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Officially, the department is known as Nissan Design and this year it celebrates its 50th anniversary of being a definitive influence on motoring style and performance.
In the past four years alone, Nissan designers have developed 23 new models and 19 concept cars. At Nissan, they call it the 'imagination factory' – an apt name for a department that has half a century of experience in shaping some of the world's most popular and successful cars.
Some can even trace their roots back to the early days of the original 1954 design department which was then the powerhouse of the Datsun brand. Among its early classics were the Fairlady 1500 roadster and the Bluebird 310 sedan, forerunners of the Fairlady Z and the 240Z which have evolved into today's Nissan 350Z.
Currently, Nissan's design department employs some 700 people in six design centres: three in Japan, two in the US, and one in the UK. Heading the department is Shiro Nakamura, who has now fulfilled a boyhood dream of creating vehicles that would be driven and admired all over the world.
Nakamura is recognised as one of the most influential designers in the international auto industry and was general manager of Isuzu's design centre when Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn persuaded him to become Nissan's chief designer.
Ghosn's bold plan for a Nissan rena
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As the Philips group vies for a larger presence and competes directly with other Asian electronic brands in the region, it has increasingly turned to the region for design ideas.
In Singapore, which houses one of its three design competence centres in Asia, Philips has brought in various local influences in the design process – for instance, the use of fictional personae when designing a product to suit certain target markets.
Personae are richly detailed descriptions of potential target customers. These include information on their values, motivation, needs, and behaviour derived from expert studies involving people in real life context.
These personae are stored in a database system and can be retrieved by designers.
Philips Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd design director Gavin Proctor said a number of Philips initial personae were developed as a result of the Connected Homes project conducted in Singapore last year.
“A designer, who has a specific target market, can just pick up a card and every detail about the target market will be displayed,” Proctor said, adding that it helped the company come up with a design which is very close to the target market's requirements.
He said that having the design centres close to the target market allowed Philips to add new personae and this project was ongoing at P
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Once color and design began winning out over history and value, Procter & Gamble knew that selling its Joy dishwashing liquid would take more than a lemony scent and 55 years of experience.
It would take, as its marketing experts put it, something to "delight" the harried customer.
Joy's heritage alone certainly wasn't cutting it. As staunch rivals added perks and private brands improved on quality, Joy ran on auto-pilot. Sales at non-Wal-Mart stores declined 10 percent in the year ended Oct. 3, according to Information Resources Inc. (The entire dishwashing category declined about 6 percent.)
Procter, a company that prides itself on growing brands, doesn't tolerate such numbers for long. If Joy wanted to survive, it had to improve.
"Joy got to the point where it became critical," said Tara Kenneway, a vice president at the Cincinnati offices of Interbrand, a global brand consultant that works with Procter. "When consumers are shopping, they're looking at your product a few seconds at best. They figure you out or they move on."
It is a challenge faced beyond Procter's towers, as consumers become more savvy and cynical. Beverage companies are forever testing drinks in brilliant hues, and General Electric, for example, launched a light bulb whose only selling point is that it enhances color quality. These are f
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A behind-the-scenes look at creating Pixar
Animation Studios' The Incredibles, as well as a preview of Cars, the
company's next state-of-the-art feature film, will cap AutoWeek's 2005 Design
Forum agenda Wednesday, Jan. 12 at Cobo Conference/Exhibit ion Center in
Detroit, Mich.
"A Car's Life: Designed to Entertain," is the theme of the day-long
program, which begins with registration and continental breakfast at 8 a.m.
and concludes at 8:30 p.m., following dinner and the keynote address by John
Lasseter, Pixar's executive vice president, creative.
The 13th annual Design Forum will explore design as the automotive
industry's ultimate differentiating factor. The morning program, featuring
individual presentations and a panel discussion by leading executives, will
look at design as the main factor in moving a consumer from an inquirer to a
buyer.
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Renault designers went to the florist and returned with dozens of exotic plants, including orchids and cacti, before they created the cabin of the Fluence concept coupe.
"We cut them up and looked at them under microscopes," explained Patrick le Quement, Renault senior vice president of corporate design. "We looked at time-lapse photography of plants and watched them slowly transform themselves. They were the inspiration."
The front seats of the Fluence unfurl like a flower. When you open the door, the seat bolsters and side unfold. When you close the door, they fold up, gently hugging the body. The center console is shaped like a leaf, and the instrument panel is supposed to look like two leaves pressed together. The effect is that of a serene and inviting cabin.
The unusual source of inspiration at Renault is part of a trend of ever-increasing attention to the interiors of cars and trucks. The emphasis on interiors was a major design theme at the 2004 Paris International Auto Show two months ago.
"Interiors are changing because the whole notion of what is premium has changed," said Adrian van Hooydonk, director of the BMW brand design studio. "It used to be simple. Add wood and chrome and you are done. But now wood is everywhere, even in SUVs and $20,000 cars. What remains is craftsmanship. That’s premium.
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