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CRITICAL ASPECTS IN AESTHETIC DESIGN |
| The
processes of aesthetic
design differ from
company to company. Depending on
the styling job, the given financial situation and time, the equipment
with tools and systems, the number, experience, and last but not
least the preferences of involved specialists, there can be more or less complex process chains with
supporting tools from pencil to a virtual reality high-performance
workstation. Nevertheless, a certain generalized global
workflow can be drawn, in which most of the individual steps and tools can be integrated. On the basis of package data, sketches
are
prepared, either on paper or with the help of drawing programs. After this phase of searching for ideas,
stylists proceed to the modeling of 3D models which are then supposed to
actualize the ideas of the drawings in concrete
terms. This can be done either on a physical model, in CAS or also
by using both methods. There is still a large free space for the shape definition, a free space only
limited by package data and the results of the calculation
departments (e.g. using FEM). The
transition to the detailing of the CAS surfaces is more or less
in-distinct or can be omitted
entirely. This phase is characterized by an interplay of
working in CAS and on the physical model (which is to be increasingly
replaced by digital techniques). It starts with the creation of surfaces
on the basis of the physical model or rough CAS data and then enters
an optimization loop of CAS modeling, visualizing, milling, manual modeling and surface reconstruction.
If the stylists are content with their model (usually the physical one), it will not be altered anymore after the styling freeze and is then passed on to the CAD designers. It is their job to create high-quality CAD surfaces for the following development and production processes. In this phase the need for an optimization loop may arise just as it might during the CAS detailing. No company with a styling department will completely implement the entire workflow presented here. There are practically three principle alternatives of implementation: • Manual shape definition and optimization • CAS/CAD with surface reconstruction • CAS/CAD with a virtual model without surface reconstruction |