Vellum Venom Vignette: Less is More…Enlightening?

Sajeev Mehta
by Sajeev Mehta
Mark writes:

Sajeev,

We can’t let Jeep get away with what they have done to the (redesigned Jeep) Grand Cherokee’s face. This square-peg-in-a-round-hole approach just looks half-baked, lazy, and cheap. Even the choice of filler material used to fill the void is wrong in material, color and pattern.

In short, Jeep’s design team needs to be raked across the coals for destroying what was Chrysler’s best-looking vehicle on the market, and I think you are the man to do the raking.

Sajeev answers:

I’m honored you think I’m worthy of Raking the Design Muck, especially since your concise assessment is spot on: every element presented here is a big car design FAIL.

It leaves very little for me to prove. So let’s dig deeper. Change for the sake of change to a well-received design (i.e. not the Pontiac Aztek) isn’t normally a good thing: be it as eye-gouging as the Ferrari Testarossa turning into the hideous 512M or as minor as a Headlight Fail on the redesigned Grand Cherokee, this change uses R&D money to make something different at the expense of good taste. Which is sad.

And inexcusable…but far from uncommon. For example, the 2013 Toyota Tacoma work truck.

Is anyone fooled into thinking those are real fog lights? Just make a blank panel for the fleet model instead…please! The previous model was far less offensive, even the goofy grilles of the fleet-spec Ford Ranger are better. While the Ranger is an outdated design, time has been the little Ford’s friend. Remember that “change for the sake of change” thing? It leads to the conclusion.

And now for the key takeaway: be it in the world of Automotive Accounting, Engineering or Industrial Design, the concept of “Less is More” is true. Don’t waste money making parts that fight with a design (Grand Cherokee) or make it look cheaper than necessary (Tacoma). So design it right from the start. Easier said than done, as I’ve heard (horror?) stories of designers working with engineers to get the proper end result.

So do the right thing because people are watching. Off to you, Best and Brightest.

Sajeev Mehta
Sajeev Mehta

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  • Darth Lefty Darth Lefty on Mar 10, 2013

    If you want to indict the Tacoma, give it shit for the recent versions looking really terrible with the scooter-sized base model wheels.

    • Sajeev Mehta Sajeev Mehta on Mar 11, 2013

      Another problem for another Vellum Venom. Sadly, the Taco is far from being the only vehicle with that problem. But it might be one of the worst, considering how "right" the previous body turned out.

  • Slowtege Slowtege on Mar 12, 2013

    Agreed with both you and the OP. Ugh. Jeep, what have you done??? This similar tragic fate befell the 2005 generation of Subaru Legacy. '05-'07 was perfectly and tastefully executed. I distinctly remember wondering aloud how they would do the inevitable MMC as the original looked so good. And then Subaru went and made those beautiful and key details (lights, fender creases, bumpers, grill) overwrought and more "obvious". Not right. Not fair. At least it wasn't the shield-your-eyes-and-run-for-the-hills redesign in 2010. *shudder*

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
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