It's not about cars but good thing: Mafia Wars Friend Adder.
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Thursday, October 16, 2008
The hidden work of design consultancies
Most major car companies carry out most of their design work themselves, with dedicated design departments increasingly capable of handling every aspect of the design process.
Throughout the world there are numerous companies offering these design services to car companies. But with client confidentiality issues and a wide spectrum of the services offered, much of the work these consultancies do remains unknown and unsung.
Last month Car Design News visited Drive in the UK to get a better understanding of how these design consultancies operate, the types of project work they do, and the unique value they offer to their clients.
Drive was set up in 1997 by car designer Chris Longmore, now employs 15 designers, and has clients including SAIC, Ford, Magna Steyr, Mitsubishi and British Airways. Like other similar consultancies, they also undertake other design work, in this case other transportation and consumer products such as a 120m super-yacht and mobile phone for the major manufacturers; but, as Longmore said, "About 60 percent of our work is automotive - which is a good balance for us". He went on to talk about how these non-automotive projects add value to Drive's automotive design work in the cross pollination of concept and process ideas, and are also a valuable source of creative stimulation for his team.
The automotive work they carry out is varied and Longmore is clearly frustrated not to be able to tell us about many of the projects he and his team have been - and are - currently working on. But he is able to take us through the design development of the recently announced Lightning sports car that Drive delivered as a ‘turn-key' program during the first six months of this year.
Unlike projects for large car companies with extensive internal capabilities, Lightning is a small company, so Drive managed the entire development process starting in November 2007. Lightning principal designer Daniel Durrant worked from the Drive studio alongside Drive designers who, from an initial sketch, created a digital model and 40 percent foam model in December 2007. As Durrant said of Drive; "In many respects we worked with them as if they were part of our own studio, as an extension of Lightning Design - it was seamless."
Drive were then uniquely well placed to refine and resurface the 40 percent model and take it through to data release in February of this year - an exceptionally quick turnaround made possible only by their experienced team of designers, which meant the traditional full scale model stage was possible to bypass. Interior design started in March and similarly went straight to full-size production, signed off through virtual reviews on Alias Studio.
Managing packaging, form resolution, production feasibility and even marketing visuals, Drive was able to deliver a full house service to Lightning and realize their new production electric sports car with a high level of integrity, in a way that few design consultancies could have done given the exceptionally short eight month development period. "We managed to achieve the unachievable within the eight month program," Durrant told us. And as Chris Dell, Lightning Managing Director said in an interview with Car Design News: "We were a very close knit team with Drive. They were on brief, on time and on budget."
But as well as providing this full 'turn-key' service to smaller car companies, Drive offers all of its automotive clients advice on how to most effectively manage their outsourced design and deliver on short deadlines at OEM quality levels on tight budgets. This they can do because of their strong automotive design background (all Drive designers have a degree or two in automotive design, strong technical and digital design skills) and are permanent staff in a fixed studio location managed by an experienced automotive designer.
Every design consultancy is different, but Drive is a good example of how such consultancies operate and of how they deliver value to their automotive clients. And though confidentiality issues mean that much of their design work must go unsung behind closed doors, the industry recognizes the considerable talents and capabilities in car design that reside outside of large OEM design groups, and inside consultancies such as Drive.
Throughout the world there are numerous companies offering these design services to car companies. But with client confidentiality issues and a wide spectrum of the services offered, much of the work these consultancies do remains unknown and unsung.
Last month Car Design News visited Drive in the UK to get a better understanding of how these design consultancies operate, the types of project work they do, and the unique value they offer to their clients.
Drive was set up in 1997 by car designer Chris Longmore, now employs 15 designers, and has clients including SAIC, Ford, Magna Steyr, Mitsubishi and British Airways. Like other similar consultancies, they also undertake other design work, in this case other transportation and consumer products such as a 120m super-yacht and mobile phone for the major manufacturers; but, as Longmore said, "About 60 percent of our work is automotive - which is a good balance for us". He went on to talk about how these non-automotive projects add value to Drive's automotive design work in the cross pollination of concept and process ideas, and are also a valuable source of creative stimulation for his team.
The automotive work they carry out is varied and Longmore is clearly frustrated not to be able to tell us about many of the projects he and his team have been - and are - currently working on. But he is able to take us through the design development of the recently announced Lightning sports car that Drive delivered as a ‘turn-key' program during the first six months of this year.
Unlike projects for large car companies with extensive internal capabilities, Lightning is a small company, so Drive managed the entire development process starting in November 2007. Lightning principal designer Daniel Durrant worked from the Drive studio alongside Drive designers who, from an initial sketch, created a digital model and 40 percent foam model in December 2007. As Durrant said of Drive; "In many respects we worked with them as if they were part of our own studio, as an extension of Lightning Design - it was seamless."
Drive were then uniquely well placed to refine and resurface the 40 percent model and take it through to data release in February of this year - an exceptionally quick turnaround made possible only by their experienced team of designers, which meant the traditional full scale model stage was possible to bypass. Interior design started in March and similarly went straight to full-size production, signed off through virtual reviews on Alias Studio.
Managing packaging, form resolution, production feasibility and even marketing visuals, Drive was able to deliver a full house service to Lightning and realize their new production electric sports car with a high level of integrity, in a way that few design consultancies could have done given the exceptionally short eight month development period. "We managed to achieve the unachievable within the eight month program," Durrant told us. And as Chris Dell, Lightning Managing Director said in an interview with Car Design News: "We were a very close knit team with Drive. They were on brief, on time and on budget."
