Seventeen years post its debut, the 2018 Gold Wing was developed in the pursuit of transforming its brand. In this study, we aimed to realize advanced design, functionality, and performance that reflect various changes in the markets, including environmental concerns and transitions in people’s values, experienced during those 17 years. A high-quality design that meets every aspect of the requirements was envisioned. To achieve this, design models were fabricated for three individual stages of the design process. The styling theme was determined as “styling with refined sharpness and tension.” Based on this theme, we selected the Japanese sword, katana, that symbolizes the culmination of functional beauty, and a track and field athlete, who represents power and muscularity; we set them as the symbolic images for the design. By implementing these image motifs on to the design models, the exterior design aimed for was harmoniously fulfilled with functional requirements, design evolution was achieved, and a design appropriate to representing the developed Gold Wing was established.
Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.31 No.1 (11 - 17)