SERVIZI / ENGINEERING

The Research & Design teams operate as genuine task forces that give shape and volume to ideas. Starting from a product brief, in which the customer identifies the marketing and technical features of the product due to go into production, the idea goes through the stages of freehand drawing, 3D rendering and CAD processing for both interiors and exteriors in the Italdesign Giugiaro Style Development department. Manufacturers require us to come up with ideas that are technically reproducible for large-scale production as quickly as possible and for Italdesign Giugiaro every aesthetic solution is also implicitly a technical and design solution that meets production requirements, with regard to pressing and assembly methods, materials, weights and costs.

Once a technical plan has been drawn on a 1:10 scale with a definition of passenger room before embarking on the design stage, the initial research study is developed by hand on a scale of 1:10 with right-angled views and only then illustrated in colour, both with freehand drawings and with the application of CAS rendering, including front and rear three-quarter views, to offer various aesthetic options. A selection process is then completed that typically leads to the choice of one aesthetic option, upon which a cycle begins that makes it possible to continue design development while also communicating with the customer's decision-maker about the product on the basis of a virtual model. The CAD technique makes it possible to quickly develop virtual areas from the initial design stages, also allowing animations, interactive management and simulated full-scale movements. Because this process interacts with the design from the initial stages, the feasibility and type approvability of the design can be checked immediately as the shape continues to evolve. The processed and verified three-dimensional virtual models are sent to the CAM department for the milling of full-scale physical models. The finishing and modification work is left up to the dexterity of the model-makers, who complement the technology with their own craftsmanship. If interior models are required, the external structure is roughly sketched out, whilst dummies are constructed from polystyrene, clay or Plasticine. The final model is made out of elements produced using the CAM process to assess the quality of furnishings, comfort and ergonomics. Sometimes a complete interior and exterior model is built that constitutes a faithful representation of the future standard-production vehicle. The customer is then able to use this for test clinics during which potential buyers compare the car with other products of the same category.