Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. holds the leading share in the Japanese market for mini vehicles. The auto manufacturer's popular lineup includes the Move, Tanto and Mira models, and their automobiles enjoy widespread popularity in some 130 countries throughout the world. Daihatsu's automobile designers started using the Intuos professional graphics tablet in 2000. The size specifications for mini vehicles fall within 1480 mm wide x 2000 mm high x 3400 mm long, and total engine displacement is only 660 cc. Creating for this limited space challenges the best capabilities of the designers. We interviewed staff from the Design Department in Daihatsu's Product Planning Division where car designs that have won the number one share in this category in Japan are created.

The automobile manufacturing process

What sort of car will it be? Development starts with the formation of a concept. After the company decides on a new product's target users, functions, and specifications, the first step toward production is considering the design. The design is the conception of a new car proceeding to a multi-year process of experimentation, analysis and manufacturing, then advertising and marketing until the automobile finally reaches consumers some 3 to 4 years later.

Designing a new vehicle

Automobile manufacturing involves a large number of people in different departments. Daihatsu's Design Department in the Product Planning Division is in charge of determining a new car's design.

 Daihatsu's designers utilize sketches depending at each stage of the design process. As they seek a creative theme that fulfills the requirements of the original concept, they draw different ideas from various angles. Then, they scan pictures drawn on paper with ballpoint pens and markers into a computer and color them roughly using the Intuos3 tablet.

In the next step, the designs selected from those rough sketches are given more realistic surface renderings with attention to balanced lined. Even at this point, the rough design is still made by hand. "It's possible to draw directly on the design using the Intuos3, but we find that the combination of paper and ballpoint pens is the best way to bring out dynamic lines or subtle nuances," says designer Akira Isayama.

"We utilize digital and analog methods like paper as the situation demands. We use analog methods for brainstorming our ideas, and digital methods for producing presentation materials to be shown to other people. We can easily redo things many times digitally, so we can tackle design challenges repeatedly through trial and error. But because of that, sometimes we get carried away a bit and have trouble calling it a day," notes interior designer Satoru Minagawa with a laugh.

Isayama continues, "It's not that we stick to drawing by hand alone, but we use digital methods like the pen tablet as a means for creating attractive renderings of new features and ideas."

Working environment changed after adopting a digital workflow

In comparison to the pre-Intuos era, Daihatsu's introduction of Wacom's Intuos has allowed the company's auto designers to create more variations of a single design within the same time frame. Their increased efficiency means decision makers in the company have a much clearer picture of a concept's design and feel before proceeding to engineering the car.

"We're able to render the surfaces we want by adjusting the pen pressure or stroke. A key point in automobile design is how you render the surfaces — it's the surfaces that convey the attractiveness of the product in total," says Isayama.

Minagawa goes on to say, "Daihatsu requires a very high level of design, and Intuos3 is good for us because we can use it as though we were drawing right on paper. We feel that we're able to achieve the best design technique possible."

Using Intuos3, the designers are able to draw details that are just as sensuous when enlarged, and they can now provide renderings that are more exacting and realistic than ever before.

 
(Left) Akira Isayama, Exterior Design, Styling Division No. 2
(Right) Satoru Minagawa, Interior Design, Styling Division No. 1

"Being able to visualize the actual object just from a sketch requires a certain special ability. So we need to provide realistic sketches for evaluators and the general public that make it very easy for them to visualize a future product. This doesn't necessarily mean that a very realistic drawing is always best in every case. But, it should be attractive in a pictorial way, otherwise the value of the idea intended by the creator may not be conveyed properly," Isayama mentions.

"Our design range has expanded and the renderings have grown richer. I think this further enhances the attractiveness of the drawings we create," says Minagawa.

Isayama makes a point: "The pen tablet is one of the tools that facilitates communication between designers. An illustration is a powerful method for sharing concepts, and Intuos3 is a powerful tool that allows us to do just that."

Daihatsu's design policy

"As designers our mission is to convey the product concept, the Daihatsu brand, and its culture and excitement, all through our designs of mini vehicles," explains Minagawa.

Isayama continues, "Our design policy is to feature the advantages of smallness, seek out the potential needs users truly feel and wish for, aim at producing an automobile that will be lovable and familiar, portray an abundant and varied world, and express this vision through our design technique.

Automobiles designed for the people who use them

"Basically, I really love things. I am particularly attracted to new or popular items. Whenever I can I like to pick things up and see how they feel for myself. I also pay a lot of attention to shop interiors and the furnishings they use", mentioned Isayama.

Minagawa said with a laugh, "Automobiles are not works of art — they are industrial products — and they have meaning only when they are used by people. So I always think about how people might actually use them, and I ask myself: what can we do to make them easier to use? Even when I'm not working and I'm on holiday, I realize that I can't help watching how people play and how they enjoy themselves and what they feel to be convenient, or not."

With their Intuos3 pens in hand, Daihatsu's designers are imagining our motorized society of the future and what our lifestyles will be like many years from now. Daihatsu's originality and ingenuity and its powerful message for us is distilled into the small bodies of their cars. When you see a Daihatsu car on the street, please remember the words of their designers.

Wacom products will continue to be the tools of choice that support communications between designers in the future.

# # #

About Wacom

Wacom Company Ltd., (Tokyo Stock Exchange 6727), is a global company based in Japan with subsidiaries in the United States (Wacom Technology Corporation), Germany (Wacom Europe GmbH), China (Wacom China Corporation), Korea (Wacom Korea Co., Ltd.), Australia (Wacom Australia Pty, Ltd) and Singapore (Wacom Singapore Pte. Ltd.). In addition to these subsidiaries, Wacom has affiliate offices around the world to support marketing and distribution in over 150 countries.  Founded in 1983, Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays, and digital interface solutions. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion and designs around the world and provides business and home users with their leading interface technology to express their personality. Millions of customers are using its cordless, battery-free, pressure-sensitive pen technology.

Wacom's patented digital interface technology, called Penabled®, is also offered as an integrated solution to strategic partners. Most Tablet PC manufacturers count on the advanced features and reliability of Penabled technology to deliver a superior pen experience. Penabled technology is also playing an essential role in the development of leading-edge mobile devices.

For further information please contact local subsidiaries (www.wacom-asia.com/contact).