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      03-21-2011, 07:46 AM   #1
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JOY FLOWS: BMW 6 Series design inspired by flowing water

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JOY FLOWS: BMW 6 Series design inspired by flowing water
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When we posted up the first TV commercials for the new 6 series two days ago, there was a pretty big stir. Not over the car or its design, but over the commercial and what the meaning was. Some focused on the two men smiling at each, some focused on the little girl and others bemoaned the fact that the cars weren't racing around a purebread race track.

First and foremost, we need to understand that these commercials are created by the marketing team, and aren't a reflection on what the engineers and designers had in their minds, its just a tool to convey a message. And the message should be ideally directed towards the group of people who would potentially buy this car. In this case, the market for the BMW 6 Series Coupe are the more affluent who is looking for a proper GT coupe, and will probably never see the track ever in the lifetime of the car.

With that said, it seems the marketing team attempted to marriage the overarching JOY theme with the design inspiration of the car: Flowing Water. Lead designer for the new 6-Series, Nader Faghihzadeh, has said as much about his design in a recent interview:

Quote:
Nader Faghihzadeh: I think darker colors would work best, as you saw on the Gran Coupe, it’s the same surfacing as here. I found inspiration in geometry water – that was my personal inspiration, because water has a certain stream, and you bring something destructive, creating geometry.

This geometry offers something elegant and timeless. So imagine a shark coming out of the water and opening a wave, and you keep this moment, you photograph this moment, and you try to integrate it in a very elegant, luxurious coupe. That means glossiness on water and fluent elements in general – you can interpret it quite well in exterior surfaces because they are also glossy. And if you see the car in movement, then you will understand why. There is a certain life into this thing and the character gets even stronger.
After the commercials went online and started to spread, BMW insider Scott26 further explained the inspiration of flowing water and how it was used directly in the marketing work for this car, summarized, the water theme will be seen everywhere. Here are some of the marketing placcards used to come up with the ideas for the launch to give you an idea of what to expect.

Quote:
For our International and UK launch in London. We will have a slightly submerged platform that will allow the new 6er Coupe to be driven through water be it an inch or too deep. In combination with a floating pavillion with indoor waterfall.
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So the theme of water flowing will be used not only in wallpapers, online videos and TV commercials, but will be also put to good use in physical scenery related to the specific market launches of this car. I have to say, some of these ideas are pretty interesting, and would have loved to see a similar flowing water (waterfall) stand at a major autoshow behind the car-- that would be a real attention getter.

But of course for us in the online world, videos will speak louder than words. BMW has also put out this nicely done promotional video putting the water theme to good use in explaining the design of the new 6. Watch it and see if you think this connects the water theme to the car better then the commercial we saw a few days ago.


I think this video does the best job yet of connecting the water theme with the design of the car, far better then the commerical posted up earlier. But in the coming months, expect to see more JOY FLOWS and water inspiration, connected with the marketing of the 6. I for one like it, it sort of grows on you once you know where they are coming from, especially for a car like the 6.

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