But as well as providing this full 'turn-key' service to smaller car companies, Drive offers all of its automotive clients advice on how to most effectively manage their outsourced design and deliver on short deadlines at OEM quality levels on tight budgets. This they can do because of their strong automotive design background (all Drive designers have a degree or two in automotive design, strong technical and digital design skills) and are permanent staff in a fixed studio location managed by an experienced automotive designer.
Every design consultancy is different, but Drive is a good example of how such consultancies operate and of how they deliver value to their automotive clients. And though confidentiality issues mean that much of their design work must go unsung behind closed doors, the industry recognizes the considerable talents and capabilities in car design that reside outside of large OEM design groups, and inside consultancies such as Drive.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Comcast Driver To Senior Citizen: "Get The F!@# Down From Your Car So I Can Kick Your Ass"
Northfaceninja watched in horror as a Comcast employee repeatedly smashed his Comcast van into a car driven by a senior citizen before barking: "Get the fuck down from your car so I can kick your ass." The angry employee quickly abandoned his ass-kicking plan once he noticed onlookers jotting down his license plate number.
Northfaceninja writes:
On Sept. 5, 2008 at around 8:00 PM, I was driving on John Daly Blvd in Daly City, CA when I witnessed something totally inappropriate by a Comcast driver in a Comcast truck: Roadrage.
As i was driving slowly amidst the traffic, i noticed a commotion with other fellow drivers telling a Comcast driver to stop harassing and leave an older driver alone. The Comcast driver was clearly shouting expletives and telling the older driver to get the 'Fuck' down from his car so he can 'kick his ass'. Along with other witnesses, i saw the comcast driver tapping or 'slow bumping' the older man's car in front of him whilst yelling profanity. Concerned motorists started to jot down the license plate number and called for assistance. At this time, the Comcast driver weaved in out of traffic and proceeded to the nearby freeway.
I do not know the circumstances leading to this incident. Maybe the older driver was a bad driver or perhaps the Comcast driver had a rough day, but one thing i know is that this 'roadrage' driver needs to be trained in handling these types of situations. We've all encountered idiot drivers and cetainly had our bad days, but as a society, we can not let our anger be the judge and executioner of what we perceive as wrongdoings.
If Comcast is reading this, I realize that not all of your drivers are like this, but this particular bad apple in your company definitely needs a reprimand and anger management training. If he can't handle situations like this properly, then maybe he shouldn't be driving around in your company vehicles.
BTW, the Comcast Pickup Truck's license plate number is 6295791 (California Plate).
The lesson of the story is this: Never piss off a Comcast driver or he might ask you to come down from your vehicle to receive some ass kicking...FREE OF CHARGE!
Clearly this individual act of asshattery isn't sanctioned by Comcast, but the company with official policies for changing water jugs and making coffee almost certainly has a policy guiding employee conduct, one that explains that employees wearing Comcast uniforms or driving Comcast vans are Comcast representatives.
In this instance, the employee was representing Comcast, because doesn't Comcast really want to kick all of our asses, financially, spiritually, and every other imaginable way? We really wouldn't mind if Comcast's marketing, or say, official responses to the FCC, matched its employee's misdirected moxie.
Northfaceninja writes:
On Sept. 5, 2008 at around 8:00 PM, I was driving on John Daly Blvd in Daly City, CA when I witnessed something totally inappropriate by a Comcast driver in a Comcast truck: Roadrage.
As i was driving slowly amidst the traffic, i noticed a commotion with other fellow drivers telling a Comcast driver to stop harassing and leave an older driver alone. The Comcast driver was clearly shouting expletives and telling the older driver to get the 'Fuck' down from his car so he can 'kick his ass'. Along with other witnesses, i saw the comcast driver tapping or 'slow bumping' the older man's car in front of him whilst yelling profanity. Concerned motorists started to jot down the license plate number and called for assistance. At this time, the Comcast driver weaved in out of traffic and proceeded to the nearby freeway.
I do not know the circumstances leading to this incident. Maybe the older driver was a bad driver or perhaps the Comcast driver had a rough day, but one thing i know is that this 'roadrage' driver needs to be trained in handling these types of situations. We've all encountered idiot drivers and cetainly had our bad days, but as a society, we can not let our anger be the judge and executioner of what we perceive as wrongdoings.
If Comcast is reading this, I realize that not all of your drivers are like this, but this particular bad apple in your company definitely needs a reprimand and anger management training. If he can't handle situations like this properly, then maybe he shouldn't be driving around in your company vehicles.
BTW, the Comcast Pickup Truck's license plate number is 6295791 (California Plate).
The lesson of the story is this: Never piss off a Comcast driver or he might ask you to come down from your vehicle to receive some ass kicking...FREE OF CHARGE!
Clearly this individual act of asshattery isn't sanctioned by Comcast, but the company with official policies for changing water jugs and making coffee almost certainly has a policy guiding employee conduct, one that explains that employees wearing Comcast uniforms or driving Comcast vans are Comcast representatives.
In this instance, the employee was representing Comcast, because doesn't Comcast really want to kick all of our asses, financially, spiritually, and every other imaginable way? We really wouldn't mind if Comcast's marketing, or say, official responses to the FCC, matched its employee's misdirected moxie.
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