Designing the Next Generation Supercar
Supercars have a long and storied place in echelons of pop culture. From the gadget-loaded but classy Bond Aston Martins to the wild and unpredictable antics of Top Gear, supercars capture our fascination like few other items can. Simultaneously a symbol of engineering excellence and flashy opulence, supercars are an experience in and of themselves.
…but times are changing.
We are now facing a climate change crisis with cataclysmic consequences if left unaddressed. Such a challenge makes supercars seem irrelevant and possibly even distasteful in their disregard for environmental standards. After all, there are a million things we could do to protect the environment for the exorbitant cost of a single supercar.
That said, supercars are generally the flagship designs that claim the DNA of the brands they embody. As automotive brands build bridges towards a more sustainable future, design becomes an even greater factor in how we perceive supercars and therefore the brand.
Designing a vehicle of any type brings together a great deal of know-how from a wide variety of disciplines and industries. And when we’re designing a product that operates in a public, social space with a full infrastructure dedicated to it, that product will coalesce certain social attributes allowing the brand to position it in the marketplace. This is as true for supercars as it is for hatchbacks.
Design Visual Mapping exercise.
To that end, I would like to share a mapping exercise that depicts different contemporary automotive designs and positions for supercars.
The organization of this map was based strictly on criteria for external visual perception, without taking into account the real technological characteristics or innovative on-board services.
The horizontal axis goes from traditional on the left to avant-garde on the right, representing our perception of cultural codes related to objects and their use. The vertical axis goes from standard at the bottom to high-tech at the top, depicting perceptions of technological sophistication and innovation
By placing different designs along these axes, we have identified seven groups that characterize several strategic branding postures.
The three groups on the left—Traditional Hypercar, Racecar Legacy, and Shaped by Wind—embody aesthetic codes guided by performance delivered through fluid and aerodynamic designs.
The bottom group—Traditional Hypercar, Sculptural Discovery—demonstrate more classical codes associated with traditional supercars, such as protruding air vents. These models represent a more "civilized" version of endurance prototypes and the more sophisticated profiles of Formula-e (the electric version of Formula 1).
The two central groups—Phygital Xperience and Swords of the Tracks—take a more sculptural approach where the light signature merges with the body lines, accentuating the vehicle’s expressiveness. The automobile thus claims a 360° sensitivity through sensors and actuators positioned throughout the car. In the Swords of the Tracks group, a deconstructed "one-piece" automobile begins to merge mobile infrastructure and robotics.
The two groups on the right—AI LowPoly Design and Phygital Xperience—explore new fields in terms of 4.0 hull chassis, while transforming an object from the digital universe into a physical one.
Mirroring the company strategy.
The automobile is in a product category where design carries a significant level of influence over decision making in terms of not only how the vehicle looks, but how it operates and how it is produced. Automobile design needs to balance the sensual and emotional with the economic and technical.
While this exercise was done with supercars, we can apply a similar approach to conceiving and designing new products in other industries. It is a rhythm that other manufacturers can use to guide their own product development cycle. When taking this approach, the result is a collaboration that combines both reassuring and daring features with an aesthetic culture that is in constant evolution.