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Design Methods & Design Principles

Lecture delivered by:

Prof. C. Gopinath
Professor
Dept. of Design
MSRSAS-Bangalore
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Session Objectives
At the end of the module, the delegate would have
understood
• Introduction: design history
• Methods
• The sketch
• The model
• The technology & CAD
• Visualization Systems
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• Principles of design
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Introduction: design history APD2505

• The vehicles that we buy evolve unceasingly, passing on technological

improvements, lower prices, and a seductive, ever-changing choice of styles
• It is standard practice for a manufacturer to design and develop perhaps
two or three concept vehicles every year, debuting them ay motor shows
surrounded by media fanfare and maximum publicity
• Concepts come from the hugely expensive international design studios
maintained around the world by major companies, worked on by teams of
skilled designers with levels of creative freedom quite unlike the restrictive
world of the production line
• Instead of telling history, the development of concept car, its role in the
current industry, the methods – technical, marketing and otherwise that lie
behind its creation will be explained
• It also looks at how car designers and car companies think, and how the
changing social perception of the vehicle, our requirements and
technological development have informed the cars that come out of styling
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studios and ultimately the cars that we buy

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• Six decades since the first concept was created, the fundamental principle
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behind its development hasn’t changed

• Concept car is the future, a vehicle designed to project a vision of the
future. It can be months, years, or even decades away.
• The concepts which are created seems radical at the motor shows, are
invariably far closer to production reality after two or three years
• The use of a concept model – costing perhaps several crore of rupees – is a
risky process. But as technology reduces the time it takes to get from design
through to development and ultimately the production line, the role of the
concept car has changed
• In the early days of post war boom, company like General Motors used
motor shows (Motorama) as a platform to feed the automotive dreams of
American public
• The first motorama was held in 1949, as the depressed post-war car market
– thanks to limited production capability – finally caught up with demand
• This show visited New York and Boston, was seen by nearly 600000
people
• By the early 1950s, the major draw at the Motoramas were the dream cars,
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styling exercises that extrapolated the forms available in the current

marketplace, pushing M.S
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• In the mid-1950s, design and technology had become the strongest selling APD2505

points for new cars, and considerations such as fuel economy and purchase
cost were superseded by horsepower counts, interior space, and luxurious
extras
• The 1952 Lincoln, which “surrounds you with glass – 3271 square
inches... Designed for modern living. The 1951 Kaiser – a car with
Anatomic Design
• Styling was the industry’s key selling factor, as a economic and social
miracle
• While the motor industry was born of engineering, it was the application
of style – initially in the form of hand built coach work on standard, mass-
produced chassis – that spawned the contemporary car market
• General Motors’ genius, swiftly adopted by the rest of the industry, was to
realize that although technological innovation drove sales, novelty and
modernity could equally be implied through the colour, shape, and style of
car bodywork, in much the same way as the fashion industry
• Design had become big business, and the realization that consumer
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demand should be addressed at all costs convinced the motor manufacturers

to emphasize previously unconsidered
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• GM’s head designer, Harley Earl, introduced female designers to develop APD2505

cars that might appeal to the female consumer, initially focusing on interiors
and trim
• Initially, the dream cars were standard production cars draped in extras,
outrageous trims, custom paint jobs, or unusual options.
• By 1953, GM were advertising “Dreams – on wheel”, five mock-up
production cars that were stars of the early Motorama shows and illustrated
as “new processes, new materials, and new techniques being developed”
• 1953 saw the debut of Chevrolet’s Corvette, a fibreglass-bodied vehicle
that was billed as the first American sports car
• The Motorama was a musical display centered on the dream cars of the
future, such as the Cadillac El Camino, Pontiac Strato Street, and Wildcat
• GM showed the XP-21 Firebird, a gas turbine-powered vehicle that proved
a stunning evocation of Detroit’s ability
• 1954 was also the year of the first Ford Thunderbird
• The 1956 show introduced the Firebird II, and five other prototypes – the
Chevrolet Impala, Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, Cadillac Brougham Town
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Car, Centurion, and the Pontiac Club de Mer

