Latest Majenta Academy News

Posted on 20 August 2009

Congratulations to Hong Yeo this year’s winner of the final year project model award from Autodesk and The Majenta Academy. Hongs innovative usage of material and social environments allowed him to create a car design that impressed the judges.

Hong’s winning design was created as an Alias model and used as his RCA Final Year Project.

Congratulations to Hong Yeo this year’s winner of the final year project model award from Autodesk and The Majenta Academy. Hongs innovative usage of material and social environments allowed him to create a car design that impressed the judges.

Hong’s winning design was created as an Alias model and used as his RCA Final Year Project.

Concerto:
Hong Yeo, MA Royal College of Art, Vehicle Design

For the past few decades, we have stretched traditional methods of production and materials to a point where cars are becoming repetitive and predictable, which leads to the absence of emotion and excitement. My focus was to look beyond simple styling and look at design from a completely different perspective, inspired by London and my obsession with Lego.

The Concerto looks at a vehicle from a very different perspective. It takes a step back and challenges what we know about a car, and explores what new technologies and tools are available to us today that we couldn’t see because of our shielded vision emanating from using traditional methods.

One of those new tools was the approach of visualization. Although computer 3D modeling programs have replaced a lot of clay models, I wanted to take the Concerto project into the next level and integrate 3D visualisation during the early stages. The use of Autodesk Alias software during the conceptual design and development process was critical, to demonstrate the modular flexibility of the design.

Through the Majenta Academy training, I was able to visualize my concept during the early stages to confirm and make sure my concept was feasible and working through Alias software. Digital modeling was no longer a simple surfacing tool that replaced a clay data; it was a tool for designers to analyze and develop the concept even at the earliest of stages. Digital modeling was also no longer a time-consuming process; renderings and visualization with full materials and scenes that took me days and weeks in the past could be done in an instant with products like Autodesk Showcase. It also enabled me to visualise different configurations within different environments in real time quickly and easily.

I was very fortunate to have received a sponsorship by Autodesk and The Majenta Academy to make the physical model for my project. The process of building the physical model could not have been smoother thanks to the ease of data preparation and realistic model renderings through Alias, which I learnt how to use effectively at The Majenta Academy.

Throughout the process, the design was communicated through digital data in Alias. Showcase simplified and accelerated the task of creating highly accurate and realistic visuals for my presentations. All adjustments to materials, colours and textures were also made in real time using Showcase.

With the use of digital design tools like Alias and Showcase, the entire project was able to stay true to the original philosophy of simplicity, honesty, and social responsibility.

• Learn more about Autodesk Alias Design 2010
• Learn more about Autodesk Alias Surface 2010
• Learn more about Autodesk Showcase 2010