Role of sketching in conceptual design of car styling

Carole Bouchard (1) , Améziane Aoussat (1) , Robert Duchamp (1)

1 LCPI - Laboratoire Conception de Produits et Innovation

This paper aims at studying the role of sketching in car styling. Prior studies have shown that sketches play a major role in the early phases of design. A definition of the intermediate representations and mental representations will enable a better understanding of how sketches are produced. Two distinct experiments are proposed: a series of interviews of 40 professional car designers and a protocol study with six junior car designers. A comparative study demonstrated that two main phases appear in the specific car design process, including 'routine' and 'non routine' activities linked with external inspiration sources.

Mots clés: sketching activity; conceptual design; mental and graphic representations; car styling

Domaines: Génie mécanique [physics.class-ph]; Génie mécanique [physics.class-ph]

Carole Bouchard, Améziane Aoussat, Robert Duchamp. Role of sketching in conceptual design of car styling. Journal of Design Research, 2006, 5 (1), pp.116-148. ⟨10.1504/JDR.2006.010810⟩. ⟨hal-00915137⟩