In Car Design studios we have several fields to cover such as: Production design, R&D design projects, Cocept car design, Accessories design, design strategy process at so on...
Concept Car design and R&D design projects are the most popular because they give life to great concepts and prototypes.They are the essence of people's dreams, they project us into the future, both of them follow a very precise Design strategy given by the big boss and top company management.
What is the difference between those two types of design projects?
Concept Car Design is extremely important for any car company because it promotes a brand image and also a design philosophy, this design discipline becomes the core business to influence Production design and give a clear orientation for the next years to come. It is a bit like a philosophy book in which each chapter is a concept with a precise target and objectifs, communication and marketing. Concept cars are also a great way to test markets and their reactions when presented in International Auto Shows like Geneva or Tokyo, lots of journalists write their impressions, simple people react on Social Networks like Facebook or commenting on special website like Autoblog.com or Carbodydesign.com. Concept cars are also important to keep companies fedel markets warm or hot about cars to come, it is like keeping markets and brand followers engaged.
R&D design projects are another important field for any serious car company, they follow a precise strategy, too. R&D projects represent for the company an incredible tool to test new technologies and possible design solutions in terms of technique and design, they result always is a running prototype to reproduce reality and evaluate its advantages or negative effects.
Today in most car companies R&D studios are made of enginerees and designers because the will is to use and test new technologies and also how design can adapt itself to the new scenario. Naturally this strategy can be applied to a single element like front light technology or the all car representing 3 or more technologies together. Often those running prototypes are really astonishing for technology and design.
In R&D there are few clinic tests made to have a feedback from people not envolved with car business, those tests are important to make corrections on the projects (not always).
The R&D studio presents the project to the top management hoping that a part of it or the all project is approved to go into production. This is the real team's objectif to obtain even if the project will be developed later on by a new team specialized in Production design.
In both teams we learn a lot about working together, technologies and their applications, costs, marketing, design process and strategy.
