DownsideUpDesign

The RX at Portishead

It was with genuine surprise that I received a Twitter dm (direct message for the uninitiated) from the ever-friendly @Valvo at Toyota PR asking if I wanted to have a Lexus RX 450 h for a week. Having never experienced a hybrid and having not experienced a Lexus on the road since a mate’s father’s LS400 back in – ooooh – 1990, I leapt at the opportunity. Here was a chance to trial the luxury brand that, to some eyes, changed everything and the drivetrain technology that some believe still will. Read the rest of this entry »

The second in the Royal College of Art’s Future Vehicle panel series, titled The role of the vehicle designer – where is it headed?, presented an opportunity to answer a question as perplexing to those already working in the industry as those wanting to gain entrée. As has been previously established in this series, the industry is in a state of flux and as old business models and market requirements change, so must the designer. But how? Read the rest of this entry »

Now, more than ever, sustainability is the issue du jour being discussed – endlessly – amongst observers of the automotive industry. After years of car makers talking up their environmental sustainability credentials, they are now facing a crisis of an altogether more fundamental nature: the sustainability of their businesses.

To investigate the issues surrounding sustainability, both environmental and business, the Royal College of Art (RCA) held a seminar titled Seriously Now: where is the sustainable vehicle design?, one of a series of 5 events looking broadly at the future of automotive design. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the second year I’ve been invited to contribute (I’m a Purple List member y’see) and it’s always interesting to see how the final report plays out. So just who are the top 15 brands in the world?

1. Google
2. Apple
3. Jamie Oliver
4. MIT
5. Ace Hotel
6. IKEA
7. Nike
8. Twitter
9. Foursquare
10. Nintendo
11. Facebook
12. Starbucks
13. Lady Gaga
14. Nokia
15. American Apparel

Companies are judged on their innovation, corporate and environmental responsibility, their relationship with the broader community and , somewhat nebulously, imagination. Yeah, you’ll have noticed there’s not a single automotive brand in this years list (and last year, we only managed to get Zipcar in there) but when you have once-gold brands doing things like this and this, it’s little wonder.

Note to the automotive industry: Must. Try. Harder.

To download the full report, replete with explanations of the rankings, just click here.

iPod Download

After another epic round of dragging and dropping in iMovie, here’s part 2 of the DSUD podcast covering the Geneva motor show.

This week Joe and I discuss the Alfa Romeo Pandion and 2uettottanta, Citroen Survolt, Seat IBE, Peugeot SR-1, Mercedes F800 Style, Hyundai i-Flow and *deep breath*, the Porsche 918.

We also have a brief chat at the end, trying to place the Geneva show in the broader context of where the automotive industry is heading and, more importantly, where it could, and indeed, should be heading.

iPod Download

It had to happen at some point and I’ve now gone and done it: I’ve made a podcast.

In true Coventry alumni tradition, it’s a bit rough-and-ready but by God we tried!

For this edition I chat – at length – with the erstwhile Joe Simpson about the production reveals from the Geneva Show. Sitting somewhere between a podcast and a vodcast, this slodcast (slideshow podcast, natch) slates and salutes the cars of note.

Next week, we’re aiming to bang out a review of the concepts for your audiovisual enjoyment. I’ll keep you posted.

The book of the generation of the Hyundai i-Flow, the son of Mazda, the son of Hyundai.

Sassou begat Nagare;

and Nagare begat Ryuga;

and Ryuga begat Hakaze and his brethren Kazamai, Furai, Taiki and Kiyora;

And then Sassou invited his bretheren to a swingers party with a dude from Hyundai and they all got jiggy and begat the i-Flow.

Read the rest of this entry »

Something odd happened at the Geneva Motorshow today: Seat’s little IBe inherited some LED-powered glitz and glamour from big-sister brand Audi.

The question is, if these headlamps were behind you, could you tell which one was your granny in the Seat and which one was your Daddy in the Audi?

No, thought not.

Read the rest of this entry »

So the wraps have come off the production-ready Cygnet at the Geneva Motor show and I’m as mad as ever with this cynical little marketing exercise (my previous take on the car is here). For proof of how off-zeitgeist the little Toyota-in-ready-to-wear is, Steve Cropley over at Autocar reports that Aston chief Dave Richards says the car will

sell the way a £3000 Hermès handbag does to rich ladies.

The comment rings with the same misplaced smugness that Ulrich Bez projected when suggesting that the massive Lagonda SUV concept was ideal for HNW individuals in eastern and developing countries. This was , presumably, because it could crush the proletariat as it steamed from oil well to arms deal to the House of the Rising Sun.

In his short piece on Autocar’s ever-interesting Design Language blog, Cropley goes on to imply that those rich ladies mustn’t have a good understanding of the Toyota range if they’re going to shell out for the Cygnet.

I go on to say that, Toyota underpinnings or not, Ason Martin’s product messages get more off track with every motor show.

Read the rest of this entry »

Working in Germany I was thrown in the deep end of perceived quality research, taking more macro shots of headlamps, instrument panels and door cards than I care to remember. Yet I’m happy to come right out and say it: perceived quality fascinates me.

Gear shifter from the new Audi A8 (click to enlarge with caution, you might wet yourself...)

The way the tricks we use – from the amazingly detailed design of touch zones in a car interior to a superbly detailed tail lamp enclosure – coalesce to convince consumers that a product that feels good must be good, no matter the integrity of the engineering underneath the skin is a delightful thing. Take a look at the gear shift above and you might get an inkling of what I’m talking about.

Perceived quality’s a psychological game played by designers and engineers that reaps massive rewards for the companies that do it right. Just ask VW, who started on a head-long rush to improve the improve feel-good factor of everyday cars with a couple of otherwise unremarkable vehicles in ’96-’97. Read the rest of this entry »