875–1966). Sloan’s theory of planned obsolescence was that the consumer should want and be able to afford to buy a new car every year. Sales and marketing structures should adapt to market patterns and brands be strategically positioned.

With this, the significance of strategic design was born. In 1927, Hollywood-born Harley Earl (1893–1969) became the first director of an in-house automobile design department: the General Motors Art and Color Department. The phrase “art and color” reveals quite a bit about the status of automobile design at the time a stylist’s job was simply to design a colorful shell and stylish interiors and nothing more.

Unlike the vehicle industry in the United States, automobile design in Europe developed in line with modernist theories in architecture and applied breakthrough findings in aerodynamics. Brilliant engineers rejected the fashion for styling and focused on refining the functional and economic aspects of automobiles.

Following this strict, self-imposed dogma, automotive engineers such as Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), Dante Giacosa (1905–1996), and Alec Issigonis (1906–1988) working in small teams produced modern design benchmarks in a relatively short time (these were respectively: the VW Typ 1, 1938; FIAT 500 Topolino, 1936 and FIAT 600, 1956; and the Austin Seven/Morris Mini Minor 1959). After the Second World War, Italian coachbuilders in particular Bertone, Ghia, Pininfarina, Touring and Vignale and stylists such as Giovanni Michelotti (1921–1980) and Mario Felice Boano (1903–?) continued to play an important role in automobile design and influenced the whole discipline worldwide.

Nonetheless, the status of the profession remained essentially unchanged, and terms like stylist and styling and, hence, styling department or centri stile, continued to be used. In the early 1970s, the oil crisis had a substantial impact on automobile design although this was virtually ignored by American manufacturers, whose only response was to shorten their rather exaggerated chassis. The resulting emergency economic measures caused the European industry to understand automobile design as a rational process that should result in a rationally optimized product a utopian, perfect world car.

Giorgetto Giugiaro (born 1938), founder of the design studio Italdesign, contributed greatly to establishing automobile design as a fullyfledged discipline that would plan the entire architecture of the exterior and interior of an automobile both aesthetically and technologically. His Lancia Megagamma (1978) and Lancia Medusa (1980) prototypes are milestones in automobile design. Strong competition from Japanese car manufacturers forced the international automobile industry to restructure in the 1980s. In order to satisfy the need for precisely defined brand management, it became increasingly important to develop and integrate different individual automobile design skills. Hundreds of employees are now responsible for designing and building a car. Simultaneous engineering and computer-aided design ( CAD/ CAM/CIM/CNC) became the catchphrases of the 1990s.

New areas of specialization were discovered, new categories such as the “crossover” were developed, and more models were released on the market. The automobile design discipline has been experiencing a rather euphoric phase since 2000. Sound, smell, lighting and multimedia design are all being integrated into automobile design and safety aspects are being reemphasized. However, true automobile design has not developed much further in the age of brands and branding. Retro design is and will remain fashionable, classic designs are being reinterpreted, and a flamboyant, pimp aesthetic is on the rise. This might be due to the teamwork aspect as even while the public spotlight is directed at the chief designer, products are no longer the work of an individual mind.