All Design Essays articles
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ArticleA is for…a comprehensive glossary of automotive design terms
Car Design News presents a glossary of car design terms
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ArticleThe mysterious role of perceived quality in car design
The science of perceived quality ensures a product materialises as intended
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ArticleHow does marketing influence car design?
Car Design News investigates how departments beyond the studio influence the final design of a vehicle. This time, it is not engineering, but marketing and product planning under the microscope
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ArticleTyre design: the perfect balance of form and function
Car Design News investigates the principles of tyre design and what room for innovation remains
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ArticleUnderpromising and overdelivering in the age of the software-defined vehicle
In an era in which brands like Audi, Volkswagen as well as start-ups such as Fisker, are asking customers to put their faith in an entirely new technology, maybe OEMs are better off underpromising and overdelivering, writes Drew Smith
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ArticleIn praise of pushbuttons (and other physical controls)
Buttons are making a slight return thanks to revised guidance from Euro NCAP. Drew Smith considers what we lost in the move to screens, and what we might gain from the new rules
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ArticleOpinion: The UX pain of EV rental
By adding EVs to rental fleets without perfecting the end-to-end experience, brands which claim to be customer-focused have squandered an opportunity to build customer acceptance, writes Drew Smith
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ArticleHow proportions influence a car’s perceived value
Using the Toyota Mirai as a case study, Jelle Tjebbes argues that the package often has a far greater impact on the perception of value than exterior styling
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Article‘In the race to be “cool”, quality and coherence are being left behind’
CES 2024 demonstrated that established OEMs like Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes are asking the wrong questions when it comes to user experience
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ArticleArtificial intelligence and the car designer of the future
CDN’s Karl Smith asks if artificial intelligence is the existential threat to car design we think it is
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WebinarReinventing Luxury with Chris Bangle
At the recent Pratt Institute Design Symposium 2021 on Re-Inventing Luxury held at the Whitney Museum in New York City, car designer and thinker Chris Bangle shared his thoughts on creating a new narrative around luxury design. Car Design News publishes his talk here
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ArticleAn interview with Karl Smith, author of Brave New Car
A new publication by longtime Car Design News contributor Karl Smith looks at the future of the car, examining how electrification, autonomy, fresh ideas around luxury, interior concepts can offer a way out of the current cul de sac we find ourselves in
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ArticleComment: Too much minimalism?
Everyone is a minimalist these days, but beyond being a handy catch-all for pared back aesthetics, what does the term mean for car design? Are designers sacrificing ornament at the altar of functionality as embodied by touchscreens?
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ArticleDesign Essay: how adversity shapes cars
The changing face of car design through difficult times is in fact a prime example of humanity’s remarkable adaptability and resilience – not to mention our collective mood.
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ArticleAre ’quadri-mobiles' the future of small cars?
Over the last ten to fifteen years, a combination of more rigorous regulatory demands and increasing customer expectations conspired to create the finest superminis ever made. One look at cars like the Volkswagen Up or the latest Hyundai i10 is enough to realise that buyers of entry-level models never had it so good
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ArticleDesign Essay: Surprise & delight, the importance of detail design
What makes people fall in love with cars? Aidan Walsh argues that small details in design cement long-term love affairs with vehicles
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ArticleDesign Essay: Big Screen, Big Problem?
Integrating screens in car interiors comes with a set of significant problems, from aesthetic decisions to considering the life-cycle of the vehicle. You could argue that how screens are handled within the instrument panel highlights many of the wider creative challenges of mobility design
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ArticleJukeboxes: the unlikely automotive influence
A look at the connection between mid-century American cars and jukeboxes
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ArticleDesign Essay: Is still possible to draw in Italian?
Designer and writer Matteo Licata takes a brief look back at the history of Italian car design and asks if the same emotion can be replicated today
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ArticleDesign Essay: Why is Car Design so Hooked on the Past?
Retro car designs have been appearing throughout the 21st century so far… but why are they so popular?