Tutorial #2: The 21st-Century Jungle Part II: The Era of Edge
As per usual, shout-out to @ramthecowy for helping me with this again.
Let’s go over making some cars into the modern day. The late 2000s were full of homogeneous (similar) and fairly dull cars and unoriginal design. Although the early 2000s were attempting to break through, the later portion of the decade saw a recession around much of the world. For this tutorial, expect to see some more blandness that the 90s provided come back, and watch it get washed away by the absurdity known as the 2010s. Throwback style is pretty much dead at this point in time; crossovers, gloss black plastic, and big grilles all become foundations of contemporary design.
Here’s how you can design your cars in the late 2000s into the 2010s and beyond.
A few quick tips
-
There is a huge rise in the use of fixtures solely for aesthetic and non-functional purposes e.g. closed off vents, fake exhaust tips, plastic body cladding to enhance ruggedness, fake aero lips, etc. Fashion starts to triumph form in the late 2000s.
-
Modern cars also feature sleek moon/sunroofs and slimmer mirrors with integrated turn signals - again, intricate fixtures.
-
Crossovers begin to get a grip on the vehicle market, mostly in North America until the trend gained traction in Europe and Asia later in the decade. See the successes of the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Ford Escape/Kuga. A car-based monocoque, 4-wheel independent suspension, and a transversely mounted engine with optional AWD are all to be expected. The trend truly booms in the 2010s, with new classes and all varieties of companies producing crossovers and SUVs of all shapes and sizes (Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Lamborghini Urus, BMW X1, Mini Countryman, Nissan Kicks)
-
In modern times, as designs continue to get more complex and sophisticated, understand how each of your models fare in terms of the other to have a proper balance so a customer would be able to distinguish between a low- and high-end car. There are some guidelines; for instance, a more expensive model would obviously be physically larger and have more glass and chrome and larger grilles. Still, consistency is everything and your brand will need to evolve into its own identifiable but unique style by striking a balance between organic flow versus edgy polygonal shapes and rounded, soft shapes versus aggressive angular looks.
-
As a general comment, the design philosophy/method in modern times has taken on a new dimension, literally, as cars nowadays are sculpted rather aggressively. Fixtures are laid on in a more three-dimensional way rather than horizontal-vs-vertical and polygonal (take the lights of the LC500 as an example). Current design that pushes the boundaries thinks in layers, with elements like floating pillars e.g. BMW i8, headlights with components at different depths, complex aero funnelling routes like with the Ford GT and DB11 - and this idea has carried over to less expensive cars, for instance vents/shapes on top of larger blacked out areas is a common motif. It’s all about depth.
Late 2000’s-Present Front Design
Styling has become even more complex and “free-form” in the past decade. Let’s compare compare the front ends of a famous family car; 2008 Honda Accord with a 2018 Honda Accord.
Analysis
Notice the newer models’ much more complex design and greater usage of multiple materials. Although the fascia is actually comprised of 2 separate grilles on the top and bottom, the black plastic center trim emulates a singular, tall grille. This creates an imposing style commonly found on many new cars, even in similar size classes (see the Toyota Camry, Hyundai Elantra, Audi A4, or Ford Fiesta). However, by rounding out the harder edges, Honda achieves a softer look which makes the design more approachable than sharper-design competition. With most designs pushing towards a more stereotypically upmarket style, the Accord banks on this trend with its sculpted clamshell hood and complex headlight setup. Despite the new Accord’s seemingly basic headlight shape, you’ll notice that it is actually quite complex since the chrome bar runs across the width of the car and cuts through the light fixture. Also notice how Honda is able to create brand identity with the new vehicle’s unibrow and distinctive headlight internal design. Despite the fact that not every single Honda has the exact same design as this Accord, almost all Honda’s are easily identifiable because they share the same basic design elements.
Compare the old design, and you’ll see that the older 8th-generation is devoid of most visual trickery.
