Design and technology in synch
Much in the constant transformation of design involves a certain tension between designers and research and development specialists. All the designers in Irvine, for example, like to make fun of the term “on package,” which refers to the profile of technical demands that every new vehicle needs to meet in order to comply with the increasingly complex safety and other regulations. This “package” contains a large amount of data and measurements that are “set in stone.” Designers must comply with these stipulations, regardless of whether they pertain to headlights, the occupant cell, wheelbases, engines, or transmissions.
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"What happens here in California filters through to the rest of the world." - Designer and Assistant General Manager of the Advanced Design Studio in Irvine, Daimler’s first such studio abroad, Benjamin Dimson was one of the first people hired in Irvine. He likes to stay on top of the latest trends and developments in southern California. | |
The challenge here is to ensure that designers and engineers remain on the same page. Although the specialists in Sindelfingen are anxious to see their latest inventions implemented in an Advanced Design concept vehicle, they also need to realize that designers will not be content with simply delivering aesthetically pleasing “packaging” for the new technologies. “There’s a constant dialogue between us and the engineers — after all, our common goal is to build the best possible vehicle,” says senior designer Nicolas Garfias, who recently spent three months in Sindelfingen to assist in the transformation of his winning design from a small-scale model to a series-production prototype. “When you get to that point, you can’t cut corners,” Garfias explains. “All of the details have got to be on package, as we say — and we ensure this by comparing the latest data with the specifications.”
The team in Irvine also searches for the ideal mixture of technical perfection and aesthetic sensibility when it’s recruiting designers for the future. That’s why staff members from the Advanced Design Studio regularly lecture at the Art Center College in Pasadena, which has traditionally been a center for automotive design. The idea is to get students familiar with the design philosophy of the Mercedes-Benz brand and recruit some of them later on. The studio offers one or two internships lasting from three to six months each year to students from the college, and many current employees are former students from Pasadena.
Benjamin Ebel, who has worked as a designer at Mercedes-Benz since 2004, teaches once a week at his alma mater. His goal is to explain to design students how they can best manage their careers. “There is, for example, a big difference between whether I appreciate a car because I’m a designer or whether I like it as a car buff,” says Ebel. “The latter is what I call design with depth — and it’s actually what’s most important. Producing a depth model requires research and the ability to tell a convincing story.” Ebel, who describes himself as a “purist with a preference for minimalist forms,” seeks out talented, communicative, and versatile students at the college for recruitment.
Dimson believes the future will be shaped by the emotions and attitudes of Generations Y and Z — that is, those age groups that have grown up with the Internet from the beginning. “These drivers of tomorrow won’t care about horsepower or displacement, and they won’t be fiddling with carburetors,” says Dimson. “They will, however, pay a lot of attention to high-performance batteries in electric cars, storage capacity, mobile Web capability, and vehicle entertainment systems.” Among other things, such future customers will want to have system interfaces in their cars that resemble those they know from iPhones and game consoles.
“If we still want to be the world’s best brand in 100 years, we’ll need to lock into such trends at an early stage,” says Dimson. “Our job is to technically incorporate these trends into our designs in a manner that ensures that Mercedes-Benz remains the top brand for luxury and performance. This won’t be easy — but I’m optimistic.” His optimism just may have something to do with the California sunshine that bathes his office and makes cars on the West Coast shine just a little bit brighter.
