Behind the Design: How to create a Jaguar

It starts with a sketch and four years later the car is launched. Photo: Jaguar Media

Jaguar’s 300 strong design team is currently in lockdown at their homes near the newly opened studio in Gaydon, UK, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find out how their cars are created, and how the Covid-19 pandemic may affect their products in the future.

There are six stages to designing a car, from the inspiration first sketch to the finished car nearly four years later. The exterior and interior teams collaborate throughout the process and a programme management team oversees each project.

The six stages are: sketching, clay sculpting, digitalisation, colour and materials, design technical then finally, model manufacture.

Jaguar’s director of design, Julian Thomson, is currently designing on his iPad in the attic of his home. He told Conde Nast’s Ars Technica that his biggest challenge currently is not being able to use clay sculpting.

He was asked if he thought the pandemic would leave a scar on future cars.

“People's views of getting on a bus, or shared transportation—how are they going to feel about that? The whole thing about the general rat race, and people's values in life and family and work life balance. All these things are being questioned," he told Ars Technica.

"People are going to be really thinking about health. They're seeing that suddenly the streets are quieter, the air is cleaner. You know, everyone's seeing the world in a different way. I think for the car industry it will encourage electric vehicles.”

Stage 1: Sketching (typically four years before reveal)

An internal competition is had with Jaguar’s designers to see what vision will make it to metal. Photo: Jaguar Media

Jaguar designers never stop sketching. Pen, pencil or tablet, the studio team is constantly generating new interior and exterior ideas for future products. Hundreds of sketches are produced each day.

The design process for a future Jaguar starts with an internal competition. Designers from across the studio produce their best sketches and creative ideas before entries are gradually whittled down through shortlist reviews.

On each project, up to eight exterior key sketches will be taken through to the next stage, each demonstrating a different theme and approach to convey their own unique blend of Jaguar creativity and innovation.

During the sketching stage, one design is selected as the ‘vision’, which is used by the design and engineering teams to outline the feasibility of the proposal.

The designers who sketch the ‘winning’ initial ideas stay with the project from the first sketch to the production car, ensuring the creative spark behind the original vision is maintained and refined throughout the process.

Stage 2. Clay sculpting (typically four years before reveal)

The clay model team will take two weeks to create a sculpture. Photo: Jaguar Media

Once the ‘winning’ design is decided Computer-Aided Surfacing (CAS) specialists then create a digital version of the initial renders. This data is then used to accurately mill the clay models.

In the new Jaguar design studio, the teams can go from a sketch to a full size clay model in only two weeks.

Each full-scale clay model comprises an aluminium chassis, foam core and, finally, up to 90mm of clay. The only part that is ‘real’ at this stage are the wheels. The clay is milled by machine using data from the CAS team before being ‘slicked’ and refined by the clay sculptors – this process can take as little as two weeks.

An expert team of 46 sculptors, ranging from long term employees to new talent coming through apprenticeships, add the human touch to bring the sketches to life.

Each of the designers is given half of a full size exterior and is paired up with a clay team to bring their vision to reality. One sculptor will focus on the front, two on the side and another on the rear, though all sculptors are capable of working on any aspect of an exterior design.

Alongside the exterior models, individual parts like seats and steering wheels, and even full-size interiors, are also sculpted from clay.

On both exterior and interior clays, 3D rapid printed parts can be produced to help bring some of the beautiful details to life quickly and at an early stage.

Stage 3. Digitalisation (throughout the design process)

Jaguar’s CAS team helps create surface data for the model. Photo: Jaguar Media

From the early conceptual stage, the Computer-Aided Surfacing (CAS) team convert the design sketches into digital 3D models, gradually evolving the designs as the Design Technical team releases engineering and packaging data. This data is then used to create the clay models with real world refinements then scanned back into the CAS team for further mathematical adjustments. The CAS team then exports the surface data ready for the model to go into production.

The Jaguar Design Studio also has an in-house Design Visualisation and Animation (DVA) team, made up of experts from the world of television, film, advertising and gaming. These specialists work closely with designers and data teams to animate the 3D models into immersive films that help bring the design concepts to life in real-world environments.

A material scanner supports the creation of photo-realistic textures of interior and exterior material options and Jaguar has a render farm, with 200 high-performance machines dedicated to producing advanced animations and graphics in minutes.

Stage 4. Colour and materials (throughout the design process)

Jaguar’s director of design, Julian Thomson, oversees all aspect of a new model. Photo: Jaguar Media

Sitting between the Interior and Exterior studio is the Colour and Materials team – a position that reflects its significance to both disciplines. Its role is focused on developing innovative new interior and exterior materials and finishes and is made up of experts from the world of automotive, fashion, jewellery and product design.

At the heart of its work sits Jaguar’s interpretation of ‘Britishness’ – an overwhelmingly positive and differentiating brand attribute – with the Colour and Materials team constantly evolving how this is woven into new vehicles.

‘Britishness’ is a dynamic concept and Jaguar Design embraces the innovative elegance and merging of past and future crafts and technologies to give its vehicles their unique character.

Megatrend research helps inform the team of ‘what’s next’ as well as helping predict the colour and materials that customers will want by the time a vehicle has finished its four-year design journey. The importance of this data means Colour and Materials plays an influential role throughout the process.

For the interior, the team takes inspiration for material innovation from other sectors including sportswear, product and architecture to bring new processes into automotive design. To ensure the materials meet Jaguar’s exacting standards, the team makes full-scale models, to fully demonstrate the new application of materials. These models work alongside VR and clay interiors to help the team finalise a design direction and bring the tactility of the vision to life.

Stage 5. Design technical (throughout the design process)

A key part of a project is making sure the ‘vision’ can become a reality. Photo: Jaguar Media

This group of creative engineers sits at the centre of the design function to support the entire studio – helping to make even the most ambitious design a production reality.

The Advanced Design Technical (ADT) team work on whole vehicle layouts and architecture planning and form a key part of any project from the very outset.

Their job is to make sure the designs are feasible, identifying physical and legislative challenges and finding creative solutions to them with the aim of making the transition from sketchpad to production a smooth one.

The team’s CAD expertise and understanding of the latest safety and sustainability requirements ensure the team is delivering plausible designs, covering everything from packaging and design-enabling tech to powertrain considerations.

The ADT team’s integration within the new studio places them in Gaydon among the core engineering teams. This has accelerated the resolution of complex problems, making it easier to bring other business functions into the studio to help overcome technical challenges as they arise.

Stage 6. Model manufacture (typically four years before reveal)

The full-sized exterior model sits in the middle of Jaguar’s new design centre. Photo: Jaguar Media

When one design is selected as the ‘vision’, a new model is created from milled resin, with non-functioning 3D printed lamps, grilles, mirrors and wheels with unique trims, production quality paint and plexi-glass glazing. Alongside these exterior models, full-size interior vision properties are also created.

With real seats, steering wheels and trimmed and painted surfaces beautifully finished to a ‘real’ aesthetic standard, these models help to focus the business and can be used for market research and to ensure all engineering tolerances are met.

The final model is the incredibly detailed Customer Design Reference Model – a full inside/outside driveable (low-speed) model created ahead of launch to showcase the vehicle before a full production version is available. It is built on a bespoke chassis with a body structure made up of a mix of carbon fibre and glass fibre, with fully functioning lamps, one-off machined aluminium wheels, and a fully trimmed interior complete with functioning displays.

STORY COURTESY OF JAGUAR MEDIA CENTRE