Hooniverse Asks: Have we entered a phase of “too much” design?

The all-new 2022 Hyundai Tucson gets fully revealed today. You may have already seen the photos, but the rest of the specs drop this morning. Everything I’ve read about it (and I’ve seen it in person too, actually) makes it sound like a great option in this space. But I cannot get past the design. This isn’t a problem specific to the Tucson, mind you, but something I feel going wrong with the industry as a whole. We’re seeing “too much design” thrown at every new model. On the flip side, that makes it refreshing when you find a vehicle with some design restraint.

Lines for the sake of adding lines. Creases and angles added around curves all in an effort to make a specific vehicle stand out in its own sea of sameness. When everyone is buying crossovers, how do you make your recognizable? It has to be through design, but it does not need to be through the over design of the product. Don’t take this out on crossovers alone though, as it’s a problem filtering through other segments as well. From pickup trucks to sports cars, designers are tossing out wildly overdone or needlessly aggressive elements.

Someone needs to have their design team take a breather. Take a step back. Then ask them to subtract lines or features before adding more. Remove. Smooth. Sculpt without adding more clay.

Am I wrong here or do you agree car design has gone a bit haywire at the moment?

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34 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: Have we entered a phase of “too much” design?”

  1. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    You have a fair point and a great example, even though the general new direction of Hyundai vehicles has been received quite well. I still remember a controversy from the 90s, when the “soap bar”-Corolla, or E100, was derided as too boring, too anonymous by German motor journalists. So Toyota brought out the E110 with, lo and behold, round headlights and blinkers. Those same journalists went out of their way to describe the car as too wild, and unsellable to “typical Toyota customers”. Toyota even used the quotes in advertising, but, unfortunately, facelifted the otherwise quite bland car to have more conservative headlights later on. But we all know that the same company, today, is the king of pointless crevasses. And whale mouths used to be the target of ridicule and exaggeration, now, they’re an industry standard. I have no clue how car design comes about, to be honest.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Toyota_Corolla_E110_front_20080215.jpg

  2. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    You have a fair point and a great example, even though the general new direction of Hyundai vehicles has been received quite well. I still remember a controversy from the 90s, when the “soap bar”-Corolla, or E100, was derided as too boring, too anonymous by German motor journalists. So Toyota brought out the E110 with, lo and behold, round headlights and blinkers. Those same journalists went out of their way to describe the car as too wild, and unsellable to “typical Toyota customers”. Toyota even used the quotes in advertising, but, unfortunately, facelifted the otherwise quite bland car to have more conservative headlights later on. But we all know that the same company, today, is the king of pointless crevasses. And whale mouths used to be the target of ridicule and exaggeration, now, they’re an industry standard. I have no clue how car design comes about, to be honest.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Toyota_Corolla_E110_front_20080215.jpg

  3. Victor~~ Avatar

    That is a busy design , like they could not decide which way to go and just threw everything at it.

  4. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    From my perspective, you’re absolutely correct. It’s like 1958 all over again. Back then, it was tons of chrome, massive bumpers, and fins. Now, it’s tons of sheetmetal creases, massive fish-mouth grilles (that are largely blocked off), fake rear diffusers, and origami-inspired front aero.

    I find very few designs admirable these days, and as you said, it’s typically when they show some measure of restraint… which is rare.

  5. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    TOO MUCH WAHT? WHAT?!? I CAN’T HEAR YOU MY CAR IS TOO LOUD!!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a9add17f4059c6b08f222ccffd581d5b29888f7a00c17071c7f3d43f673d24f0.jpg

    1. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      Okay, it’s been a couple decades and the pendulum has swung the other way.
      What was it you wanted?

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7af8016008259c2507f4fef632bca4228178c1b5a3e7a8bbae15594252d36879.jpg

      1. salguod Avatar

        I like both of these.

  6. Rick Radcliffe Avatar
    Rick Radcliffe

    They are in a very difficult place. I think too many companies tone down their designs so they don’t risk offending the general public and I applaud Hyundai for taking a chance and trying to make a potentially boring car visually interesting. It’s so hard to make your small SUV stand out in a very crowded market. I actually like the design and think they could have done much worse (Pontiac Aztek, we are talking to you.) It’s kind of like modern phone design…the base dimensions and layout reflect a tried and true maturity of design. We know what works and doesn’t work, now how do you make your phone stand out?

    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      I think a car stands out with its engineering, performance, ergonomics, available features, price-competitiveness, and subjective feel. I didn’t marry based on appearances, and I don’t buy cars for looks. I’m not saying it hurts if a car is attractively styled, but I actually avoid cars that “stand out”.

      In my experience, anything that’s desperately seeking attention probably doesn’t really deserve it.

  7. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    I sort of like the new Tucson, but yes, absolutely things are getting overstyled.

    Then again, give the people a muted, mundane option, and they hate it.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Mitsubishi_Space_Star_1.2_MIVEC_ClearTec_%28cropped%29.JPG/280px-Mitsubishi_Space_Star_1.2_MIVEC_ClearTec_%28cropped%29.JPG

    1. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      Not really, bland design is just another form of bad design and not the opposite of over-fussy design. Look at the even simpler. cleaner lines of the Peugeot 205, I don’t think anyones really made a better proportioned hatchback since this Pininfarina classic

      https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/images/_aliases/large/3/7/5/3/2163573-1-eng-GB/01.jpg

      Even non GTI versions looked good.

      https://s31.wheelsage.org/picture/p/peugeot/pininfarina/205_junior/peugeot_205_junior_3.jpeg

      ..or indeed the Honda E as pointed out elsewhere.

