Telling the brand story will be the most important task for car designers in the future as electrification, urbanisation, congestion and developments around self-driving cars will conspire to curtail the driving experience. Thus, the brand story will soon be the only truly differentiating USP. Niels van Roij examines the Mercedes-Benz EQS in this light
Until the turn of the century, Mercedes-Benz design featured precisely chiselled bodies, which told the story of their vault-like build quality. Until then, all new Mercedes models brought stylistic odes to previous cars - as good design houses inside and outside the automotive realm still do to this day. New cars made the family bond visual and thus the model future-proof, according to then Design Chief Bruno Sacco. After the year 2000 the vision at Mercedes-Benz changed radically. With the departure from the ‘horizontal homogeneity and vertical affinity’ philosophy both conceptually as well as aesthetically the brand moved away from longevity. Design at Das Haus was not aimed at timelessness any longer, but rather at simple ephemeral fads.
Access to motor show and concours coverage, trend and technology reports, design reviews of new and classic concept and production cars, exclusive interviews, regional reports, who’s where, design essays, career resources, design competitions, regular newsletter updates PLUS comprehensive degree show reports from the world’s leading design schools, the CDN archive of sketches, images and articles spanning 20 years of coverage.
An online subscription also gains you access to exclusive designer interviews from our annual Car Design Review yearbook, and access to exclusive interior design reviews from Interior Motives magazine. You can also receive Interior Motives in print through our online + print subscription, or buy individual copies of Interior Motives and Car Design Review.
Fees start from £55/€60/$70. Packages available for students, individuals, schools and corporates.
Gain full access to cardesignnews.com subscribe today
ALREADY SUBSCRIBED - Individual, Studio, Student or School
You now need to register your details and sign-in for full access to cardesignnews.com
There is a strong and storied relationship between cars and watches, and designers from both sides can learn a thing or two from each other.
CES 2024 demonstrated that established OEMs like Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes are asking the wrong questions when it comes to user experience
The radio is so integral to the modern car as to be almost invisible. Karl Smith tracks the evolution of this assumed slice of technology
