curbzone

Rob

Va Va Voom

I noticed there was quite a lot of Audi in there Never or less they are all great designs

Rob

^ Yeah, I guess it was subconscious

I get tired of some people at GCZ continually saying Audi is boring and out-of-date. Audi has done some fantastic stuff.


BTW: anyone who has some great stuff that they really like -- just images of anything they find intriguing or interesting, then please post some

shonguiz

As much as i see the hints in BMW&Merc&Porsche designs, i simply fail to see in the Audi design.

Alfie

God I love your design threads Rob! Always such a treat to the eye and a great reminder of how much good design I have yet to discover.

Funny coincidence, I'm currently working on a design project for school.

Rob

Hello shonguiz,

This was not supposed to be an Audi thread ....but I will try to explain why I personally appreciate Audi design so much.

I have come to realize more and more, from reading a lot of discussions about the appearance of cars on GCZ, that I tend to look at car designs a little differently from many people on the forum.

There is an important difference between design and styling,

Audi's styling is very subtle ...and generally not very emotional. I can understand that many people find it to be quite boring compared to recent BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes.

The value of Audi design for me is in the very well-resolved details -- clean surfaces and well thought-out join lines -- the way the parts all fit together.

My appreciation for Audi really started with the Audi A6 (C5) model (1998-2004)



I am still struck by the modernity of this model -- in some ways I like it more than its successor.

The rear of the vehicle is my favourite part -- the simplicity of the surfaces and the way the bumpers fit into the side panels -- all so beautifully and thoroughly resolved. Look at the way the C pillar is so seamlessly integrated into the body.



The number of elements used has been kept to a minimum; this, together with the flat surfaces of the panels, gives the vehicle a very clean appearance -- it is very modern.




Maybach also has been very carefully conceived. It is just a pity the Maybach is not as pretty as it could have been.



Also Audi was one of the first to use a straight diagonal line at the rear door opening ...rather than the door following the circumference of the wheel arch -- BMW also did this with the E46. This is a very bold detail.



The A8 has some very nice details too ...I am particularly fond of the rear part where the C pillar becomes part of the body ...and the way the bumpers fit -- it is like poetry to me -- I know I'm a bit of a geek

Rob

Thanks so much for saying that Christian ....sometimes I really don't know if people appreciate my obsession with design or not -- I love it when you guys post stuff too



Also: what's your design project?

shonguiz

Well Rob i certainly share your opinions about the old A6 and i also believe you summed up pretty well the Audi problem, for me the DNA of their design is very very strong but i think that they are very obsessed with it, that's why they care only about details and not too much about evolving more deeply their fundamental ultra clean & minimalistic design. Btw Rob, you really should start some blog.

Rob

I think you make a good point about Audi not evolving their clean & minimalistic design -- they appear to be trying to incorporate some of BMW's incongruous styling themes -- which is almost the antithesis of what they did so well with the A6 and TT.

Alfie

Well I've worked on two of them this weekend. One was a lamp, and the other a watch. But mainly writing the reports.
A sketch of the watch, that had to be inspired by Leonardo da Vinci is posted in the watch thread, and this is the prototype of the lamp. Unfourtunatly I could not build it entirely after my sketch but it's still an indication of what it could look like. Would've been even cooler with the horn lampshields imo. It is supposed to be a devil inspired desk lamp.



Sketch:


Obviously I have miles to go before I reach the level of the stuff you've posted Rob