Hey, I've bought a 1993 Mini as my first car and for my Coursework are producing a centre console, it would be greatly appreciated if you could fill out this questionnaire in order for me to do some market research,
https://goo.gl/forms/mMrJW33XxBH8WlwS2
- Thanks, Zac
Good morning Zac,
Cracking project to do, I did something very similar myself.
A bit of friendly advice coming from someone who also has a transport/product design background, you may want to look more into the usability of the console first, before you go full steam ahead with the sexy design sketches and trimmings.
Working out the ergonomic and functional boundaries of something like a centre console is vital to ensure you can design a working piece.
Your initial design looks great and includes all the accessories & trimmings that you would like to include - but unfortunately, it wouldn't work and/or fit into the Mini (I won't go into why for you, part of your design journey will be to discover why and present solutions to resolve the problems).
The usability and functionality of the Classic Mini interior is very limited (mainly due to size) and in my opinion, this should be your starting point. Resolve the function (and why you want to install a console) before making it look amazing (once you know it works you can make it look good).
The best thing to do and the easiest way to gain an understanding of the perimeters (space available and/or space constraints) that you are working to, is to mock a console up with cardboard and play with the function of the console, in the Mini:
Very quickly you will be able to discover how the console interacts with everything around it.
If you then take that back to your initial design work you will very quickly discover the usability & function problems and you can progress from that.
Having gone through the design process of designing a range of centre consoles for the Classic Mini I know very well how difficult offering features on the faces and/or base is, so best of luck with that.
As a bit of inspiration into the possibilities (with regards to the functionality and sizes of a centre console) check out our range:
- Optimise Automotive centre console range: CLICKY
Keep us all up-to-date, would be great to see the finished console.
Regards,
Andy @ Optimise Automotive
