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Audi design -- the car company???


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I have been wondering this pretty much since Leica announced the T and said its case was done by "Audi design" and I've never come across a definitive answer. Is this "Audi" as in the upscale brand of Volkswagen car company Audi? or is there some other "Audi design" in Germany that helped out with the industrial design of the T?

 

If it is the Audi the car company, why a car company? I don't know a ton about cars but is it just because they have lots of experience cranking out high volumes of CNC milled parts for their cars? One would think that Audi the car company would use other metal working processes like casting and forging to make parts. Apple is the only company that I know of (!!!) which is crazy enough to use CNC milling to make a mass produced product. Do car companies do it too?

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Yup. Audi like Porsche has a general design consultancy.

Want an Audi table clock?

Audi's latest design is a table clock

 

Will go well with your Porsche sunglasses and Bentley skis.

 

Sunglasses | Porsche Design

 

zai for Bentley - Zai

 

 

Not to mention your Ferrari watch

 

 

Ferrari Store - Official Ferrari Merchandise Online Shopping

 

Btw, the production line for Summarit lenses was optimized by Porsche Consultancy.

Edited by jaapv
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I have been wondering this pretty much since Leica announced the T and said its case was done by "Audi design" and I've never come across a definitive answer. Is this "Audi" as in the upscale brand of Volkswagen car company Audi? or is there some other "Audi design" in Germany that helped out with the industrial design of the T?

 

If it is the Audi the car company, why a car company? I don't know a ton about cars but is it just because they have lots of experience cranking out high volumes of CNC milled parts for their cars? One would think that Audi the car company would use other metal working processes like casting and forging to make parts. Apple is the only company that I know of (!!!) which is crazy enough to use CNC milling to make a mass produced product. Do car companies do it too?

 

I would assume that car companies like Audi do have very good and innovative designers.

So why should a german camera company not work together with a german car company.

 

I think design means here the design how the camera looks like and its from factor plus maybe the user interface (also here car companies should know well how to design a good user interface), and not the detail design how it is manufactured.

 

Specially if you want something new and different the approach to let it do people who come from different products makes sense.

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  • 1 month later...

To continue what jaapv was saying—a lot of these car companies have entirely separate design consultancy entities. It's not the same actual people who design the cars. Depending on the company, the designers might mingle and/or discuss overall design language with the car designers, but it's more likely that they haven't even met.

 

Porsche Design definitely acts mostly like a completely separate company. BMW Designworks primarily operates in a completely separate country and language.

 

I've not heard much about Audi's consultancy and how separate it might be or not be.

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Yup. Audi like Porsche has a general design consultancy.

Want an Audi table clock?

Audi's latest design is a table clock

 

Will go well with your Porsche sunglasses and Bentley skis.

 

Sunglasses | Porsche Design

 

zai for Bentley - Zai

 

 

Not to mention your Ferrari watch

 

 

Ferrari Store - Official Ferrari Merchandise Online Shopping

 

Btw, the production line for Summarit lenses was optimized by Porsche Consultancy.

 

Porsche Design is an independent company, not part of the Volkswagen group of companies, but owned by a member of the Porsche family.

Edited by Ecaton
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Yup. Audi like Porsche has a general design consultancy.

Want an Audi table clock?

Audi's latest design is a table clock

 

Will go well with your Porsche sunglasses and Bentley skis.

 

Sunglasses | Porsche Design

 

zai for Bentley - Zai

 

 

Not to mention your Ferrari watch

 

 

Ferrari Store - Official Ferrari Merchandise Online Shopping

 

Btw, the production line for Summarit lenses was optimized by Porsche Consultancy.

 

but a company like Leica has no designers able to design a camera ?sorry but is funny...they did cameras for 101 years .....for me is a minus knowing that Leica is asking Audi.....better ask Audi help and don't "advertise" this

my 2 cents

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but a company like Leica has no designers able to design a camera ?sorry but is funny...they did cameras for 101 years .....for me is a minus knowing that Leica is asking Audi.....better ask Audi help and don't "advertise" this

my 2 cents

 

I think some of the best product designs come from collaborations. Even if Audi Design isn't the Audi car designers, Leica reaching out to an external entity for a collaboration helped inject some fresh ideas and new directions into what they were doing.

 

It's easy for designers to get stuck in a cycle of refining what they already know they're good at. Sometimes you just need someone from outside to help bring some fresh eyes.

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but a company like Leica has no designers able to design a camera ?sorry but is funny...they did cameras for 101 years .....for me is a minus knowing that Leica is asking Audi.....better ask Audi help and don't "advertise" this

my 2 cents

 

You mean, like Pininfarina designing Ferraris, Bertone designing Lamborghinis and Zagato Aston Martins?

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I think some of the best product designs come from collaborations. Even if Audi Design isn't the Audi car designers, Leica reaching out to an external entity for a collaboration helped inject some fresh ideas and new directions into what they were doing.

 

It's easy for designers to get stuck in a cycle of refining what they already know they're good at. Sometimes you just need someone from outside to help bring some fresh eyes.

 

Indeed - that's why the 'Audi' Leica M edition doesn't have a hot shoe, so you can't use flash nor can you use any lenses wider than 28mm which require a shoe mounted finder.

 

Sometimes you need knowledge of the product and its application, not just what looks pretty, although the limited editions were really made for collectors to display.

Edited by earleygallery
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Indeed - that's why the 'Audi' Leica M edition doesn't have a hot shoe

 

...or strap lugs for that matter, as it could easily be dropped with those white gloves on.

 

Oh thats right - with strap lugs one might be tempted to use it.

 

Function getting in the way of form :rolleyes:

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Sometimes you need knowledge of the product and its application, not just what looks pretty, although the limited editions were really made for collectors to display.

 

Of course. But I highly doubt Leica just hired an external consultancy, locked them alone in a room, and out popped the Audi M and T. It takes back-and-forth. Leica designers/engineers were certainly involved in this as well. And good designers would spend a great deal of time trying to understand the subject matter—there are entire fields of study dedicated to *only* the process of understanding before one begins designing.

 

I'm not saying everything produced was perfect (or even that this Audi design consultancy necessarily consisted of the greatest designers), but I am saying there's no way the T would've happened without trying some controversial changes.

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You mean, like Pininfarina designing Ferraris, Bertone designing Lamborghinis and Zagato Aston Martins?

 

Pininfarina and Bertone are designers for cars and they design cars for ferrari

 

so in this case...you will be also happy if a designer of toilets will design your leica ?

i.e. Catalano :D:D:D:D

Ceramica Catalano | Sanitari bagni, lavabi, ceramiche bagno

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Pininfarina and Bertone are designers for cars and they design cars for ferrari

 

so in this case...you will be also happy if a designer of toilets will design your leica ?

i.e. Catalano :D:D:D:D

Ceramica Catalano | Sanitari bagni, lavabi, ceramiche bagno

 

Not sure why Leica would engage a toilet designer, but I do understand why they would engage a design company to do one off designs, and perhaps challenge design orthodoxy. What's interesting is that the fundamental form factor has changed so little.

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When Leica collaborates with or hires a prestigious European design firm to create an item, Leica is not only placed in good company, but it also is sending a message to those who wish Leica to join their aesthetic/consumer realm. It is good for Leica.

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