Communication-oriented automobile design by a three dimensional sculpture educational model: Narrowing the gap between company work and education system

Abstract

Background As the paradigm of the automotive industry changes, the scope of automotive design is expanding more, and new design attempts are being developed to automotive design in various fields. Design education needs to be changed in response to this rapidly changing automotive industry. Particularly, due to the specificity of automobile molding, the design work is progressing with clay modeling as the center point of the design process, in order to distribute the design as a real product in mass, it is necessary to provide professional learning about three-dimensional (3D) sculpture. However, the current undergraduate curriculum lacks the expertise of 3D sculpture education, and this type of education is more in need for the students without basic knowledge in other fields. Methods This educational model was conducted via previous studies and literature research methods. Based on the previous research, related to the design background field to reduce the gap with the business, I proposed an effective method for automobile design, ascribed by a 3D sculpture educational model. Results First, we proposed a more practical and systematic 3D sculpture educational model that can reduce the gap between practice and education to satisfy the educational goals of the Department of Automotive Design in South Korea, which is to "train professional designers capable of mass production of automobiles." Therefore, this study based on the analysis of 'automotive 3D sculpture elements', in order to creatively solve various problems that occur, whereas embodying a 3D model from a two-dimensional (2D) sketch. Second, we proposed efficient communication methods for a professional designer in the field to learn with the competence of teamwork based on the types of communication networks. Third, we further analyzed the design critic types for evaluation and feedback in class usage and suggested the most effective methods. Conclusions The 3D sculpture education model of automotive design' proposed in this study is expected to be applied and added to automobile 3D sculpture education for classes in various fields. Future challenges may incorporate the development of educational sub-programs and various verifications of the effectiveness of the proposed educational model.