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Honda Element Lovers: Send Us Your Questions for Our Interview With the Designer
The question we want to ask: "Can you bring it back?"
Enter a caption (optional)Our Honda Element post drew lots of interest, and now we've scheduled an interview with the car's interior designer. Honda Chief Designer Jose Wyszogrod has graciously agreed to answer our questions and even provide ideation sketches and renderings!
While we'll ask all of the obvious questions, we'd like some from those of you that have lived with the car for years: Is there some design quirk that you've always been curious about? A particular feature that you want to hear the story behind? Why something was executed a certain way?
Enter a caption (optional)Though the Element will be the focus of our interview, you needn't limit yourself; anyone interested in transportation design can toss a question into the hat, and we'll pick the best. Here's some background info to let you know what topics the man can speak to:
Transportation design veteran Jose Wyszogrod is currently Chief Designer at Honda R&D, with his precise title being Lead Principal Designer and Interior Studio Manager of Auto Design for Honda R&D (Americas). He's been with the company for over two decades, ever since graduating from Art Center in the mid '90s. Wyszogrod led the interior design for several Honda models, both production and concept, including the concept car that led to the Element. He is also currently a professor in the Transportation Design department at Art Center.
"Over the last five years I've been actively involved on numerous production and research projects," Wyszogrod writes, "and most recently I've been focused on the Honda brand interior design and human interface strategy."
Send your queries in the following format:
"[YOUR INITIALS OR NICKNAME] from [GEOGRAPHIC REGION] asks, [QUESTION?]"
There's no limit to how many you can suggest. You can post them in the comments below or e-mail them to us at -blogs- *at* _core77_ +dot+ com, subject line "ELEMENT." Please get them in no later than Wednesday, March 15th!
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Comments
7 years later...was this article ever completed? If so, can someone at Core77 send a link? All these questions are relevant today, as those of us left with now seriously aging Honda Elements want to keep the conversation, and our Elements, alive. Thank you Jose Wyszogrod for the most innovative car interior ever designed.
Where is the actual article? Did it never get written after all? I can not find it searching this site nor does it come up with a google search
@rain - as a new E owner, this article is much appreciated. When do you expect to post the reply follow up? Thx!
And the joke around Honda R&D soon became the story of how the Element was totally miss-targeted to young people, in ads. The buyer demographic, it soon became apparent, was middle-age folks who could a) afford a new car, b) wanted to think of themselves as young, equipped for spur-of-the-moment trips and c) appreciate a car interior that you just simply hosed out. The latter, alas, was a false rumor.
Rain: The Element had lots of nifty features. I was at Honda R&D from 1995-2004 and worked in a cubicle a mere hundred feet from the door into the Design Department. I was a "futurist" and not a designer. Our group sponsored projects at nearby Art Center, and mentored the students.
What was the 3 most influential things that helped you Mr.Wyszogrod in the design of the interior ergonomics of the Honda? I also would say that your interior on this project was about as close to perfect as one could accomplish based on the needs of practicality of everyday usage. Awesome marketplace departure.
Why haven't you brought it back?if so can you fix the huge blind spot in the front door pillars,and plzzzzz,if you do decide to manufacture it,don't stray away too much from the original design, we all element owners love it's quirks
Hi Steven,
Nick from Fifth Element Camping asks;
1. Did you ever imagine the Element would have a cult following?
2. What ideas/plans did you have that didn't make it to prototype phase or production?
3. Do you own an Element?
4.Are you surprised by the level of custom build outs owners have dedicated to the Element?
5.Will you join us at the "Elements on the Dragon" gathering? I'll reserve a seat in my E for you.
Not a question, but would you say "Thank you for creating a unique, unrivaled interior, I love, and appreciate more everyday"
Hans Marvell from Copenhagen, Denmark asks:
Was the sales potential for the Element in Europe ever evaluated?
Why has there been no successor yet?
Ken Mori from LA, CA asks,
Cam Nielsen from Orem, UT asks:
1: Where did the idea for the Element come from? How did it evolve into its final state?
2: What was the process like to convince leadership to make it?
3: Internally, how did Honda perceive the Element's sales performance or market reception?
4: What was the process like to update it?
5: What soulless person killed it off?
6: At the time of its original development, what was the culture like at Honda? Was it part of a larger movement that created the Ridgeline and other innovations, or a more isolated project?
Steven Howard from Union City, CA asks, why are the driver and front passenger seatbelts attached to the rear doors? I've owned my 2003 Element for 2 years now and that is pretty much my only complaint with the car. Anytime a passenger from the back needs to get out or get in, the driver or front passenger has to unbuckle to allow the rear door(s) to open.
Paul L from Calgary, AB asks, Why only two seats in the back? I'm looking for my second Element now, but would have been my third —I had to appease my wife with a CRV because of the seat thing. Love the Element.
Jeff E from Santa Cruz, CA asks - Who was the target consumer when this car was briefed? My take on one of the reasons the Element took so long to gain a following was that it was marketed to young 20-somethings as bigger than a Civic, smaller than a more expensive SUV but ended up fitting better with the 30-something weekend warriors who were potentially a little more focused on utility than exterior aesthetics. For what it's worth, I bought mine when I was 23 and love both the aesthetics and the utility.
Serge Z from Upstate NY asks, having owned two Elements, and with all the well thought out functionality being much appreciated, can you explain the thought behind the sunroof in the back? Not only has it never been utilized by me, having kids in car seats, I've had to figure out ways to block the heat and sun with various window coverings that always seem to fall down a half hour after installation. Otherwise, this is THE BEST CAR I've ever owned. Thanks!
Mike W from Pennsylvania asks "when you see things like the regular rips on the driver seat or other long term issues that creep up do you find yourself immediately thinking of a design solution? Do you consider those kind of things for future projects?"