Peugeot Design Competition Entry - Seed Options

[Andrew Kim]

Hello guys,
this is my entry for the 5th Peugeot Design Competition. I'm just a high-school student right now so I have no chance of winning but I was recommended to do this for the experience by a student of UC (thanks BTW). Anyways, feel free to give me some constructive criticisms. I don't know how to use any 3D programs so this was done only in Photoshop, which is just painfully time consuming and difficult... Well, thanks and if you have time, please leave a comment!

Thanks!

[csven]

Funny how different the windowless driving concept seems now. A fellow student proposed the same idea almost twenty years ago and it seemed like total science fiction to almost everyone (and most especially the car company reps). Now, having just seen a picture of an automotive GPS/video display system on the DVice blog, this idea seems like something on the near horizon.

If you get any responses to that idea, please share them. I'd be curious to hear reactions.

Anyway, good luck with the competition. It's an admirable entry.

[Skint]

Green is obviously the topic that every designer has to consider these days and im sure all green entries will be looked at with interest. Your design sheets are basic, nice and clean and portray what you want them too. The colour scheme is nice. Just becuase your a high school student doesnt mean you cant come up with interesting and unique ideas right ?

I wouldnt bother with the tail lights being aerodynamic though lol... its a box afterall

Good luck with the entry, I hope you recieve some positive feedback.

[csven]

@Skint - iirc, the theme is Green.

[fran_g]

Sorry but I cant see the "felin spirit"

[Nephtis]

Just a quick remark, I like the design and the innovation you try to bring across. For me it works although the styling isn't quite Peugeot. I don't know if it needs to, to be succesfull in the contest, but if I were I judge, I would ask myself if this is a peugeot and to me it isn't.

Also, it might have been wise to have the second picture show the car with the door open. This way you can get a feeling for the inside of the car. Your first drawing shows the car well enough to let the viewer see you car and its shape, the second doesn't really add anything new.

As for the airflow system, you state that heat flows out the bottom although in real life heat will always travel up. How does the heat get forced down? If it would need a pump, the power consumption would go up again.

As for the renders, although the design is a bit boxy, you rendered them quite well. I do think that the clock in the model is "too Apple-ish".

But for the work of a High School Student, it's reallllly good. I would say that it is good for a design graduates standard.

[nabee]

I want to see more detail on the taillights, how is it sticking out? is it just lights?

[Lilith]

I am not only amazed at the designs that you do, but also the way you come up with awsome graphical solution for each of your designs i do like literally EVERYTHING you do, line drawing, renderings, your taste of colors, overall layouts, everything!!! all your posts, good luck and dont forget to share with us once you have something new

[lufbrasketch]

Good stuff! Good to see some of your nice presentations again.

A few comments though about the design idea, not the presentation.

Correct me if I am wrong but if this is for an eco designed car, how does putting in an LCD screen achieve that? What I am getting at is the amount of resources consumed to manufacture the LCD display, assembly it into the car, have a computer inside it that runs HUD stuff, cameras that connect to the computer etc...
It just seems like a waste of energy and resources when a human driver looking through a glass windscreen can figure it all out pretty much subconcioulsy, and it takes away some of the fun that driving has (when you aren't stuck in traffic).

Also, another thing is to be careful when you use terms like "ergonomics" to describe your design. I have been destroyed many times by people because I used that term when there wasn't really any evidence in the design to show how "ergonomic" it is, i.e. prove why your design is ergonomic if you claim it to be (even a small thumbnail story board image will suffice).


Anyway, overall, the presentation kicks ass and the design aesthetic is pretty cool but I think it could do with a few more changes to make it more "eco." Well done though!

[dogma911]

Nice renders! The car looks very tall and narrow, with small wheels, reminds me of a shopping trolley! The door looks enormous, or is the car very small? A silhouette of a human would be nice for size comparison. Where abouts are the cameras located? Windscreens are pretty big, would probably need a resolution greater than HD in order to not compromise the driving experience imo, a camera that could provide that resolution would probably be pretty big. Also, if the camera malfunctions or it damaged while your doing 70mph down the motorway in 5 o'clock traffic, could cause some problems. The lens would also need window wipers. It could have night-vision though, that would be a great feature!

For high school it's really impressive! Your photoshop skills are great! I hope my criticisms don't seem like I'm attacking it, just making some points to think about in the future!

Cheers, Bri.

[jmc]

Some good points and some worse are to notice on this work. Let's start with the bad ones.

- Nothing is eco-friendly except the fact it is solar-powered. But taking in fact that current solar cars are like 20 feet long and ultra aerodynamic in order to save as much power as possible, your design solytion wouldn't be viable. First, that LCD system would eat more power than the photovoltaic cells could produce. Also, the box-like design is far from aerodynamic and it would also be devouring the power!

