Part 4: The role of aesthetics in automotive design
The final installment of the 4 part series exploring the role of aesthetics in automotive design.
When driving, there might be a link between the rhythmic swerving a car creates to the enjoyment of similar repetitive swerving movement as children, playing on the swings or “see-saw” on a parent’s leg, as a returning back to ones “childhood”. With new technology in the concept cars of today opens a small window of the possibilities of the future in car design of having our augmented experiences of traveling. Together we experience and share in the emotion of the exhilaration and speed of driving, the annoyance of banked up traffic, the traveling journey together to a holiday destination and the new discoveries along the way.
Feelings when driving: Mercedes F400 Carving - Sony/Toyota joint called “Pod” – It has a range of colours that try and express the monitored emotion of the driver.
The general appearance of a car and its initial response to the aesthetic qualities of a car assists in the decision making process a person makes to whether they should stay or go. The type of person, whether they are aware of it or not, determines if further ‘pursuit’ in learning more about the aesthetic of a vehicle. Today’s audience is used to seeing the cars that have a cabin, a bonnet, with front and rear end graphics. Cars like this tend to be initially more widely accepted. It is most likely, as in the Jeep Wrangler/Military comparison, that people can associate with these shapes to identify certain key aesthetic features.
Bringing it back (to Part 3) to the horse, or nowadays more commonly, ‘man’s best friend’, the dog, they have similar representative feature elements that allow possible ‘aesthetically pleasing’ features. For example, the eyes and nose are like the lights and front grille where they may sit on the corners, are round or long, or closer to the middle of the grille. Openings and vents on the lower front end are like the mouth that can, with the shape of the bonnet shut line, determine if the car looks ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ (smile/frown). These sit on the end of the bonnet which represents the snout whether long or short. Its body shapes like animals can range from round or skinny (convex/concave) surfaces that are perhaps similar to something more ‘steady’ or ‘agile’.
BMW 5 Series (left) and the Aston Martin DB9 (right). The BMW has a ‘smiling’ bonnet that is balanced out with a ‘frowning’ lower grille - Opposite to the DB9 – but both of these cars have a ‘restrained/refined’ aggression quality about them.
The combination of all these elements allows the viewer to read the ‘emotion’ of the car. Although more obvious to some than others, a cars’ emotion can be read from aggressive (Such as the Australian Ford GT), satisfaction (Bentley Continental GT), a restrained aggression, to happy (VW Beetle) or a combination of either. Behind anyone’s preference to a particular car, there is a similar emotive element that is dominant. It is the yearning for power and control. It is this desire that ties in all the aesthetic values of the car from how the car looks visually, how it works functionally, and what it can do, mechanically.
Driving a car is a process where we directly control the vehicle, where it becomes an extension of our being. For some they serve a functional purpose or even a representative symbol, and to others they fulfill a desired fantasy that cars continually attract and intrigue through the use of showcase concepts. The special role that aesthetics plays in automotive design is so vast it makes one wonder if designers will ever ‘run out’ of ideas.
References:
Bayley, S. “Sex, drink and fast cars”, Pantheon, (1986)
Lewin, T. “How to: Design cars like a Pro”, Motor Books International, (2003)
Bonnett, R. “Design and Emotion”, Taylor & Francis, (2003)
