Global Design has ARRIVED... now what?

[2b2]

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I give you the EveryCar
[insert pic of the brandnew '0-whatever Accord*] local link, original

THIS is the car that's [strike]forcing me[/strike]
prompting me to write my 'GlobalDesignConcensus' thesis.

Yup, UniStyle is here - sorta tailored, only 'approved' creases, grille, lights... Quite possibly this can be the saving-grace for Mr. Mulally's "OneFord" theorem, as sooo many cars adopt the latest look (singular); but that look will bring challenges of its own.

The Accord is soooo 'au courant' and yet even tho all the proper-lines are in all their proper-places, it does almost nothing for me. Maybe because it 'distills' what everyone else is doing but adds nothing new?
designerOatmeal as ArtForm?
Yeah, we know it's good for us but_

Yet is it good for anyone? If I may borrow a phrase and switch brands (like that matters anymore stylewise),
an uber'yota, sold by their "L" division, has been called the 'successful son of' a regular model...
as in successful drug dealer? In this case sleeping pills? mood-stabilizers?
the Stepford School of De-Design (as in Un-**)? De-toxified De-emphasized De-humanized?
Is it time to De-bunk this?

Since I maintain styling is now reaching a "GlobalConcensus" (did you check the *footnote?),
new ways will start emerging to differentiate brands' DNA.
Assuming a designer works within the new 'rules':

First, Proportions are critical
The metaphor I have is beauty pageants (or other physique contests). A pound here or there can cost the crown. Using Fomoco-only examples, compare the Iosis with the Bondeo.

Second, Features/details will make or break the design
Badge-engineering has tried to capitalized on this for years. Now even un-cloned vehicles will have to carefully watch ALL others or risk looking unintentionally-related.
prediction: since cars' exterior lights (HL's & TL's) can't be more over-done anymore, look for them to become invisible - teeny-tiny LEDs, hiddenHL's, body-color presto-chango panels? (see Sassou)
And, when most everyone has a door-handle-level accent/crease, look for the rocker-panel, C-pillar, &or bumpers to be the new GlamourSpots.

Third, Color(s) will achieve a greater importance
Which brand will try to copyright one first?

Fourth, 'Holistic' may replace 'DNA' as a design catchword.
But I doubt this will be more than lip-service. Imho the overall design is hardest for many shiny-object, MadisonMediaAve-influenced, zero attention span folks (who wouldn't have read this far anyway) to appreciate. (what were we talking about?)

Lastly. Intentional rule-breaking could be the end of this homogenized phase.
Trends can come & go quickly but art-design movements tend to leave a hangover (ex: Ford still getting over NewEdge). Hopefully tailfins won't be the over-reaction that supplants this too-tempting gesalt.
&
At least oatmeal IS good for us.


footnotes:
* you may freely substitute MB, Mazda, Lancer, TL, Mondeo, G8... even CTS?
BangleMW, tho an important contributor, is just too ugly imho. Tho their 'CS' seems to be unBangling.
** de- prefix 1. a. do the opposite of, b. reverse of; 2. remove from; 3. reduce; 4. derived from something

[Mbukukanyau]

2b2, I agree with you that there are copy cat designs out there, Every Japan Inc design is trying to ape either the 5 Series or the current accord tries to ape the CTS Trunk design,


that middle trunk Area is lifted straight from the CTS


There is serious lack of original designs from accross the big lake

The Camry Trunk is a 5 Series rip off.. The Sonata design makes you yawn...
and the Kia's (Nam was speak 'Killed in action') vehicles are not proportional

[megeebee]

that middle trunk Area is lifted straight from the CTS

Thank you! I thought I was the only one to have noticed.

[megeebee]

And thank you 2b2. I'm glad you wrote this. I too have noticed world auto design homogenizing over the last few years. In the 80's the Asian's were falling all over themselves copying the Germans. Now we see the Germans apeing the Japanese (especially Mercedes, in my opinion). Even some of the latest Volvo designs look more like Asian copies of Volvos.

[2b2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mbukukanyau
I agree with you that there are copy cat designs out there...
Quote: Originally Posted by megeebee
...I too have noticed world auto design homogenizing over the last few years... ...falling all over themselves copying...


It might be the same thing, guys, or maybe I'm attaching too much importance to it?
I'm looking at this as sort of a "zeitgheist" thing ( from Wiki, "denotes the intellectual and cultural climate of an era")... quite possibly an effect of globalization of communications > commerce > culture?

Also, a favorite gripe of mine, that the (very few) colleges that produce (all?) today's automotive designers, produce a uniform mind-set & therefor uniform designs.
Add in the homogenization/homologation* of bean-counters/focus-groups and I foresee designers having to 'justify' any design that doesn't look like this new archetype.

Examples of this recent 'universal ideal' keep cropping up -
2010 Opel-Vectra/Saturn-Aura
< click for Large or > mediumsize from AutoZEITung.de
& there's my own Orion chop



Chris Bangle may be the prime mover with his re-interpretation/bastardization of BMW's previous form.

Yet the significance of the Accord is that it epitomizes the (mindless?) adherence to a style that has nothing to do with its 'mission', imho -
its hemline is at the exact proper length - too bad its 'legs' aren't worth seeing.

& my example of total failure from not understanding the spirit of the new Law*:


edit/update/addition:

from WorldCarFans.com < click to find out what make this worldcar prototype is

* footnotes:
homogenization - a process that makes a mixture the same throughout the entire substance (Wiki)
homologation/law - set of strict rules or standards to determine whether such approval should be given (Wiki)