Transportation Design

Transportation design — this is one word which amuses every aspiring product designer. When we see this word flashing somewhere, the first thing that strikes our heads is designing cars, trucks, aerospace, marine and all the automobile stuff we see around. Chris Bangle, automobile designer of BMW, once in an interview said that the designing an automobile is an art, a piece of architecture, and a sculpture all clubbed in one.

So the question now strikes is what is an automobile and after knowing this statement why so?
Automobiles are self-moving things; an elevator, a robot, a car, a bicycle and so on are all part of automobiles. So, don’t mistake yourself by thinking only about cars when you listen to this word. Also why do such things have the characteristics of a sculpture, architecture and art is because each and every part of an automobile has to be thought about. This can be explained better with the help of an example: look at a piece of furniture and then look at a car, these two are part of product design and they do differ from each other because of the way they are designed and thought about. Unlike a car, furniture is not so functional and that is the reason it is easy to produce a piece of furniture in less time but not a car. A car may look simple because of the shape, but if one goes into the details of interiors and exteriors and as well as the functionality, it is like knowing stuff about three worlds.
One of the major challenges faced by an automobile designer as compared to other designers is that they have to work hard on a single idea for long and this can take them more than a year. Whereas, on the other hand, lighting and furniture designers are comparatively faster and as per the changes in time and fashion, people can follow the trends and produce designs with the current pace.
Moreover, all of this stated by now doesn’t mean that transportation design is putting one’s life on stake and is part of a risk-taking job. From a designer’s point of view, this maybe risky but that will not have a bad affect on one’s career. There are millions of designers all around the world and any amount of work produced today does not mean that it HAS to be considered TODAY. As there are changes in the tastes of what people demand then it can work. It is somewhat disheartening to know if things don’t work on time, but one should stay calm and wait for the right moment for it to be approved.
A well thought idea solving each and every problem faced throughout the process of development of a project would work. The best way to know oneself of where they stand in the market is to get it tested with their colleagues and a critic review can help a lot. There are certain rules and processes of working for some particular projects. On the other hand, as designers keep working and have a good experience, they tend to develop their own style of working and make stuff’s work. Designing means freedom, and for designer’s there are no boundaries. It is quite interesting to understand a designer on their style of working and the way they produce their work.
 

For a starter, it is quite challenging to understand the way someone works as he or she has to know the basics of design. Well, as we see design everyday in our life’s is not part of the knowledge. It is simply different from what you see in everyday life.
The basic rule of design is: every design speaks for itself. Moreover the world shouldn't care much about the designer (who made it?), the bottom-line is that it should be functional enough and should solve problems of what it’s made for!
Rohit Kothari