All articles by Guy Bird – Page 11
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Design Development: Saab Phoenix concept
The dust may have settled since the launch of the Phoenix, Saab's controversial 2011 Geneva concept car, but the story of how it came to be has not been fully told. Completed in super quick time, Car Design News traces its design development in an exclusive chat with design director ...
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Design Review: Audi E-Tron Detroit concept
The inward-angled front LED headlamps are less graphically 'loud' than the Frankfurt E-Tron's, but nonetheless join up in a similar way to the vertical front vents on each side to form a dynamic lower-case 'r' shape on the left and a corresponding mirror image 'r' on the right.
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Design Review: Audi E-Tron Detroit concept
To ensure its ongoing dream of becoming the biggest prestige carmaker in the world Audi has realized it must have a credible electric powertrain strategy. But unlike other marques Audi also believes it needs to establish a clear sub-brand and identity for its electric vehicles. This explains the recent flurry ...
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Interview: Tony Williams-Kenny, Design Director, SAIC Motor UK
What's the biggest challenge for you now?"Quite honestly, it's the number of programs. We've got a lot of cars to do with not a massive team."
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Interview: Tony Williams-Kenny, Design Director, SAIC Motor UK
Becoming a design director at an automaker is not an easy feat. Years must be dedicated to creating visions for future products and managing a team that is capable of winning programs. That Tony Williams-Kenny achieved that level in his career when he was a scant 32 years of age ...
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Design Development: Volvo S60 concept
Officially, the wraps aren't taken off the S60 concept until January in Detroit, but in the run-up to the release of press details and images today Car Design News was invited to Sweden to get a good look at the crucial new executive sedan and talk to the team behind ...
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Show Report: New York Auto Show 2013
The clue should have been in its full name, but in recent years the New York International Auto Show has arguably failed to fully deliver on its worldwide remit. A tailing off in its ability to attract global unveils and one particularly fateful head-on clash with the 2011 Shanghai motorshow ...
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Essay: Searching for China's C-Factor
Western-born Friedhelm Engler, design director of GM PATAC and the man behind the Buick Business Concept, also points out the importance of avoiding a ‘cut and paste' approach to visual design cues, preferring instead to be "more China-inspired". As a Westerner, he says, he finds the 5000 years of Chinese ...
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Essay: Searching for China's C-Factor
The notion of national design identities being expressed in exterior car shapes and interior ambience and function is often an intangible one. But at their best, certain French cars do now display a flair for new thinking and elegance that could only come from France, US cars can convey a ...
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ArticleDesign Development: Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow concept [2011]
Building full-size models of its virtual entries for the annual LA Design Challenge is now becoming something of a habit for the Mercedes-Benz US Advanced Design Center. After the critical and public success of its Biome concept last year the California-based team developed another 1:1 model for this year’s competition, called the Silver Arrow in homage to the classic 1930s and 1950s racing cars
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Interview: Walter de’Silva, Head of Design, Volkswagen Group
Which non-VW brands do you think are doing a good job today?
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Interview: Walter de’Silva, Head of Design, Volkswagen Group
Overseeing design at seven of the most important global car brands for the world's third biggest carmaker (and growing), makes Walter de'Silva without peer in terms of car design influence and power. He is responsible for dozens of new or facelifted cars and concepts every year from Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, ...
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Designer Interviews: Cathal Loughnane, Peugeot Design Lab
CDN What design expertise can you draw upon?
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Designer Interviews: Cathal Loughnane, Peugeot Design Lab
Officially, Peugeot's Design Lab non-car design wing has only been in business since June 2012 but it has actually been operating as something of a Skunk Works within the company for two years.
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Studio Focus: BMW DesignworksUSA Shanghai
The new studio splits its time 50/50 between BMW Group work and external clients, but in these early days, Steinle says his team is spending a lot of time on strategy, looking in particular at Chinese purchasing perspectives. "The Chinese market is more layered than more mature markets", he observes. ...
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Studio Focus: BMW DesignworksUSA Shanghai
BMW DesignworksUSA Shanghai Brands Various clients, plus BMW Group (BMW, Mini, i and Rolls-Royce)Established April 2012 Location Huangpu District, Shanghai, ChinaStaff 8 Studio leader Gerhard Steinle
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Design Development: Ford Transit Courier, Connect, Custom and 2T
Wraith and Campbell say the exterior, interior and colour and trim for each model were worked on at the same time, starting with the biggest 2T and Custom models then followed by the smaller Connect and Courier. There was some overlap and cross-referencing between vehicle design schedules though, as Campbell ...
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Design Development: Ford Transit Courier, Connect, Custom and 2T
Other changes include a lowered roof to allow the vehicle into more restricted height areas like car parks and private estates. The design was adjusted after the team heard customer anecdotes of van drivers getting into such areas with heavy loads lowering their vehicle height sufficiently, but then when the ...
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Design Development: Ford Transit Courier, Connect, Custom and 2T
To educate those influencers outside the design studio, it was quickly decided to show something that would point out their intended change of tack. Wraith continues: "We wanted to convey that we could make something that looked good and still be very practical, so very early on we milled out ...