What’s the difference between advanced and production design?

This month Car Design News has placed its sights on the world of advanced design. Often framed as an entirely separate field – you’re an advanced designer or a production designer – it appears that there is far more crossover than some might realise.

As part of the various conversations we have held with top designers in June, we tackled two key topics: what does the process look like, and how does the mindset differ?

Andy Mindt, head of VW Group design says that advanced design is spread across the group and is “not limited to a dedicated team.” Instead, he describes it as “part of our wider creative culture.” 

This approach may stem from a condensed advanced design footprint following the closure of the Potsdam studio in 2024 and earlier relocation of the Santa Monica advanced design studio, which now sits within the broader Oxnard engineering campus. While the Potsdam move in particular was not met with much support, the effect appears to be thus: advanced design is no longer confined to a particular building.

“Every designer has the opportunity to contribute ideas, explore future mobility concepts and help shape what comes next,” Mindt told CDN. “This approach allows us to bring in different perspectives from across the entire design organisation. It makes advanced design more open, collaborative and ultimately more powerful – because the best ideas for the future can come from anywhere within the team.”

Dmitry Panov, an interior designer based at the studio in Wolfsburg, notes that advanced design projects allow him to be “a little bit more free than usual, exposing more of the proportions or being a little bit more dynamic.” 

You have to take the crazy idea and make it work

His exterior design counterpart Willam Lee agrees, noting that although the overall process is “very similar” there are fewer constraints around engineering and budget considerations. “There are a thousand regulations to fulfil,” he half jokes, “whereas when you do a concept you are very free.” That being said, he finds great satisfaction in finding ways to bring an exciting, explorative idea to the road. “That's the most fascinating part,” Lee says. “You have to take the crazy idea and make it work.”

But what about the process of advanced design itself, how does that differ to a production project? Till Varailhon, the interior design lead at Mercedes’ advanced design studio in Nice, France, told Car Design News that the approach is virtually identical: sketching, digital 3D model, physical model, and so on. “If we were working at exactly the same time on the same project, we would have about 90% the same process,” he explains. “But what’s different is that with an advanced studio you can work on a pre-production process.”

He gives the example of how an advanced design team could come in earlier to explore different ideas for a particular component or volume. Let’s say a production project started in September and the team wanted to define the position of the airbag. The production studio might ask: if we were free to explore, what might we do differently? Instead of commencing in September, the advanced team might start in May. With all the packaging requirements in hand, they can explore different approaches that are still feasible.

“Maybe we find that we can free up space by moving an air vent somewhere else and it has a huge advantage. We can say, ‘we really love this idea’ and can address it in a reasonable time to try and develop that,” he explains. “So advanced design studios are often able to support this pre-production scenario.” In short, production constraints are still in mind with an advanced design project, but there is more freedom to explore around the original brief. “It really depends on the project,” adds Varailhon. 

You have to be even more daring, even more creative, and think out of the box

In setting the scene for this monthly theme, we suggested that there are also similarities with work being carried out by students at design school. Not in terms of execution but of mindset. Varailhon does not agree entirely with that proposal but recognises there are similarities. There is one fundamental difference, though: a professional advanced design project could very well make it into the real world. That means the potential payoff is exponentially greater.

“Advanced design is part of a much richer process,” he says. “It's much more challenging and the joy of the results is much higher [than a student project]. If you present your idea and go through all the economics, the production techniques, the costs, the feedback from your manager, and at the end you still get it, you are far more grateful. But if you're a student, you just do what you say you want to do, and it’s done. The feeling of accomplishment stems from how many challenges you faced to push that design through.”

Estelle Tabaczek, senior exterior designer at Alfa Romeo, is of a similar opinion – the role of advanced design varies from project to project. 

“It’s about how we adapt ourselves in relation to the request, the timelines, everything, in order to make the best out of it,” she told CDN. “There are lots of different things to consider and rules to follow of course, but that doesn't come into the project right away. Usually we have a period of creativity and a bit more freedom to try and find a theme. Once you find a strong idea, you begin to integrate more of the engineering considerations that must be respected for production. From there, it’s a game of back and forth to find the best compromise: something that is very solid engineering wise, but also very beautiful design wise.”

Tabaczek adds that when it comes to a concept car, advanced design then requires the designer to have their eyes on the horizon as opposed to engineering constraints. “You have to project yourself extremely far as a vision for the future of the brand,” she explains. “You have to be even more daring, even more creative, and think out of the box.”

And that may be one of the key takeaways: as long as the designer respects the pillars of the brand and does not propose something completely off-kilter, they are quite free to play in that sense. From there, the challenge is taking that into a production environment or at the very least a presentable concept car. Advanced design is not about dreaming.