Let’s begin by saying that both designs clearly have the same visual flow; all the grilles and lights are aligned with each other, and where one grille line may end, the other picks up. However, the previous Accord, for one, doesn’t have much in terms of visual flair. What you do get is a central grille with a thick chrome border and some shaped plastic bars in between. On the lower fascia rests two indentations on either side that mimic a place where you might expect vents; in this instance, there isn’t anything there to back it up.
Analysis
Notice the newer models’ much more complex design and greater usage of multiple materials such as chrome and black plastic along with different proportions (a much larger grille, wider and slimmer headlights). Also notice how Honda is able to create brand identity with the new vehicle’s unibrow and distinctive headlight internal design. Despite the fact that not every single Honda has the exact same design as this Accord, almost all Honda’s are easily identifiable because they share the same basic design elements.
Tips
In Automation, the styling of almost every modern car can not be done with just 5 or 6 fixtures. Simulating the complexity requires a unique and creative combination of many fixtures; try not to make “5 fixture” cars. Whilst late 2000s vehicles was focused on a more restrained elegance that didn’t look too far into the future, the mid-late 2010s clearly has much more character to it, for better or worse. Every single angle and crease has a purpose; feel free to work out different angles
Styling has become even more complex and “free-form” in the past decade; compare the front ends of 2008 Honda Accord with a 2018 Honda Accord. Notice the newer models’ much more complex design and greater usage of multiple materials such as chrome and black plastic along with different proportions (a much larger grille, wider and slimmer headlights, general shapeliness). In Automation, the styling of almost every modern car can not be done with just 5 or 6 fixtures. Simulating the complexity requires a unique and creative combination of many fixtures; try not to make “5 fixture” cars.
Also crucial to note is the beginning of LED DRL usage. Beginning in the late 2000’s on luxury vehicles and pioneered by Audi, LED Daytime Running Lights are seen on pretty much every new car. The implementation of these DRL’s are one of the defining features of a modern car thanks to being mandatory on all new cars. Compare the headlight structure of the 2010 and 2018 Ford Escape, respectively.
Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make some modern-day headlights made by our resident @Radster. Just a reminder that this is only one way to approach headlight design; there are tons of ways that you yourself can do it.
After 2010, the front ends of vehicles have clearly become more angular and more sculpted. The lines between high and low end vehicles begin to blur. Although huge grilles are dominating the luxury car market, the same can be said about more accessible vehicles; take Nissan’s new V-Motion grille, for example.
Late 2000’s-Present Rear Design
The rear design of cars, simply, has become even more complicated than the front. Automakers are trying everything they can to stand out. Compare the 2006 Volvo S80 with the 2016 Volvo S90. Although the newer model uses less chrome, the taillight shape is much more sculpted and angular. The bumper design shows exhausts tips which are not round and more creasing to visually widen the car with long fixtures. A lot of new luxury cars rely on more body sculpting as opposed to actual chrome, so be wary of going overboard with any things of the sort unless you use it in a way in new, creative way.
Supercars, too, had faced a renaissance in design. Let’s choose another Swedish duo to compare; Koenigsegg’s CCXR and Regera were both international hits when they were released; let’s take a look at them side-by-side. The CCXR reflects some of the financial situation Koenigsegg was in; the older car uses simplified round LED taillights, likely to reduce costs since Koenigsegg was still not in a prime financial state. However, the Regera utilizes custom, flowing shapes which clearly were designed specifically for this one vehicle. Not the CCXR’s more complex shape, but much more simplified and textured construction. In contrast, the Regera has a more simple, single-shape cutout in the bumper with lots and lots of sculptured 3D elements incorporated within. The idea of having a lot of details and aerodynamic elements in a simplified shape is one that works side-by-side with having lots of complex 3D shapes on the body on modern vehicles; take, for example, the finesse of the Ferrari 812 Superfast or the wild styling of the 2018 Honda Civic Type R.
not only good for newcomers, it’s also a great quick reference guide to use whenever one gets stuck or runs out of ideas 
