Automotive design
Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans.
Automotive design in this context focuses primarily on developing the visual appearance or aesthetics of vehicles, while also becoming involved in the creation of product concepts.
The design focuses not only on the isolated outer shape of automobile parts, but concentrates on the combination of form and function, starting from the vehicle package.
In particular, vehicular electronic components and parts will give more challenges to automotive designers who are required to update on the latest information and knowledge associated with emerging vehicular gadgetry, particularly dashtop mobile devices, like GPS navigation, satellite radio, HD radio, mobile TV, MP3 players, video playback, and smartphone interfaces.
Color, contrast, texture, and pattern must be carefully combined to give the vehicle a unique interior environment experience.
The design team also develops graphics for items, such as badges, decals, dials, switches, kick or tread strips, or liveries.
The fully developed CAS digital model will be re-developed for manufacturing meeting the Class-A surface standards that involve both technical as well as aesthetics.
Henry Ford did not like the model-year change because he clung to an engineer's notions of simplicity, the economics of scale, and design integrity.
This marketing experience made the entire industry take note of the high risks involved in incorporating major design advancements into their production cars.
Exner is also credited with using wind tunnel testing to justify incorporating tailfins, thus moving the company away from boxy-looking cars into more aerodynamic and futuristic designs that were influenced by rockets after WWII.
[4] Teague was responsible for automotive designs such as the two-seat AMC AMX muscle car, the subcompact Gremlin, the Pacer, and Matador coupe, as well as the original and market segment-creating, Jeep Cherokee.
[8] After World War II, with the decline of the coachbuilding industry,[9] French automakers (except Citroën) followed British and other popular trends until they gained financial stability.
[citation needed] The British automobile industry catered to all segments ranging from compact, budget, sports, utility, and luxury-type cars.
British skilled resources such as panel beaters, die machinists, and clay modelers were also available partly due to their involvement with the motorsport industry.
Still, during the 1960s, British manufacturers sought professional help from Italian designers and studios such as Giovanni Michelotti, Ercole Spada, and Pininfarina.
Notable British contributions to automobile designs were the Morris Mini by Alec Issigonis, several Jaguar Cars by Sir William Lyons and Malcolm Sayer,[10] Aston Martin DB Series, and several cars from Triumph and MG. Ford Europe, based in Great Britain, is notable for the Ford Sierra line, a work of Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz, and Patrick le Quément.
The director most involved was Geoff Upex, with his team of Richard Woolley, Dave Saddington, George Thomson, Alan Mobberley, and Martin Peach (colour and trim).
After the 1980s, German design evolved into a distinctive Teutonic style often to complement their highly engineered cars suited to Autobahns.
Volkswagen, which was dependent on Marcello Gandini, Giorgetto Giugiaro, and Karmann, later formed the contemporary design language along with Audi.
During the late-1950s, Italian automobile designs gained global popularity coinciding with the modern fashion and architecture at that time around the world.
Sweden had Volvo and Saab as domestic automakers, and the nation's northern location required that cars needed to withstand Nordic climate conditions.
Before World War II and until the early-1990s, Czechoslovakia had a strong presence in the automotive industry with manufacturers like Skoda, Jawa, Tatra, CZ, Praga, and Zetor.
Czech automobiles were generally known for their originality in mechanical simplicity and designs were remarkably Bohemian as evident from Tatra cars and Jawa motorcycles.
During the Communist regime, the design started falling back and ultimately the domestic automakers ended up as subsidiaries of EU-based companies.