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• Created under Ned Nickles, head designer at Buick, the Centurion

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replaced the traditional dashboard with futuristic dials and discs, with a TV
camera instead of rear-view mirrors. A huge, clear-glass canopy drew
comparisons with the most visible futuristic symbol of the day, the jet
fighter, and a “new visual vocabulary, inspired by the jet and the rocket”
became the standard sight on American roads
• Dream cars were hailed as crucial experiments in future transport: “for
many years it has been General Motors’ practice to take design and
engineering ideas beyond the workshop stage and build them into actual
running cars – ‘experimental laboratories on wheels’
• The term ‘concept car’ was reputedly coined in around 1980, turning these
cars from unachievable dreams into more tangible, realizable objects
• Concepts are also the proving ground foe new types of car, fracturing the
industry into hundreds of market segments. The highly specialized market
research meant that manufacturers could accurately predict who would want
to buy what.
• The 1970s and 1980s saw the concept become a search for a new type, not
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just style of vehicle

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• Concepts are no longer just to encourage sales of production-line vehicles,

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but it has to appeal to an increasingly expanding and ever-more complex set

of consumer personalities
• Car is perhaps the most visible of any consumer product, a mobile symbol
of status whose ubiquity and multiple layers of meaning and value functions
as highly effective cultural communicator; car act as vehicles for our
personalities and aspirations, not just as means of transportation
• Increasingly, yesterday’s concept car is tomorrow’s production reality.
These shifts in the way cars are presented and sold have been achieved with
the development of new design and manufacturing technologies, that have
brought the radicalism of the concept to the marketplace
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Methods
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• It is true that there is a continuous communication between the design and

engineering deptt in any automotive industry. Without the consultation it is
not possible to create a valid concept for a near future market
• Those responsible for the actual physical appearance of a vehicle are
usually described as stylists – a throwback to the traditional separation
between a vehicle’s skin and skeleton
• Despite the popular perception of car design as something that relies
entirely on computers, the actual methods of modeling concept vehicles
have remained relatively unchanged for 50 years
• Many concepts shown at the motor shows are simply non-functioning
fibreglass shells, without opening door, windows, or interiors. On very rare
occasions the concept unveiled to the public has been constructed from
painted, trimmed, and polished clay
• To reach the model stage, computers play a vital, high-profile role, but raw
analogue techniques like clay modeling co-exist with slick digital processes
• The freehand sketches those creative forms might constrain artistic
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expression, but without those concept cars might never see the day light 13
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The sketch APD2505

• Sketch is the first step of concept

presentation and one of the strongest and
fastest tool
• Brands, models carry enormous costs of
developing tooling and mechanical systems,
but designers still place huge emphasis –
physical and psychological – on the role of
drawing
• Some cars famously began life as a few
scribbled lines on a scrap of paper
• Sketch is a means of exploring the shapes
and features that comprise a car and, more
importantly, a particular brand of car
• The designer’s relationship with marker,
pencil, pen, and paper is intuitive and fluid,
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allowing for a depth of expression and

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The model APD2505

• Whatever the concepts are created on 2D medium, ultimately it should be

translated into 3 dimension
• Engineering considerations play a part in every stage of a car design, even
with concepts, and so creating a 3D model is essential
• Translating a drawing from two to three dimensions is at the heart of the
design process, because it is the intuitive way to shape the form in 3D
materials
• Typically, a thin layer of modeling clay is supported on armatures
constructed from plywood and foam in the rough shape of the model. This
armature can be mounted on an existing chassis, created from a more solid
material such as wood or metal
• The automotive clay is specially prepared in the industry that becomes soft
and tactile when heated yet hardens solid at room tempt
• The clay surface, which is rarely much more than an inch thick, is sealed
then painted using standard primer and paints, or a flexible vinyl fabric that
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replicates the appearance of painted metal

