Sorry for the delay. i hope what you will read now was worth the waiting
As Roberto said, Audi is really on an interesting roll nowadays. They have a clean design language that shows the source of their inspiration more than any other Car design studio. You can clearly see the architectural influence in their interiors and exteriors. I think Audi do look most modern than any other cars on the market right now.
The single frame grill was a great step forward to give their cars an identity they badly needed. The problem is that it get the attention of the beholder too much than needed, so that all Audis look at first sight identical. Audi seem to have realized this at an early stage and tried to reduce that effect by making the single frame grill smaller and smaller with every new model they released. The first model with that new grill was the A8 W12, which has the biggest single frame grill of all Audi models. Then came the A6 with a slightly smaller one and then the A3 Sportsback with a smaller one that the A6’s, followed by the face lifted A4 with the smallest grill. Of course one of the possible theories to interpret this is that the size of the grill is put in a proportional relativity to the size of the vehicle. My interpretation however is that Audi was trying to decrease the amount of attention caught by the new grill design and that by making it smaller and smaller so that the first read of the exterior design fall under the domination of the Single frame grill.
Audi’s singe frame is one of those design elements we see/will see copied by loads of other manufacturers, just like Mercedes’ “New Eyes” and BMW’s “Flame Surface”.
Mentioning BMW’s Flame Surface, I can’t talk about new design direction without stopping at the most influential design language nowadays.
Undoubtedly, BMW’s design language is the most interesting on the market right now. Bangle has –thank god- been very brave and brought more lively and interesting forms and shaped into the industry at a time it really needed to be fostered. IMO this whole Flame Surface thing did not start with the 7-Series, which wasn’t really that special to me, like e.g. the W220 S-class which revolutionized the whole luxury class, including the 7-series. Apart from the rear, the irrespectively so-called Bangle-Butt the car didn’t really have any revolutionary design elements –objectively speaking. Even the rear wasn’t really that original. We’ve already seen a variation of this rear design in the Maybach Concept of 1997 designed by Murat Guenak (I think) with its raised boot lid and outstanding shoulder lines.
For me, the Flame Surface design language was first demonstrated when the Z4 came out. No other BMW could express this direction better that the Z4, till today IMO. The car is just simply amazing and I’m extremely jealous!
The 5er was another good example for the new direction. The modelled hood in Zeppelin style and the dynamic front design emphasize the complexity of the surface design that forms one of the most important characteristics of the Flame Surface design language.
Certainly, BMW’s design language is very dominant and influential. Some people think that since the presentation of the 7er, which was the kick-off of all the discussions and debates about Bangle’s capability, almost all car manufacturers have started to copy BMW’s style and design their cars using Flame Surface technology. These people include respectable design studios with great history of leading the automotive design industry in terms of styling and originality.
Now to be honest, I myself was one of these people. Not with BMW but with MB. I always thought that all design studios copied Mercedes. Now, having grown up and gained some knowledge about car design (viva internet!), I like to talk about derivation and inspiration rather than talking about who copied whom.
As we all know, design is a process, which take years from the initial sketches to the final renderings and 3D models. When you start sketching and collecting ideas for a new design, you take a look around. A good designer doesn’t look at other cars, but at all kinds of objects surrounding him/her to gain impressions and inspirations for shapes and lines that he/she could use, modify or develop further to come out with a new form. This is basically how a designer starts. This first sketches that visualize all the inspiration he collected from his environment is not the end, but the beginning. They start to develop these sketches further. They draw more and more and more. And that is what I mean with derivation here.
There are millions of inspiration sources around us. And if we will or not, as designers you always are a victim of “realistic proportions” such as head room and wheel sizes, which lead the result of all cars having very similar proportions. What I’m trying to say here is that now matter what the source of your inspiration as a designer was, you are forced to come up with a shape that should be practical and realistic. And that also leads to similarities. The final design may look very similar, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a copy. It can be derivated from very different shapes and lines. There are millions of ways to develop a shape to get to another. I can show you at least 20 different ways of how to develop a normal rear to a “Bangle-Butt”. So final similarity isn’t an evidence of copying. And I’m here not only talking about “copying” BMW, but about this issue in general. The funny thing about that is the designers themselves cannot recognize the similarities at first sight. Why? Because they’ve been there during the whole process of design and now what the sources of inspiration was and what shapes and lines they derivated their final designs from. I’ve read many times comment on my own design saying that they remind them of some other cars. And I think: *** are they talking about? Because I know that I didn’t have the car they mention in mind at all when I started working on this design.
Though that doesn’t mean that there are no copies, but I’m responding to people who mix things up. The Flame Surface is a strong and dominant style no doubt. The best examples for that are some new cars, that were not designed or produced by BMW but are 100%-ly “flame surfaced”. Hint: New Toyota Yaris Sedan.
Now that was longer than the lost comment
maybe I’ll get back and comment on Mercedes’ VW’s design languages.
Thanx for youe patience. I wouldn’t be willing to read a comment this long
It was my mistake to go the 3rd day after the opening, will never do that again!
