Car Design

The Line

This featured image is a sketch of a BMW, highlighting the active basic element of, the line. The role of the line is to define visual perception countours, especially when the object is in the draft stages. It creates the boundaries and concept of what the car is going to look like. The surface and structure of the car are defined by the sequence of lines; leading the eye horizontally. According to Dondis, the, "line is the essential element of the drawing, which is a notation system that does not stand for something else, symbolically, but does capsulize visual information, boiling it down to a state of reduction where all superfluous visual information has been stripped away and only the essential remains. 

The Shape

The active basic element in this photograph is shape. The result of multiple lines is a shape, or in Dondis' words, "In the parlance of the visual arts, line articulates the complexity of shape."  The shapes visible in this featured image are a triangle, square, and circle. The car is photographed at a triangular angle, which creates perceptual stress. The role of the triangular shape is for the perception of movement. It accomplishes this by the car being photographed at an angle. The purpose for this is because it provides the car with a provoking aggressive sports car like stance, giving it dynamism. Other obvious shapes are circles and squares. The car itself is generally shaped like a rectangle, but contoured in an aerodynamic way, looking like it is built for speed. And the rest of the car is accented with square/rectangular shapes. The circular shapes are the wheels and headlights.  The shape captures the design of this BMW. 

Scale

This photograph represents the active basic element of scale. Scale, a visual measuring tool, requires juxtaposition, which is why this BMW is staged next to a motorcycle. The role of the differently sized motorcycle plays is to communicate the actual size and relative proportion of the car. It does this by showing that the motorcycle is comparatively smaller than the car. According to Dondis"Scale can be established not only through the relative size of visual clues, but also through relationships to the field or the environment."The hills, wall, and pavement all indicate the size of the motorcycle and car.