SuperyachtNews.com - Opinion - No laughing matter

By SuperyachtNews

No laughing matter

Language is key when presenting a new superyacht concept to the market…

Thanks to new technologies, the market is inundated with new designers, many of whom are trying their hand and creating the next 'most exciting and futuristic' new superyacht. As more and more of these designs fall into our inboxes, I've picked up on something which seems out of character for the general design market - the arbitrary use of adjectives.

Instead of focusing on the relevant technical specifications and the studies behind the design, I feel that some designers may be shooting themselves in the foot, by instead preoccupying themselves with fluffy and mawkish language, which I think reflects badly on the design in hand.

Being the designer of a superyacht is an extremely complex task. A well-executed project is far more than just a nice-looking rendering on the page - it should be the final product of numerous ideas and studies, which have been brought together in order to arrive at something new. Taking into account the number of hours (often with no commercial benefits) that have gone into the design itself, describing the final result as cool or innovative, without an explanation as to why, doesn't really fill me confidence or demonstrate that the designer in question has a firm understanding about what it is that they are trying to do with this concept.

When attempting to make a name for yourself in what is a highly competitive marketplace, surely the number one priority is to highlight the key specifications of the project, and the studies that have been conducted in order to arrive at the final design in order to convince the client that it is a viable project. In a world where it is becoming easier and easier to produce something that looks like a well thought-out design in only a few hours, I believe there needs to be greater integrity in market propositions.

In a recent discussion with Philippe Briand, he explained, "the quality of a design cannot be expressed with simply putting a rendering on a page; it is not only a basic visual on a page, and this is why things are a bit messy today. You see a rendering and people believe there is some kind of big design work behind this, but sometimes there is not. So, to know what is good news or fake news - the only way you can do this is to speak with a designer."

With this in mind, it seems that it has never been so important to provide an adequate and comprehensive explanation of a new design in order to differentiate between what is a meticulously constructed project from a quick rendering used for to generate PR.

Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to pick out a genuine project that has been properly executed thanks to computer software which can help to mock up a quick rendering that could fool most of us into thinking that multiple man hours have gone into the design.

Supposedly, the next generation of superyacht designers are moving in, and are ready to shape the market. So it has never been so important to prove that the basics of yacht design are fully understood, rather than just creating for the sake of it. We are after all, trying to move the superyacht market forward and entice new buyers. As a result, until there is a strong brand name that precedes you, the priority is to prove that every aspect of a new design has been considered - in order to prove that the marketplace is understood

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No laughing matter

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