Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization

DESIGN NEWS 254

('01.06.10)

Feature : Student Design Showcase 2001

Industry of One

Evolution in the Design of Mobile Telephones

Design that has Transformed Manufacturer (3):
Suzuki and the “WAGON R”

“Student Design Showcase 2001” presents an introduction to works by students who have recently graduated from Japanese design universities and colleges, and is edited annually by Design News. This is the ninth feature in this series, and in it we present works by student who graduated in 2001 from 41 colleges and 42 departments of design in Japan.
In coordination with this feature, we planned a round-table discussion to include this year's graduates.

Making and selling products of one's own design: this was how designer-makers injected fresh life into British design at the end of the twentieth century in defiance of the recession in the United Kingdom at that time. But what were the new concepts and methodologies they incorporated into their work? Dr. Eizo Okada visited the exhibition “Industry of One: Designer-Makers in Britain 1981-2001” presented at the Crafts Council in London this February. In this article he takes a look at the work of these designers over a period of two decades and considers the influence they have had.

The product category of “mini vehicle” is one unique to Japan. It has retained a stable share of the market centering on women drivers and owners of second cars. But it became clear by the mid 1990s that the market for these products was reaching saturation point. It was under these conditions that Suzuki, the company with the top share of the market for mini vehicles, released a new model in this category in 1993. The WAGON R was characterized by its “tall and upright” packaging with a high hip point and a low floor, its functions with potential male drivers clearly in mind, and its drivability. With this model Suzuki succeeded in attracting users who had until then shown no interest in mini vehicles.
In this, the third article in our series entitled “Design that has Transformed Manufacturers,” Jun Akimoto, editor of Design News, takes a look at the design development of “WAGON R,” a vehicle which established the “mini van” category in Japan, and at how this model has enhanced Suzuki's commercial strength.