- Since your work is only or almost only based on aesthetics, the shape of the car could've been more sophisticated and elaborated. The sides of the car look very flat, the shapes of the taillights and side windows are not linked in any way to the rest of the car or the interior... everything seems like it didn't take too much reflection before you've made your concept. And in my opinion, that last image showing the interior is so boring: plain traditional steering wheel, dull gages and clock, dash represented by a white bar, no perspective at all, no controls, no radio, where's everything? It's like you had no more time left and you just didn't finish the work! And saying your interior is ergonomic is one thing, but how about showing it?

- The LCD system replacing the windows is a pretty funny idea in my opinion, especially on an eco-friendly vehicle. Like I mentionned before, this is totally anti-ecologic because of power consumption and its also way less secure than a windshield! Imagine you're rolling at 80 kph or faster, do you prefer to get a piece of glass on your face or a big screen TV? A screen also kills the 3-dimensional environment that is crucial to drive: you have 1 and only point of view that is stable, and I bet you couldn't even drive at 30 kph safely with a concept like that because it's like playing Need For Speed on the computer, you just see what's straight forward with really limited interaction. And I don't really figure out where would the cameras be to give the driver the impression he's really driving (meaning camera has to be at the height of the eyes!). Also, a single drop of rain in the camera would make a huge spot in the inside LCD screen, so imagine a distract bird smashing the camera: that would be anought o give the driver a heart attack!

- Lot of things are missing, including a rear view of course... Also, there's no visible room for the mechanics and the "probably gigantic" battery. There's nor headlights, no side mirrors, no cameras... Study the different parts of a car and imagine yourself driving your concept in real life to figure out the problems and missing parts!


Now that I evacuated some of my frustration, let's be more gentle with this work that fairly good overall, and pretty amazing if you really are an high school student with no education in design!

- The graphical presentation is simply outstanding, just like your usual works (I'm talking about that LG Synthesis cellphone) and this is the main quality of your work. The colors always flow really well and the background is never taking too much space, the font of the notes is beautiful, the notes are well placed: you could be a very successful graphical designer you know!

- Shadows, reflections, textures and overall graphical work on the car itself are very realistic and easy to understand, and they are really eye-appealing, even though the interior is not enoughly elaborated for my taste! The shell looks shiny like it must be, the wheels look almost real, the tail lights also... everything seems tight to me!

- Even though I don't really like the overall shape, I think you've done a fantastic linework and everything is flowing pretty well, and that vector-style coloring is very nice!


I know I found out more problems than qualities, but personally I've always preferred to know what were my problems in order to correct them, instead of just good back-up that just make us more self-confident and stubborn.

Keep up the good work, you could become one of the most talented designers of the world if you continue on that roll!

[AMVDesign]

Did u make the top 30?

[Ferdie]

Hello Andrew,

first of all congratulations to the effort you put into your work. What strikes me most about all of your projects is the quality of graphics and presentation. It appears as if you have a certain artistic approach on your subjects, combined with your background it results in a fresh and unprecedented way of looking at items. When did you start sketching?

In that way you will gain more experience once you start the transition from visual concepts to mock-ups and final prototypes. Unfortunately quite some ideas will not (presently) make it into reality since it does not work out in reality.

[Andrew Kim]

Wow, just overwhelmed by the sudden rush of comments. I've read each one with care but I can't answer all of them, so I'll just generalize my answer.

As I have said in the first picture, the wheel base is that of a compact sedan, and since there is no overhang, the car itself is really compact. So no, the car isn't huge, but due to the structure of it, the interior is quite sizable.

Also, I ignored all cost and manufacturing issues, as most previous winners had crazy, non-plausible designs. I tried to go as dramatic as possible, but I still feel that it is too conservative.

Since the entire project was done in Photoshop, and this is my first time doing a car, I took much more time than I had expected. I ran out of time at the end, and that is the reason for the lack of a rear view and the rather unfinished interior.

This project was not about winning though, and I know that there is no way that I could compete with the pros out there. The results are coming in on August 15th, for the 30 best designs. I would be an honor to be in that, and being in the best 10 may make me think of a career in auto design.

Thanks for the replies, and look forward to a new project that I am working on. It will be much more innovative and groomed than the Synthesis, and is something I am quite proud of.

[AMVDesign]

Andrew Kim - The top 30 have been already contacted around August 5th... so like me we are not in it, all this work for nothing but a nice portfolio piece.

"I would be an honor to be in that, and being in the best 10 may make me think of a career in auto design."

That’s an undermining statement, what would you rather do than car design? If that’s a shaky interest than I’m afraid it’s not for you, you have to be certain and dedicated not just picking on day this the other that. Don’t base your interests on this lame competition, the French have a tendency to select weird, wacky designs that look like crap. So not winning doesn’t mean you’re "bad designer" in fact they don’t want to see professional entries they rather see amateur attempts...they got their own designers who can do that for them. You would be very surprised the quality of work and crap they selected this year, I’ve seen a number that made it.