    2. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      Not really, bland design is just another form of bad design and not the opposite of over-fussy design. Look at the even simpler. cleaner lines of the Peugeot 205, I don’t think anyones really made a better proportioned hatchback since this Pininfarina classic

      https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/images/_aliases/large/3/7/5/3/2163573-1-eng-GB/01.jpg

      Even non GTI versions looked good.

      https://s31.wheelsage.org/picture/p/peugeot/pininfarina/205_junior/peugeot_205_junior_3.jpeg

      ..or indeed the Honda E as pointed out elsewhere.

  8. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    You have a fair point and a great example, even though the general new direction of Hyundai vehicles has been received quite well. I still remember a controversy from the 90s, when the “soap bar”-Corolla, or E100, was derided as too boring, too anonymous by German motor journalists. So Toyota brought out the E110 with, lo and behold, round headlights and blinkers. Those same journalists went out of their way to describe the car as too wild, and unsellable to “typical Toyota customers”. Toyota even used the quotes in advertising, but, unfortunately, facelifted the otherwise quite bland car to have more conservative headlights later on. But we all know that the same company, today, is the king of pointless crevasses. And whale mouths used to be the target of ridicule and exaggeration, now, they’re an industry standard. I have no clue how car design comes about, to be honest.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Toyota_Corolla_E110_front_20080215.jpg

  9. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    In the beginning, there was not any real design; form followed function.

    Then Harley Earl came along to bring in design from square one. That developed a whole new specialty, for designers who could draw cars people actually wanted to buy as rolling art instead of transportation, or who could turn a fuddy-duddy Falcon into a Mustang.

    I think the problem today isn’t too much design, it’s too many designers. They all want to stand out. Good looking cars are still being designed, but crappy designers still have to work somewhere.

    https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/img-2469-1564158647.jpg

  10. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Sode on it’s almost like a 1940s design when they had almost integrated the fenders into the body; perhaps we are going the other way now?

    It also has to do with having vast areas of sheetmetal to fill.

    1. fede Avatar
      fede

      we’re indeed going back to 1940s at least in size and proportions

    2. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      I think the Honda e, much like the venerable Volvo 240, wears its uncreased sheetmetal very well. Handsome cars, both– no need for peacock feathers.
      https://car-images.bauersecure.com/pagefiles/86601/honda_e_ev_051.jpg
      https://germancarsforsaleblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/P6220011_zpssxb1nmf9.jpg

        1. Zentropy Avatar
          Zentropy

          Excellent contrast for the argument. I despise that car, which is a shame considering its fantastic performance.

        2. Fuhrman16 Avatar
          Fuhrman16

          I’ve just now noticed that this Civic has three exhaust outlets. Why?

          1. Batshitbox Avatar
            Batshitbox

            The middle one is a trailer hitch.

          2. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            My sources tell a different story:

            https://i.redd.it/oj2lcab7uiv21.jpg

          3. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            Ah! Then the other car must use RCA A/V cables!

          4. salguod Avatar

            The 3 tips are not just for looks. “Honda wanted to offer a sporty, engaging sound in aggressive driving, without punishing drivers on long commutes or highway trips. And the automaker wanted to do so without resorting to stereo-enhanced engine sounds or complex (and expensive) multi-mode muffler systems.”

            https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/a10032609/why-the-2017-honda-civic-type-r-has-three-tailpipes/

          5. crank_case Avatar
            crank_case

            In other words, people have gone soft. They want something that looks perma-angry, but isn’t. By contrast, as I’ve pointed out before, properly angry Type Rs looked like this in the 90s

            https://hothatch.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Honda-Civic-Type-R-MK1-EK9-1.jpg

      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        Also both not SUVs…

        Mind you the Hyundai Elantra is just as bad, so it’s just as much Hyundai flexing their metal shaping ability

  11. alex Avatar
    alex

    Here are some cogent thoughts on the subject:

    http://www.autoextremist.com/current/?currentPage=7

  12. Troggy Avatar
    Troggy

    The side view looks like the end result of somebody not folding a nautical chart properly and it hurts me in the OCD.

  13. salguod Avatar

    Back at Design Central we’d call this shape salad. I actually think this Tucson is one of the more cohesive examples. Most of the Lexus CUVs on the other hand…

  14. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    I would say yes, but since all new vehicles are crossovers it’s hard for me to give a shit.

  15. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

    “Lines for the sake of adding lines. Creases and angles added around curves…”

    Have we entered it? Buddy, we’ve been knee deep in this phase for a while.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5bf8a7a6a1b7cbbd33b088953a97df3f947f877f484144b3eff433168685ee07.jpg

  16. Dean Bigglesworth Avatar
    Dean Bigglesworth

    “Have we entered a phase of “too much” design?” Yeah, about 20 years ago.

  17. Dean Bigglesworth Avatar
    Dean Bigglesworth

    “Have we entered a phase of “too much” design?” Yeah, about 20 years ago.