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• Now-a-days scale models can be swiftly and accurately sculpted by

computer-controlled milling machine. These immediately sophisticated,
robotically-controlled devices precisely output files from CAD software as
physical forms, whether in clay, foam, or synthetic wood
• The process also works in reverse: clay models can be scanned in three
dimensions and turned into computer models
• Traditionally clay sculpting was the first three-dimensional scale
manifestation of a design. Though many experts believe that clay’s days are
over, but it is also believed that this old-fashioned technique contains a
human element that is near impossible to simulate by any machine. This has
sent many manufacturers back to the design school to ensure the craft’s
survival
• The clay is also vital for creating the mold for fibre-glass concept which
can be produced in a limited run for display purposes and testing before the
target group
• Once the design is finalized in CAD or 2D, a full size clay model is made
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The technology & CAD APD2505

• CAD packages offer comprehensive integration of all computer-assisted

processes – styling, modeling, component stress analysis, aerodynamic
testing etc.
• Alias’s Autostudio, CATIA (Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional
Interactive Application) and IDEAS can share data between each other
using a wide variety of engineering software
• Those companies which use CAD software, have an advantage of sharing
their huge information between all design studios and speeding up the
design time
• This development helps the car industries to make motor shows of new
cars through out the year, instead of once in a year earlier
• Software innovations like solid modeling were introduced throughout the
1980s, allowing a virtual sense of a material’s form, properties, and visual
appearance to be ever more accurately gauged on a computer screen
• Despite the great advances in computer visualization, only by using a full-
sized, painted model can designers ascertain how factors such as daylight,
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sunlight, reflections, and shadow play and alter the carefully conceived form
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• Noted designer J. Mays admitted (1990s), “we are not comfortable

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designing completely in the computer simply because you don’t have the
ability to walk around the car in real time”
• Major design studio will typically have a daylight viewing area – a
carefully concealed courtyard where models can be assessed without
revealing them to outside sources
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Visualization Systems APD2505

• Many manufacturers possess visualization system that come close to the

quality of clay model
• For example, DaimlerChrysler’s virtual
reality center in Germany has fully
integrated virtual reality systems
consisting of three main virtual
presentation methods: the Powerwall, the
Cave and a cylindrical projection area
which allows for the panoramic projection
of models
• The Powerwall is 23 ft by 8 ft screen,
onto which design models can be
projected. It can also render virtual crash
tests, as well as make full comparison
between rival models
• The Cave offers more interaction with projections on the walls, floor and
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ceiling. It provides an immersive virtual environment that can be used to

assess ergonomics, colour schemes,
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The Principles of Universal design

The Principles of Universal Design are presented here, in the following
format: name of the principle, intended to be a concise and easily
remembered statement of the key concept embodied in the principle;
definition of the principle, a brief description of the principle's primary
directive for design; and guidelines, a list of the key elements that should be
present in a design which adheres to the principle.

The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the

greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized
design.
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PRINCIPLE ONE: Equitable Use

The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.

Guidelines:
1a. Provide the same means of use for all users: identical whenever
possible; equivalent when not.
1b. Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users.
1c. Provisions for privacy, security, and safety should be equally available to
all users.
1d. Make the design appealing to all users.
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PRINCIPLE TWO: Flexibility in Use

The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and
abilities.

Guidelines:
2a. Provide choice in methods of use.
2b. Accommodate right- or left-handed access and use.
2c. Facilitate the user's accuracy and precision.
2d. Provide adaptability to the user's pace.
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PRINCIPLE THREE: Simple and Intuitive Use

Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience,
knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.

Guidelines:
3a. Eliminate unnecessary complexity.
3b. Be consistent with user expectations and intuition.
3c. Accommodate a wide range of literacy and language skills.
3d. Arrange information consistent with its importance.
3e. Provide effective prompting and feedback during and after task
completion.
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PRINCIPLE FOUR: Perceptible Information

The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user,
regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.

