Design Student

[MNdesign]

Hello, My name is Matt and I am actually a Car Design Student at the Academy of Art University in SF. My latest Project is to design a car about the size of the Smart Car. Now the Target Market or demographic is the surf community. It would be greatly appreciated for input on what kind of features or design language people would like in a car. Thank You and any input would be greatly appreciate.

[kitesurfer]

Surfers need a car that is cheap, you can sleep in it and you can fit board in it or on it. Your small smart will not do the job on any of these fronts. I suggest you think of something more sensible.

KS

[surf patrol]

Hi MNdesign, welcome to Surfing Waves!

This is not a great idea. Surfers want cars to fit their boards and big enough to fit their gear and mates into.

[Ridick_Bowen]

Hi MNDesign,

You should take up surfing and the answers will come to you naturally.

[MNdesign]

Thanks for the input guys, its really helpful. Unfortunately the one requirement of the project is that it has to be that small of a car and at least fit 4 people. The challenge the professors want is to fit as much as we can in such a small platform. How do you guys feel about putting boards on the roof or stored outside of the car like on the back?

[jaffa1949]

Sounds like your design paradigm for the class is totally off centre.
Basis; let's tell the buyers what they want and ignore their requests for what they want!
Designer make cars phhht designers made the Edsel

OH and the thing to put boards on the roof is called a roof rack on the back would equal an airbrake.

4WD would be good as often good surf is in out of the way places.

here is a model with all the accessories

[MNdesign]

I know about roof racks, i just wanna confirm if you guys like it or not, also if i did put them on the back, they would be sideways to be more like a stabilizing fin. Look Im still in college and the class Im in is all about design problem solving (critical thinking your design). Fit as much as you can in a small package while still satisfying your customer. The students get to choose the target market and brand, which is also required to not be a traditional car company but a sporting company. I decided to choose Hurley knowing they are originally and still are a surf co. Also, I love the companies design and clothing and a lot of my favorite bands like them too. This is just a class and its not a car that will ever go into production. The farthest it will go is to a fifth scale clay model. I appreciate the input on the fact that you guys like 4WD, but i don't like that fact that you insulted Designers, cause every car is designed by a Designer no matter what, including that VW Beetle. Please don't take this the wrong way, because I'm not upset. I do really appreciate the info on 4WD and will keep that in mind, I really appreciate all the input I've been and will be getting In about fifteen weeks, Ill show you guys the finished project and see what you guys think about it BTW beautiful photo

[kitesurfer]

Ask yourself this. Why have an economical smart car and then make it uneconomical by sticking a roof rack on it with boards on it?

I think you should challenge your proffesors. Surfers requirements are not to ensure that they have a small car with all their buddies in. Surfers requirements are that they spend as much time catching waves. You might as well be asking a different demographic.

KS

[jaffa1949]

Mndesign, we appreciate what you are trying to do, but it does show sometimes academia, your professors sometimes work in something approaching a vacuum .
A real world real time problem and a real world marketable solution would be great.

I would suggest you add an appendix of the responses to your project.
Ferdinand Porsche designed the item on the left in my picture glad you liked it

Genuine wishes for good luck

[dtc]

I know about roof racks, i just wanna confirm if you guys like it or not

There are some specialist surfboard roof racks in existence; but I reckon adding a specialist surfboard roof pod (ie box) to the car would be a good solution. Big enough to carry 3 (preferably 4) boards safely (tied down, protected, with fins on) - at least 7.5ft long - plus maybe a bulge at the back for wetsuits. Lockable. (BTW if you surf a longboard - as many people do - it just doesnt fit in most cars. So carrying on the roof is perfectly fine).

For the car - 4WD, maybe diesel for the torque; high clearance, seats that cope with wet bums. Sat nav and wireless connection (so we can look up the weather and swell from the car - or link the screen to our phone and use the wireless from the phone).

What would be nice is be some kind of system where you filled up a tank with water and during the driving it cycled through the engine to warm up (even if only a little bit) and was then stored somewhere in the car that maintained the heat (like an insulated tank). You could connect up a shower head and have a quick shower at the end of the drive, maybe with a pump powered by the engine. Probably not great for fuel consumption tho.

[Toj]

an addition to DTC's post, also have somewhere to store you keys, like a kepod, but build into the car like the petrol flap but with a combination lock so you can store your keys in there whilst surfng. (no good for the new ford KA though)