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Jim Hall on Car Styling vs. Car Design

By Rain Noe - November 5, 2013

in Cars

Autoline TV is an online network dedicated to covering all aspects of the auto industry, and a recent, welcome addition to their YouTube channel is a segment called "Design Handbook." In it, industry analyst (and Art Center Transportation Design alumnus) Jim Hall discusses the nuts and bolts of car design, like why the gas tank is on the left or right, the "secrets" of sports car proportions, and definitions of industry terms ("bone line," anyone?).

In the video below, Hall breaks down the difference between car styling and car design, a distinction that's often as lost by those not in the know as it is hotly debated by those who are in the know. We think not all of you will agree with his assertions, and it is of course difficult to draw that line (so to speak) between the two verbs, so we're curious to hear what you think.

Given Hall's definitions, would you consider, say, Dieter Rams' stuff to be styled or designed?

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fatguyonalittle

11 years ago

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"...and it's no less functional..." That's not true... If you drink your scotch from the flat side you spill... drink from the corner and it rushes out of the glass, not ideal for a Single Malt... the grip/handle of silverware is as important as the business end and the "styled" ones look hard to hold/use at both ends... Falling Water is stunning but I would not want to live there even if it was given to me (yes, i have been there plus I am a 50% male so it is too small for me)... the vehicle reference is not worth discussing... but one could argue the Honda is "styled" just not to his taste... At the end of the day a good designer creates objects that are beautiful & functional without sacrificing one for the other... if you do its called art.
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Iandraws

11 years ago

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i disagree, design has a purpose, a reason why they came up with those shapes. Thought out ideas before they acted. Styling has no purpose, just pertains to a certain taste with no meaning behind it.
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Eric

11 years ago

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Cars all still have the same functionality, the automobile industry has not changed the design of the car since it started, four wheels with passengers sitting next to each other and a round steering wheel, boring. (except he Mclaren f1 and a few exceptions) There is probably a reason they removed styling form there lexicons....since that is what they do, and it got a bad rap? Most automotive companies are good at marketing not design.
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exDesigner

11 years ago

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hmmm... not so sure about his comparison between design and style..

i think a better analogy is that design is the result of conceptualizing, planning, testing, and refining of mechanism or a "problem". style is the "skin", visual semantics, or "emotional" aspect applied to the design.

for example, the same car/house/phone/toy design can have many styles applied to it (modernist, steampunk, blobject, etc)

in other words, design is what makes us happy, style is what makes us smile.
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slippyfish

11 years ago

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Thanks for letting us know about this video series.

The video implies what styling is - as opposed to design - but then how does he define 'design'? All of the engineering and architecture, packaging, ergonomics, and usability?

I don't know enough about Rams to confidently say one way or the other, but seems like he's more 'stylist', unless he was consistently redefining the use, package, and product architecture. I get the sense he was more about streamlining and shrouding components in a spare, austere container...but could be wrong.

What bugs me most are trained 'stylists' who think they are by default 'designers' - utter fail.
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Matthew Cunningham

11 years ago

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Deiter Rams is the styling anti-christ
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emanster provolone

11 years ago

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This is fantastic. Its a shame that designers have become so ashamed of becoming a 'stylist'. Are we really just trying to pretend like we're engineers and that we know how to make it function the best way possible? What is so wrong with only being responsible for making something look amazing.
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The seat guy

11 years ago

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Styling is a part of the design activity concerning in finding the correct balance between form and function.
Overstyling is like adding too much salt to a good receipt.
Undestyling is performed by engineers only.
Minimum styling is cool nowadays; before it was "German".
Car designers are hired by winning illegal street races.
Have a designful day.
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db

11 years ago

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I don't buy the sports car proportion BS. Late 60s, early 70s, think Ferarri 512 and Porsche 917, short nose, long tail. A sports car is a street legal race car. Design follow suit. McLaren, Ferarri, Lamborghini - all of them have sports cars with a short nose/long tail. I personally find it more appealing than the long nose/short tail proportion. ymmv.
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