The power of “what if?”

An interesting thing happens to a parent when the arrival of a new little one is near.  It’s called the nesting instinct, and fathers aren’t immune to it.  For the last week I have been sorting through old storage and tossing anything we don’t need anymore.  I’m really quite surprised at how much “stuff” my wife and I keep!  But I ran across some old design projects, notes, ideas and thoughts that were fun to relive.  Then later in the week I ran into an old classmate who’s working in the automotive field and I began to get nostalgic.

I grew up dreaming to be a car designer and worked my hardest to get there.  Until I got embedded into it in college, then I lost the fire.  (Rather the fire spread to other interests).  Car design seemed to be less about solving problems and more about trying to impress someone else with your cool sketching style.  For instance:  during a sponsored project the sponsor would send someone from the design department to come coach us for a day or two.  One would say “spend more time on wheels because cool wheels can make an ugly car look good.”  The next would say “don’t waste any time on wheels, just indicate them.  We want to focus on the overall form of the car.”  Later another would say “tighten up your sketches so they look clean.”  And then someone higher than that guy would come in and accuse you of “staying in the lines as a kid.  Have fun with your sketches, let them get messy.”

I didn’t know any better then, but I understand now what turned me off about that experience:  no progress.  We were all so worried about drawing the way someone else wanted us to draw that real good ideas got left behind.

I did have one amazing experience which taught me what real design, automotive or otherwise should be about.  Honda sponsored the project and only asked for 2 stipulations: that it be intended for young people, and good for the world.  We were free to define those terms on our own turf, if we could justify them.  For instance, when everyone else was making their cars hybrid or fuel cell powered to be good for the world, mine focused not at all on how it’s powered, but on creating a tight-knit society of owners who interracted because of the car and therefore it was good for society.  My argument was that they asked for the vehicle to be good for the world, not necessarily for the earth.  I called it the FlipSide, inspired by young people’s tendency to individualize their cell phones.  The idea was an open space frame (like maybe a dune buggy or jeep) with flexible body panels that would be reversible.  When I say body panels, I really mean sheets of plastic or similar rather than sheet metal.  The idea is to be able to pull them out, reverse them to change the car’s color, or store them if you’re going naked style (they’d lay up against each other in the garage like we all do instinctively with plywood, drywall, or whatever it is you have in sheet form leaning against your garage wall).  If you were on a road trip and came across someone else with the same car, you could swap a body panel as a souvenir.  Instant new friend!  It’d be like making MySpace real!  Or of course, if you were wanted by the law, a quick reversal of the body panels would hide you a little longer… (that’s one of the bugs of the system).

My point is this: design is concerned with more than just cool sketches.  I used to think it was just a business tool also, but it’s more than that.  It’s the desire, power and initiative to change.  Let me leave you with a few more what ifs I had with this project 6 or 7 years ago that I still find interesting after reading them over again (some are actually happening now).

• What if the vehicle were motorcycle sized to cut congestion, but didn’t require the skill to drive that a bike does? (seeing this now among private tranportation mfgs.  Check out http://flytheroad.com/)
• What if the car could change/morph to the owner’s whim?  (go to gizmag.com and search ”holographic exterior”)
• Could it be operated without a license altogether?
• What if an off road vehicle had tires with a special center rib that would inflate to high pressures on the road for less rolling resistance and better fuel economy, and deflate off road for traction?
• What about a vehicle made for 4 people to explore off road that had a footprint smaller than the cumulative foot prints of the 4 passengers, had they been hiking instead?
• Remember the Simpson’s episode where the motivational speaker has a car that’s powered by his own self worth?  That was awesome.
• What about photosynthesis?  Can that teach us anything about creating clean energy?
• What if the NAV system was holographic and presented in 3D, so you could recognize landmarks instead of having to read street names?  And maybe it’s removable like a stereo face that you could take with you if you still need walking directions?  (This is coming soon, I promise)
• What if, instead of “Performance & Luxury” option packages, you had Mtn Biking, Boarder, Water Sports, Dirt, or Climber option packages?
• Then, what if the vehicle’s tool kit is for more than just the vehicle?  Bike tools, fiberglass patches for surfboards, kayaks, canoes, etc.
• What if the car steers and leans like a skate board?
• What if it was 3 wheeled and leaned like a motorcycle?  (this one is no longer new, several companies are making them already.  Again, see www.flytheroad.com)
• What if you could set the “mood lighting” inside the car?  (also commonplace now)
• What if the car changed colors with the time of day?  Or temperature?
• What if the license plate was digitally displayed, so you could actually read it at night?  AND as soon as you get a new plate, the DMV just uploads it to your car and you’re set?  Which would also solve a lot of problems with uninsured drivers, unrenewed plates, etc.
• What if the seats would pinch your butt to keep you awake on long trips?

And it just keeps going.  Granted, some of these are a little cheese.  If you’re stuck in a rut, do yourself a favor and take a break; look out the window and tell yourself what you see.  Then ask yourself (since it’s listening to you now) ”what if…”