According to Hyman Ltd, there were only twenty-six Ghia L6.4s made.  Each one was specially built for its customer — usually a celebrity, an industrialist or a Hollywood star.  This particular example was delivered to singer Dean Martin. It was then subtly customized by George Barris — whose influence can be found in the lozenge-shaped headlamps. Power comes from a 335hp Chrysler 383 cubic inch V-8 with TorqueFlite 3-speed automatic transmission.

From a designer’s point of view, this car is a masterpiece.  The proportion of the body communicates luxury and exclusivity — similar to the way a Lincoln Mark II does.  The chrome detailing throughout is exquisite — from the inset taillamp cans to the individual rings around the gauges. One would expect visuals like these to be accompanied by the rich, almost intoxicating smell of old leather.  A thick, metallic sound when the door closes.  Indeed, this car is completely unrestored, and doesn’t need any work.  It’s hard to look at the images below and feel anything but envy…

All images and information via Hyman Ltd.

By Accident

Some of the best techniques are born out of pure happenstance – a confluence of events or circumstances that leads to an unexpected, positive result.  In the 2000 film Pollock, for example, actor Ed Harris depicts a painter discovering his signature technique when he accidentally drips paint on his studio floor.  Once, I developed an abstract shadow technique (see above) based on my experience as a photo technician (the under-developed photos had a faded appearance at the edges, which inspired me to replicate the look with markers on Vincent vellum).  And therein lies the challenge: to replicate a “happy accident” in a consistent way.  Sometimes this will prove easy; other times, it will initially prove elusive.  In either case, it is important to make the effort to recreate the magic – both for your own benefit and the benefit of others.  It is equally critical to recognize happy accidents when they occur and document how they occurred.  This way, they are far less likely to be lost. Keeping a note pad near your drawing table will make documenting these events much easier.

By Experimentation

Some Viscom techniques develop because their creators were tired of their current repertoire and wanted to come up with a fresh approach – like a pitcher whose style has become too familiar to the batters he is facing.  And rather than simply adopt someone else’s technique, they felt compelled to create a new one for themselves.  To a design student who has a limited amount of free time during a school year, this approach may seem a bit frivolous. It would be far easier to just hop on the Internet, find a technique that looks interesting, and try and emulate it.  During the summer, however, a student may have more time to expand his or her repertoire – and as a result, more space to allow for mistakes to happen, refinements to be made, and ultimately, for skills to improve.  If you’re a student and find you have this kind of time available to you during the summer months, I strongly encourage you to use it wisely.  Pretend you’re an athlete who is keeping in fighting form during the off-season. View this time as a challenge designed to keep your skills sharp and your competition on their toes. And don’t forget to enjoy yourself.  Similar to a designer coming up with a creative idea in a relaxed environment, a Viscom technique will develop more naturally if you have fun during the experimentation phase. Similar to the advice above on happy accidents, get in the habit of documenting your Viscom experiments, successful or otherwise. That way, you can avoid unnecessary retread and make the most of the time you have.

By Cross-Pollination

Sometimes designers have to look outside their own disciplines to get inspired (we touched on this in the Ford 021C piece).  Sports car designers in need of some fresh thinking may look at fighter jets, for example.  A similar approach can be utilized to develop new Viscom techniques. If you’re not sure how to illustrate a unique subject or idea, look at how other professionals communicate with their respective viewers.  One case in point: Airline safety cards.  There are few areas in design where concise communication is more important than in airline safety. The designers charged with creating airline safety cards are aware of this, and that awareness shows up in their excellent work.  I’ve found that the techniques used in these cards (simple colors, refined line weight, judicious use of arrows, etc.) also work quite well for industrial design storyboards.  Had I not looked outside of car design for graphic inspiration, this notion would likely have never occurred to me.

In Part II:  Developing Skills out of Necessity and Sharing Skills

Marc Newson is acknowledged by most of us as a very influential product designer. Right up there with the likes of Karim Rashid, Michael Graves, Philippe Starck and others.  His unique, pop aesthetic makes his work instantly recognizable.  So if he suddenly turned around and designed a car, you would expect it to look like a Marc Newson automobile.  The 021C, by all accounts, is most definitely that. But a closer look at the car reveals some interesting design choices — choices that a seasoned car designer might not bother entertaining.

Some people may be tempted to dismiss the 021C as a Marc Newson dish drainer on wheels.  But the simple forms and lozenge lamp shapes are quite appropriate for Ford in particular. A quick glance at the Ford design lineage reveals a tendency towards simple, encapsulated graphics, and an almost product-like approach in surfacing:

In the years following the 021C project, Ford’s concept vehicles took on a slightly more product-oriented appearance in terms of surfacing and detailing.  One could argue that a fresh perspective from the outside helped to kick off this new approach:

Image credits: netcarshow.com

This is how we know the car.  The following names were submitted by Ms. Moore:

And finally, my personal favorite:

“The Edsel Timeline”  The Edsel Pages.  1998-2004  Web.  11 May 2012

“Edsel”  Wikipedia.  11 May 2012   Web.  11 May 2012

As an interior designer, one of the biggest challenges I face is the constant increase of features.  An automotive interior is like an ergonomic jigsaw puzzle — finding a home for all of the features offered can be quite a task;  one that takes patience and a knowledge of ergonomics.  Additionally, interior designers may look for ways to consolidate and simplify the features, both to streamline the interface and the look of the interior.  But too often, these efforts end up confusing the customers (see the BMW iDrive)  and over time, result in their frustration.

However, the interior designers for the 1958 Edsel came up with an ingenious way to consolidate interior features — in this case, the climate controls.  Rather than explain it myself, I’ll quote directly from the Edsel literature:

“Dial-temp is the most convenient, easiest-to-operate fresh air heating and ventilating system ever put in any automobile.  One simple control makes all the adjustments, (and) eliminates a confusing array of knobs and levers.”

In addition to consolidating climate controls, the Dial-temp system itself is quite space efficient.  Most dials have a needle that rotates between static blocks of text. Here, the process is inverted.  The needle remains stationary, and the text rotates with the dial (conveniently, the engaged function always reads right-side up).  So there is no need to take up space outside the dial with blocks of text.

It would be quite simple to employ an idea like this in today’s auto interiors — especially where electronic climate control systems are concerned.  When I bring up the Dial-temp system among my designer friends, all I get are blank looks — even from the older ones.  I guess so much was wrong with the 1958 Edsel, that this one clever design solution got lost in all the drama.  Fortunately, what is old in design can often be new again.  So maybe, someday, the Dial-temp system will get another shot (hopefully in a less polarizing product).

Mopar racing concept by Mike Tianye Wang

Racing concept by Michael McGee

Citroen off-road concept by Yuyol Lee

Lincoln coupe by Jae Han Song

Nissan micro-car concept, also by Jae Han Song

Jeep concept by Taylor Langhals

Lincoln 2+2 by Brian Malczewski

Lincoln Aviator concept by Marty Coons

Sports car concept by Zach Coonrod

More information on the 2012 CCS Student Exhibition can be found here.

All images credited to the Imperial Web Pages