Guidelines:
4a. Use different modes (pictorial, verbal, tactile) for redundant presentation
of essential information.
4b. Provide adequate contrast between essential information and its
surroundings.
4c. Maximize "legibility" of essential information.
4d. Differentiate elements in ways that can be described (i.e., make it easy
to give instructions or directions).
4e. Provide compatibility with a variety of techniques or devices used by
people with sensory limitations.
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PRINCIPLE FIVE: Tolerance for Error

The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental
or unintended actions.

Guidelines:
5a. Arrange elements to minimize hazards and errors: most used elements,
most accessible; hazardous elements eliminated, isolated, or shielded.
5b. Provide warnings of hazards and errors.
5c. Provide fail safe features.
5d. Discourage unconscious action in tasks that require vigilance.
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PRINCIPLE SIX: Low Physical Effort

The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of
fatigue.

Guidelines:
6a. Allow user to maintain a neutral body position.
6b. Use reasonable operating forces.
6c. Minimize repetitive actions.
6d. Minimize sustained physical effort.
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PRINCIPLE SEVEN: Size and Space for Approach and Use

Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation,
and use regardless of user's body size, posture, or mobility.

Guidelines:
7a. Provide a clear line of sight to important elements for any seated or
standing user.
7b. Make reach to all components comfortable for any seated or standing
user.
7c. Accommodate variations in hand and grip size.
7d. Provide adequate space for the use of assistive devices or personal
assistance.
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Please note that the Principles of Universal Design address only universally
usable design, while the practice of design involves more than consideration
for usability.
Designers must also incorporate other considerations such as economic,
engineering, cultural, gender, and environmental concerns in their design
processes. These Principles offer designers guidance to better integrate
features that meet the needs of as many users as possible.
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Car Designers Speak Out at International Forum

Six of the world's great designers gathered for a presentation on car design,
followed by a panel discussion moderated by Jean Jennings, publisher of
Automobile magazine. The following quotes reveal some of what these
talented artists are really thinking.

Olivier Boulay, Head of Design, Mitsubishi Motors

The Mitsubishi Colt (sold in Japan and Europe) is "urban and chic...
beautiful because it's ugly and ugly because its beautiful."

Chris Bangle, Director of BMW Group Design, BMW AG

"A great airplane designer once said 'pretty planes fly faster.' And then came
the Stealth, proving the paradigm wrong." (Was that Cadillac's justification
for its controversial Art & Science design theme?)
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David Lyon, Executive Director of Design, General Motors

"Design must fulfil dreams and desires, represent the quality of life in the
2000's.
There is a role for emotions, not just technology". Lyon also said, when
explaining how Cadillac's new designs were influenced by the need to make
the cars acceptable in Europe, "the European view of America is...
computers, aerospace, the military."
Shiro Nakamura, Director of Design, Nissan Motor Corporation
On the disparity between high-performance automobiles and modern speed
limits: "We are painting dreams bigger than life. Humans need that."
On the other hand...
"Today's young people are less interested in cars and speed. They want to
relax and will use the car for this purpose. The Nissan Cube (a small, box-
like car with a flexible interior) allows young folks to get together and share
time with each other."
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Ed Golden, Design Director, Cars, Ford North America

Talking about retro-design: "People are asking for something they can
identify with."

Chris Bangle, BMW

"Retro is like Hamlet; same words, same writer, yet audiences still like it."
Also... "the absence of an alternative makes retro acceptable."

Nakamura again
"Retro represents a frustration among designers forced to work to a
management business case."

Olivier Boulay to Ed Golden of Ford

"The original Mustang and your new Mustang are great designs. Everything
in between was crap."
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Ford's Ed Golden:
"Automobile journalists and consumers are at the polar ends of satisfaction.
But journalists have a very powerful influence." (Your Guide's reaction to
that one: right on both counts.)

Nakamura's comments regarding the influence of culture on

automotive design
About American culture: "The US has always been just a cowboy."
About Japanese culture: "You are born, you live, you die, you move on."
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Summary
In this session following aspects of design method
and principles were explained
• Introduction: design history Seating design pitfalls
• Methods
• The sketch
• The model
• The technology & CAD
• Visualization Systems
• principles of design
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