Five books onautomobile design

From vehicle packaging to understanding the importance of fundamentals of light, shadow and reflectivity, these books cover it all

Fundamental of Automobile Body Structure Design 

H Point

How to Render

Sketching product design Presentation

Ever wondered about the details of a car design? From the idea to the sketches to each element that makes an automobile what it is, there is a lot to learn.

DHonSaturday suggests five books to design enthusiasts to understand the world of automobiles.

H-Point: The Fundamentals of Car Design & Packaging

Authors: Stuart Macey and Geoff Wardle

This second edition is a revised version with additional pages, which can serve as a great handout for transportation design students. The book can inspire car creators anywhere, with insightful graphic explanations, and details that apply to car and truck design.

The book clarifies the automotive design process, and from its first chapter covers a basic understanding of vehicle packaging, designs that support different and varying architectures, among other details. The other chapters also cover proportions, a fun aspect of designing cars. Key dimensions for both interior and exteriors for cars have been explored.

Drawing for Product Designers (Portfolio Skills)

Author: Kevin Henry

The book has a tutorial-based approach, and will guide readers to think three-dimensionally and work with complex ideas in a clear manner. These basic skills form the basis of computer-aided design and graphic software, and will assist the designer in architectural spaces and virtual interfaces. Sketching and drawing knowledge allows the designer to fully utilise the software.

You will find case studies from leading designers, artists and architects here, which will elaborate on different drawing options available. Many handdrawn sketches and computer models demonstrate critical geometry and explain how one can build on basic forms.

How to Render: The Fundamentals of Light, Shadow and Reflectivity

Authors: Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling

In this book, Scott, who has over 17 years of experience in teaching and creating curriculum on how to design, draw, and render, brings his expertise about the concept design field.

The book covers fundamentals of light, shadow and reflectivity. Its focus is on getting a better visual understanding of the world around and techniques to represent it. The book is divided into two major sections — the first explains how to construct proper shadows in perspective and the second focuses on physics of relativity and on how to render a wide range of materials utilising the knowledge.

If you want to know more about automobile rendering, machines and robots, this is a good pick.

Sketching Product Design Presentation

Authors: Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur

This is the third collaboration between writers Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur. After their earlier offerings, the focus now shifts from ‘how to sketch’ to ‘why to sketch’. The book helps one understand how a designer can use their sketches to improve your way of communicating what you want.

Among designers, sketching is a regular and important activity, one which serves many purposes. One sketches to brainstorm ideas, to perfect ideas and even to explain or present an idea to a co-designer, team or client. The book helps one understand how to make your sketches more effective by giving perspective into how people view your sketches.

Fundamentals of Automobile Body Structure Design

Author: Donald E Malen

The book delves deeply into the principles of automobile body structural design and talks about the effect of changing design parameters on automobile body structural elements. It looks at the best way to shape a structural element to achieve a
particular function, and explains why certain structures behave in some ways. The book includes updated illustrations and sports a fresh look, which is more reader friendly.

These books are available online.

(Compiled by Tini Sara Anien)